Cjje lante ttnfirM. 
 
RT. REV. WM. BACON STEVENS, D.D. 
 
THE PAEABLES 
 
 NEW TESTAMENT 
 
 [PHA-CTICADLY UNFOLDED. 
 
 BY 
 
 RT. REV. WM. BACON STEVENS, D.D., LL.D., 
 
 LATE BISHOP OF PENNSYLVANIA. 
 
 PORTRAIT AND SKETCH OF THE AUTHOR. 
 
 MEMOBIAL EDITION. 
 
 PHILADELPHIA : 
 BRADLEY & COMPANY, 
 
 66 NORTH FOURTH STREET. 
 
 L 
 
.-A 
 
 Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1887, by 
 BKADLEY & COMPANY, 
 In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington. 
 
//¥3 
 
 TEE PACE. 
 
 This work is designed to be, as its title indicates, a practical 
 unfolding of the Parables of our Lord. 
 
 The author has not attempted to give the several explanations 
 which various writers, in different ages, have made of these 
 Parables, for that would require many volumes. Nor has he sought 
 to store up in these pages the treasures of exegetical criticism 
 which, under the minute labours of such men as Cocceius, Storr, 
 Vitringa, Teelman, Ewald, Greswell, and Trench, have been 
 accumulating since the days of Origen and Augustine. Neither 
 has he inlaid his interpretations with those numerous gems of 
 classical lore which tempt the scholar on every hand by the beau- 
 tiful and pertinent illustrations which they furnish in support of 
 the propriety and truthfulness of these Parables. Such a plan 
 would have made the book more valuable to the student and 
 the theologian, but it would have made it less acceptable to the. 
 
 ^ (5) 
 
 If 
 
vi PREFACE. 
 
 popular mind, which it has been his special aim to reach, enlighten, 
 and expand. 
 
 Waiving all these, he has kept steadily in view his original aim, 
 and believing that there is a deep spiritual meaning in each one 
 of these similitudes, which it becomes us as Christians to know 
 and understand, he has sought to develop this with clearness and 
 fidelity. If he shall be the means of alluring others to a more 
 earnest study of these inimitable Parables, these " apples of gold 
 in pictures of silver," and to a better understanding of their 
 precepts and doctrine, he shall devoutly thank God, and feel that 
 his labour has not been in vain in the Lord. 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Sketch of the Author's Life 9 
 
 The Parable . . ; 13 
 
 The Ten Virgins * ...» 23 
 
 The Unmerciful Servant 37 
 
 The Rich Fool t . . 55 
 
 Pounds- and Talents 71 
 
 The Lost Sheep : The Lost Money . . . . . .91 
 
 The Prodigal Son 107 
 
 The Unjust Steward 125 
 
 The Good Samaritan . . . ... . . 137 
 
 The Pharisee and the Publican 155 
 
 The Labourers in the Vineyard 177 
 
 The Barren Fig-Tree 193 
 
 The Unjust Judge : The Importunate Friend ... 207 
 
 The Wicked Husbandmen 227 
 
 The Sower 241 
 
 (7) 
 
viii CONTENTS. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 The Tares 267 
 
 The Mustard Seed 285 
 
 The Leaven ; .... 297 
 
 The Hid Treasure 307 
 
 The Pearl 317 
 
 The Draw-Net * 325 
 
 Dives and Lazarus 339 
 
 The Marriage op the King's Son : The Great Supper . 361 
 
SKETCH OF THE AUTHOR'S LIFE. 
 
 William Bacon Stevens was born in Bath, Maine, on the 1 3th of July, 
 1815, and was the son of William and Rebecca Bacon Stevens. Both his 
 parents were descended from ancestors who had distinguished themselves in 
 Revolutionary times, and his father was an officer in the war of 1812. At 
 the close of this war the family settled in Boston, and it was here that the 
 earlier years of the future Bishop were passed. 
 
 Study soon became the great pleasure of life to the thoughtful and earnest 
 lad, and he was sent to the Phillips Academy, at Andover, Mass. , at which 
 institution he seems to have over-crowded his powers, for his health failed 
 signally, and he was compelled to go to, Europe for rest and recuperation. 
 The bent of his mind was scientific ; and his was not the disposition to accept 
 tradition blindly and without inquiry. He appears to have been at a loss at 
 first to decide upon the particular line of effort to which he should devote 
 himself, but at last settled down to the study of medicine, and entered 
 Dartmouth College, graduating thence in his twenty-second year with the 
 degree of M. D. The elder Stevens having died in 1825, the son was thrown 
 to a great extent upon his own resources, and was forced to assume responsi- 
 bilities of a riper age at a time when most boys are free from care. He 
 however met these responsibilities with that bravery and self-confidence 
 which distinguished him in later life ; he shirked nothing and went earnestly 
 to work to carve out success in his chosen calling. 
 
 It was not long after his graduation from Dartmouth that he went South, 
 fixing his residence at Savannah, Georgia, where his abilities almost imme- 
 diately made themselves felt. Not only did he establish a large and lucra- 
 tive practice as a physician, but he was in rapid succession appointed to 
 many important posts in public institutions. 
 
 There are indications that Dr. Stevens's mind had for some time been 
 working more and more in the direction of theological inquiry, and ere 
 long his interest led him to a point where the matter appealed to his con- 
 science, and what had been but a field of interesting study became a path 
 which he felt called upon to tread as the.paramount duty of his life. 
 
 9 
 
x SKETCH OF AUTHOR'S LIFE. 
 
 That he sacrificed much in turning away from the enviable position which 
 his abilities had secured him as a physician must be self-evident to any one 
 at all conversant with human nature. He stood at the head of his pro- 
 fession, and was on the rapid road to the attainment of a wide fame and 
 probably large wealth. 
 
 Nut only this, but his recognized literary qualifications had brought him 
 into prominence in other directions. He had received the appointment of 
 State Historian, and. as one of the organizers of the Georgia Historical 
 Society, had been led into investigations which peculiarly fitted him to dis- 
 charge the duties of that post. He had begun his "History of the State of 
 Georgia," which is to-day a recognized, if not the highest, authority on the 
 subject, and in many ways gave evidence of a versatility of intellect which 
 promised a brilliant future. But to a man of his conscientiousness, the 
 sentiment of duty must ever be paramount, and in spite of the remon- 
 strances of many sincere friends, Dr. Stevens prepared himself for holy 
 orders, studying under the supervision of the then Bishop of Georgia, the 
 Right Reverend Stephen Elliott, D. D., by whom he was ordained deacon, 
 February 24th, 1843, in Christ Church, Savannah. 
 
 Shortly after he went to the University of Georgia, at Athens, where he 
 pursued his studies and was ordained to the priesthood, and in ]s44 
 was elected to the chairs of Belles Lettres and Moral Philosophy in that 
 university, and fulfilled these new duties with great success. 
 
 His election as a deputy to the General Convention of 1847, which met in 
 the city of New York, was the event which, perhaps more than any other, 
 shaped the course of his future life and indicated the channels in which his 
 remarkable abilities and tireless energy were to display themselves. Atten- 
 dance upon that assemblage brought him back to the North ; it reintroduced 
 him to the entirely different atmosphere which his long residence in the 
 South had caused him almost to forget. The mental conditions to which he 
 had, in early youth and manhood, accommodated himself were epiite other 
 than those which surrounded him in Savannah and at Athens, not necessari- 
 ly better or higher, but different ; the point of view was dissimilar ; stand- 
 ards of thought were dissimilar. Dr. Stevens, who had become in a great 
 degree Southern in his methods, now found the atmosphere of his youth 
 congenial to him ; and the rapid increase in the number of warm friends 
 and acquaintances which his scholarly powers secured to him, acted as a 
 strong incentive to him to make the North once more his home. 
 
 At this juncture, as though in accord with what seemed manifest destiny, 
 Dr. Stevens received a call to the rectorship of Saint Andrew's Church, 
 Philadelphia, to succeed the Rev. Thomas M. Clark (afterwards Bishop of 
 Rhode Island), and, if he had felt any hesitation heretofore, this invitation 
 appeared to be the weight which turned the scale in favor of a Northern 
 residence. The call was accepted and he was instituted to the rectorship by 
 Bishop Potter, August 1st. 1848. 
 
 Here his sermons commanded the rapt attention of the most cultured 
 
SKETCH OF AUTHOR'S LIFE. xi 
 
 men and women ; the polish and incisiveness of his style achieved a repu- 
 tation which spread far and wide his fame as an orator and dialectician. 
 He rose by sheer force of character and the exhibition of genius of a high 
 order. For more than thirteen years he continued in this field of labor, 
 adding during that period 550 communicants to the church. 
 
 He received two degrees in recognition of his worth, namely, from the 
 University of Pennsylvania, that of D. D., and from Union College, 
 Schenectady, that of LL. D. 
 
 But incessant devotion to his work again began to tell upon a physical 
 constitution never too strong, and in the year 1857 he went abroad, travel- 
 ling into Asia Minor, Egypt, and the Holy Land, whence he drew much 
 of that material which was afterwards turned to account in his sermons, 
 discourses and essays. 
 
 Not long after Dr. Stevens's return a vacancy was caused in the assistant 
 bishopric of Pennsylvania by the death of Bishop Bowman, and after an ex- 
 ceedingly close election the choice of the diocese fell upon Dr. Stevens, who 
 served as the assistant to Dr. Potter for four years, at which time he suc- 
 ceeded him as diocesan of the State, and entered upon duties of far-reaching 
 and momentous importance. 
 
 No man could have assumed those duties with a more lively and prevail- 
 ing sense of their magnitude. The same energy which we have seen in his 
 other walks of life characterized Bishop Stevens in this wider field ; but it 
 was soon found too wide to render it physically possible for him to cover it 
 adequately, and the necessity for a division of the diocese became every 
 day more and more evident. This division was accomplished in 1865, when 
 the Rev. Dr. Kerfoot was chosen Bishop of the diocese of Pittsburgh. 
 
 The new diocese of Pittsburgh covered about eighteen thousand square 
 miles and had a population of nearly a million and a half, so that the relief 
 to the Bishop was immediate and substantial. It was, however, found 
 necessary to make a further subdivision, and in 1871 the diocese of Central 
 Pennsylvania was erected, the Rev. Dr. Howe becoming its first Bishop. 
 This Central diocese included all that portion of the State outside of the 
 diocese of Pittsburgh, and not inclusive of Philadelphia, Chester, Dela- 
 ware, Bucks and Montgomery counties — the latter constituting the Eastern 
 diocese and remaining under the charge of Bishop Stevens. 
 
 Ill health now began to interfere with that vigorous discharge of duty 
 which was one of the prominent virtues of the subject of this sketch. In 
 1868 he had been the victim of a second railroad disaster ; the car in which 
 he was travelling from Scranton, Pa. , having been derailed and hurled down 
 an embankment thirty feet, into the river below. The Bishop's injuries 
 were so severe that for two months he was confined to his bed, and at the 
 end of that time found his nerves so shattered that his physicians deemed a 
 vacation abroad indispensable. 
 
 While abroad Bishop Stevens was in charge of the foreign congregations 
 in communion with the Episcopal Church on the Continent, a position 
 
xii SKETCH OF AUTHOR'S LIFE. 
 
 •which he only resigned under pressure of increasing infirmity and manifold 
 duties. 
 
 He officiated in 1S76 at the Centennial Commemoration in Independence 
 Square, Philadelphia, and in 1878 attended the Council of Anglican Bishops 
 at Lambeth Palace, London, over which the Archbishop of Canterbury pre- 
 sided. Bishop Stevens preached the closing sermon of the Conference in 
 Saint Paul's Cathedral, London, July 27th, 1878. He also preached in 
 Westminster Abbey before the Society for Propagating the Gospel, at its 
 one hundred and seventy-seventh anniversary, as well as in Canterbury 
 Cathedral and the Royal Chapel, Savoy ; the English prelates seeming de- 
 sirous of showing him marked respect. 
 
 The diocese of Eastern Pennsylvania rose to the highest prosperity and 
 efficiency under Bishop Stevens's administration, and he continued in the 
 active conduct of its affairs until physical infirmities compelled the resigna- 
 tion of most of the active duties to the hands of Bishop Whitaker, who had 
 been elected Assistant Bishop. 
 
 For some weeks previous to his death Bishop Stevens had been slowly 
 and surely failing, being sustained only by the wonderful vitality of his con- 
 stitution ; but the end came very peacefully on Saturday morning, June 
 11th, 1887. 
 
 The funeral took place on Wednesday, the 15th, at the Church of the 
 Holy Trinity, Philadelphia, a large body of clergy and laity attending. The 
 services were of the most impressive character. The interment was at the 
 Church of Saint James the Less, at the Falls of Schuylkill. 
 
 Bishops Stevens's bibliography includes his discourses before the Georgia 
 Historical Society ; a " History of Georgia, from its Discovery by Europeans 
 to the Adoption of its Constitution in 1797 ; " " Parables of the New Testa- 
 ment Practically Unfolded;" "Consolation, the Bow in the Cloud;" 
 "Home Service;" "The Lord's Day, its Obligations and Blessings;" 
 "Past and Present of Saint Andrew's;" besides a number of discourses, 
 essays, sermons, etc. , all marked with the power and persuasiveness of their 
 author's personality. 
 
 Bishop Stevens was twice married, his first wife being Miss Coppee, of 
 South Carolina, and his second Miss Conyngham, daughter of Judge 
 Conyngham, of Wilkes-Barre. The children by the first marriage were one 
 son, Wm. C. Stevens, now of Chicago ; and two daughters, one of whom is 
 the widow of Professor E. C. Mitchell, of Philadelphia, and the other was 
 married to Rev. H. C. Mayer and died some years ago. 
 
 The children by the second wife, namely, John and Anna M. , are now 
 living. F. H. W. 
 
TO THE 
 
 BIGHT REVEREND STEPHEN ELLIOTT, JR., D.D., 
 
 BISHOP OF THE DIOCESE OF GEORGIA. 
 
 My Dear Bishop — 
 
 The memory of many years of sweet Christian intercourse ; 
 the ties of official relation as parishioner, vestryman, pupil, and 
 presbyter ; the sacred associations connected with the laying on 
 of your hands in the rite of Confirmation, and in admission to the 
 Diaconate and the Priesthood, constitute such a claim upon my 
 grateful regard, that I dedicate to you this humble volume, 
 the first fruits of my expository labours. I offer it as a small 
 expression of the love which I bear to you personally, and of the 
 admiration which I entertain for your noble qualities, nobly 
 exercised in the noblest of all human offices.- 
 
 That your future course may be "as the shining light that 
 shineth more and more unto the perfect day," is the fervent 
 wish of 
 
 Your affectionate and grateful friend, 
 
 Wm. Bacon Stevens. 
 
THE PARABLE. 
 
 THE presentation of moral truth in the form of Parables 
 is one of the most ancient as well as one of the most 
 interesting forms of literature. 
 
 Parables are found far back in the earliest ages of the 
 world ; they exist in most of the cultivated languages of 
 the East; they are used by the poet, the historian, and 
 the philosopher ; they are listened to with delight by all 
 classes of people, and, as Jerome has well said, are among 
 the favourite vehicles for the conveyance of moral truth 
 throughout the Oriental world. 
 
 Many of these ancient parables are happily couched, and 
 possess both point and beauty. Many of them are pic- 
 turesque and forcible to a high degree; but a careful study 
 of all merely human parables, from whatever source gathered 
 and by whomsoever uttered, will soon show how superior 
 to them all, in every point, are the Parables of our Lord 
 and Saviour Jesus Christ. 
 
 To these Parables we shall confine ourselves, not only 
 because they embody every parabolic excellence, but also, 
 and chiefly, because they present to us by means of a series 
 
 15 
 
16 THE PARABLES UNFOLDED. 
 
 of exquisitely wrought pictures, the great truths which li# 
 at the foundation of man's salvation from sin, and his final 
 condition beyond the grave. 
 
 We have a personal interest in these Parables. There is 
 not one from which we may not gather a personal lesson : 
 for, though addressed to men who lived eighteen centuries 
 ago, yet so analogous are our spiritual wants to theirs, so 
 similar our relations to God, and so applicable to all the 
 phases of humanity, and all the changes of time, with a 
 divinely perpetuated and self-adapted vitality, that they 
 are just as important to the Church now as when first 
 uttered; for they embody truths that cannot die — they 
 illustrate principles that must ever operate on society — 
 they afford directions that are ever needed, and they 
 minister reproof and comfort with as much freshness and 
 pungency to-day as when first uttered by our blessed Lord 
 The study of the Parables, therefore, cannot fail to prove 
 deeply interesting. They are so many portraits of the 
 duties and principles of the Christian religion, and they 
 hang around the four walls of the Gospels of Matthew, 
 Mark, Luke, and John, as pictures drawn by a heavenly 
 artist to embody heavenly truth ; and as, in recommending 
 to a young student of sculpture, the statue of Apollo Bel 
 videre as the most perfect specimen of art, the Abbe 
 Winkelman adds, "Go and study it; and if you see no great 
 beauty in it to captivate you, go again; and if you still dis- 
 cover none, go again and again : go until you feel it, for be 
 assured it is there." So we say to the student of the Para- 
 bles, " go and study these parables, and if you see not their 
 
THE PARABLE. 17 
 
 beauty at first, go again and again, gaze at them, ponder 
 upon them, pray over them, until you feel them, then will 
 they impress their lineaments upon your own soul, and be 
 the model of your daily walk and conversation. 
 
 The word Parable means a similitude taken from natural 
 things in order to instruct us in things spiritual. It has 
 been defined as a "fictitious narrative, invented for the 
 purpose of conveying truth in a less offensive or more engag- 
 ing form, than that of direct assertion." 
 
 In this respect, the Parable is not unlike the Fable, yet 
 they are essentially distinct. The genuine Fable does not 
 move at all in the field of actual existence. It allows 
 irrational and inanimate things from the kingdom of nature 
 to think, act, speak, and suffer. The Parable derives its 
 material only from within the range of possibility and truth, 
 and from events and scenes that have their likeness in the 
 occurrences of every day life. 
 
 " The Parable is constructed to set forth a truth spiritual 
 and heavenly : this the Fable, with all its value, does not 
 do ; it is essentially of the earth, and never lifts itself above 
 the earth. It never has a higher aim than to inculcate 
 maxims of prudential morality, industry, caution, foresight; 
 and these it will sometimes recommend even at the expense 
 of the higher self-forgetting virtues." 
 
 The Parable also is essentially different from the Allegory. 
 The Allegory is a figurative sentence or discourse, in which 
 the principal subject is described by another subject 
 resembling it in its properties and circumstances. 
 
 That exquisite passage in the eightieth Psalm, where 
 
18 THE PARABLES UNFOLDED 
 
 David portrays Israel as a vine which God brought out of 
 Egypt; and that more precious declaration of our Lord in 
 the 15th chapter of St. John, where, alluding to the same 
 natural object, he says, "I am the true vine, and my 
 Father is the husbandman," &c, are specimens of the Alle- 
 gory, which carries its own interpretation along with it, 
 while the Parable must be interpreted by its author, or by 
 its resemblance to the truths with which it is placed side 
 by side. 
 
 Several instances occur in the Bible where the Parable is 
 spoken of as synonymous with the Proverb. The Proverb 
 is a short, condensed sentence, full of pith, and barbed with 
 a distinctive point; the Parable is elaborate, figurative, 
 fictitious, and its meaning lies parallel with the whole cur- 
 rent of its narrative. 
 
 "Physician, heal thyself" is termed by Luke a Parable : 
 it is in rhetorical strictness a Proverb. The same may be 
 said of other passages of the New Testament. " To sum 
 up all, then, the Parable differs from the fable, moving as it 
 does in a spiritual world, and never transgressing the actual 
 order of things natural, — from the mythus, there being in 
 the latter an unconscious blending of the deeper meaning 
 with the outward symbol, the two remaining separate and 
 separable in the parable, — from the proverb, inasmuch as it 
 is longer carried out, and not merely accidentally and occa- 
 sionally, but necessarily figurative, — from the allegory, com- 
 paring as it does one thing with another, at the same time 
 preserving them apart as an inner and an outer, not trans- 
 
T HE PARABLE. 19 
 
 ferring, as does the allegory, the properties and qualities 
 and relations of one to the other." 
 
 In using Parables as the media of instruction, our blessed 
 Lord conformed to ancient usage and to the constitution of 
 the human mind, which is so much more influenced by 
 the senses than by abstract ideas. Parabolic writing i. 
 naturally adapted to engage attention, is easily compre- 
 hended, is suited alike to the lowest and to the loftiest 
 capacity, leaves strong impressions on the mind, gives 
 great force to truth by strikingly personifying it, and 
 enables one to unfold doctrines distasteful to the natural 
 heart by images which attract the mental eye, which con- 
 vey the truth directly to the soul, before passion and pre- 
 judice have time to array themselves against its reception. 
 
 This was peculiarly the case in reference to the doctrines 
 which Christ promulged. The Jewish mind was not 
 prepared for their reception — certain truths, such as the 
 bringing in of the Gentiles, the dispersion of the Jews, the 
 abrogation of the temple service, the atonement and death 
 of Christ, the resurrection and ascension, the final judg- 
 ment, could only be gradually unfolded, and must first be 
 taught in Parables, for had our Lord spoken plainly, the 
 multitude would not so easily have listened to his words ; 
 but being insensibly drawn by the happy incidents, the 
 touches of history, the beautiful illustration, to hear his 
 discourses, they were taught many doctrines and truths to 
 which their hearts would have offered malignant resistance 
 had they been conveyed in any other form. 
 
 The perfection of the Parables of Christ is evident to 
 
20 THE PARABLES UNFOLDED. 
 
 the most casual observer. They are perfect and inimitable 
 models, " apples of gold in baskets of silver." 
 
 There is nothing superfluous, nothing meretricious; each 
 is a picture to the mind's eye, complete in all its lights and 
 shades, and perfect in its groupings and design. 
 
 "With reference to the Parables, we may say what Luther 
 does of the Bible at large, that " it is a garden of God, 
 with many a lovely tree laden with lordly fruit ; and that, 
 often as he had shaken the boughs and received the 
 delicious fruit into his bosom, yet had he ever found new 
 fruit w T hen he had searched and shaken them anew." 
 
 Admirably, then, did our Lord adapt his instructions to 
 the mental and moral necessities of his hearers ; and we 
 might appeal to his Parables alone, in proof of the divinity 
 of his mission. 
 
 The fables and allegories of the heathen world, were 
 interwoven with their fictitious history, with their debasing 
 mythologies, with their poetic extravagancies, and were 
 designed to support that idolatry and polytheism which it 
 was the object of the gospel to destroy. The moral instruc- 
 tion, if any was intended, must be dug out from the rubbish 
 of poetical images and superstitious conceits. Avery slight 
 comparison of the abstruse allegories of Plato, the mon 
 strous fables of the Jewish Talmud or the Asiatic Vishnu, 
 with the Parables of the gospel, will suffice to show, that 
 while delicacy, wit, virtue, truth, are continually violated 
 in the former; purity, elegance, pathos, point, and sublime 
 power are found in the latter. The former, like the ignes 
 fatui, are born in the foul fens and marshes of man's 
 
THE PARABLE. 21 
 
 depraved nature, and are earthly, sensual, devilish; the 
 latter, like the guiding pillar of fire in the camp of the 
 Israelites, is heavenly, spiritual, and divine. 
 
 But a quality which distinguishes them above all other 
 parables, is the universality of their application, and the 
 perfect, real value of their instruction. In their original 
 delivery, they were wisely adapted to the people and the 
 time at which, and for whom, they were spoken. Yet they 
 are equally valuable now, and in all parts of the world, 
 " for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in 
 righteousness." They never weary the mind, never become 
 distasteful to the soul, never grow old and obsolete, never 
 lose their force or beauty ; but will ever be read with 
 delight, ever be studied with interest, and ever be esteemed 
 the most precious as well as most beautiful and instructive 
 passages of God's Holy Word. 
 
&jp &ra f irgiti*. 
 
THE TEN VIRGINS. 
 
 "Then shall the kingdom of heaven be likened unto ten virgins, -which took theii 
 lamps, and went forth to meet the bridegroom. And five of them -were wise, and 
 five were foolish. They that were foolish took their lamps, and took no oil with 
 them ; but the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps. While the bride- 
 groom tarried, they all slumbered and slept. And at midnight there was a cry 
 made, Behold the bridegroom cometh ; go ye out to meet him. Then all those 
 virgins arose, and trimmed their lamps. And the foolish said unto the wise, Give 
 us of your oil ; for our lamps are gone out. But the wise answered, Baying, Not 
 so ; lest there be not enough for us and you : but go ye rather to them that sell, 
 and buy for yourselves. And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came ; and 
 they that were ready went in with him to the marriage : and the door was shut. 
 Afterward came also the other virgins, saying, Lord, Lord, open to us. But he 
 answered and said, Verily I say unto you, I know you not. Watch therefore ; for 
 ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh." 
 
 Matt. xxv. 1-13. 
 
 THE simple diction, the attractive similitudes, and the 
 solemn moral of this parable, invest it with peculiar 
 interest. Many ancient and modern writers have attempted 
 to compose like allegories, but in elegance, fitness, and 
 didactic force, they fall far below this parable of our Lord. 
 Witness, for example, the following by Rabbi Jochanan 
 ben Zaccai, who lived in the century before Christ : " A 
 certain king invited his servants to a feast, but did not fix 
 any time for them to come. Those of them who were 
 
 25 
 
2G THE PARABLES UNFOLDED. 
 
 wary and prudent adorned themselves and sat at the gate 
 of the king's house, but those of them that were fools went 
 and did their work, and said, Is there any work without 
 trouble? 
 
 "On a sudden the king inquired after his servants; the 
 wise went in before him as they were adorned, but the fools 
 went in before him as they were, filthy and soiled. 
 
 " The king rejoiced at meeting the wise, but was angry 
 at meeting the foolish, and ordered that those who had 
 adorned themselves for the feast should sit and eat, and 
 those who had not adorned themselves should stand." 
 
 This, however, as well as other parables in the Tal- 
 muds, lack many of the essential points which distinguish 
 those recorded in the Gospel. 
 
 We are here introduced into the stirring and picturesque 
 scenes of an oriental marriage. 
 
 The nuptial ceremony in the East is always one of dis- 
 play and often magnificence, is full of excitement, and 
 marked by many peculiar customs, an understanding of 
 which is necessary to a full appreciation of this beautiful 
 parable. 
 
 These marriage festivals lasted sometimes several days, 
 but the period of greatest public interest was that when the 
 bridegroom conducted his bride from her parent's house to 
 her future home. This was usually done at night, when 
 the parties, accompanied by their respective friends, joined 
 in glad procession, and the scene, lit up by countless torches, 
 and enlivened by choral songs or instrumental music, was 
 peculiarly exciting and delightful. The custom still pre 
 
THE TEN VIRGINS. 2/ 
 
 vails in Asiatic countries, and we have been present at ar 
 Eastern wedding, where the ceremonies observed corres- 
 ponded very much to those here described. We well 
 remember the moving lamps glittering like so many fire- 
 flies in the darkness ; the strains of music varying in 
 volume, in measure, in expression, yet mostly jubilant; the 
 advancing procession, the shout of those stationed at the 
 bridegroom's house, as the head of the nuptial column 
 came in sight, " behold the bridegroom cometh !" and the 
 expressions of joy and hilarity which lighted up every 
 countenance and animated every heart, and while beholding 
 this scene we felt, as we had never before done, the force 
 and fidelity as well as emphasis of the Parable of the 
 Ten Virgins. 
 
 The design of this parable is to enforce Christian watch- 
 fulness; and nothing could more aptly illustrate its necessity 
 than the felicitous similitude here employed. 
 
 By "the kingdom of heaven" is meant the state of 
 things under the gospel dispensation; by the "virgins," the 
 members of Christ's church, the professors of his religion, 
 w T ho should be like virgins in the purity and innocence of 
 their lives and conversation. 
 
 The number ten was doubtless mentioned because it was 
 a favourite one among the Jews. According to the 
 Mishna, a congregation consisted of ten persons, and less 
 than that number did not make one; and whenever there 
 were ten persons in a place they were obliged to build a 
 synagogue. With less than ten men they did not divide 
 the Shema, i. e. " Hear, Israel," &c, nor did the messenger 
 
28 THE PARABLES UNFOLDED. 
 
 of the congregation go before the ark to pray, nor did the 
 priest lift up the hands to bless the people, &c, &c. The 
 Lamps represent the profession of godliness, the Bridegroom 
 is Christ, his Spouse the Church. 
 
 The words rendered respectively " wise" and " foolish," 
 mean, the former: sensible, prudent, having sagacity 
 and discernment; and the latter: dull, sluggish and slow, 
 evidencing the lack of those very qualities which make up 
 the character of the wise; and the wisdom and folly of 
 each five was seen in the fact mentioned by our Lord, 
 " That they that were foolish took their lamps and took no 
 oil with them ; but the wise took oil in their vessels with 
 their lamps." 
 
 The obscure ideas which this passage conveys to an 
 English reader is made clear by a recurrence to Eastern 
 customs. Rabbi Jarchi says that it was the custom in the 
 land of Ishmael to bring the bride from her father's house 
 to her husband's in the night, and to carry before her about 
 ten staves. Upon the top of each staff was the form of a 
 brazen dish, and in the midst of it pieces of garments, oil, 
 and pitch, which they set on fire : holding these in one 
 hand, they carry in the other a vessel full of oil, w r ith which 
 they replenish from time to time their else useless lamps. 
 
 The having or not having " Oil in their vessels with their 
 lamps," is the hinge upon which turns the whole moral of 
 the parable. 
 
 Many and very diverse have been the interpretations 
 given of this emblem ; and many a controversial battle has 
 been fought upon this narrow verse. 
 
THE TEN VIRGINS. 20 
 
 Looking only at the animus of the parable, and the 
 circumstances under which it was uttered, we feel warranted 
 in saying, that while the "lamps" represent the outward 
 profession of religion, the " oil in their vessels with their 
 lamps," signifies the grace of God in the heart, by which 
 only true religion can be nurtured and sustained; for 
 wherever the spirit of Christ is not, there, of course, is an 
 absence of that oil of grace by which the professor can 
 become "a burning and a shining light." 
 
 Taking then the wise and foolish virgins as exponents 
 respectively of true and false professors of religion, let us 
 notice first the points of resemblance between them. They 
 were both virgins in name and character, outwardly unim- 
 peachable and chaste in conduct. They were both attend- 
 ant on the bridegroom, had received and obeyed the external 
 calling which enrolled them as his attendants. They were 
 both invited to the marriage-feast, and had held out before 
 them the bliss of that festive occasion, when they should 
 sit down with the bridegroom at the nuptial supper. They 
 both had lamps, the outward signs and evidences of being 
 attendant on the bridegroom, the symbols of a professing 
 faith. They both, while the bridegroom tarried, slumbered 
 and slept; relapsed from a watchful into a careless, 
 nodding, sleeping condition. They both arose at the 
 midnight cry, "Go } T e out to meet him," and "trimmed 
 their lamps," to comply with the summons. 
 
 So with regard to true and false professors. They are 
 all nominal Christians, visible and outward attendants on 
 the bridegroom Christ. They have all the lamp of a holy 
 
30 THE PARABLES UNFOLDED. 
 
 profession, and maintain the same general character for 
 virgin purity; they are strict in the performance of all 
 moral duties, constant in their attendance on the house of 
 God, give, perhaps liberally, for the support of the Gospel, 
 manifest much zeal for Christ, and bear towards men the 
 form and visage of true devotion. These are some of the 
 points wherein the true and the false professor agree ; they 
 travel thus far in the same visible path, and the eye of the 
 world cannot, up to this point, detect any difference. But 
 to the eye of Him who seeth in secret, there is a marked and 
 eternal dissimilarity ; for, secondly, the points of dissimi- 
 larity, though not so numerous as those of resemblance, 
 are very distinct and significant. The wise virgins had 
 taken oil in their vessels with their lamps, but the foolish 
 virgins neglected this precaution, and when the first flame 
 of enthusiasm or mental fervour was burnt out, they had 
 no supply of grace to sustain the light of life. 
 
 They differed also in the fact that, while, at the midnight 
 cry, the lamps of the wise virgins were still burning, and 
 only needed " trimming," the lamps of the foolish had alto- 
 gether " gone out." Consequently, while the one class was 
 prepared to go out to meet the bridegroom, the other was 
 embarrassed and unprepared. The midnight hour was no 
 time wherein to buy the needed oil; and, though they 
 attempted to repair their indiscretion, it was too late. The 
 wise virgins, joining the procession with trimmed and burn- 
 ing lamps, passed on in the bridegroom's train, and " the 
 door was shut." 
 
 The broad difference thus indicated still exists between 
 the sincere Christian and the hypocrite. 
 
THE TEN VIRGINS. 31 
 
 The lamps of the false professor often go out in this life, 
 when they who have begun in the spirit end in the flesh, 
 and they break out perhaps into open apostacy. How often, 
 in the language of Job, is "the candle of the wicked" thus 
 " put out," for they have not, with the lamp of profession, 
 a heart filled with the oil of grace. This oil of grace, 
 lodged in the heart, is the sole replenisher of the lamp of 
 profession. Each. Christian's heart must be like the bowl 
 of the golden candlestick which Zechariah saw in vision in 
 the Sanctuary, wherein was kept the oil — pure — costly — 
 elaborately prepared, which, through golden pipes, "fed 
 the seven lamps on the top thereof." Every lamp of the 
 Christian profession must draw its oil through these golden 
 pipes of the Sanctuary, and from this golden bowl, filled 
 with the oil of God's spirit. That life of outward devotion, 
 of external profession, which is not daily fed by the 
 indwelling grace of the Holy Ghost, is a foolish virgin's 
 lamp. It will do while they slumber and sleep, but will 
 fill them with sore dismay when the cry shall be made at 
 midnight : " Behold the Bridegroom cometh ; go ye out to 
 meet him !" when they shall discover — alas ! too late — 
 that they have "no oil in their vessels with their lamps." 
 
 Such being the points of similarity and dissimilarity 
 between the wise and foolish virgins, we turn to examine 
 the respective results in the case of each. 
 
 The wise virgins, though sleeping when the midnight cry 
 was heard, "arose, and trimmed their lamps," and were 
 soon in a condition to go out and meet the bridegroom, 
 Joining the nuptial procession, they moved along to the 
 
32 THE PARABLES UNFOLDED. 
 
 bridegroom's house, and " went in with him to the mar- 
 riage." The others, like the wise virgins, arose and 
 trimmed their lamps, but having no oil wherewith to 
 replenish them, sought to borrow some of their sister 
 virgins, and failing in this, " went to buy" some of those 
 that sold. While thus engaged, the bridegroom came ; the 
 procession moved on ; the wise virgins passed in to the 
 feast ; and when afterward the other virgins came, they 
 found the streets dark and deserted, and when they 
 reached the bridegroom's house, " the door was shut." In 
 vain they cried, " Lord, Lord, open to us !" His reply was, 
 " I know you not," It was dark ; he could not see their 
 faces, and he might perhaps have thought that it was part 
 of a marauding band, thus feigning the character and the 
 voices of his chosen attendants, and seeking to enter his 
 house, and break up the festal scene. 
 
 In like manner will the s false professors fail to gain 
 admittance to the marriage-supper of the Lamb in Heaven. 
 Lacking the oil of grace, they will not be able to join with 
 the bridegroom's train ; and when in despair they besiege 
 the ear of God with the cry, " Lord, Lord, open unto us," 
 they will find the door shut, and will hear the voice of the 
 Heavenly Bridegroom saying from within, "I know you 
 not." There is no entreaty that will then avail — the 
 virgin chasteness of an outward morality; the lamp of a 
 once bright profession ; the companionship of the wise 
 virgins; will each be worthless. What is needed at that 
 midnight hour, and to gain an entrance through that open 
 door to the marriage-feast, is, the burning lamp fed with 
 
THE TEN VIRGINS. 35 
 
 the oil of grace, and shining out in the holy faith and pious 
 works of one made " wise" by the renewing of the Holy 
 Ghost. 
 
 The Lord Jesus gives us the moral of this parable in 
 the words, " Watch, therefore, for ye know neither the day 
 nor the hour wherein the Son of Man cometh." 
 
 Watchfulness is an essential requisite of Christian 
 character; and this watchfulness must be exercised in 
 reference to things within and things without. We must 
 watch the affections of the heart, their character, their 
 direction, their force ; we must watch the operations of our 
 minds, their motions, thought, imaginations ; we must 
 watch the outgoing desires of our soul, their aim, their ten- 
 dency, their exciting cause ; we must watch also our out- 
 ward temptations, the snares spread for our feet, the wiles 
 of the adversary, and the manifold arts and transformations 
 whereby he lays in wait to deceive. 
 
 If it be true in politics, where we have but human ene- 
 mies to contend with, that the price of liberty "is eternal 
 vigilance ;" much more in religion, where we wrestle not 
 against "flesh and blood, but against principalities, against 
 powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world," 
 is it true that tho price of eternal life is unrelaxing watch- 
 fulness. 
 
 The unwatclrng, will soon be a conquered Christian. 
 
 The Christian's lamp needs daily replenishing from the 
 forntain of all light. The oil of grace needs daily renewal ; 
 it must be daily sought for at the mercy seat ; for, if the 
 
34 THE PARABLES UNFOLDED. 
 
 Holy Spirit's beams are quenched, there is no relighting of 
 his lamp, and no going in to the marriage. 
 
 Especially is there a necessity for this constant prepara- 
 tion to meet the Bridegroom, in view of the uncertainty of 
 the time when He will appear. 
 
 That "He will come and will not tarry," is a revealed and 
 certain truth : but when He will come ; the week, the day, 
 the hour; we know not. How He will come, suddenly or 
 slowly, at home or abroad, with lingering disease or un- 
 foreseen accident, we know not; hence the necessity of 
 being always prepared, of having our lamps always 
 " trimmed," and of having "oil in our vessels with our 
 lamps," that when the summons comes we may be prepared 
 to obey it, and go in unto the marriage supper of the Lamb 
 in heaven. 
 
 There are, then, in the visible church, such persons as 
 correspond in character to the "foolish virgins;" and it be- 
 comes us then to mark well the points wherein they are 
 deficient, and seek, where only it can be found, at the 
 throne of grace, for that wisdom which is liberally given 
 of God, that fear of the Lord which is the beginning of 
 wisdom, and by which we are made " wise" unto everlasting 
 life. 
 
 There is, then, such a thing, as an oilless lamp. Many 
 such are carried by the professed attendants of the Bride- 
 groom, Christ ; and it behooves us to see to it that there 
 is oil in our vessels, the oil of grace, as without it we have 
 but "a name to live and are dead." 
 
 There is, then, to be heard a midnight cry. " Behold 
 
THE TEN VIRGINS. 35 
 
 the Bridegroom cometh, go ye out to meet Him !" and we 
 must see to it that we arise and trim our lamps, that Death 
 surprise us not in our slumber, and find us unprepared for 
 the summons that must soon ring upon our ears. 
 
 There will be found, at last, by every possessor of a lamp 
 which has " gone out," an unopened door and a rebuking 
 Saviour ; and it is of the utmost importance that we should 
 diligently seek every needed preparation, so that we may 
 go in with the Bridegroom to the marriage supper, and not 
 come at the last, after fruitless effort to buy the oil of grace 
 at human shambles, amidst the unillumined darkness of 
 the midnight of death, to that unopened door, only to hear 
 from within, in response to our knocks, and our cry " Lord, 
 Lord, open unto us," the stern rebuff, "Verily I say unto 
 you, I know you not." 
 
 That we may, therefore, avoid the doom of the foolish 
 virgins, and secure the position of the wise, let us give all 
 diligence to our Lord's injunction, "Watch, therefore, for 
 ye know neither the day nor the hour when the Son of 
 Man cometh." 
 
t luramiM §, erkui 
 

 THE UNMERCIFUL SERVANT. 
 
 " Therefore is the kingdom of heaven likened unto a certain king, which would 
 take account of his servants. And when he had begun to reckon, one was brought 
 unto him, which owed him ten thousand talents. But forasmuch as he had not to 
 pay, his lord commanded him to be sold, and his wife, and children, and all that 
 he had, and payment to be made. The servant therefore fell down, and worshipped 
 him, saying, Lord, have patience with me, and I will pay thee all. Then the lord 
 of that servant was moved with compassion, and loosed him, and forgave him the 
 debt. But the same servant went out, and found one of his fellow servants, which 
 owed him a hundred pence : and he laid hands on him, and took him by the throat, 
 saying, Pay me that thou owest. And his fellow servant fell down at his feet, and 
 besought him, saying, Have patience with me, and I will pay thee all. And he 
 would not: but went and cast him into prison, till he should pay the debt. So 
 when his fellow servants saw what was done, they were very sorry, and came and 
 told unto their lord all that was done. Then his lord, after that he had called him, 
 said unto him, thou wicked servant, I forgave thee all that debt, because thou 
 desiredst me : shouldest not thou also have had compassion on thy fellow servant, 
 sven as I had pity on thee ? And his lord was wroth, and delivered him to the 
 tormentors, till he should pay all that was due unto him. So likewise shall my 
 heavenly Father do also unto you, if ye from your hearts forgive not every one his 
 brother their trespasses." Matt, xviii. 23-35. 
 
 THIS parable, which Bishop Porteus says " is one of the 
 most interesting and affecting that is to be found either 
 in Scripture or in any of the most admired writers of anti- 
 quity," was drawn from our Saviour by the inquiry of St. 
 Peter — "Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and 
 L forgive him ?'' 
 
40 THE PARABLES UNFOLDED. 
 
 In a conversation with his disciples, just before, our Lord 
 had directed what course to pursue in reference to tres- 
 passes, and in what way to seek redress of our grievances. 
 The subject arrested the attention of Peter. The duties 
 enjoined and the precepts delivered by Christ, were new, 
 striking, important. Peter was anxious for more information, 
 and for some specific rule. He knew, doubtless, that the 
 rabbinical law of forgiveness said, that " three offences were 
 to be remitted, but not the fourth," and putting what, per- 
 haps, he supposed an extreme case, he asks if he shall for- 
 give his brother "until seven times?" thus doubling the 
 number which the Talmud required him to pardon. To 
 this question Christ promptly answers, "I say not unto 
 thee until seven times, but until seventy times seven;" 
 thus inculcating a breadth of forgiveness widely removed 
 from the narrow law of the Rabbins on the one hand, or 
 the supposed liberality of Peter on the other. 
 
 But our Lord did not design to affix any definite limit to 
 the number of offences which it was our duty to forgive. 
 Seven, as is well known, was, among the Hebrews, a num- 
 ber representing perfection, and therefore is frequently 
 used in the Scriptures to denote frequency, fullness, multi- 
 tude; so that, to forgive "seven times" means to forgive 
 many times, but to forgive "seventy times seven" expresses 
 the full and perfect forgiveness which should be manifested 
 towards all offenders. 
 
 Here, then, was the utterance of a great and heaven-born 
 principle — the unlimited forgiveness of injuries! and to 
 illustrate this principle on a scale commensurate with its 
 
THE UNMERCIFUL SERVANT. 41 
 
 real greatness, our Lord related the parable of " The Un- 
 merciful Servant." 
 
 In this parable "a certain king" is represented as taking 
 '' account of his servants," or fiscal ministers, to whom were 
 committed the farming and collecting of his royal revenues. 
 He had scarcely "begun to reckon," before his attention 
 was drawn to one who "owed him ten thousand talents." 
 When he "was brought unto him," it was found that he 
 had not wherewith to pay, being hopelessly bankrupt. He 
 was evidently a tributary prince or treasurer, in whose 
 custody were placed the revenues of the realm, and who 
 had abused the confidence of the king by appropriating to 
 himself "ten thousand talents." This amount, even taking 
 the talent at its lowest value, was more than equal to the 
 enormous sum of fifteen millions of dollars, and evinces, at 
 once, the elevated dignity to which this servant of the king 
 was raised, and the boldness of the peculation which he 
 attempted on the royal exchequer. 
 
 Confessing his inability to pay, the king, termed here 
 " his lord," because, in those countries, all subjects, from 
 the lowest to the highest, were the virtually owned servants 
 of the monarch, "commanded him to be sold, and his wife, 
 and children, and all that he had, and payment to be 
 made." This severe penalty for insolvency was one often 
 used in the East, as is testified to by sacred and profane 
 writers; and, even in the Eoman law, wife and children 
 being part of the father's possessions, were sold with him 
 into slavery when he could not pay his debts. 
 
 As soon, however, as he learns the order of his king, and 
 
42 THE PARABLES UNFOLDED. 
 
 knowing the miserable servitude into which it will plungo 
 him — an abasement the more galling because of the height 
 from which he fell — he falls down, and, in oriental fashion, 
 "worships him" — prostrating himself upon his face before 
 him — " saying, Lord, have patience with me, and I will pay 
 thee all." Touched with the abject misery of the suppliant, 
 and feeling in his own heart the relentings of compassion, 
 the king orders his fettered prisoner to be loosed ; revoked 
 the sentence which consigned him to the auction-mart of 
 the slave ; restored to him his wife, his children, his goods; 
 and "forgave him the debt." 
 
 What a sense of relief must that wretched criminal 
 have experienced as the word " forgive" fell upon his ear ! 
 What a change in his condition — from a prostrate, con- 
 demned beggar, ordered out for sale, with his wife and 
 children, to freedom, wealth, and happiness ! Yet his sub- 
 sequent conduct proved how unworthy he was of this royal 
 clemency ; for, as the sacred narrative leads us to infer, he 
 had scarcely gone out from the presence of his king, 
 relieved of his onerous debt, when he met "one of his 
 fellow servants," who "owed him a hundred pence," or 
 about fifteen dollars ; and, instead of being softened by the 
 mercy which he had experienced, he lays violent hands on 
 him, and " took him by the throat, saying. Pay me that 
 thou owest." The action of prostration, the plea for 
 patience, and the promise eventually to pay all, which he 
 had just made to his king, is now made by his fellow ser- 
 vant to himself; there is an identity of act and language, 
 in order to give greater force to the unforgiving nature of 
 
THE UNMER'JIFUL SERVANT. 13, 
 
 this imperious creditor. Though that abasement and plea 
 found mercy for him, it obtains no mercy from him. One 
 would have supposed, that touching that tender chord 
 would have procured at once a compassionate response;, 
 that the hundred pence would at once have been forgiven,, 
 in view of the ten thousand talents remitted by his lord. 
 But no ! Avarice is deaf, and cannot hear ; blind, and 
 cannot see ; heartless, and cannot feel. It has no bowels 
 of mercy, no finely strung sympathies ; it is relentless in 
 its grasp, cruel in its aims ; and the horse-leech cry of its 
 insatiate appetite is " give ! give !" 
 
 To get gain, it will steal from the treasuries of kings, or 
 grind the face of the poor; it will wrench open the 
 clenched hand of penury for its uttermost farthing, and 
 wring from the widowed mother ihe pittance which gives 
 her children their daily bread. Of all such oppressors God 
 declares, " they have swallowed down riches, and shall 
 vomit them up again ; he shall suck the poison of asps ; 
 the viper's tongue shall slay him ; that which he laboured 
 for he shall restore, according to his substance shall the 
 restitution be, and he shall not rejoice therein. In the 
 fulness of his sufficiency he shall be in straits ; every hand 
 of the wicked shall come upon him." And this is but part 
 of that remarkable portraiture of a wicked, grasping, ava- 
 ricious man, drawn at such full length in the book of Job. 
 
 Refusing to listen to the cry of his fellow servant, the 
 heartless creditor " went and cast him into prison until he 
 should pay the debt." This conduct was soon reported to 
 the king, who, indignant at his course, ordered him into 
 
44 1 II £ PARABLES UN FOLDED. 
 
 his presence, and, addressing him in stern and angry words, 
 said, "Oh, thou wicked servant, I forgave thee all that 
 debt because thou desiredst me; shouldst not thou also 
 have had compassion on thy fellow servant, even as I had 
 pity on thee ?" Well might the king be " wroth ;" and, 
 with a justice which commended itself to every observer, 
 he revoked his cancellation of the debt, and "delivered 
 him to the tormentors, until he should pay all that was due 
 unto him." He merited his doom by his avarice, and he 
 brought it upon himself by his extortion. 
 
 Having thus shown the injustice of this man's proceed- 
 ing, and the iniquity of an unforgiving spirit, Christ draws 
 the moral — " So likewise shall my Heavenly Father do 
 also unto you, if ye from your hearts forgive not every one 
 his brother their trespasses." 
 
 The design then of the parable is to teach us forgiveness 
 of injuries, and the Christian grounds of it. The doctrine 
 of heathen philosophers on the subject of forgiveness of 
 injuries, was altogether vague and unsatisfactory. Some, 
 indeed, as Plato, Maximus Tvrius, Epictetus, and Marcus 
 Antoninu3, commend clemency ; but others, of equal name 
 and learning, as Aristotle, Cicero, Democritus, held revenge 
 to be a duty, and forgiveness of injuries to be a narrow- 
 minded weakness. Cicero, in his " Offices," gives it as the 
 character of a good man, " that he does good to those 
 whom it is in his power to serve, and hurts no man unless 
 he be provoked by an injury." Many modern infidels 
 have followed in the track of ancient moralists. Bayle 
 declares that the precept prohibiting revenge "is contrary 
 
THE UNMERCIFUL SERVANT. 45 
 
 to the law of nature," and Tindal goes so far as to make 
 the doctrine of forgiving injuries an objection to the Gospel. 
 It was important, therefore, that there should be some 
 divine and immutable legislation on this subject, so that the 
 world would know the truth, and have before it a certain 
 guide. This great want the Lord Jesus supplied, not onl\ 
 by the delivery of this parable, but in various other pas- 
 sages, in a manner at once clear, full, and authoritative. 
 
 Let us examine, then, the basis on which this doctrine 
 rests, and the arguments by which it is sustained. The 
 foundation of this virtue is the revealed fact, that God has 
 announced himself as a sin-pardoning God. Had there 
 been no forgiveness in the Divine mind, there could have 
 been none in the human, for while the vices of men are 
 self-begotten, their virtues are in every instance copies in 
 miniature of some of God's perfections. Hence the whole 
 superstructure of forgiveness of injuries, and of loving our 
 enemies, is built upon those unfoldings of the Divine cha- 
 racter, which represent Him as a God, pardoning iniquity 
 and showing mercy to the unrighteous. It was necessary 
 that this trait should first be seen in Him, that He should 
 pattern it forth in His own acts, and illustrate its workings 
 in His own dealings with the sinful and the rebellious ; for 
 how should we know what it was, or how it was to be 
 exercised, had we not previously beheld it in operation ; or 
 how could we have been commanded to exercise a virtue 
 which God had not. himself manifested in nature or 
 revelation ? But He has not thus required of us a moral 
 impossibibility. How He has forgiven, is admirably set. 
 
46 THE PARABLES UNFOLDED. 
 
 forth in this parable; and the relations between ourselves, as 
 debtors, and God, as a merciful creditor, are there strikingly 
 illustrated. 
 
 We are debtors to God in sums beyond our ability to 
 pay ; we owe him love, obedience, faith, and the duties of 
 a Christian life; we owe him our minds, our souls, our 
 bodies; and w r hen He calls us before Him to take an 
 account of us, He finds us in arrears to the full extent of 
 the Law, which we have not obeyed, and of the salvation 
 which w r e have rejected, so that as he " who offendeth in 
 one point of the Law, is guilty of all ;" and as he who is 
 not with Christ, " is against him," it follows that we are 
 moral insolvents, owing more than ten thousand talents of 
 service, yet unable to pay down the first instalment of 
 spiritual duty. He has called upon us to " bring all the 
 tithes into the store-house," tithes of Christian offerings and 
 devotion, — and we have brought none. He has given us 
 talents, with the injunction, " occupy till I come" — and we 
 have gracelessly " wrapped them in a napkin," or buried 
 them in the earth. He has called to us, " give an account 
 of thy stewardship" — and we have stood before him, 
 speechless bankrupts. 
 
 Could we fully obey God's law, we should then fully pay 
 all our moral indebtedness to Him, for, in the words of the 
 Prophet, " what doth the Lord require of thee but to do 
 justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy 
 God ?" He who keeps God's law does all this ; hence he 
 who keeps the law does all that God requires, and cannot 
 therefore become a debtor. 
 
THE UNMERCIFUL SERVANT. ±7 
 
 ■ But, as each act of disobedience, each failure in duty, 
 each moment's continuance in a state of rebellion, is a debt, 
 a perpetually accumulating debt, not one item of which 
 can we, of ourselves, pay, and which, aggregated, are faintly 
 represented by the ten thousand talents of the parable, so 
 do we find ourselves in the condition of this servant, 
 brought into the presence of our Lord, with a perfectly 
 uncancellable debt, threatening us with its impending woe. 
 If we cannot balance our accounts with God, He will, He 
 must, if He is true to Himself and just in His moral govern- 
 ment, require us to make up our delinquencies, "even to 
 the uttermost farthing;" and, as we cannot pay all that is 
 due unto Him, so must He visit our defaulting souls with 
 the punishment due to such great transgressors. 
 
 This punishment is everlasting ruin, to be sold, not as 
 the Jewish law directed, for six years only, but for ever ; 
 and thus made the slaves of the Prince of Darkness, with 
 no year of release at hand, no jubilee of emancipation in 
 prospect. 'The language of the Bible in reference to every 
 unrenewed man is, that " he is sold under sin," that he is 
 "a servant of iniquity ;" for, " know ye not," says the Apos- 
 tle, " that, to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, 
 his servants ye are whom ye obey, whether of sin unto 
 death, or of righteousness unto holiness ?" In this condition 
 of bankruptcy and servitude lay the whole human race ; 
 and had God, like an inexorable creditor, refused to forgive 
 us our debt, we should, even now, be under the hand of 
 tormentors, and yet without any hope of paying what was 
 due unto him. 
 
48 THE PARABLES UNFOLDED. 
 
 But this was not like God. He was a God of mercy, as 
 well as justice; and in His counsels purposed to "deliver 
 from curse and damnation those whom He hath chosen in 
 Christ out of mankind, and to bring them by Christ to 
 everlasting salvation, as vessels made to honour." To this 
 end Christ became incarnate of the Virgin Mary — "God 
 manifest in the flesh" — taking upon him the sinner's nature; 
 standing in the sinner's place ; and " by the one oblation 
 of himself, once offered, made a full, perfect, and sufficient 
 sacrifice, oblation, and satisfaction for the sins of the whole 
 world;" so that now forgiveness of sin is proclaimed to 
 mankind, a forgiveness which is bestowed freely, and with- 
 out price, upon all who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, 
 and who make him the alone hope of their salvation. The 
 greatness of this act of forgiveness we can never know this 
 side the eternal world, because we can never, here, fully 
 measure the malignity of the sins which we have com- 
 mitted, and the dreadfulness of the curse which has been 
 remitted, and the blessedness of state to which, through 
 this forgiveness of sins, we are to be introduced. These 
 elements, which enter into a consideration of the munifi- 
 cence of God in pardoning our debts, are but faintly under- 
 stood here ; but in the world to come, where we shall see 
 sin in its full deformity, and the curse in its direful reality, 
 and the bliss of heaven in its unspeakable glory, then shall 
 we know somewhat of the infinite grace and mercy which 
 God manifested when he was "moved with compassion" 
 toward us, and " loosed" us from the bondage of death, and 
 " forgave us the debt." Its consideration will fill us with 
 
THE UNMERCIFUL SERVANT. 49 
 
 ever-increasing praise and wonder ; its greatness will loom 
 up more and more clearly ; the mercy of God will develop 
 its riches with a perpetually growing glory; and, as the 
 great cycles of eternity turn upon the axles of love, we 
 shall still discover new grace, new grandeur, new cause of 
 thanksgiving that there was with God forgiveness of sin, 
 that the ten thousand talents of man's indebtedness to His 
 holy law have been remitted, and guilty mortals were now, 
 through the payment of this debt by our Divine Substitute 
 and Surety, made " kings and priests unto God." 
 
 It is this forgiveness, divine in its nature, eternal in its 
 duration, world-wide in its compass, and unchangeable in 
 its operation, which is the basis on which rests the super- 
 structure of what we term the virtue of forgiving the tres- 
 passes of our fellow men. 
 
 The arguments by which we enforce and sustain this 
 virtue have great force and authority, and may be reduced 
 to two general heads, viz., those which are derived from 
 our relations to God, and those which spring from our rela- 
 tion to our fellow men. 
 
 Beginning with this lower argument, we find a forgiving 
 spirit is that by which we most secure the love and favour 
 of our fellow men. We are all erring creatures ; we daily 
 offend in word or deed, designedly or undesignedly, against 
 those around us; and as, if each of our offences was 
 severely judged and rigidty condemned, we should be for 
 ever miserable, and the sweet amenities of life would be 
 altogether lost, so must we be ever ready to forgive others ; 
 for he who makes haste to take his fellow servant by the 
 throat, with the inexorable demand, "pay me that thou 
 
ftO THE PARABLES UNFOLDED. 
 
 owest," will be most likely to meet with the same rough 
 treatment himself. The uncommiserating, unforgiving 
 man is generally uncommiserated and unforgiven. There 
 is always a fearful reaction to the outgoings of hatred 
 and revenge. There is a return tide which washes back 
 upon the heart the evils that flowed from it ; and it often 
 rolls in upon the soul with aggravated power. 
 
 Surely we are too frail ourselves to act rigidly towards 
 the frailties of our fellows. We too much need forgiveness 
 to be ourselves unforgiving ; and the cultivation or mani- 
 festation of a relentless spirit is sure to bring down upon 
 us the unpitying vengeance of those among whom we 
 dwell. So that policy, pride, self-love, personal comfort, 
 social position, and other even selfish motives, combine to 
 press upon us this important yet too much neglected duty; 
 for the experience of the world confirms the truth uttered 
 by St. James, "He shall have judgment without mercy 
 that hath showed no mercy." 
 
 Rising to those higher motives derived from our relations 
 to God, we find that the forgiveness of injuries done to 
 others, is one of the conditions of our salvation. This 
 truth is clearly established by God's Holy Word. In the 
 sermon on the mount, our Lord declares, " If ye forgive 
 men their trespasses, your Heavenly Father will also for- 
 give you; but if ye forgive not men their trespasses, 
 neither will your Father forgive your trespasses." On 
 another occasion he instructed His disciples, " When ye 
 stand praying, forgive if ye have aught against any, that 
 your Father also which is in heaven may forgive you your 
 
THE UNMERCIFUL SERVANT. 51 
 
 trespasses; but if ye do not forgive, neither will your 
 Father which is in heaven forgive your trespasses ;" and 
 on yet another occasion he exhorted them, saying, " For- 
 give, and ye shall be forgiven ; for with w T hat measure ye 
 mete it shall be measured to you again." Were anything 
 more necessary to establish this point, it is found in the 
 last verse of this parable, where punishments condign and 
 ignominious are threatened if we do not " from our hearts" 
 forgive every "one his brother their trespasses." These 
 passages, every one of which fell from the lips of Christ 
 himself, prove demonstrably that one of the conditions on 
 which we receive salvation is forgiveness of others in the 
 injuries which they have done to our persons, our names, 
 and our estates ; and that this forgiveness must be not of 
 the lips, not in professions merely, but " from the heart ;" 
 and will be judged of by Him "who searcheth the hearts 
 and trieth the reins of the children of men." And as we 
 cannot begin the Christian life without taking this initial 
 step, so neither when once taken, can we continue it under 
 any other condition. There can be no sanctification in the 
 heart that is filled with strife and anger. The Holy Ghost 
 is a spirit of peace, of love, of unity, and He cannot taber- 
 nacle with discord and anger; and whatever then drives 
 away the Sanctifier, or neutralizes His influence, hinders 
 our sanctification; and, consequently, we can never, so 
 long as He is absent from the heart, " be made meet for 
 the inheritance of the saints in light." Let no one who 
 harbours an unforgiving spirit pretend to say, I am a 
 Christian. St. John has denounced such as liars; for. 
 
52 THE PARABLES UNFOLDED. 
 
 says this " beloved disciple," " if he love not his brother 
 whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath 
 not seen ?" 
 
 In looking at this subject in the light of our relations to 
 God, we further discover that an unforgiving spirit not 
 only will destroy the grace of God within us, but will turn 
 our prayers into invocations of wrath. Our daily prayer 
 is, "forgive us our debts or trespasses, as we forgive our 
 debtors, or those who trespass against us," i. e., we pray that 
 God would forgive us, just in proportion as we forgive 
 others. If we forgive others wholly, we pray that we may 
 be wholly forgiven ; if we forgive but little, we pray that 
 we may be forgiven little; if we forgive none, we pray that 
 we may not be forgiven. What a fearful prayer ! To go 
 upon our knees, to clasp our hands and close our eyes, to 
 bow our heads, and then, in the solemn tones of prayer, 
 ask God never to forgive us our sins ! never to blot them 
 from the book of His remembrance ! but as we cherish with 
 emotions of hatred the trespasses of our fellow mortals 
 against us, so we beg God to cherish the remembrance of 
 our transgressions, and to nurse up His wrath against us 
 until the judgment hour! He surely is unworthy to 
 receive of God forgiveness of his ten thousand talent debt, 
 who is unwilling to pass over the hundred pence trespass of 
 his fellow servant! "And think not," says Archbishop 
 Leighton, " to satisfy God with superficial forgiveness and 
 reconcilements, saying I will forgive, but will not forget," 
 &c. Would we be content of such pardon of God ? to have 
 only a present forbearance of revenge, so that He should not 
 
THE UNMERCIFUL SERVANT. 53 
 
 quarrel with us, but no further friendship with him ; that 
 he should either use strangeness with us and not speak to 
 us, or only for fashion's sake ; and yet such are many of 
 our reconcilements of our brethren. God's way of forgive- 
 ness is both thorough and hearty, both to forgive and to 
 forget ; His language is, " I will forgive their iniquity, and 
 I will remember their sin no more." And if thine be not 
 so, thou hast no portion in His, for you only ask God to 
 " forgive you as you forgive others." 
 
 Lastly, there is laid upon us a Divine injunction to the 
 performance of this duty. In addition to the directions of 
 our Lord, already quoted, there are very many other texts 
 enforcing the same truth. St. Paul's sentiments may be 
 condensed in his direction " owe no man anything, but to 
 love one another," " be ye kind one to another, tender- 
 hearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake 
 hath forgiven you." St. James's views are expressed in the 
 words, "He shall have judgment without mercy that hath 
 showed no mercy." St. Peter's earnest exhortation is, 
 "above all things have fervent charity among yourselves;" 
 and St. John declares, "he that loveth not his brother 
 abideth in death." 'And when to these apostolic testimonies 
 you add the great law that comprehends within itself all 
 the duties of the second table, " Thou shalt love thy neigh- 
 bour as thyself;" and the grand exemplification of this 
 rule in the example of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, 
 whose steps we are to follow, whose mind we are to pos- 
 sess, whose spirit we are to copy; — what more cogent 
 
54 THE PARABLES UNFOLDED. 
 
 motives could be found to press upon us this holy and for- 
 giving spirit with which God is so well pleased ? 
 
 As Christians then — as followers of the meek and for- 
 giving Jesus — as those who hope that the immense debt 
 of their sins has been forgiven by God, let us go out into 
 the world and act towards our fellow men as God has 
 acted towards us ; for " it is the glory of a man to pass by 
 a transgression ; but to forgive, as we are forgiven of God, 
 is Divine." 
 
«fe« Iwfr |wl 
 

THE RICH FOOL. 
 
 " And he spake a parable unto them, saying, The ground of a certain rich man 
 jrought forth plentifully : And he thought within himself, saying, What shall I 
 do, because I have no room where to bestow my fruits ? And he said, This will I 
 do : I will pull down my barns, and build greater ; and there will I bestow all my 
 fruits and my goods. And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid 
 up for many years ; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry. But God said unto 
 him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee : then whose shall 
 those things be, which thou hast provided ? So is he that layeth up treasure for 
 himself, and is not rich toward God." St. Luke, xii. 16-111. 
 
 A STRIKING feature in the parables of Jesus Christ is 
 their adaptation to the immediate circumstances in 
 connexion with which they were delivered. 
 
 They are not fetched from afar — detached and isolated 
 allegories. They are not strained and forced into positions 
 to which they are not adapted ; but they fall in most natu- 
 rally with the subject of His discourse, and are mortised 
 and tenoned so aptly to the occasion, that we can scarcely 
 see the joint by which they are framed together. 
 
 The parable of the Rich Fool furnishes an instance of 
 this felicitous illustration. 
 
 In the midst of a discourse to his disciples, one of the 
 company, impatient of spiritual truth, and anxious only 
 for worldly benefit, said unto Him, " Master, speak to my 
 
 57 
 
58 THE PARABLES UNFOLDED. 
 
 brother, that he may divide the inheritance with me ," but 
 Jesus, aware of the jealousy of the Jews, should he exer- 
 cise any judicial functions, " said unto him, Man, who made 
 me a judge or a divider over you ?" 
 
 Whether this was a real cause, wherein a wronged bro- 
 ther desired one like our Lord, whom he considered a just 
 umpire, to arbitrate between them, or whether, like the 
 question of the Herodians about the tribute-money, or the 
 efforts of the Scribes and Pharisees to extort from him a 
 judgment concerning the woman professedly taken in adul- 
 tery, a mere feint to entrap him in his words, and, by caus- 
 ing him to exercise civil jurisdiction, furnish a ground of 
 complaint against him, as a traitor or usurper, we know 
 not. He was not entrapped, but, disclaiming all civil au- 
 thority, and persisting in that of the Teacher, He warns 
 him whose heart is so set upon a worldly inheritance — 
 " Take heed, and beware of covetousness ; for a man's life 
 consisteth not in the abundance of things which he pos- 
 sesseth.' 
 
 This great truth — that the real interests of life, the soul's 
 life, lie outside our worldly possessions — a truth so opposed 
 to the usual doctrines and feelings of the worldling, He en- 
 forces by a short but forcible parable, wherein covetousness, 
 in its relations to God and man, time and eternity, is com- 
 prehensively portrayed. 
 
 Having delivered this parable and sealed it upon the 
 mind by an aphoristic moral, Jesus resumes his discourse 
 to his disciples, and leaves the offended brother to ponder 
 the solemn truths w r hich he had heard. 
 
THE RICH FOOL. 
 
 59 
 
 The first thing presented to us in this parable is the 
 fact, that the riches of this man were honestly acquired. 
 It was the legitimate produce of his fields. "The ground 
 of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully." His 
 wealth was not wrung from penury, extorted by oppression, 
 or amassed by fraudulent trade. It was not the result of 
 cupidity and avarice, seeking out every avenue to gain 
 and every method of accumulation, but the product of 
 honest industry, crowned with the Divine blessing, " which 
 maketh the earth to bring forth abundantly and the clouds 
 to drop fatness." 
 
 It was highly important to the success of this parable, 
 that the riches of this man should be of this honest sort, 
 for, had they been ill-gotten gains, the rebuke, in the minds 
 of most persons, would have rested upon the manner in 
 which he acquired riches, rather than in the trusting to 
 riches itself, however honestly obtained. 
 
 With the increase of his wealth, however, there is found 
 no opening of his heart. The liberality of God to him 
 calls out no liberality from him towards his fellow men ; 
 but, intent only upon hoarding up what he has, "he thought 
 within himself, ' what shall I do, because I have no room 
 where to bestow my fruits?' " 
 
 "He thought within himself!" how expressive of the 
 internal working of covetousness, that dares not utter itself 
 in words, but that plots its plans in the recesses of the 
 heart, away from the sight of men, but not away from the 
 eyes of God. 
 
 Having revolved the matter on wholly selfish principles, 
 
60 THE PARABLES UNFOLDED. 
 
 never once thinking that he was God's steward to disburse 
 those riches, rather than his banker to hoard them; he 
 comes to a resolve " to pull down his barns, and build 
 greater," saying, " and there will I bestow all my fruits and 
 my goods." Beautifully does Ambrose allude to his per- 
 plexity about "having no room where to bestow his fruits." 
 * No room !" " Thou hast barns — the bosoms of the needy ; 
 the houses of the widows ; the mouths of orphans." 
 
 To relieve the poor and the destitute did not, however, 
 enter into his calculations ; self-aggrandizement was his end 
 and aim, as is evident by the address which he makes to- 
 his soul in view of the increase of his riches : " Soul, thou 
 hast much goods laid up for many years : take thine ease, 
 eat, drink, and be merry." He felt himself placed by his 
 actual abundance, beyond the caprice of fortune, and not 
 thinking of the uncertainty of life, he settles down in the 
 comfortable assurance, that henceforth his life will be one 
 of enjoyment, with no cares to perplex, no toil to fatigue, 
 no poverty to cramp, no fear to paralyze the desires and 
 affections of his heart. 
 
 To human eyes, how bright and beautiful his prospect!" 
 The future lay spread out before him enamelled with light ; 
 visions of joy danced in jocund rounds before his eyes ; no 
 thought had he of sorrow; no care for the morrow; no 
 concern for eternity. He had entrenched his heart about 
 with gold ; adversities surely could not make a breach 
 there ! He had arranged all his schemes of life ; death 
 surely would not interrupt his long-cherished plans ! He 
 had just reached the point where most of all desired to 
 
THE RICH FOOL 61 
 
 'live; the grave surely would not yawn beneath him at 
 such a time ! It never seems to have occurred to him that 
 God, and not himself, was the disposer of his wealth, his 
 happiness, his life. Absorbed in the things of time, his 
 crops, his fields, his barns, he totally forgot his soul, or had 
 no other idea of it than that of a gross and sensual sub- 
 stance that could be filled and satisfied with the grovelling 
 things of earth. He was a materialist in doctrine, and a 
 -sensualist in practice. 
 
 But in this state of peace, plenty, and pleasure, his 
 thoughts stretching out into the future, and his plans 
 maturing to perfection, he is suddenly aroused by the voice 
 of God, saying unto him, "Thou fool, this night thy soul 
 shall be required of thee : then whose shall those things be 
 which thou hast provided ?" What a startling annunciation 
 this ! the curfew bell of the soul, extinguishing every light 
 of hope and of joy, leaving it in the blackness of darkness 
 for ever ! He was a " fool" to imagine that the soul needed 
 no preparation for an exchange of worlds, — for none he 
 made or thought of. He was a " fool" for supposing that 
 his soul would be satisfied with wealth or pleasures of this 
 world. He was a "fool" for believing that life had no 
 other purpose than self-gratification, no other ends than 
 sensual delights. He was a " fool" in thinking that his 
 riches were his own, to hoard them in barns, rather than 
 intrusted to him as a steward to disburse to the Lord's 
 poor, and for the Lord's service. 
 
 Alas! how quickly do his dreams of pleasure, and 
 schemes of greatness, and hopes of life, vanish at the 
 
62 THE PARABLES UNFOLDED. 
 
 awful voice of God. Barns, stores, fruits, pleasures are 
 scattered by that dread annunciation, " This night thy soul 
 shall be required of thee !" Instead of building for him a 
 barn, they must dig a grave; instead of having "much 
 goods laid up for many years," he had nothing laid up for 
 eternity; instead of his soul taking ease and being merry, 
 he must lie down in everlasting sorrow, saying " to corrup- 
 tion, thou art my father ; to the worm, thou art my mother 
 and my sister." So great is the change, so sudden the 
 surprise, so mighty the wreck of wealth when God calls 
 the sinner to his bar. 
 
 It was a saying of some of the Jewish doctors, that the 
 angel Gabriel drew out the souls of the righteous by a 
 gentle kiss upon their mouths : but not thus gentle was the 
 death of the rich fool ; for in the language of Theophylact, 
 " terrible angels, like pitiless exactors of tribute, required 
 of him, as a disobedient debtor, his soul." His departure 
 was like that described by Job : " The rich man shall lie 
 down, but he shall not be gathered : he openeth his eyes 
 and he is not ; terrors take hold on him as waters, a tempest 
 stealeth him away in the night, and as a storm hurleth him 
 out of his place; for God shall cast upon him and not 
 spare ; he would fain flee out of his hand." 
 
 Of the rich man thus driven away in his wickedness,. 
 Jesus well asks, " Then whose shall those things be which 
 thou hast provided?" He gathered, but another shall 
 scatter ; he laid up in store, but another shall lay out in 
 waste, and what he provided for himself shall be used by 
 
THE RICH FOOL. ,jjj 
 
 others : in the words of the Psalmist, " He heapeth up 
 riches, and knoweth not who shall gather them." 
 
 Having thus interested them in the parable, our Lord 
 draws out the moral in a short but comprehensive sentence. 
 " So is every one that layeth up treasure for himself, and is 
 not rich towards God." " So," — there is emphasis in this 
 word, as it throws us back upon certain results, brought out 
 in the rich man's case, which will find perhaps their parallel 
 in the results of all who like him, " lay up treasure for 
 themselves, and are not rich towards God." " So," in the 
 suddenness with which they shall be called away from their 
 barns and wealth. " So," in the scattering at their death 
 of the riches, so carefully gathered in their life. " So," in 
 the requirements which will be made of their stewardship 
 at the bar of God. " So," in the folly of their course in 
 setting their hearts solely upon things present and earthly. 
 " So," in the final ruin and misery which await all such 
 rich fools beyond the grave. 
 
 But what is meant by "laying up treasure for himself?" 
 The great pursuit of life, with most men, is the acquisition 
 of wealth, as in the possession of it they expect to find 
 their chief good and happiness. That money is the great 
 idol of mankind, is evident to the most superficial observer. 
 It is true that the children of this world have "Lords 
 many and gods many," but to Mammon is paid the chief 
 homage of their hearts, and minds, and strength. Other 
 idols have strong and powerful attractions, but their altars 
 are deserted when Mammon beckons them away. The 
 softest blandishments of pleasure, the most stirring scenes 
 
54 THE PARABLES UNFOLDED. 
 
 of ambition, the attractive pursuits of learning, yield to his 
 superior claims. All, of every rank and condition, are 
 gathered together to the dedication of " the image of gold," 
 which the Prince of this world hath set up in the plains 
 of earth. For money, life is perilled, health sacrificed, and 
 youth blighted in the bud. For money, peace is discarded, 
 home abandoned, and friends deserted. There is nothing 
 men will not do to get money ; to acquire it they will break 
 every law of God, and every edict of man. They will 
 stifle conscience, hoodwink reason, quench the Holy Spirit, 
 and barter every hope of heaven. Such is the universal 
 passion, as demoralizing to man as it is hateful to God. 
 
 Leaving this general truth, and descending to particulars, 
 the man who layeth up treasures for himself is one who 
 regards his own interests alone. The eminently selfish 
 man ; such an one strives for riches, because riches beget 
 honour. Want is always obsequious to wealth; penury 
 always pays homage to plenty. He strives for riches, 
 because riches bring pleasure. With wealth he can gratify 
 his senses, his appetites, his passions. He can with it build 
 lordly mansions, set up a stately equipage, array himself 
 in costly garments, and fare sumptuously every day. He 
 strives for riches, because riches create influence and 
 friends. " The rich man," says Solomon, " hath many 
 friends;" and again, "the rich man's wealth is his strong 
 city." A moneyed man is always an influential man ; he is 
 always surrounded by those who call themselves friends, 
 though in reality fawning sycophants, human parasites. 
 If born in poverty, his ambition is to rank among the rich ; 
 
THE RICH FOOL. 65 
 
 if born to fortune, he seeks to excel his ancestral wealth. 
 If he spring from ignominy, he wishes to throw a mantle 
 of gold over his mother's shame ; if the scion of rank, he 
 longs to quarter the arms of mammon on the heraldic 
 shield of a noble lineage. Is he ignorant? wealth can 
 atone for stupidity ; is he learned ? wealth can ennoble 
 knowledge, for "the crown of the wise is their riches." 
 
 Thus does the man, who layeth up riches for himself, 
 manifest, at all times (though it is often covered up from 
 public view by an outward benevolence, which, after all, is 
 concentrated egotism), a grasping avarice, a clenching cove- 
 tousness, a blunted conscience, a contracted, indurated 
 heart. Self is the centre, self the radii, self the circum- 
 ference of his plans. 
 
 But he who layeth up riches for himself is one who re- 
 gards this world alone. All the aims of such a man are 
 bounded by the horizon of earth. He looks not beyond 
 the earthly and sensual gratification which riches bestow, 
 and he thinks not and cares not for another state of being. 
 He counts upon life as extending many years ; he boldly 
 lays down plans which stretch far into the future ; he toils 
 on as if there was no death to interrupt his labours, as if 
 life's tide would never ebb, as if earth had for him no grave. 
 The world fills his eye, engrosses his mind, absorbs his 
 affections, and consumes his strength. Oh, the short-sight- 
 edness and narrow-mindedness of the rich man ! Well did 
 did David pray, "deliver my soul from men of the world, 
 who have their portion in this life!" Well might our 
 Lord declare, " It is easier for a camel to go through the 
 
66 THE PARABLES UNFOLDED. 
 
 eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the king 
 dom of Heaven !" Well may God say of such, " Thou 
 fool !" for when he shall be brought down to the grave, it 
 shall be said, " Lo, this is the man that made not God his 
 strength, but trusted in the abundance of his riches ; there- 
 fore shall his riches, like canker, eat into his soul for ever." 
 This is an outline sketch of one " who layeth up riches for 
 himself;" and if it appears so selfish and grovelling to us, 
 how abhorrent must it be to Him, who, looking beyond the 
 outside coverings, searcheth the reins and trieth the hearts 
 of the children of men ! 
 
 But what is involved in the idea of being rich towards 
 God? 
 
 This implies two things : 1. Such a using of riches as 
 shall result to the glory of God. How this can be done is 
 indicated in the 33d verse of this chapter — " Sell that ye 
 have and give alms ; provide yourselves bags which wax 
 not old, a treasure in the heavens that faileth not ;" and 
 by the 20th verse of the 6th chapter of St. Matthew — "Lay 
 up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth 
 nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break 
 through nor steal." 
 
 Riches are used to the glory of God, and thus become, 
 in a figurative sense, "treasures in heaven," when the 
 possessors of them regard themselves as stewards of God's 
 bounty, and expend what they have in the extension of 
 Christ's kingdom on earth. 
 
 It must be confessed that much of the so-called benevo- 
 lence of the day is nothing but refined selfishness, or ego- 
 
THE RICH FOOL. 67 
 
 tistical philanthropy. Many give largely to a charitable 
 object, because they know that a trumpet will be sounded 
 before their alms, and it will " be seen of men." This is 
 not true Christian benevolence, which, regarding ourselves 
 as " bought with a price," and nothing that we have as 
 our own, uses all in subordination to the one sacred prin- 
 ciple of " doing all to the glory of God." The noblest use, 
 then, to which wealth can be put, is to use it in carrying 
 on those ordinances of grace and institutions of religion 
 which are linked with Christ's glory and man's salvation. 
 
 As these ordinances and institutions are extended, souls 
 are saved, and every soul saved is a treasure laid up in 
 heaven ; and as these means of grace are, in their earthly 
 operations, sustained by money, so do we, through these 
 benefactions, fulfil our Lord's injunction, and " lay up for 
 •ourselves treasures in heaven," beyond the reach of thief, 
 of rust, and of moth. 
 
 2. The expression, being rich towards God, implies a 
 being rich in respect to God or Divine blessings. Under 
 this phase of the subject, the riches do not consist in silver 
 and gold, and goods, and fields, and barns, and plenty, but 
 in that wealth of soul which is given by " the God and 
 Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with 
 all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ, in whom 
 we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of 
 sins according to the riches of His grace." He only is truly 
 rich who has " put on Christ ;" " for in Him dwelleth all the 
 fulness of the Godhead bodily ;" for of such Christians the 
 Apostle says, " all are yours, and ye are Christ's, and Christ 
 
b8 THE PARABLES UNFOLDED. 
 
 is God's." He, therefore, who is so living by faith in the 
 Son of God as to be daily advancing in godliness of heart, 
 is, through the power of the Holy Ghost, laying up in 
 heaven treasures of love, joy, hope, peace — those soul- 
 riches which will endure unto everlasting life. When 
 called from earth, instead of being like the rich man, 
 wrenched away from all his goods, wherein he trusted and 
 delighted, he will pass to the full possession and enjoyment 
 of that eternal, all-glorious, and undefiled inheritance which 
 Christ hath reserved for him in heaven. He has sent his 
 treasures before him, and death will bring him to his pos- 
 sessions again. These two classes comprise all members 
 of the human family. Under one or other of these heads 
 may each living being be ranked. To which do you 
 belong ? Are you one of those laying up riches for your- 
 selves? endeavouring to satisfy your immortal soul with 
 the husks of earth? who live only for the world? who 
 concentrate all their interests in time? who virtually 
 ignore the soul, and heaven, and God ? And do you not 
 for such conduct deserve to be called a fool ? This is God's 
 epithet — the deliberate judgment of infinite knowledge and 
 wisdom; and it will be confirmed bye and bye by the 
 accordant verdict of the universe. And what will you do 
 when He whom you have, thus far set at nought shall say, 
 " This night thy sOul shall be required of thee!" 
 
 To all such let me urge at once a radical change of con- 
 duct. Be no longer one of those who lay up treasures for 
 themselves, but join yourselves to those who are rich towards 
 God. Use your substance in such a manner as shall best 
 
THE RICH FOOL. 69 
 
 prove your love, and gratitude, and reverence for God, and 
 best advance the glory of His name and the salvation of 
 souls; and especially seek those spiritual riches which 
 alone are to be found in Christ Jesus. The riches of faith, 
 of hope, of love, of joy and peace in the Holy Ghost; 
 " durable riches," which will ever increase in value, and 
 ever impart bliss, when the world, with its treasures of 
 gold and silver and precious stones, shall be burned up. 
 Let thy possessions be laid up in " everlasting habitations," 
 not stored up on a world devoted to destruction. 
 

mndw gob Safari*. 
 

POUNDS AND TALENTS. 
 
 " The kingdom of heaven is as a man travelling into a far country, who 
 called his own servants, and delivered unto them his goods. And unto one he gave 
 five talents, to another two, and to another one ; to every man according to his 
 several ability ; and straightway took his journey. Then he that had received the 
 five talents went and traded with the same, and made them other five talents. And 
 likewise he that had received two, he also gained other two. But he that had 
 received one went and digged in the earth, and hid his lord's money. After a long 
 time the lord of those servants cometh, and reckoneth with them. And so he that 
 had received five talents came and brought other five talents, saying, Lord, thou 
 deliveredst unto me five talents : behold, I have gained besides them five talents 
 more. His lord said unto him, Well done, thou good and faithful servant ; thou 
 hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things : 
 enter thou into the joy of thy lord. He also that had received two talents came 
 and said, Lord, thou deliveredst unto me two talents : behold, I have gained two 
 other talents besides them. His lord said unto them, Well done, good and faithful 
 servant ; thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over 
 many things : enter thou into the joy of thy lord. Then he which had received the 
 one talent came and said, Lord, I knew thee that thou art a hard man, reaping 
 where thou hast not sown, and gathering where thou hast not strewed : And I was 
 afraid, and went and hid thy talent in the earth : lo, there thou hast that is thine 
 His lord answered and said unto him, Thou wicked and slothful servant, thou 
 knewest that I reap where I sowed not, and gather where I have not strewed : 
 Thou oughtest therefore to have put my money to the exchangers, and then at my 
 coming I should have received mine own with usury. Take therefore the talent 
 from him, and give it unto him which hath ten talents. For unto every one that 
 hath shall be given, and he shall have abundance : but from him that hath not, 
 6hall be taken away even that which he hath. And cast ye the unprofitable 
 servant into outer darkness : there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth." 
 
 Matt. xxv. 14-30. 
 
 73 
 
74 THE PARABLES UNFOLDED. 
 
 "A certain nobleman went into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom, 
 and to return. And he called his ten servants, and delivered them ten pounds, 
 and said unto them, Occupy till I come. But his citizens hated him, and sent a 
 message after him, saying, We will not have this man to reign over us. And it 
 came to pass, that, when he was returned, having received the kingdom, then he 
 commanded these servants to be called unto him to whom he had given the money, 
 that he might know how much every man had gained by trading. Then came th« 
 first, saying, Lord, thy pound hath gained ten pounds. And he said unto him, 
 Well, thou good servant : because thou hast been faithful in a very little, have thou 
 authority over ten cities. And the second came, saying, Lord, thy pound hath 
 gained five pounds. And he said likewise to him, Be thou also over five cities. 
 And another came, saying, Lord, behold, here is thy pound, which I have kept laid 
 up in a napkin : For I feared thee, because thou art an austere man ; thou takest 
 up that thou layedst not down, and reapest that thou didst not sow. And he saith 
 anto him, Out of thine own mouth will I judge thee, thou wicked servant. Thou 
 knewest that I was an austere man, taking up that I laid not down, and reaping 
 that I did not sow : Wherefore then gavest not thou my money into the bank, that 
 at my coming I might have required mine own with usury ? And he said unto 
 them that stood by, Take from him the pound, and give it to him that hath ten 
 pounds. (And they said unto him, Lord, he hath ten pounds.) For I say unto 
 you, That unto every one which hath shall be given ; and from him that hath not, 
 even that he hath shall be taken away from him. But those mine enemies, which 
 would not that I should reign over them, bring hither, and slay them before me." 
 
 Luke, xix. 12-27. 
 
 THESE parables are similar, without being identical. 
 They were delivered on different occasions, and for 
 different purposes; but though they have some points of 
 divergence, they have many of convergence, and are suffi- 
 ciently alike in parabolical structure and practical design 
 to be treated under one head, as enforcing the one great 
 truth pertaining to the trusts confided to us by God : 
 " Occupy till I come !" 
 
 In the parable of the Pounds, spoken in the house of 
 Zaccheus, and recorded by St. Luke, where it is said, "A 
 
POUNDS AND TALENT? 75 
 
 certain nobleman went into a far country, to receive for 
 himself a kingdom, and to return ;" and of whom it is 
 subsequently added, " but his citizens hated him, and sent 
 a message after him, saying, " we will not have this man to 
 reign over us;" there is evidently an historical allusion to 
 the political condition of Judea under the Roman power. 
 
 Judea had been conquered by the Romans, under 
 Pompey, 63 B. C, and though it was still governed in part 
 by native princes, yet they ruled as deputies of Rome, and 
 under its protectorate. Those, therefore, who, by hereditary 
 succession or interest, thought they had any title to the 
 government of the Jewish provinces, sought of course to 
 confirm their claim by an appeal to the Emperor or Senate 
 of the imperial city. Thus Herod the Great hastened to 
 Rome, to obtain the kingdom of Judea from Antony, which 
 having received, he was solemnly proclaimed King of the 
 Jews. By the last will and testament of this monarch, 
 his son Archelaus was constituted ruler of Judea, Samaria, 
 and Idumea, yet could not enter upon his Ethnarchship 
 until his dignity was confirmed by Augustus. Accordingly 
 he went to Rome, literally " into a far country, to receive 
 for himself a kingdom;" but the Jews, knowing his 
 purpose, sent thither fifty ambassadors, to entreat Augustus 
 that Archelaus might not be made their king, and were so 
 far successful that, though Augustus confirmed him in his 
 government as Ethnarch, he would not invest him with 
 the regal name and dignity. The allusion of our Lord, 
 therefore, to this well-known historical fact, gave deepe 
 
76 THE PARABLES UNFOLDED. 
 
 significance to the parable, and made the people more 
 attentive to the truths which it was intended to convey. 
 
 But, while it had this historical basis, it had also a 
 prophetic aspect ; for that " nobleman" was Christ, " heir 
 of all things," "the first-born of every creature;" that 
 " travelling into a far country," the coming down of the 
 Lord Jesus from heaven to earth ; that " kingdom" which 
 he came " to receive," was the Church ; that " calling his 
 own servants, and delivering unto them his goods," the 
 selection of His Apostles and ministers, and the committing 
 to them the " gifts" and " graces" which are the spiritual 
 " pounds" and " talents" of the Church ; that " taking his 
 journey," in the one case, and that " return," in the other, 
 His ascension into Heaven ; that " hatred" of " his citi- 
 zens," and their sending " a message after him, saying, We 
 will not have this man to reign over us," the secret enmity 
 and open opposition of the human heart against the 
 spiritual reign of Jesus Christ. 
 
 In both of these parables we find that certain moneys 
 were given to certain servants. The first bestows "ta- 
 lents:" giving to one "'five talents," or about six thousand 
 dollars; "to another two," or nearly twenty-four hundred 
 dollars; "to another, one," or twelve hundred dollars. 
 The second gives to each of ten persons a pound (mina), 
 equivalent to twenty dollars. In the first parable, our 
 Lord was addressing His Apostles only, to whom had been 
 specially intrusted large gifts, for the planting, erecting, 
 teaching, governing of the Church ; well expressed by the 
 term " talents," as distinguished from those lower, yet still 
 
 
POUNDS AND TALENTS. 77 
 
 important gifts, which pertain to private Christians, and 
 which, when Jesus addressed His "disciples," He called by 
 the humbler designation of " pounds." In both instances, 
 however, the pounds and the talents were given to be im- 
 proved and augmented, by such an occupancy or use as 
 would increase the amount originally bestowed, and bring 
 in large profits to the holder. 
 
 Years roll on ; the several servants pursue different 
 courses with their talents and pounds ; until, " after a long 
 time," as St. Matthew expresses it, "the lord of those ser- 
 vants cometh and reckoneth with them ;" or, as St. Luke 
 says, the returned nobleman "commanded these servants 
 to be called unto him to whom he had given the money, 
 that he might know how much each man had gained by 
 trading." 
 
 On presenting themselves before their respective lords, 
 it is found, that some improve their means more than 
 others. He to whom five talents had been given had 
 " traded with the same, and made them other five talents ;" 
 " likewise he that had received two, he also had gained 
 other two ;" one of those to whom one pound had been 
 delivered came, " saying, Lord, thy pound hath gained ten 
 pounds;" and another reported, "Lord, thy pound hath 
 gained five pounds." In the case of the recipient of the 
 talents, there was simply a duplicating of the original sum 
 received, evincing diligence and fidelity in the trust com- 
 mitted to them ; but in the case of the pounds, the increase 
 was vastly greater; instead of being twofold, it was, in 
 one instance, tenfold, and in another, fivefold; and this. 
 
78 THE PARABLES UNFOLDED. 
 
 too, with less original capital, thereby showing a greater 
 zeal in the lord's service, and deeper wisdom in business 
 plans than those to whom had been committed the more 
 valuable talents ; and as our Lord uttered no words without 
 meaning, may not this be designed to show us, by a delicate 
 yet truthful allusion, that not those alone who receive 
 even two or five talents, the higher denomination of God's 
 gifts, shall be rewarded with kingly munificence; but that 
 those who rightly employ even the humbler trust of a sin- 
 gle pound, may, by faithful effort, so improve the little, as 
 to become a ruler over ten cities or over five cities ; far 
 outstripping, in real increase of grace and fruit, those to 
 whom had been intrusted higher gifts and larger portions. 
 It is not those who have " talents," costly though they be, 
 and minister as they may in the high places of the 
 Church, admired, honoured, blessed, who will prove them- 
 selves the most active accumulators of the Divine blessing, 
 or receive the most flattering plaudits ; on the contrary, 
 some humbler Christian, scarcely known even in the 
 Church to which he belongs, some diligent cultivator of his 
 single " pound," may, through prayer and faith and zeal, 
 bring in from his small portion a larger revenue of glory 
 to God and blessedness for souls, than the more richly en- 
 dowed and more conspicuous possessor of his Lord's 
 bounty. 
 
 The rewards bestowed upon these profitable servants, 
 varied with their several degrees of fidelity. The possessor 
 of five talents, whose industry had " gained besides them 
 five talents more," receives the approbation of his lord, 
 
POUNDS AND TALENTS. 79 
 
 and the assurance that he would make him " ruler over 
 many things." The diligent improver of two talents 
 obtains the same commendation, with the promise that as 
 he "had been faithful over a few things," he would make 
 him " ruler over many things ;" while both received the 
 invitation " enter thou into the joy of thy lord ;" implying, 
 according to Oriental usage, that the lord had celebrated 
 his return by a sumptuous feast, to which these his ser- 
 vants had been invited, and by this invitation and partici- 
 pation of the feast, received manumission, and thus as 
 "freedmen" were designated to rule over others. The 
 indefiniteness which attaches to the rewards in the para- 
 ble of the talents, does not obtain in that of the pounds. 
 Here all is distinct : for he whose pound had gained ten 
 pounds, and he whose pound had multiplied to five, were 
 severally made rulers over ten and five cities ; in evident 
 allusion to the custom formerly prevalent in the East, of 
 assigning the government or revenues of a certain number 
 of cities as rewards to meritorious officers, as Artaxerxes 
 assigned several cities to Themistocles for his services in 
 the cause of Persia ; of which cities, Myus was to supply 
 him with viands, Magnesia with bread, Lampsacus with 
 wines. 
 
 The disproportion between fidelity in the use of a single 
 pound of Hebrew money, and the reward consequent 
 thereon, of being made a ruler over five or ten cities, can- 
 not fail to arrest attention ; and yet how beautifully does 
 this apparent disproportion illustrate a marked feature of 
 the Divine economy, whereby God rewards not deeds, but 
 
80 THE PARABLES UNFOLDED. 
 
 motives ; not results, but principles. So here the princi- 
 ples of faithful zeal to the humblest trust is requited by 
 transferring that lowly labourer to a broader field of action, 
 where this principle, so fully tested in small matters, has 
 now scope for noble and efficient development. And a 
 blessed thought it is, that we are not rewarded so much 
 for the outward and visible ministrations of duty, as for the 
 inward and spiritual principles which guide our souls, which 
 principles indeed are not of our own getting, but are 
 implanted in us by the Holy Ghost. Hence it follows 
 that the humblest servant of God may attain to heights in 
 glory, and reaches of power, far above what may be 
 accorded to the more seemingly active and fruitful pro- 
 fessor, because of the different principles which were the 
 motive power in each. 
 
 In both parables, however, we find one instance of mis- 
 improvement of the money bestowed. The recipient of 
 "one talent," after wrongfully accusing his lord as "an 
 hard man," tells him, " I was afraid, and went and hid thy 
 talent in the earth ;" and one of the receivers of the pound 
 brings it back, saying, " Behold, here is thy pound, which 
 I have kept laid up in a napkin ;" at the same time laying 
 grievous things to his charge. Their lord answers in both 
 cases — if you knew that I was an austere or hard man, 
 " taking up that I laid not down, and reaping that I did 
 not sow," you should have put my money " into the bank," 
 or " to the exchangers," and then at my coming I should 
 have received mine own with usury. By pursuing such 
 a course you would have lost nothing, even though I wa& 
 
POUNDS AND TALENTS. 81 
 
 such an one as you represent me to be ; while my money, 
 instead of lying idle, would have been gathering the usual 
 per centum of interest from those whose business it was to 
 exchange the different coins of Eastern currency for the 
 shekel of the temple; and who thus, upon their little 
 tables or counters, carried on a profitable trade with " the 
 strangers, Jews, and proselytes," who resorted to Jerusalem 
 for business or devotion. Unable to answer a word in 
 extenuation of such neglect, they are both deprived of the 
 sum originally placed in their keeping, and cast as " unpro- 
 fitable servants" into outer darkness, or as enemies of their 
 lord brought and slain before him. Such was the deserved 
 end of those who could impugn the honesty, clemency, and 
 goodness of their respective masters, as well as abuse, by 
 not rightly employing, the trusts committed to their care. 
 The bearing of these parables is very plain, and the truths 
 they teach are very important. 
 
 God has committed to us certain interests which pertain 
 to man as a moral and accountable being — the present and 
 future interests of the soul. These, like the ten pounds to 
 the ten servants, are committed alike to all. But, though 
 God has given a soul and a conscience, and the light of 
 nature, to every child of Adam, and for the occupancy of 
 which trust each will be called into judgment at the great 
 day, yet do we also learn, by the parable of the Talents, 
 that, over and above these interests, which are common to 
 all, there are special deposits of ability and grace made to 
 some individuals, which bring them under heavier respon- 
 sibility and demand of them peculiar fidelity and zeal. 
 6 
 
82 THE PARABLES UNFOLDED. 
 
 Among these may be mentioned, First, superior mental 
 endowments. The varieties of mind are as great as the 
 varieties of features and temperament; and while some 
 persons evidence so low a rationality, as to seem but one 
 link removed from a high order of instinct, others exhibit 
 powers of intellect so gigantic, so noble, so elevated above 
 the mass of minds, as to compel the homage of the world. 
 Whenever God has bestowed these superior endowments, 
 it has always been with the injunction, "Occupy till I 
 come." He* did not bestow them merely to subserve indi- 
 vidual aggrandisement, that the possessor might leave 
 behind him the impress of his genius stamped upon the 
 laws, literature, science, or institutions of the world ; but to 
 cultivate them to their utmost capacity, and put them to 
 their highest efforts in advancing the glory of God and the 
 salvation of souls. Not that all minds should occupy 
 themselves solely on religious topics; not that all such 
 mighty men of thought should preach the Gospel ; but 
 that the ultimate aim and tendency of all mental efforts, 
 on whatever subject they may be occupied, should be "to 
 glorify our Father which is in Heaven." 
 3 We assert, without the fear of contradiction, that there 
 is no department of solid learning which does not, if 
 rightly cultivated, lead the mind directly or indirectly to 
 God, and none which cannot directly or indirectly be made 
 to augment his glory. All the lines of knowledge centre 
 in God ; and the circle of sciences, as it is called, is but the 
 earthly circumference of that wisdom which radiates from 
 the Omniscient Mind : the more diligently, therefore, w> j 
 
POUNDS AND TALENTS. 8ii 
 
 follow up any one of these radii to its centre, the nearer 
 do we get to God. Yet the vast majority of great minded 
 men cast off God and restrain prayer, and, in the selfish 
 pursuit of personal honour, and the embalmment of fame, 
 employ their powers rather against, than for, God ; rather 
 to the dishonour than the honour of their Creator. It ih 
 lamentable to observe, even with superficial eye, the enor- 
 mous waste and misapplication of the human mind. See 
 intellects of the highest order bending almost angelic 
 energies to the purpose of ministering to the amusement, 
 the pride, the sensuality, the taste, the pomp of this fallen 
 world. There has, for example, been more waste of mental 
 strength in striving after the batons and ribbons and titles 
 of military glory, than would suffice to convert the world 
 to Christ. The intellect which has been lavished upon the 
 drama, from the days of Thespis and iEschylus to the 
 present time, in writing and acting plays, would, if con- 
 centrated on the advancement of Divine truth, have made 
 the earth " a dwelling-place of righteousness." 
 
 What a glorious spectacle would earth present, could we 
 behold all its noble intellects bowing, like the wise men 
 from the East, at the feet of Jesus, and presenting unto 
 him " the gold, frankincense, and myrrh" of their sanctified 
 minds ! for every mind, no matter how tall, how strong, 
 how rich, which is not consecrated to Jesus, is morally lost, 
 and can never fulfil the purposes of its creation. An intel- 
 lect, unbaptized by the blood of Christ, and unsanctified by 
 the Holy Ghost, is an immortal curse : the curse may not 
 come in this life, but it will fasten upon it beyond the grave. 
 
84 THE PARABLES UNFOLDED. 
 
 Ever keep in view the solemn fact, that God has given you 
 minds to educate for eternity, and to be expended in his 
 glory ; that he has enjoined upon you, " Occupy till 1 
 come;" and that you can only fulfil the injunction by cul- 
 tivating all your powers as under His eye, and for the 
 bringing in of His kingdom. 
 
 As among the talents or pounds committed to our care, 
 we mention, Secondly, superior means of personal, social, 
 or civil influence. These may arise from birth, education, 
 fortune, standing in society, or personal endowments. 
 Through the operation of one or more of these you come 
 to be regarded with more respect or attention ; your 
 opinions are more esteemed; your views are sought for, 
 your wishes consulted ; and you find yourself wielding an 
 influence more or less potent upon the circle around you. 
 Whatever enables you then to mould or guide the opinions 
 and actions of your fellow men, is a talent, a pound com- 
 mitted to you, with the injunction of the Divine Giver, 
 " Occupy till I come ;" and hence you are bound to make 
 your influence healthful in all its operations, and beneficial 
 wherever exerted. 
 
 God demands that this influence should be on His side, 
 that all the advantages which He has conferred upon you 
 should be used in His service, and not be selfishly employed 
 in seeking personal or family aggrandizement and distinc- 
 tion. It is a lamentable fact that most of the influence 
 which goes out from the educated, wealthy, and high-born 
 classes, is baneful and debasing. They are the leaders in 
 all sinful fashions and worldly schemes, — but very rarely 
 
POUNDS AND TALENTS. 85 
 
 are they found doing the work of the Lord. Yet what a 
 change would pass over society, if those who stand at the 
 head springs of social life . and civil affairs, directed their 
 aim to the spiritual welfare of the souls of men, and put 
 forth their influence under the guidance and baptism of the 
 Holy Ghost ! This is what God requires ; this is the pur- 
 pose for which He conferred these advantages, and for their 
 proper use and occupancy He will at the last day make 
 rigid inquisition. 
 
 Thirdly : Wealth is another of the talents committed to 
 the occupancy of some. As " we brought nothing into the 
 world, and can carry nothing out of it," it is evident that 
 what pecuniary means we have are the gift of God ; and 
 hence, we are exhorted in the Bible — " thou shalt remem- 
 ber the Lord thy God, for it is he that giveth thee power 
 to get wealth." The property which we call ours we hold 
 only as tenants at will ; God is the proprietor of all ; we 
 are but the stewards of His bounty, solemnly responsible to 
 Him for the disbursement of that wealth, be it more or less 
 Tf now we squander it on our own persons or lusts or plea- 
 sures ; if we withhold it from Christ, and refuse to use the 
 Master's means for the Master's work ; if when self calls 
 we pour it out freely, but when God calls we dole it out 
 with reluctance, are we not sinning against our own souls 
 and a holy God ? There is much force in the word '" occu- 
 py;" it means, literally, to trade, to negotiate, as in com- 
 merce or business ; and so we are to trade or carry on a 
 spiritual commerce with the wealth which God has given 
 us. We are to put it out to the Exchangers, those benevo- 
 
86 THE PARABLES UNFOLDED. 
 
 lent treasuries where we exchange dollars for Bibles, tracts, 
 missionaries, Sunday-schools. We are to make investments 
 in the Bank of Christian Enterprise, that we may gain the 
 usury, the dividends of grace and love which He imparts to 
 all who spend and are spent in His service. We are to 
 trade with our wealth in such wise, that we may lay up 
 treasures in heaven ; for every investment of worldly means, 
 made in the cause of Christ, and for His sake, will repay 
 us, not only a large percentage of happiness here, but be 
 honoured by our Lord with special grants of favour in the 
 world to come. 
 
 We might indicate many other talents committed to our 
 trust ; but time allows of but one more specification, and 
 that is, our religious privileges. Greater gifts than these 
 no man can receive. The pardon of God ; the sacrifice of 
 Christ; the renewing of the Holy Ghost; the revelation 
 of the Divine will ; the ministry of reconciliation ; the 
 Church of the living God ; the ordinances of grace ! Can 
 we adequately comprehend the value of talents like these ? 
 In the possession of them we are peculiarly distinguished •, 
 " the lines have fallen to us in pleasant places, and we 
 have a goodly heritage." But for what purpose were these 
 given ? Have we sought the offered pardon ? have we been 
 washed in the sacrificial blood of the Redeemer ? have we 
 been sanctified by the Spirit of Holiness ? have we made 
 God's Word a light to our feet and a lamp to our path ? 
 have we been led by this ministry to " the Lamb of God, 
 who taketh away the sins of the world ?" have we united 
 ourselves to this mystical body of Christ ? have we been 
 
POUNDS AND TALENTS. 87 
 
 nourished and strengthened by the sacraments of Christ's 
 institution? have we, in fine, so spiritually traded with 
 these " unspeakable gifts," as, thereby, to make rich increase 
 in grace and godliness? Are we diligently "occupying" 
 them until we are called to " enter into the joy of our 
 Lord ?" 
 
 But the final award is before us, and let us briefly mark 
 its results. 
 
 Those who have traded with their pounds and talents, 
 and duplicated or multiplied them, are commended with 
 the plaudit, "Well done, good and faithful servants;" are 
 bidden to enter into the joy of their Lord, and are 
 appointed to rule in the heavenly kingdom. They are 
 made to sit " in heavenly places in Christ Jesus ;" they 
 " are called unto the marriage-supper of the Lamb ;" they 
 "judge angels;" they are crowned and anointed "as kings 
 and priests unto God." On the other hand, those who 
 contemned their Lord, and wrapped their pound up " in a 
 napkin," or buried their talent " in the earth," are " cast 
 into outer darkness," and are visited with the pains and 
 eternal woe of the second death ; and the one great 
 thought which, like a red-hot share, shall plough its furrows 
 in their inmost souls, is, that they had talents committed 
 to their trust ; they had pounds, with which to trade ; but, 
 by their own obstinacy and sinfulness, have wilfully put 
 themselves into that place of torment, " where their worm 
 dieth not, and their fire is not quenched ;" and, lest any 
 should think that, because they have moderate or common 
 abilities, and are not among the gifted, the wealthy, the 
 
88 THE PARABLES UNFOLDED. 
 
 influential, therefore they will not be condemned, our 
 Saviour has brought out very distinctly the fact that the 
 misapplication of small abilities will meet with condign 
 punishment. Say not, " Since so little is committed to my 
 charge, that it matters not how I administer that little. 
 What signifies the little, whether it be done or left undone ?" 
 for God requires as much fidelity and zeal in those to 
 whom little is given, as in those to whom much is bestowed. 
 The misimprovement of one talent, the hiding away of a 
 one-pound ability, will call out the judgment of God. 
 Remember, also, that, in both cases of delinquency, the 
 servants did not waste or destroy the money given them : 
 they only suffered it to lie idle and unimproved. This was 
 their sin ; and the simple misimprovement of even one-pound 
 abilities, the suffering to lie idle and unaccumulating but a 
 single talent, is a crime so great in the sight of God, who 
 has intrusted us with these for the promotion of our 
 salvation, and the advancement of His glory, that He will 
 punish it with casting such spiritual idlers, such moral 
 sluggards, into outer darkness, "where there is weeping 
 and wailing and gnashing of teeth." 
 
 Every motive that can influence human conduct urges 
 us to be faithful to the abilities and endowments which God 
 has given us. The love that we should feel for the Giver, 
 the value of the trusts committed to our care, the short 
 time in which we are permitted to occupy them, the prolific 
 increase which the right use of our pounds and talents will 
 produce, the certainty of our Lord's return to inquire " how 
 much every man had gained by trading," the fearful doom 
 
POUNDS AND TALENTS. 89 
 
 which awaits the neglecter and idler even of the smallest 
 trust, and the magnificent rewards of glory, of praise, of 
 authority, of sovereignty, which are promised to the dili- 
 gent and the faithful, conspire to press upon us the duty 
 of rightly occupying our several talents, until, gaining for 
 our Lord a revenue of glory here by their spiritual increase. 
 He will say to each of us, at the last, " well done, good and 
 faithful servant, enter thou into the joy of thy Lord." 
 
% fast ijj«p: % ftort ftag. 
 
THE LOST SHEEP: THE LOST MONEY. 
 
 "What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he lose one of them, doth not 
 leave the ninety and nine in the wilderness, and go after that which is lost, until 
 he find it? And when he hath found it, he layeth it on his shoulders, rejoicing. 
 And when he cometh home, he calleth together his friends and neighbours, saying 
 unto them, Rejoice with me ; for I have found my sheep which was lost. I say 
 unto you, That likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, more 
 than over ninety and nine just persons, which need no repentance. 
 
 " Either what woman, having ten pieces of silver, if she lose one piece, doth not 
 light a candle, and sweep the house, and seek diligently till she find it ? And 
 when she hath found it, she calleth her friends and her neighbours together, say- 
 ing, Rejoice with me ; for I have found the piece which I had lost. Likewise, I 
 say unto you, There is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner 
 that repenteth." Luke xv. 3-10. 
 
 THE three parables recorded in the fifteenth chapter of 
 St. Luke, were spoken by our Lord in order to rebuke 
 the murmuring of the Scribes and Pharisees, whose great 
 complaint was, " This man receiveth sinners, and eateth 
 with them." 
 
 It seems that multitudes of the publicans and sinners 
 had drawn near to Christ " to hear Him." These classes, 
 hated as vile extortioners, and profligate livers, were 
 regarded as beyond the pale of mercy, and outside the 
 svmpathies and courtesies of social life. The learned 
 Scribe, swollen with the traditions of the elders, and proud 
 
 93 
 
94 THE PARABLES UNFOLDED. 
 
 cf the distinction which his legal knowledge secured, 
 affected to despise the vulgar tax-gatherer, and the outcast 
 sinner ; the phylacteried Pharisee, with his long prayers, 
 and ostentatious alms, and minute ritualism, and self- 
 created holiness, disdained the exactors of tribute, and the 
 notoriously unclean, and would have felt that his fringed 
 garments were soiled by a touch of such transgressors: 
 and though their curiosity was stimulated to the utmost to 
 hear the Lord, yet they complained that they had to listen 
 to His teachings in company with the publicans and the 
 profligate, saying in disparagement of the Saviour, " This 
 man receiveth sinners, and eateth with them." 
 
 This murmuring of the Pharisees and Scribes elicited 
 from our Lord three parables, designed to illustrate the 
 seeking love and receiving grace of God, and to vindicate 
 his course in thus receiving sinners and eating with them. 
 As the Saviour of men, it was important that we should 
 know the grounds and methods of His procedure, when 
 He undertook the restoration of our race; and these He 
 condescends to set forth, not by laboured argument, not by 
 philosophical analysis, but by parables, illustrating to the 
 humblest, as well as the highest, the purposes and dealings 
 of God toward His rebellious children. 
 
 It is wonderful, when we think of it, what weighty, 
 sublime, and eternal truths are embedded in the simple 
 parables of Jesus. While the sages of the world wrapped 
 up their enigmatical propositions and mysterious sayings 
 in the integuments of philosophy, or the embroidered robes 
 of rhetoric; while the doctrines of human ethics were 
 
THE LOST SHEEP: THE LOST MONEY. 95 
 
 couched in language high above the comprehension of the 
 vulgar; our Lord proclaimed His truths with clearness and 
 fulness, and His language and illustrations, so far from 
 covering up His thoughts, were rather like the veil of the 
 atmosphere, enveloping all things indeed, jet the medium of 
 a clear and perfect vision. It is easy enough to take a pigmy 
 thought, and make it walk on high on the stilts of bombast 
 and hyperbole. It is common enough to see a little thin 
 idea that would not burden an infant's brain, puffed out 
 with gaseous words, until it looms up and floats away in 
 aerostatic nothingness; but it is evidence of a mind of 
 Divine compass and power, to condense the infinite and 
 eternal truths of the Godhead, in its schemes for man's 
 redemption, into words so few, and illustrations so simple, 
 that the ignorant, the degraded, the little child even, can 
 perceive and understand them. 
 
 In both the parables of the Lost Sheep and the Lost 
 Piece of Money, Christ takes common and almost every- 
 day occurrences to illustrate why He received sinners and 
 ate with them : illustrations which, while glorious as the 
 unfoldings of Divine love, are yet exquisite in their very 
 homeliness and simplicity. A man losing a sheep from his 
 flock, a woman losing a piece of money from her scrip, are 
 familiar and every-day occurrences ; yet, in the hands of the 
 Saviour, they are made to stand out as the exponents of 
 the great principles of the Divine economy in the salvation 
 of mankind. 
 
 The shepherd missed one sheep from his flock ; and, ac- 
 customed as the Eastern shepherds are to know the coun- 
 
96 THE PARABLES UNFOLDED. 
 
 tenance of each, and even to call each sheep by name, this 
 loss would soon be discovered ; and when known, the 
 faithful man would at once seek to reclaim the wanderer. 
 Leaving the rest of the flock in the wilderness, not, indeed, 
 in the sandy, howling wastes, but in the uninhabited yet 
 grassy and pastoral plains or valleys, where they would 
 have herbage and shelter, the shepherd goes out to seek 
 and save that which was lost. He goes into the moun- 
 tains ; he exposes himself to perils ; he endures fatigue ; 
 he experiences great anxiety ; but does not give up the 
 search "until he find it." And then, instead of beating 
 the wayward sheep, or rudely driving it before him, or 
 roughly upbraiding it for wandering, the shepherd takes 
 the long-lost one in his arms, lays it on his shoulders, saves 
 it from the weariness of travel and the accidents to which 
 it might be exposed ; and thus, bearing his precious burden, 
 " cometh home," and "calleth together his friends and 
 neighbours, saying unto them, Rejoice with me, for I have 
 found my sheep which was lost." 
 
 But as, among his auditors, there were doubtless those 
 who would better understand a different simile, our Lord 
 condescends to take a very humble figure, and says, 
 " Either what woman, having ten drachmas, if she lose one 
 piece, doth not light a candle" — because the oriental houses 
 have few openings or windows, and the extra candle-light 
 would be needed — " and sweep the house" — not merely look 
 through it, removing the furniture to make the search more 
 ♦borough, but sweeping its floors, sweeping it by the light 
 of the candle ; and to the cleansing of the broom she adds 
 
THE LOST SHEEP: THE LOST MONEY. 97 
 
 the diligent search of the eye, and leaves no place unex- 
 plored " until she find it ?" 
 
 In the recovery both of the lost sheep and the lost coin, 
 we find peculiar evidences of joy and peculiar language to 
 express it. 
 
 The returning shepherd, as he comes within sight of his 
 Hock, which he had left, now quietly browsing on the plain 
 or folded for the night, calls out to the dwellers in the tent, 
 " Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was 
 lost ;" and, as they came out to meet the shepherd, weary 
 and faint with his tedious search, and see the wandering 
 sheep safe upon his shoulders, they respond loudly to his 
 call, and mingle together their pastoral rejoicings. 
 
 And when the poor woman, for we are led to infer that 
 she was such, finds her lost drachma, she gathers her 
 female friends to tell them of her success, and calls upon 
 those who once sympathized with her loss — " Rejoice with 
 me, for I have found the piece which I had lost." 
 
 In what a graphic manner do these two parables set forth 
 the seeking love of Jesus to our lost and sinful race ! We 
 are wanderers from God ; " all we, like sheep, have gone 
 astray, we have turned every one to his own way," and had 
 lost ourselves upon the dark mountains of sin and unbelief. 
 The innocence which was once ours, and the companion- 
 ship of angels which we were once privileged to enjoy, were 
 voluntarily renounced; and, forsaking the green pastures and 
 still waters of the Lord's providing, we have strayed away 
 from the Good Shepherd into the rugged paths and dangerous 
 defiles of sin and woe. Originally made in the likeness of 
 7 
 
98 THE PARABLES UNFOLDED. 
 
 God, and once bearing in our souls the image and super- 
 scription of our King, we have now lapsed from our rightful 
 owner, and fallen away into the dust and earthiness of a 
 deep moral debasement. But Christ, infinite in His love 
 and merry, did not leave us thus lost and wandering. He 
 sought us out; He addressed Himself to the work of our 
 recovery ; He girded Himself about with the vestment of 
 humanity; He came to this sin-cursed earth, and wandered 
 up and down in its highways and hedges, enduring the 
 malice of enemies, the rebukes of the proud, the suspicions 
 of friends, mockings and buffetings and countless sorrows, 
 until, arrested as a malefactor, condemned as a blasphemer, 
 crucified as a slave, the Good Shepherd had given his life 
 for His sheep, and, that they might be saved, bowed His 
 head and died. " He was wounded for our transgressions, 
 He was bruised for our iniquities, the chastisement of our 
 peace was upon Him, and with His stripes we are healed." 
 In a most emphatic manner did Christ " go after the sheep 
 that was lost until He find it." The love that prompted 
 the search was an infinite love; its well-spring was in the 
 beginning ; it had flowed from all eternity, and its fulness 
 and richness are best illustrated in the costliness of its 
 sacrifice and the value of its atonement. It was not the 
 lost sheep seeking out the Shepherd, and making efforts to 
 get back to the fold ; there was in us no desire to return ; 
 we loved our sins and we revelled in them ; and man even 
 slew the Lord of life and glory, because he sought to redeem 
 him from his sins. It was like the diseased and loathsome 
 patient, killing the physician because he would rescue him 
 
THE LOST SHEEP: THE LOST MONEY. 9<j 
 
 from his sickness, and give him health and soundness in- 
 stead of rottenness and pain. 
 
 What Christ did as our Good Shepherd, to seek and save 
 us, may be learned in the wonderful record of His life, — 
 for the thirty-three years of His earthly pilgrimage, were 
 so many years of toil, anguish, endurance, and search aftei 
 the wanderers from God. No dangers daunted Him, no 
 fatigue exhausted Him, no obloquy turned Him aside, no 
 assaults of enemies caused Him to desist. He plunged into 
 the deepest thickets of sin ; He entered the most forbidding 
 morasses of life; He exposed himself in the most dangerous 
 and darksome valleys of humanity, without regard to His 
 own comfort, and at the sacrifice of His own blood, that 
 He might find His lost sheep, and laying them on His 
 shoulders return with them to His Father's fold rejoicing, 
 seeing in their recovery " the travail of His soul," and 
 being " satisfied." 
 
 These parables were designed by our Lord to illustrate 
 the great concern which He felt for souls. The value 
 of the soul is well known to the Lord Jesus. We do not 
 know it, because our arithmetic is finite, and it has no fac 
 tors to express the worth of an immortal spirit ; we judge 
 of everything by worldly standards, by what it can give us, 
 or what it can do for us, as beings of time and earth ; con« 
 sequently, that which enables us to rank high, to amass 
 wealth, to secure praise, to dwell at ease, to live in pleasure, 
 is that which most absorbs our thoughts and engages the 
 powers of our being. Hence, the soul, in its eternal 
 interests, is overlooked, or regarded as a disagreeable some- 
 
lUO THE P ARABLES UNFOLDED. 
 
 thing, ever standing in the way of our pleasure and ad- 
 vancement, which we would gladly be rid of if we could. 
 The Blessed Saviour, having created the soul, having en- 
 dowed it with its wondrous powers, having given it immor- 
 tality as its birthright, knows its worth ; and when He saw 
 us wandering into bye and forbidden paths, He knew the 
 greatness of the loss which would ensue, and hence mani- 
 fested such Divine concern to secure its recovery and salva- 
 tion. He was happy in the glories which he had with the 
 Father before the world was ; He was blessed in the wor- 
 ship of the Angelic Host who ministered before Him ; but 
 all this availed not; His eye saw, His heart loved our race, 
 even though it was fallen and alien ;" and " not willing that 
 any should perish," He came down to deliver from eternal 
 ruin all who should believe on Him, and receive Him as the 
 Saviour of their souls. There was deep concern in heaven 
 for the soul of man. God felt it, and so felt it as to give 
 His only begotten Son, that " whosoever believeth on Him 
 might not perish, but have everlasting life;" and when it 
 so moved the mind of Jehovah, how ought our minds to be 
 under deepest concern for their recovery ! Did the shep- 
 herd leave the ninety and nine un wandering ones, and go 
 out into the mountains to seek and save one wanderer? 
 So the Lord of Glory left the innumerable company of un- 
 sinning angels, that He might go forth to find the lost sheep, 
 man ; so did He light the candle of revelation, and with 
 the besom of a holy law, sweep the floor of this earthly 
 house of our tabernacle, until he found the piece which was 
 lost, relaxing no effort which Divinity could devise or exe- 
 
THE LOST SHEEP: THE LOST MONEY. 101 
 
 cute, to recover the wanderer, and search out the lost; for 
 " He delighteth not in the death of a sinner, but rather that 
 he should turn from his wickedness and live." 
 
 The parable of the Lost Sheep also teaches us the tender 
 care and compassion of our Lord towards the recovered 
 wanderers. What could illustrate this more than the 
 shepherd's act of laving the lost sheep, when he found it, 
 " on his shoulders," and so bearing it home ? When Christ 
 finds the wandering sinner, He does not roughly upbraid 
 him, He does not drive him harshly before Him, but throws 
 around him His loving arms, takes him to His bosom, lays 
 him on His shoulder, where no harm can reach him, 
 protects him by His hands, and pledges the mightiness of 
 His own power to return the wanderer to the fold of God. 
 
 And with what joy is the sinner welcomed ! It is faintly 
 shadowed forth in the rejoicings made by the friends and 
 neighbours of the shepherd and the woman at the reco- 
 very of the lost sheep and the lost silver. It is more 
 emphatically declared, in the words of the Saviour, after 
 the parable of the Lost Sheep — "Likewise joy shall be in 
 Heaven over one sinner that repenteth, more than over 
 ninety and nine just persons which need no repentance f 
 and in almost similar words after the parable of the Lost 
 Piece of Silver — " Likewise I say unto you, there is joy in 
 the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that 
 repenteth." 
 
 In this twice-uttered declaration Jesus enunciates the 
 truth, that there is an interest and a sympathy felt for man 
 by the angels in heaven j a truth confirmed by several 
 
102 THE PARABLES UNFOLDED. 
 
 other passages of Scripture, wherein they are not only 
 represented as " ministering spirits sent forth to minister to 
 the heirs of salvation," hut as desiring to look into the 
 mysteries of man's redemption. 
 
 There is something very sublime in the thought that 
 angels take an interest in the moral affairs of this earth. 
 Were our world the only orb which Divine power had 
 framed and peopled, and poised in the else solitary field of 
 space, there would be something of condescension in such 
 holy beings, dwelling in the presence of God, stooping to 
 interest their mighty minds and spotless souls in the 
 spiritual affairs of men. 
 
 But when we are compelled to believe, however humbling 
 to human pride, that the earth which we inhabit is so small 
 as to appear but a sparkling point to some, and not visible 
 at all to other planets, even of our own solar system ; while 
 myriads of suns, with attendant families of worlds, spangle 
 the floor of heaven, and mock the powers of the most 
 potent telescope ; then the condescension of the heavenly 
 host becomes more marked and significant, and seems to 
 indicate that there must have been some special display of 
 God's glory on this little earth, to which other greater and 
 brighter worlds were strangers ; and hence they concentrate 
 upon this spot a more intense gaze, and feel for us a more 
 vivid interest. The solution of this interest is found in 
 the fact that, for all we know, this earth is the spot where 
 was seen the highest display of God's moral glory, and where 
 was waged the great battle of God's supremacy, in which 
 sin and death were conquered, and grace and salvation won 
 
 V 
 
THE LOST SHEEP: THE LOST MONEY. 103 
 
 We know not that any other world revolted from God ; 
 we infer, indeed, from the transactions which took place 
 here, that all other portions of His universe adhered to 
 the holiness of their original creation ; and if, as we justly 
 suppose, this earth alone broke out in rebellion, and threw 
 off its allegiance to Jehovah, we can well understand how, 
 for a time, the fact of such an outbreak would be heralded 
 throughout the skies, and how the questions — shall rebel 
 man be punished ? can rebel man be saved ? would for a 
 season occupy the thoughts and fix the deepest interest in 
 the heavenly host. In such a case, the littleness of the 
 terrestrial spot was nothing — the greatness of the principle 
 at stake was everything. The smallness of the world was 
 lost sight of in the magnitude of the issue, even as the 
 intrinsic worthlessness of Pharsalia, and Agincourt, and 
 Waterloo, and Yorktown, is lost in the immense issues 
 which were decided in battle on those fields of blood. 
 The great principle that was here to be established, and 
 the mighty wonder that was here to be disclosed, was the 
 principle that " God could be just and yet the justifier of 
 him that believeth on Jesus;" and the awful mystery of a 
 " God manifest in the flesh, seen of angels, believed on in 
 the world," and redeeming that world by " humbling Him- 
 self unto death, even the death of the cross." Hence 
 angels gathered around this single wandering world ; hence 
 they watched the dealings of God with its sinful inhabit- 
 ants ; and hence we find them, in all ages of the world, 
 mingling their services to carry on the scheme of grace in 
 its various manifestations — Patriarchal, Levitical, and 
 
101 THE PARABLES UNFOLDED. 
 
 Christian. Angels came to Abraham, and Lot, and Jacob, 
 and Moses. Angels appeared to David, to Elijah, to 
 Daniel, to Ezekiel. Angels foretold the birth of Christ to 
 Zecharias, to Mary, to Joseph, to the Bethlehem shep- 
 herds. Angels ministered to Christ on the mount of temp 
 tation, in the garden of Gethsemane, at the rock-hewn 
 sepulchre, and announced to the women who had gone 
 thither to anoint the Saviour, " He is risen ; He is not 
 here; come see the place where the Lord lay." And 
 angels shall attend Him in His second advent to judge 
 the world, for St. Matthew says, "When the Son of man 
 shall come in His glory, and all His holy angels with 
 Him, then shall He sit upon the throne of His glory." 
 
 All these angelic appearances are connected with the 
 incarnation of Jesus Christ. The incarnation of Christ is 
 the greatest moral epoch in the universe of God ; and as 
 this incarnation was " for us men and our salvation," hence 
 it would necessarily be a matter of profound interest to 
 angelic beings, whose service was in the presence of God, 
 to watch the results of that great mystery, and to rejoice, 
 as each new convert to Christ gave proof of the power, and 
 wisdom, and grace of God in planning out such a perfect 
 and complete salvation. They rejoice that God's grace, 
 and Christ's blood, and the Spirit's power, have not been 
 bestowed in vain. They rejoice that another soul is 
 " snatched as a brand from the burning," and has become 
 " an heir of God and a joint heir with Christ to an inherit- 
 Ance" in heaven ; and though supremely happy themselves, 
 though dwelling in the presence of God, " in whose pre- 
 
THE LOST SHEEP: THE LOST MONEY. 105 
 
 sence is fulness of joy, and at whose right hand are 
 pleasures for ever more," yet such is the depth of their 
 interest in Christ, who is their Divine Head, such the out> 
 going of their affection to Him in all His mediatorial work, 
 that they find it a source of ecstatic joy to follow out the 
 wondrous exhibitions of His redeeming love, as it flows 
 down to the individual heart, and new creates the soul 
 in righteousness and true holiness. Warranted by the re- 
 peated words of Jesus, we can imagine the angels — for- 
 getful, as it were, for a time, of the "just who need no 
 repentance," those who have already been renewed by the 
 Holy Ghost — bending all the force and anxiety of their 
 celestial interest upon one poor sinner, watching his wan- 
 dering steps as he strays away further and further, now 
 almost stumbling with fear, as his feet tread nearer and 
 nearer to the slippery edge of ruin, and now all excitement, 
 as, arrested by the call of mercy, he listens, turns, retraces 
 his steps, is found by the Good Shepherd, is laid upon His 
 shoulder ; and as the once lost one is brought back to the 
 fold, we can conceive that there would rise from that 
 heavenly host, from every rank and order, till the wave of 
 their mighty gratulation would reach the Eternal Throne, 
 the ecstatic exclamation, " He is found ! he is saved ! one 
 sinner more redeemed ! one saint more for glory !" 
 
t Igtofeipl § m. 
 
THE PRODIGAL SON. 
 
 "A certain man had two sons; and the younger of them .said to his father, 
 Father, give me the portion of goods that falleth to me. And he divided unto them 
 Lis living. And not many daj r s after, the younger son gathered all together, and 
 took his journey into a far country, and there wasted his substance with riotous 
 living. And when he had spent all, there arose a mighty famine in that land ; and 
 he began to be in want. And he went and joined himself to a citizen of that coun- 
 try , and he sent him into his fields to feed swine. And he would fain have filled 
 his belly with the husks that the swine did eat : and no man gave unto him. And 
 when he came to himself, he said, How many hired servants of my father's have 
 bread enough, and to spare, and I perish with hunger! I will arise and go to my 
 father, and will say unto him, Father, I have sinned against Heaven, and before 
 thee, and am no more worthy to be called thy son : make me as one of thy hired 
 servants. And he arose, and came to his father. But when he was yet a great 
 way off, his father saw him, and had compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and 
 kissed him. And the son said unto him, Father, I have sinned against Heaven, 
 and in thy sight, and am no more worthy to be called thy son. But the father said 
 to his servants, Bring forth the best robe, and put it on him ; and put a ring on 
 his hand, and shoes on his feet: and bring hither the fatted calf, and kill it; and 
 let us eat, and be merry : for this my son was dead, and is alive again ; he was 
 lost, and is found. And they began to be merry. Now his elder son was in the 
 field : and as he came and drew nigh to the house, he heard music and dancing. 
 And he called one of the servants, and asked what these things meant. And he 
 said unto him, Thy brother is come ; and thy father hath killed the fatted calf, 
 because he hath received him safe and sound. And he was angry, and would not 
 go in: therefore came his father out, and entreated him. And he answering, said 
 to his father, Lo, these many years do I serve thee, neither transgressed I at any 
 time thy commandment ; and yet thou never gavest me a kid, that I might make 
 merry with my friends : but as soon as this thy son was come, which hath devoured 
 thy living with harlots, thou hast killed for him the fatted calf. And he said unto 
 
 10'J 
 
HO THE PARABLES UNFOLDED. 
 
 him, Son, thou art ever with me, and all that I have is thine. It was meet that 
 we should make merry, and be glad : for this thy brother was dead, and is alive 
 again; and was lost, and is found." Luke xv. 11-32. 
 
 THE parables of The Lost Sheep, The Lost Piece of Sil- 
 ver, and The Prodigal Son, were spoken by our Lord 
 on one occasion and for one general purpose. 
 
 The occasion, as we have already seen, was the carping 
 of the Scribes and Pharisees at the gracious reception which 
 sinners received from Jesus; and the general purpose was, 
 to illustrate the seeking love and pardoning mercy of God 
 toward the wandering, the lost, and the prodigal. 
 
 Our Lord had already, to a great extent, vindicated his 
 procedure in receiving sinners, by showing, through the 
 two preceding parables, that it was natural that he should 
 feel a deep interest in those who, having wandered, had 
 now been reclaimed, having been lost, were now found. 
 But many, probably, of his hearers were fathers, who, un- 
 influenced, it may be, by similitudes drawn from pastoral 
 or domestic life, might yet be deeply touched by an appeal 
 to parental emotions, the natural outgushings of a heart 
 for the sons of their affection. Nothing, then, could be 
 more relevant, both to the audience which he addressed, 
 and the truth which he wished to enforce, than the touch- 
 ing incidents related in the parable of the Prodigal Son. 
 
 We picture to ourselves the venerable father, blessed 
 with an abundance of this world's goods, and happy in 
 possessing two sons, to whom he looked for comfort in his 
 advancing years. 
 
 But discontent has already begun its work upon the 
 
THE PRODIGAL SON. ill 
 
 younger son ; and, after long nursing his unhappy feelings, 
 and long manifesting an increasing bitterness of spirit, he 
 seizes upon some trifling excuse, and, in an exacting and 
 unfeeling way, demands, " Father, give me the portion of 
 goods that falleth to me." He wishes to get it into his 
 own hands, to spend it as he pleases, without either pa- 
 rental advice or control. 
 
 Hitherto, the two sons had shared their father's house, 
 table, bounty, love; but, on occasion of the peremptory 
 demand of the younger, the father, in the words of the 
 parable, "divided unto them his living." 
 
 Waiting "not many days," only long enough to convert 
 his " portion of goods" into ready money, he turned his 
 back upon his father and his boyhood's home, and " took 
 his journey into a far country ;" where no parental control 
 would restrain him in his course of sin ; where, master of 
 himself and of his means, he could do "whatsoever he. 
 listed." 
 
 In this " far country," mingling with the dissolute and 
 abandoned, he soon wastes "his substance in riotous living." 
 Deserted by his parasitic friends, who attached themselves 
 to him only so long as they could draw out the sap and 
 strength of his pecuniary substance, he found himself " in 
 want," with "a famine" pressing upon him, and not a 
 friend to lean upon for even a temporary support. In this 
 starving, desolate, ruined condition, he seeks, as a last re- 
 sort, for some menial employment, by which he can at least 
 satisfy his hunger, and secure a temporary home. He let 
 himself out for hire to " a citizen of that country," and is 
 
L12 THE PARABLES UNFOLDED. 
 
 sent by him "into his fields to feed swine" — the meanest 
 of all employment, one abhorred by the Jews as unclean, 
 and so contemned by the Egyptians, that swineherds were 
 the only persons excluded from their temples. 
 
 But the depth of his misery was not yet reached, for 
 Mich were the cravings of hunger, and such the miserable 
 portion of food allotted him, in this time of famine, that 
 he would fain have eaten the husks or pods of the carob 
 tree, used only as fodder for beasts, but " no man gave unto 
 him." Wretched object ! stripped of his money, shrunken 
 with hunger, turned out as a swineherd into the fields, a 
 beggar and a stranger in a far-off land, with the glad 
 remembrances of a former and happy life, making more 
 vivid and sorrowful his present wretchedness; there he 
 la}-, the younger son of a liberal and bountiful father, 
 loathsome, degraded, wretched : a melancholy picture of 
 self-begotten misery and woe. 
 
 How long he remained thus is not stated. The next 
 intimation we have of him is, that " he came to himself," 
 as if all this time he had not been himself, had been acting 
 as a crazy man, and had now only just awoke from his 
 demented condition, and looked at himself in a true light. 
 He compares himself not with his former condition and 
 circumstances, when, as a son, he sat at his father's table, 
 and lodged in his father's mansion, and was waited on by 
 his father's servants ; so low is he debased in his own eyes, 
 that he does not raise himself to the height of this com- 
 parison, which, on first thought, we might suppose would be 
 the very one that would be uppermost in his mind ; but he 
 
THE PRODIGAL SON. 138 
 
 himself humbly compares himself to his father's menials, 
 and as his thoughts wander afar off from the swine and the 
 husks around him, to his distant boyhood's home, they 
 bring up before him the plenty which fills his father's house : 
 the very " hired servants" of which have " bread enough 
 and to spare," while he, the son, whom those full-fed 
 servants once obeyed, now " perishes with hunger." The 
 thought stings him to the quick, and he resolves, under the 
 influence of the deep emotion, " I will arise, and go to my 
 father ;" no longer will I sit down here in these distant 
 fields, watching these loathsome beasts, but remembering 
 the love and care of my father, and the plenty that fills 
 his barns and board, to him I will go ; yet not as a son ; 
 this relationship I have forfeited by my base desertion; 
 but as a servant, and not as a servant only, but as a con- 
 fessing, humbled penitent, for I will "say unto him, Father, 
 I have sinned against Heaven and before thee, and am no 
 more worthy to be called thy son ; make me as one of thy 
 hired servants." 
 
 His resolve was followed by action. He " came to his 
 father;" and we can almost picture out his appearance and 
 feelings as he reaches his native fields, and comes within 
 sight of his father's house. Wan and weary with his 
 journey, faint with hunger, emaciated with long fasting and 
 walking, his face furrowed by the ploughshare of care, and 
 his brow corrugated by the turbulence of mental anguish, 
 clad in the tattered and besmeared garments of a swine- 
 herd, and leaning heavily upon his staff, he stands on the 
 brow of the first hill from which he can catch a glimpse of 
 
LU THE PARABLES UNFOLDED. 
 
 his once happy home, and as it meets his eyes they fill with 
 tears, and his heart is too full for utterance. The terrible 
 contrast between his present and his past condition ; the 
 fearful wastings of life, health, strength, money, which a 
 few months have made; the pictures of childish happiness 
 enjoyed there, intermingling with the deep shadows which 
 darkened his life in the land he had just left ; must have 
 crowded thickly upon his mind, and made his weak frame 
 tremble as these emotions wrestled within him. 
 
 The father spies the returning prodigal even " when a 
 great way off;" feels in his heart the wellings up of com- 
 passion towards his son, and not waiting to see what was 
 the temper and condition of that son, he " runs to meet 
 him,'' " falls upon his neck" with joy, and " kisses him" with 
 parental affection. The son, overpowered by this display, 
 begins his premeditated speech ; " Father, I have sinned 
 against Heaven in thy sight, and am no more worthy to be 
 called thy son." The father stopped to hear no more ; the 
 sentence, " Make me as one of thy hired servants," was 
 arrested on his lips by the father's orders to the servants, 
 " Bring forth the best robe and put it on him, and put a 
 ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet; and bring hither 
 the fatted calf, and kill it, and let us eat and be merry : for 
 this my son was dead, and is alive again ; he was lost, and 
 is found." Thus by these four signs, the freeman's robe, 
 the patrician's ring, the sandals of honour, and the feast of 
 gladness, did the father manifest the highest regard for his 
 son, and confer on him the highest honours of his house. 
 
 What a contrast between the morning and evening of 
 
THE PRODIG \L SON. 115 
 
 that day ! The morning swineherd, the way-worn beggar, 
 the hunger-pinched prodigal, is now, at eventide, the robed 
 and ringed and sandalled son, the restored wanderer, the 
 feasted guest, the joy of his father's heart and home. 
 
 While thus merry, father and younger son together, " the 
 elder son," who, when the meeting took place, " was in the 
 field" superintending his labourers, " drew nigh to the house," 
 and was astonished to hear sounds " of music and dancing ;" 
 inquiring of "one of the servants" "what these things 
 meant?" he was told the story of the prodigal's return. 
 Instead, however, of rejoicing at the coming back of his 
 erring brother, and going in and congratulating his father, 
 and joining in the festive scene, he becomes " angry, and 
 would not go in." The kind father, hearing of his feelings, 
 goes out to him, and aims to soften down his wrath ; but 
 the surly brother rebuffs him by relating his long-continued 
 goodness, and hints even at unrewarded services; while his 
 dissolute brother no sooner returns from disgrace and beg- 
 gary and crime, than there is " killed for him the fatted 
 calf." The ill-natured attack of the elder brother, both 
 upon his father and the prodigal, is met by the gentle yet 
 forcible reply of the father, " Son, thou art ever with me, 
 and all that I have is thine ; it was meet that we should 
 make merry and be glad, for this thy brother was dead, and 
 is alive again ; he was lost, and is found." 
 
 Such is the exquisitely beautiful parable of the Prodigal 
 Son, which Trench calls " the pearl and crown of all the 
 parables of the Scripture ;" and of which Lavater says, 
 " Had Christ only come to earth for the purpose of deliver- 
 
116 THE PARABLES UNFOLDED. 
 
 ing this parable, on that account alone should all mortal 
 and immortal beings have concurred in bending the knee 
 before Him." 
 
 In considering the moral of this parable, we find that it 
 resolves itself into four stages, viz., the prodigal's departure, 
 his degradation, his return, and his reception. In each of 
 these courses of action there is furnished a complete type 
 of the human heart; and in the reception which the re- 
 turning wanderer meets with, there is set out the free and 
 pardoning love of a great and holy God. 
 
 The prodigal began his departure by the exacting request, 
 "Give me the portion of goods that falleth to me." The 
 desire to throw off the reins of God's government and to 
 be independent of Him, is the root sin of all sins. It was 
 this which cast down the rebel angels ; which entrapped 
 Adam into disobedience, and by which death was brought 
 into the world and all our woe. As soon as the heart 
 begins to be conscious of its relations and duties to God it 
 grows restive, and commences its efforts at departure. The 
 sinner selfishly craves " his portion of goods" from God, as 
 if God was bound to divide unto him his living ; and where 
 there is this perversity of mind, God often permits men to 
 make the experiment which they desire. He gives them 
 "their portion in this life;" appears to bless them, and 
 crown tin ir lives with mercies : so far, however, from being 
 satisfied, they collect the energies of mind and body, their 
 influence and their resources, and having " gathered all 
 together" with them, they commence their career of apos- 
 tacy and crime. This career is a rapidly downward and an 
 
THE PRODIGAL SON. 117 
 
 increasingly wicked one; for when the soul has once so 
 compacted its energies as to cast off its filial duty to God 
 and the checks of his Fatherly control, there is nothing to 
 impede its onward course, for all the breaks of human 
 resolves are powerless upon the rushing wheels of passion- 
 driven man. The soul that has departed from God has 
 commenced a series of sins which will ever augment in 
 size, and increase in power, and deepen in guilt throughout 
 eternity. 
 
 This departure from God is a wilful one. It is not God the 
 Father thrusting the son out of his house, and exiling him 
 to a " far country," but the son voluntarily breaking away 
 from the Father, and recklessly plunging into ruin, prefer- 
 ring the " far country" to his father's house. That " far 
 country" is this fallen world. "We are here at a great 
 moral distance from our Father's Home. We here waste 
 the powers of mind and body in riotous living, in doing 
 those things which God forbids and our consciences disap- 
 prove, and the pangs of spiritual want soon seize upon us. 
 For in this far off land there is a famine in all those things 
 that the soul most needs ; and the world, so far from 
 satisfying our spiritual cravings, like a hard master, sends 
 us, immortal beings as we are, to the vilest of employments 
 and the meanest of food. It is markedly emphatic of the 
 debasing influence of the world, that our Lord should select 
 such a loathsome and, by the Levitical law, almost accursed 
 employment as a swineherd, as an illustration of the 
 depths of misery to which it would reduce us, having first 
 caused us to " waste our substance in riotous living." And 
 
U8 THE PARABLES UNFOLDED. 
 
 as all those drudging occupations to which men bind out 
 their souls for hire, are, in comparison to those employ- 
 ments of holiness in which they should be engaged, as 
 brutish as the swineherd's, so also is the food which the 
 world offers to the starving spirit but husks — worthless, 
 unsatisfying. The soul can never thrive upon such bestial 
 diet, and it famishes for something real, true, holy; some- 
 thing suitable to its wants here and its destinies hereafter. 
 As soon as the grace of God visits such a soul, it becomes 
 at once conscious of its wants. There is a waking up to 
 its needs, an opening of the eye to its miseries, a disen- 
 chanting of the spell which has so long perverted the 
 judgment; and the poor debased sinner begins to feel his 
 wretchedness, his degradation, his perishing condition. 
 The sin of his departure from God comes into clear view ; 
 bis guilt in his subsequent course stands out in its true 
 light ; the woe of his present position darkens over him, 
 like a lowering cloud charged with the arrowy lightnings 
 of an angry God ; and the future lies before him, a yawning, 
 bottomless gulf of woe, to the brink of which he feels that 
 he is speedily hasting. This is the hour when the Holy 
 Spirit begins his work of conviction, holding up the sins of 
 his life in the light of God's countenance, and causing him to 
 mourn with a godly sorrow that needeth not to be repented 
 of. He shows him that he is " wretched, and miserable, 
 and poor, and blind, and naked ;" and having convinced 
 him of his undone condition, points him to his Father's 
 house, stirs up within him a desire to return, and 
 strengthens him to resolve, " I will arise and go to my 
 Father." 
 
THE PRODIGAL SON. 119 
 
 Not, however, until, driven from every " refuge of lies," 
 does the sinner desire to return. His proud heart rebels 
 against going back to God, from whom he so vauntingly 
 departed. The doctrine of free grace ill comports with his 
 boasted self-righteousness and independence. If he could, 
 by any works of penance, hew out for himself a salvation, 
 so that the merit of it should be all his own, and of which 
 he could say, " my power and the might of my hand hath 
 gotten me this victory," he would gladly do it; and he 
 makes a great variety of attempts to obtain peace of mind 
 before he turns with a simple faith to "Behold the Lamb 
 of God, which taketh away the sin of the world." Then 
 it is that the sinner "comes to himself;" up to this period 
 he is beside himself." He calls good evil, and bitter sweet ; 
 his moral sense is perverted; his mind acts without due 
 control; he yields himself as a servant to sin; he "loves 
 darkness rather than light;" he runs greedily in the way 
 of sin ; he seeks supremely his own selfish ends ; is under 
 the governance of merely worldly influences; shuts his 
 eyes to the future, and madly rushes on to eternal ruin. 
 Now, however, this delusion is being broken up : he begins 
 to look at things in their just relation : reason recovers its 
 ascendancy, and reflection busies itself with his past life. 
 Now he thinks on God, his Father, and what he has left 
 in his Father's house, and the rich provision there made for 
 the souls of His servants, and the fulness of bread therein 
 for all who will resort thither. He begins his repentance 
 by a resolve to break off his present course of life — for 
 then? is no repentance where there is a continuance in sin 
 
120 THE r ARABLES UNFOLDED. 
 
 — saying, " I will arise ;" I will sit no longer in these dis- 
 tant fields, in this brutish servility. " I will arise," and 
 renouncing my employment, will "go to my Father." 
 And this indicates the second essential element of true 
 repentance, which is a turning to God ; for when the Holy 
 Ghost produces in the soul that godly sorrow for sin which 
 is the result of his convicting power, then there results a 
 repentance which manifests itself in a turning away from 
 sin, and a turning unto God, with full purpose of heart to 
 serve Him in sincerity and truth. 
 
 The resolve to return is accompanied by a penitent con- 
 fession, " Father, I have sinned against Heaven and before 
 thee." Under the enlightening influences of the Spirit, 
 the sinner is taught to behold his iniquities in a new point 
 of view. Hitherto he has regarded sin only as it has 
 affected his worldly interests and standing. Its heinous- 
 ness has been measured by the discomforts of mind or 
 body to which it has subjected him ; now, however, the 
 mere earthly aspect of sin is overtopped by its appearance 
 in the light of God's countenance. He sees it to be that 
 abominable thing which God hateth ; and as the holy cha- 
 racter of God rises into view, he beholds more clearly the 
 baseness of his iniquity ; and so filled is he with a sense 
 of his vileness in God's sight, that he exclaims with David, 
 " Against thee only have I sinned." The idea that he 
 " has sinned against heaven," against the laws, the love, 
 the mercy, the long-suffering, the holiness of the God of 
 Heaven, is the absorbing idea of the repenting sinner. He 
 never thought before of sin as it appears in the view of 
 
THE PRODIGAL SON. 121 
 
 God, and of Christ, and of the Holy Ghost ; and he is 
 amazed at its grossness and baseness, and exclaims, " Be- 
 hold, I am vile ;" " I abhor myself, and repent in dust and 
 ashes." 
 
 For humility necessarily follows true repentance and 
 confession. It is impossible for the soul to say, "Father, I 
 have sinned against Heaven," without that conscious worth 
 lessness on account of guilt so humbling the soul as also to 
 call out thfi further exclamation, " I am no more worthy to 
 be called thy son ; make me as one of thy hired servants." 
 To occupy the lowest place in the Church militant or 
 Church triumphant is far too good for the now abased 
 penitent. To be a " doorkeeper," " a hired servant," is all 
 to which the prostrate, sin-stricken soul dares aspire ; and 
 he feels that, to be "least in the kingdom of God" is higher 
 honour than to be the greatest in the kingdoms of men. 
 And well may the soul be humble when it contemplates 
 the number, malignity, and constancy of its sins of thought 
 and word and deed, secret and open, of omission and com- 
 mission, on the one hand; and the character of God — holy, 
 supreme, eternal, infinite — against whom it has sinned, on 
 the other. In the presence of such mountain-like sins, and 
 before such an ineffably glorious God, what position can 
 the penitent take, but that of deepest humility and abase- 
 ment; putting his hand upon his mouth, and his mouth 
 in the dust, crying, " unclean, unclean," " God be merciful 
 to me a sinner." 
 
 From the depths of penitent humility, rises the most 
 Vigorous Christian action. He will love Christ the most, 
 
122 THE PARABLES UNFOLDED. 
 
 wlio has seen most of the plague of his own heart, and 
 been made to feel most keenly the bitings of the " famine," 
 and the worthlessness of the " husks" in that " far country'' 
 of sin, wherein he was in bondage ; and he will work foi 
 Christ the most energetically who loves most ardently, for 
 there is no motive power to action so strong, so enduring, 
 so elevating as the constraining love of Christ. Hence the 
 prompt carrying into effect of the resolve, " I will arise and 
 go to my Father." He arises, departs, leaves all behind 
 him, and bends his eager steps towards his Father's house. 
 He does not allow any doubts as to his Father's readiness 
 to receive him to disturb his mind ; he does not stop to 
 make himself more respectable, more externally worthy ; 
 he does not hesitate and say, "If my Father wants me or 
 loves me, it is easy enough for him to send out his hired 
 servants and find me, and bring me home. In the confi- 
 dence of a faith in his Father's readiness to receive and 
 willingness to forgive, which is based on the immutable 
 promise of God, he goes to that Father; for, over the gate- 
 way that leads to His mercy-seat is inscribed in bold letters, 
 " Him that cometh unto me I will in no wise cast out." 
 
 As soon as there is this putting forth of the hand of faith, 
 and laying hold on Christ as the hope set before us in the 
 Gospel, there is a sensible appreciation of the fact that our 
 Father, w r hile we " were yet a great way off," has seen us, 
 has had compassion on us, has come out to meet us, and 
 has, with more than oriental manifestations of His love, 
 taken us to His bosom and led us to His earthly courts. 
 Beautifully as the touches of this exquisite parable illus- 
 
THE PRODIGAL SON. 123 
 
 trate the tenderness of an earthly parent, they come far 
 short of expressing the infinite, the divine, the eternal love 
 of God for ns miserable sinners, or the wonderful displays 
 of His compassion when He gave His well-beloved and 
 only-begotten Son " to die — the just for the unjust — that 
 we might be reconciled to God." Oh, impenitent man ! 
 only obey the motions of the Holy Ghost, and leave your 
 swine-like lusts, your worldly husks, your servitude to sin, 
 and arise and go to your Father ; you will soon see that 
 Father hasting towards you ; His Divine love moving Him 
 to truest compassion, and causing Him to meet you while 
 "yet a great way off;" for the language of this loving 
 Father is, as Hosea tells us, " How shall 1 give thee up, 
 Ephraim ? How shall I deliver thee, Israel ? How shall 
 I make thee as Admah ? How shall I set thee as Zeboim ? 
 Mine heart is turned within me ; my repentings are kin- 
 dled together." 
 
 The rich provision which God makes for the repenting 
 sinner illustrates still further his abounding love. The 
 prodigal comes in the rags of his degradation, and is, by the 
 ministering hand of faith, clothed in the robej " the best 
 robe," of Christ's perfect righteousness, so that he exclaims 
 with Isaiah, " I will greatly rejoice in the Lord ; my soul 
 shall be joyful in my God ; for He hath clothed me with 
 the garments of salvation, He hath covered me with the 
 robe of righteousness." 
 
 The hand which squandered his Father's gifts, and doled 
 out husks to the swine, is now adorned with a ring, the 
 covenant ring of a new and everlasting alliance, the " token 
 and pledge" of a union which the Lord will bless. 
 
124 THE PARABLES UNFOLDED. 
 
 He comes, with feet lacerated and wearied with the 
 roughness and greatness of the sinner's way, and receives 
 the shoes of the " preparation of the Gospel of peace," by 
 which he is enabled to tread with confidence in the path 
 of duty, and run witli fleetness in the way of God's com- 
 mandments. He comes, hungry and famished, and God 
 spreads for him in His house the Gospel feast, " a feast of 
 fat things, a feast of wines on the lees, of fat things full of 
 marrow, of wines on the lees well refined." And this 
 eucharistic feast, at which the truly penitent and believing 
 soul feeds by faith on the body and blood of Calvary's 
 Sacrifice, and is nourished and strengthened thereby, is but 
 the antepast of that more glorious reunion when, with 
 Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, " he shall sit down to the 
 marriage-supper of the Lamb in Heaven." 
 
 He comes in sorrow and humility, feeling that he is 
 unworthy to be called a son, and desiring to take a low 
 place, even as " a hired servant," and he is received with 
 every demonstration of joy ; the church on earth rejoices, 
 and welcomes him with music and thanksgiving; Christ 
 rejoices, for He then sees of the travail of his soul, and is 
 satisfied ; and " there is joy in the presence of the angels 
 of God," for this their earthly " brother was dead, and is 
 alive again; was lost, and is found." 
 
% ftojmrt f tetaK 
 
THE UNJUST STEWARD. 
 
 " And he said also unto his disciples, There was a certain rich man, which had a 
 steward ; and the same was accused unto him that he had wasted his goods. And 
 he called him, and said unto him, How is it that I hear this of thee ? give an 
 account of thy stewardship ; for thou mayest be no longer steward. Then the 
 steward said within himself, What shall I do ? for my lord taketh away from me the 
 stewardship : I cannot dig ; to beg I am ashamed. I am resolved what to do, that, 
 when I am put out of the stewardship, they may receive me into their houses. So 
 he called every one of his lord's debtors unto him, and said unto the first, How 
 much owest thou unto my lord? And he said, A hundred measures of oil. And 
 he said unto him, Take thy bill, and sit down quickly, and write fifty. Then said 
 he to another, And how much owest thou ? And he said, A hundred measures of 
 wheat. And he said unto him, Take thy bill, and write fourscore. And the lord 
 commended the unjust steward, because he had done wisely : for the children of 
 this world are in their generation wiser than the children of light. And I say unto 
 you, Make to yourselves friends of the mammon of unrighteousness; that, when 
 ye fail, they may receive you into everlasting habitations." Luke xvi. 1-9. 
 
 COMMENTATORS, while they have done much to 
 explain the parables, have also done much to obscure 
 them. They have sometimes created more obstacles than 
 they have removed, and, by their multifarious explanations 
 and hypercritical emendations, have involved passages in 
 perplexity, which before were clear and simple. 
 
 It is the duty of the biblical scholar to study when to 
 let the subject plead its own cause, and when to play the 
 
 127 
 
128 THE PARABLES UNFOLDED.. 
 
 able advocate for its rendering or its doctrine, but never to 
 overlay the words of God with human explanations, how- 
 ever ornate or beautiful. The Apollo of Praxiteles needs 
 no cloak of gold from the hand of Demetrius. 
 
 These remarks apply with some force to the parable 
 under consideration, which some of the ancient fathers 
 looked upon as the most difficult and obscure of all ; and 
 one learned divine (Cajetan) has gone so far as to declare 
 that it is not only difficult but impossible to give its true 
 meaning. 
 
 The error under which most of the expositors of this 
 passage have laboured has been that of attempting to fit 
 an interpretation to every circumstance and incident of the 
 parable, instead of attempting to seize upon and elucidate 
 its main scope and design. " A parable, and the moral 
 accommodation of it, are not," as one well observes, "like 
 two planes, which touch one another in every part, but like 
 a globe upon a plane, which only touches in one point." 
 
 Though this may not be true of all the parables, it is 
 certainly very near the truth as it respects this, for the one 
 point of contact here between the parable and the moral 
 accommodation of it to men, is the word " wisely :" the 
 incident in the first part of the parable being designed to 
 show that the steward acted " wisely," or with temporal 
 prudence and foresight, in making provision for the future ; 
 and the latter part of it, or application, being intended to 
 urge upon us in reference to our soul's future, a spiritual 
 wisdom, corresponding in its prudence and foresight to this 
 wise acting in the things of earth. 
 
 
THE UNJUST STEWARD. 129 
 
 " Wisely," then, seems to be the key word of the parable, 
 opening before us "the two-leaved gates" of the similitude 
 and the application. Let us examine the similitude or 
 parable first, and then the moral or application. In apply- 
 ing the term " wisely" (or " prudently," as Wiclif more 
 properly renders xhe original) to the unjust steward, it 
 signifies merely temporal wisdom, sagacity, discernment, 
 foresight to perceive danger, and wit to provide for it, 
 according to the best classical usage of the word as found 
 in the writings of Aristotle, Xenophon, Plato, and 
 Euripides. In this strictly worldly sense the unjust stew- 
 ard acted " wisely," in making full provision for the future. 
 
 When accusation was made against him that he had 
 * l wasted" his master's goods, and he was called upon to 
 answer to the charge by giving an account of his steward- 
 ship, he was at a loss how to proceed, and asks the anxious 
 question, " What shall I do ?" The charges against him he 
 knew to be true; dismissal from office must inevitably 
 follow an examination of his rent-rolls and accounts ; how 
 therefore to acquire a livelihood when discharged from his 
 present lucrative station, perplexed his mind. Unaccus- 
 tomed to labour, he could not work ; puffed up with pride, 
 he could not beg ; and between his inability to do the one 
 and his unwillingness to do the other, he had but a poor 
 prospect for the future. 
 
 He soon settles the matter by adding iniquity to iniquity, 
 and completing a long course of dishonesty by open fraud. 
 He makes his resolve, comforts himself with the assur- 
 9 
 
130 THE PARABLES UNFOLDED. 
 
 ance that it will secure him a home, and then proceeds to 
 carry his plan into operation. 
 
 He immediately summons his lord's debtors or tenants, 
 looks over the various amounts which they had obligated 
 themselves to pay for their lands or dwellings, rentals 
 which, to this day, in Eastern countries, are mostly paid in 
 the produce of the land, as corn, oil, wheat, wine. Finding 
 that the first to whom he spoke was bound for "a hundred 
 measures," or about a thousand gallons of olive oil (a valu- 
 able article of oriental commerce), he tells him to take his 
 " bill" or lease, erase the hundred, and " sit down quickly 
 and write fifty," thus, cancelling at a stroke one-half his 
 debt. 
 
 He then calls a second, and learning from his answer 
 that he was to pay " an hundred measures of wheat," or 
 over 1400 bushels, he directed him to strike off one-fifth, 
 and thus make his obligation but "fourscore." Two, only, 
 are mentioned, but the tenor of the narrative implies that 
 there were other debtors, and that the like reduction was 
 made in all their contracts; and this the steward could 
 easily do, because he was the one through whom the estates 
 were rented, the one to whom the revenue was paid; and 
 as these " bills" or obligations were in the handwriting of 
 the renters, countersigned and witnessed by the steward, 
 hence, it was very easy so to collude with the debtors as 
 to produce the changes in the lease of each which are spe- 
 cified in the parable. The result of this was, that he 
 placed each under an obligation to himself, varying, pro- 
 bably, with the ability of each to meet that obligation, and 
 
THE UNJUST STEWARD. 131 
 
 thus made sure of a welcome among these " debtors" when 
 his lord should discharge him from his stewardship. 
 
 He reasoned upon the general law of reciprocity, and, 
 though he was faithless to his master, he believed these 
 obliged debtors would be faithful to him. 
 
 For this act of worldly wisdom the lord (not Jesus) or 
 master of the steward was forced to commend him, for, 
 though he saw the crime, he could not but praise the fore- 
 sight and sagacity by which he secured to himself both 
 friends and home. 
 
 Much unnecessary obloquy has been thrown upon our 
 blessed Lord, by attributing the commendation of the 
 unjust steward to Him, rather than to the master or lord 
 of the steward. From the time of the emperor Julian, 
 who made this an occasion of vilifying the character of 
 Christ, down to the neological interpreters of the present 
 day, it has been made an instrument, either of attacking 
 the character of Christ, or of giving Divine support to 
 knavery and fraud ; and though some excellent commen- 
 tators, as Henry and Whitby, favour the idea that the 
 commendation proceeded from Jesus, yet the peculiar con- 
 struction of the original Greek words, as well as the pro- 
 priety of the thing itself, renders it certain that the " lord" 
 indicated was the steward's master, and not Jesus Christ. 
 It was, then, the same "lord" mentioned in the third 
 verse, "for my lord taketh away my stewardship f and 
 the same "lord" mentioned in the fifth verse, "How much 
 owest thou unto my Lord ?" who, in the eighth verse, " com- 
 mended the unjust steward, because he had done wisely." 
 
'32 THE PARABLES UNFOLDED. 
 
 At this word ' wisely,' the parable proper ends. And 
 now, with a sort of parenthetical remark, that " the chil- 
 dren of this world are in their generation wiser than the 
 children of light," Christ enforces the true moral of the 
 parable in the emphatic words, "And I say unto you, 
 make to yourselves friends of the mammon of unrighteous- 
 ness, that when ye fail they may receive you into ever- 
 lasting habitations." In which application to His disciples, 
 "yourselves" answers to the "steward" of the parable; the 
 " friends" to the " Lord's debtors ;" " when ye fail," to the 
 removal of the steward from his office ; and " the reception 
 into everlasting habitations" is antithetical of the tempo- 
 rary lodgings into which the steward was received by h:3 
 earthly friends, when " put out of the stewardship ;" and 
 all turns upon the word " wisely," which is the hinge of 
 the parable. 
 
 This we learn from looking into the parable itself. Why 
 was it uttered ? To teach us to waste goods intrusted to 
 us? to teach us to cheat and defraud our employers? 
 to show us how to make our fellow-men accomplices in 
 our crimes? to commend injustice? Certainly not. So 
 that we are shut up to the word wisely as the true pith of 
 the parable, or else must discard it as teaching nothing 
 worthy to be learned. 
 
 What, then, in reference to the wise actings of this stew- 
 ard, would our Lord have us imitate ? What are the real 
 lessons which this parable was designed to teach? That 
 we should use our riches with a wise reference to our soul's 
 future existence, and, regarding them as treasures given us 
 in trust, and ourselves as stewards, amenable to our Divine 
 
THE UNJUST STEWARD. 133 
 
 Lord, so spend this "mammon of unrighteousness" in the 
 cause of God, the extension of the Church, and the relief 
 of human misery, as that we do by a figure of speech 
 " make friends" thereby ; " friends" who, when we " fail," or 
 " die," shall, as it were, receive us " into everlasting habi- 
 tations." " We shall find friends there," says Luther, "for 
 the good deeds we have done, the kindness and beneficence 
 we have shown to the poor; these shall not only be wit- 
 nesses of our brotherly and Christian behaviour, but shall 
 also be commended and recompensed. Then one shall 
 come and say, ' Lord, here is a person who gave me a coat, 
 a little money, a piece of bread, a cup of water in the time 
 of need.' Yea, as Christ tells us in the 25th chapter of 
 Matthew, He, Himself, shall come forth and testify before 
 His Heavenly Father, angels, and saints what we have 
 done for Him, and how we have thereby approved our 
 faith." Luther also adds this important remark — "it is 
 not works which gain heaven for us, but Christ freely 
 grants eternal life to those who believe, and give evidence 
 of their faith in works of love and the right employment 
 of their earthly goods." 
 
 Riches, termed here " the mammon of unrighteousness," 
 or the false, fleeting, uncertain riches of earth, in the 
 abstract have neither moral good nor evil. They are, so 
 long as unused, passive and innocuous : it is riches in 
 motion which gives them a definite character ; and here 
 they move under two laws, and in two directions, the law 
 of selfishness and the law of love : the direction towards 
 God, and whatever tends to advance His glory, and the 
 
134 THE PARABLES UNFOLDED. 
 
 direction towards earth, and whatever abets its lusts and 
 pleasures. 
 
 As, then, we cannot live in the world without making 
 use of mammon after some sort, so must we use it as to 
 make friends by it, not consuming it upon our lusts, 
 not squandering it in frivolous schemes and pursuits, 
 not hoarding it up for family aggrandisement; for then 
 it truly becomes unrighteous mammon, one of the most 
 powerful instruments of vice and wickedness ; then truly, 
 as the heathen poet writes, is "gold more destructive than 
 the sword ;" and becomes, as an Apostle declares, " the root 
 of all evil." But we must appropriate it to works of 
 mercy, feeding the hungry, relieving the poor, assisting the 
 afflicted, ministering to the heirs of salvation, extending 
 the gospel of Christ ; thus putting it out to interest in God's 
 service, so that in the end we shall receive unfading riches 
 for filthy lucre, with the usury of grace here and glory in 
 heaven. 
 
 This is the way to "provide ourselves bags which wax 
 not old;" "a treasure in the heavens that faileth not," 
 where no thief steals, no moth frets, no rust corrodes. 
 Into these habitations all will be received when discharged 
 from earth, who have that faith which, working by love, 
 brings forth the fruits of righteousness and true holiness. 
 The steward was received into the wooden tenements or 
 clay-built cottages of his lord's debtors, and by earthly and 
 mortal friends. The friends have long since departed, the 
 dwellings have long since crumbled away ; but "the friends" 
 
THE UNJUST STEWARD. 135 
 
 which the right users of mammon make, are in heaven, 
 and the "habitations" into which they will welcome us 
 are " everlasting ;" for the inheritance of the Christian is 
 " incorruptible, undenled, and passeth not away." 
 
 Let us imitate then the foresight of the unjust steward 
 in making provision for the future, by acting wisely for the 
 eternal interests of our souls ; let us imitate the alacrity 
 and promptness of the unjust steward, who lost not a 
 moment in view of his speedy discharge to secure friends 
 and homes, by being as prompt and eager in the prospect 
 of our failing life to gain the favour of Him who is " a 
 friend, that sticketh closer than a brother," and a mansion 
 among the " everlasting habitations ;" " for we know," says 
 St. Paul, " that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were 
 dissolved, we have a building of God, a house not made 
 with hands, eternal in the heavens." And finally, let us 
 remember, that it behoves " the children of light" to be as 
 wise, as cautious, as circumspect, as far-seeing, as prompt 
 in devising, and as liberal in executing every good plan for 
 the salvation of souls, and the glory of God, as " the chil- 
 dren of this world are in their generation." 
 
 Yet how seldom is this the case ! How very far 
 the spirit of Christian enterprise falls below the level of 
 worldly enterprise ! We need then, as " children of light," 
 to go to the " Father of lights" for that illumination which 
 will enable us to act with more judgment, tact, zeal, and 
 forecast in our spiritual concerns, beseeching Him that He 
 would strengthen us " with the Holy Ghost, the Comforter, 
 
136 THE PARABLES UNFOLDED. 
 
 and daily increase in us thy manifold gifts of grace, the 
 spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel 
 and ghostly strength, the spirit of knowledge and true god- 
 liness, and fill us, Lord, with the spirit of thy holy fear, 
 now and for ever.'* 
 
$fe (Btoofc gamatitait, 
 
THE GOOD SAMAKITAJST. 
 
 ■"A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, 
 ■which stripped him of his raiment and wounded him, and departed, leaving him 
 half dead. And by chance there came down a certain priest that way ; and when 
 he saw him he passed by on the other side. And likewise a Levite, when he 
 -was at the place, came and looked on him, and passed by on the other side. But 
 a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was : and when he saw him, 
 he had compassion on him, and went to him and bound up his wounds, pouring 
 in oil and wine, and set him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn, and 
 ■took care of him. And on the morrow, when he departed, he took out two pence, 
 and gave them to the host, and said unto him, Take care of him : and whatsoever 
 ■thou spendest more, when I come again, I will repay thee. Which now of these 
 three, thinkest thou, was neighbour unto him that fell among the thieves? And 
 he Baid, He that showed mercy on him. Then said Jesus unto him, Go, and do 
 ■thou likewise." Ltjke x. 30-37. 
 
 THE law of benevolence never received a more beautiful 
 illustration than in the parable of the Good Samaritan. 
 The tact with which it was introduced, and the judicious 
 selection of its circumstances, are only equalled by the 
 felicity of its similitude and the force of its appeal. 
 
 For the purpose of putting to the proof Christ's know- 
 ledge and wisdom, a lawyer, on one occasion, asked Him 
 the momentous question — " Master, what shall I do to in- 
 herit eternal life ?" As one conversant with the law, our 
 Lord referred him back to the law, and asked him what 
 
 139 
 
140 THE PARABLES UNFOLDED. 
 
 that said upon the subject. He immediately returned the 
 prompt reply, "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all 
 thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, 
 and with all thy mind ; and thy neighbour as thyself." 
 Jesus replied, " Thou hast answered right ; this do, and 
 thou shalt live." But the lawyer was not prepared to fulfil 
 the broad provisions of this law, and hence, in order to 
 justify any remissness, or to excuse the performance of his 
 duty under the plea of ignorance, he says to Jesus, " And 
 who is my neighbour?" for the Pharisees, to which sect 
 the lawyers mostly belonged, acknowledged none as neigh- 
 bours but those of their own faith and nation. 
 
 Instead of giving a categorical reply, our Lord brings 
 before him the case of a man, who, on his journey from 
 Jerusalem to Jericho, about fifteen miles to the south-west, 
 on the river Jordan, fell among the thieves which infested 
 the lurking places of that wilderness road. These bandits 
 not merely robbed the traveller of his money, but "stripped 
 him of his raiment, and wounded him, and departed, leaving 
 him half dead." 
 
 While thus lying weltering in his blood, "there came 
 down a certain priest that way," for thousands of priests 
 and Levites dwelt at Jericho, and passed to and fro as they 
 went up to Jerusalem to minister before the Lord, or re- 
 turned from the Temple, having finished their course of 
 service. 
 
 This priest saw the wounded man, but, instead of paus- 
 ing to alleviate his suffering, and thus fulfilling, only in a 
 higher degree, the Levitical law which declared, " Thou 
 
 
THE GOOD SAMARITAN. 141 
 
 tshalt not see thy brother's ass or his ox fall down by the 
 way, and hide thyself from them; thou shalt surely help 
 him to lift them up again ;" " he passed by on the other 
 side." 
 
 Soon a Levite came to the place, and, moved by a curi- 
 osity that had in it no element of compassion, "came and 
 looked on him ;" saw his helpless state ; and yet, unmoved 
 by the sight, he also "passed by on the other side." 
 
 But that w T hich the wounded man's own countrymen 
 refused to do, the nation's enemy, a Samaritan, did ; for " a 
 certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was ; 
 and when he saw him, he had compassion." 
 
 This compassion was no mere barren emotion, but active 
 and practical. He went to him w r here he lay in his blood; 
 he washed his bruises with wine, the styptic qualities of 
 which were well known ; and allayed the pain of the 
 wounds with the soothing oil of Samaria ; carefully binding 
 up his wounds, and preparing him for removal from his 
 painful position. Nor did his compassion end here. He 
 set the miserable man " on his own beast ;" and, walking 
 by his side to support him in his seat and to guide the ass, 
 he " brought him to an inn," and there tarried with him 
 all night, ministering those attentions which the traveller 
 so much needed, over and above those which he had re- 
 ceived at the wayside. 
 
 On the morrow, before he left to go on his journey, he 
 paid the host of the inn in advance, for the care of the sick 
 man, — giving him two denarii, or twenty-eight cents of our 
 money : a sum quite insufficient, according to modern 
 
!42 THE PARABLES UNFOLDED. 
 
 expenditures, but at that time equal to the full pay of a 
 labourer for two days, and therefore ample for the wants of 
 the sick man until the Samaritan could return again. 
 Having committed him to the care of the innkeeper, with 
 the promise, " whatsoever thou spendest more, when I come 
 again, I will repay thee," the compassionate Samaritan 
 departed. 
 
 Spreading out this scene before the eyes of the lawyer, 
 our Lord puts to him the question, " Which now of these 
 three, thinkest thou, was neighbour unto him that fell among 
 thieves ?" The lawyer replied, " He that showed mercy on 
 him ;" a correct judgment, and one which settled at once 
 the great principle of moral relationship between man and 
 man. 
 
 It was not possible for our Lord to take stronger antago- 
 nistic elements whereby to illustrate the fusing power of 
 neighbourly affection, than the Jew and the Samaritan. 
 There existed between the two people a national hatred of' 
 the most implacable kind. The Samaritans had built on 
 Mount Gerizim a temple, in opposition to the one at Jeru- 
 salem ; they had established a priesthood in rivalry of the 
 Aaronic order ; they rejected all of the Sacred Scriptures- 
 but the five books of Moses ; they paid no heed to the tra- 
 dition of the elders, which the Jews so tenaciously held ; 
 and though, according to the glosses of the Pharisees, the 
 Jews might buy of the Samaritans, they were not to bor- 
 row anything of them, were not to receive them into their 
 houses, were not to accept from them any kindness, and 
 were bound under an anathema not to eat or drink with. 
 
 
THE GOOD SAMARITAN. 143 
 
 them. Thus, as the woman of Sychar truly said to Jesus 
 as he sat at Jacob's well, " the Jews have no dealings with 
 the Samaritans :" and thus also, when the enemies of our 
 Lord wished to stigmatize Him with the most contemptuous 
 epithet, they termed him "a Samaritan that had a devil." 
 
 When, therefore, Jesus selected, as the representative of 
 that love which he would inculcate, the deeds of a despised 
 Samaritan, and when he compelled Jewish lips to utter 
 praises to the compassion and kindness of this "alien and 
 stranger to the commonwealth of Israel," he gave expression 
 in the most forcible form possible, to the broad, binding, 
 universal nature of that second table of the Law, which 
 Himself had summed up in the command, " Thou shalt 
 love thy neighbour as thyself." 
 
 Those who, like Origen in the early ages of the Church, 
 search for a hidden and mysterious sense under the plain 
 and literal text, interpret this parable in reference to the 
 fall and recovery of man. Such is the explanation made 
 by Luther and Melancthon, in former days ; by the Baptist 
 commentator Gill, by the learned Jones of Nayland, and 
 by the recent work of Trench, to say nothing of minor 
 and uninfluential authorities. These writers differ about 
 many of the details of the parable, but their general views 
 may be thus expressed : The " certain man" is " Adam as 
 he is the head and representative of his race ;" the going 
 " down from Jerusalem to Jericho" is emblematical of his 
 going out from Paradise into a world of thorns and briars ; 
 his falling " among thieves" indicates the malignant powers 
 of hell, who assail the sinner and rob him of his heavenly 
 
I44 THE PARABLES UNFOLDED. 
 
 birthright; his being stripped "of his raiment," marks 
 his despoliation of the robe of original innocence ; his 
 " wounded" state shows the work of sin upon man, which 
 makes him, "from the crown of his head to the sole of his 
 foot, to be full of wounds, and bruises, and putrifying sores, 
 which have neither been healed, neither bound up, neither 
 mollified with ointment;" their "leaving him half dead" 
 exemplifies the fact that Adam did not die in body the day 
 in which he sinned, but that having pronounced against 
 him the sentence of death, he may in truth have been 
 declared "half dead." By the Priest and Levite is meant 
 the Patriarchal (as in that age each head of the family 
 was priest in his own house) and the Levitical dispensa- 
 tion, which, of themselves, could do nothing to recover lost 
 man, "for it was not possible that the blood of bulls and 
 of goats should take away sin." " But what the law could 
 not do, in that it was weak through the flesh," was at length 
 effected by Him whom the Jews called " a Samaritan," even 
 Jesus Christ. The journey which He took was that of His 
 incarnation, by which He "travelled in the greatness of 
 His strength" from heaven to earth, and coming in the 
 capacity of a Great Physician, He had oil and wine; the 
 wine of His own cleansing and purifying blood, and the oil 
 of His own anointing grace, which healeth all our infirmities. 
 He is said to set him on His own beast, because of man's 
 own inability to move of himself in the direction of his 
 salvation; His being brought to an inn represents his 
 admission to the visible Church; the ministry is "the 
 host;" the Old and New Testaments " are the two pence" 
 
 
THE GOOD SAMARITAN. L45 
 
 which this " Host" is to expound and administer as being 
 steward of the manifold grace of God. 
 
 Such is the drift of these ingenious interpretations. 
 They are very prettily wrought up, and, to some extent, 
 perhaps, profitable; but such fancies will not admit of a 
 dose scrutiny, and lead us away from the real intent of 
 our Lord when he spoke the parable. There may very 
 often be parallels and coincidences between these beautiful 
 similitudes and certain other truths of Scripture history, 
 or doctrines of revelation, but these must not lead us 
 astray from the plain design of the parable, which, in 
 nearly every instance, can be ascertained by carefully 
 studying its context and its bearing. 
 
 The plain import of this parable seems to be to teach us 
 the necessity of actively obeying the second great com- 
 mand, " Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself," as an 
 essential prerequisite to inheriting eternal life. 
 
 It urges us to this duty, first, by showing that benevo- 
 lence is not to be circumscribed by national boundaries. 
 Because the ancient Jews were prohibited from being 
 familiar with idolatrous nations, and were enjoined to 
 maintain a perpetual enmity with Amalek and the seven 
 nations of Canaan, whom God had cast out before them 
 and devoted to ruin, they came to regard themselves 
 as warranted to hate all of mankind but their own 
 nation, and did, in a great degree, confine their love and 
 regard to their own kindred and people. As the Jews 
 were, in an especial manner, the chosen people of the 
 one living and true God, so were they particularly re- 
 quired to hate the ways and uproot the idolatries of the 
 10 
 
116 THE PARABLES UNFOLDED. 
 
 Canaanitish nations, who were ever striving to seduce them 
 from the worship of Jehovah. 
 
 On this point, the Divine injunctions were rigorous and 
 inflexible ; and properly so, because, as familiarity with sin 
 lessens the hatred of it, and intercourse with transgressors 
 insensibly begets a following in their steps ; hence, God 
 would break off all intercourse with such wicked nations, 
 that He might preserve " unto himself a peculiar people, 
 zealous of good works." Yet at the same time, the laws 
 which God enjoined upon the Jews, in respect to strangers 
 who happened in their land as travellers, or who came to 
 sojourn there, were of the most lenient and tenderly pro- 
 tective kind. " Thou shalt not oppress the stranger ; for 
 ye know the heart of a stranger, seeing ye were strangers 
 in the land of Egypt." 
 
 The time, however, had now arrived for breaking down 
 this national seclusion. The purpose of God, in fencing 
 off the Jews from other nations, and constituting them 
 emphatically a theocracy, had been accomplished. The 
 Messiah had come. The Christian dispensation was open- 
 ing up to view, and that dispensation was not designed for 
 one nation or people only, but for the whole world. Chris- 
 tianity knows no geographical boundaries, no treaty limits, 
 no barriers of language, customs, climes, pursuits ; it recog- 
 nises no distinctions of sex, of colour, of estate, of educa- 
 tion ; it represents us all as of one blood, the offspring of a 
 common Father, for whom is provided a common Redeemer, 
 and before whom lies a common death, a common judg- 
 ment, a common eternity. To meet this wonderful enlarge- 
 
THE GOOD SAMARITAN 147 
 
 merit of God's scheme of grace, which lay folded up in the 
 Jewish theocracy, as the germ in the seed corn, there was 
 required a new promulging and a more vigorous enforce- 
 ment of the duties of the second table of the Divine law. 
 That promulgation of the law our Saviour made when 
 He summed up the decalogue in two commands, on which 
 He told us hung "all the law and the prophets;" and that 
 vigorous enforcement of this second great command, our 
 Saviour made in the touching parable now before us. And 
 what our Lord thus taught He practised. National bound- 
 aries did not circumscribe his compassion. The Roman 
 centurion, the Syro-Phcenician mother, the woman of 
 Samaria, partook of His benevolence ; and herein He has 
 left us an example not to permit our charities to be pent 
 up within the narrow bounds of our own state or nation, 
 but, overleaping these, to find in every child of Adam, no 
 matter what his birth, his education, his position, his 
 abode, a " neighbour," an object of regard, and, if need be, 
 of compassion. The acknowledgment of the lawyer, that 
 he who had " showed mercy" to the wounded man, had 
 most proved himself a neighbour, even though he was a 
 Samaritan; and the solemn injunction, "Go and do thou 
 likewise;" make it imperative on us to practise similar 
 compassion to all our race, and like liberality of mind and 
 heart and purse. 
 
 The parable teaches us, secondly, not to circumscribe 
 our benevolence by our religious sympathies. 
 
 Those of the same " household of faith" may have more 
 claims upon our kindness, but not to the exclusion of 
 
US THE PARABLES UNJ0LDED. 
 
 others. The Apostle's injunction is, " Do good unto all 
 men ;" and he adds, because of the nearer affinity into 
 which religion draws us, " especially unto them that are 
 of the household of faith." 
 
 Nothing could exceed the bitterness of the religious 
 enmity between the Jew and the Samaritan. With rival 
 temples, rival priests, rival altars, rival sacrifices, rival 
 kingdoms, each stigmatized the other as idolaters, and 
 waged mutual persecutions with a deadliness of hatred 
 peculiar to religious animosities. Yet in this parable, the 
 wounded Jew, whom the Priest and Levite of his own 
 nation heeded not in the hour of his extremity, was suc- 
 coured and relieved by the hated Samaritan. He did not 
 stop to calculate the force of his religious differences; he 
 did not pause on his journey to taunt and revile this help- 
 less Jew ; but, as soon as he saw his necessitous condition, 
 " he had compassion on him." Religious differences, then, 
 should have nothing to do with enlarged Christian benevo- 
 lence. Sectarian charity is selfish charity, because based 
 on motives of personal or denominational aggrandizement. 
 Had the Samaritan thus reasoned, he never would have 
 relieved the plundered Jew. Had Jesus thus thought, he 
 never would have spoken this parable; for this rebukes 
 that narrow spirit, and inculcates a broad philanthropy 
 that disregards the fences and boundaries of sects and 
 denominations, and that is willing to expend itself on 
 every one that needs attention, because each sufferer 
 whom our charities can reach is the "neighbour" whom 
 we are bound to relieve. He who confines his benevolence 
 
THE GOOD SAMARITAN. 149 
 
 within the limits of his religious creed, casts dishonour 
 upon the God whom he pretends to worship, disregard? 
 the plain commands of the Bible, and manifests a narrow- 
 ness of mind and illiberality of spirit, degrading to the 
 Christian name. 
 
 This parable teaches us, thirdly, not to limit our sympa- 
 thy and benevolence by personal friendships. Between the 
 Jew and the Samaritan there was no social intercourse. 
 The Jew cursed the Samaritan publicly in the synagogue; 
 declared that he who received one into his house was 
 laying up curses for his children ; would no more eat of 
 their food than they would taste swine's meat ; and this 
 enmity, manifesting itself through all the minute inter- 
 course of adjoining nations, was fully reciprocated by the 
 Samaritan, who sought in every way to annoy and vex the 
 Jew. But all this weighed not in the case before us. Nor 
 should such personal considerations weigh with us. 
 
 In his sermon on the mount, our Lord remarked, " Ye 
 have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy 
 neighbour and hate thine enemy ;" this was the moral code 
 of the Pharisees and Scribes, in which God's law had been 
 mutilated by human traditions; but Christ recovers His 
 law from these Talmudical perversions, by the authoritative 
 command, " But I say unto you, love your enemies ; bless 
 them that curse you ; do good to them that hate you, and 
 pray for them which despitefully use you and persecute 
 you." This is the sublime morality of the Gospel, so con- 
 trary to the spirit of the Jews; and the reason which 
 Christ gives for its exercise is as sublime as the precept . 
 
150 THE PARABLES UNFOLDED. 
 
 " That ye may be the children of your Father which is in 
 Heaven : for He maketh His sun to rise on the evil and 
 on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the 
 unjust." Let your kindness be as limitless and as uncon- 
 strained by personal feelings as God's, for it is a necessary 
 qualification to our being the children of God, that we 
 should love our enemies. The hate of men we must meet 
 with love, their cursing with blessing, their despite with 
 goodness, their persecution w T ith prayer. The kindness 
 and sj^mpathy of Jesus were not restricted within the circle 
 of his immediate friends: "He went about doing good" 
 to all classes, in all places, at all times, under all cir- 
 cumstances ; yet often " had not where to lay his head ;" 
 often " was an hungered ;" often " wearied," and always " a 
 aian of sorrows and acquainted with grief." He went 
 even to Samaria, and there opened living fountains in the 
 hearts of those who heard and believed on Him, even 
 though at first rebuffed and almost insulted. In the very- 
 hour of his betrayal and arrest in Gethsemane, He 
 imparted healing mercy to one of that midnight band 
 who had gone out to bind Him ; and on the cross He gave 
 pardon and life eternal to the thief who, but a short time 
 before, was reviling His holy name. 
 
 The broad command, then, enforced by this parable, and 
 corroborated by the other teaching of Jesus Christ, is, that 
 we are to show kindness, mercy, charity, irrespective of 
 nation, kindred, friendship, or creed. That each man has 
 a claim upon his fellow man, both by the common law of 
 humanity and the superadded law of God. 
 
THE GOOD SAMARITAN. 151 
 
 In what an elevated position does this parable place the 
 Christian dispensation ! How nobly it contrasts, on the 
 one hand, with the spirit of the Jews, whose hatred of 
 other nations called out the reproaches of Tacitus and 
 Juvenal and Diodorus Siculus ; and, on the other, with 
 the tenets of the best and wisest of the heathen philoso- 
 phers, with whom revenge was a virtue, forgiveness of 
 injuries a weakness, and love of enemies unknown. 
 
 The sentiment of the heathen poet — " Homo sum, nihil 
 humanum a me alienum puto" — has been justly applauded 
 as one of the finest of human apothegms ; but it falls short, 
 far short, of the Divine teaching of Jesus — " Love your 
 enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that 
 hate you, and pray for them that despitefully use you and 
 persecute you;" for while the former maxim is founded 
 on curiosity and selfishness, the latter is based on the 
 manifestations of a Divine love, and its required imitation 
 by those who would be called " the children of God." But 
 this true spirit of love can be found only in hearts renewed 
 by the Holy Ghost. It is not the product of natural ami- 
 ability; it does not result from the gushings of human 
 sympathy; it is not evoked by tender education. It is 
 only as we love Christ, that we can love all men in Christ, 
 and for Christ. If we indeed love Him with all our heart 
 we love everything which He loves ; and everything which 
 engages His affection becomes magnified in importance and 
 invested with new interest to us. When, therefore, we 
 mark how deeply and self-sacrificingly He loves our race, 
 how much affection and labour and care and blood He has 
 
152 THE PARABLES UNFOLDED. 
 
 expended on it ; surely we find the highest possible mo- 
 tives for loving our fellow men. Love for them filled the 
 Divine heart of Jesus ; love for them evoked the mightiest 
 operations of the Holy Ghost ; love for them called forth 
 the highest reach of the love of God the Father; and then 
 are we most God-like when we imitate Him in manifesting 
 a holy and sanctified affection towards our fellow men. 
 Hence that strong assertion of St. John — " If a man say, 
 I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar; for he 
 that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can 
 he love God whom he hath not seen ?" , 
 
 This parable also furnishes a great missionary argument ; 
 not by way of direct precept, but by induction. If the law 
 of Christ's Gospel requires us to love our neighbour, to the 
 extending to him of all needed succour for the supply of 
 his physical necessities, surely it requires, with all the 
 added force of the supereminent value of the soul over the 
 body, that we should love the souls of our neighbours, and 
 give them the spiritual succours which they need for salva- 
 tion. And as the word " neighbour" has been so broadened 
 as to comprehend all mankind, irrespective of creed, colour, 
 country ; so must our love, if we would have it co-exten- 
 sive with Gospel requirements, go out world-wide ; so must 
 it busy itself about the millions of our race who are now 
 lying " half dead" in trespasses and sins ; so must we, like 
 the Samaritan, give to them those means of grace, and 
 those aids in securing eternal life, which God has put in 
 our power ; so should we seek to bring them to the " Inn," 
 the Church, and thus show forth our love to Christ, by 
 
THE GOOD SAMARITAN. 153 
 
 evincing tenderest love for those for whom Christ died, but 
 who are yet unblessed with Gospel light, and uninvited by 
 the offers of salvation. He is not a true lover of his race 
 who draws back or refuses to come up to the missionary 
 work ; for, as mankind can only be made holy, and conse- 
 quently happy, through the applied blood of the cross, as 
 this blood of cleansing can only be applied through faith 
 in the Lord Jesus, and as he can be believed on only as he 
 is preached to the nations, so a true philanthropy, that 
 which strikes down to the root of things, is that which 
 would exert itself to send out living preachers or spirit- 
 speaking Bibles into all the corners of the earth, until all 
 should know the Lord, from the rising to the setting sun. 
 Christ's heart was a missionary heart, and every one who 
 has Christ formed within him the hope of glory, has a 
 missionary heart also. 
 
 In conclusion, though we do not believe in the fanciful 
 interpretation of this parable, to which we have alluded, 
 we may at least use it as illustrative of the exceeding love 
 of our Lord Jesus for us miserable sinners. If we admire 
 the conduct of the Samaritan, infinitely more must we 
 admire the love of Christ. He beheld us robbed of the 
 image of God, wounded by sin, lying helpless in our fallen 
 humanity, and when we were so dead in iniquity that we 
 could not help ourselves ; when the Patriarchal dispensation 
 stalked by on the other side, and deigned no help > when 
 the Levitical dispensation came and looked on us through 
 its shadowy ceremonies, and then, leaving us in our blood, 
 passed by also on the other side ; then Christ came, and 
 
154 THE PARABLES UNFOLDED. 
 
 though we were His enemies, He pitied us, bound up, by 
 the oil and wine of Divine grace, our ghastly wounds; 
 Himself bare our infirmities, took the whole charge of our 
 cure, and healed us, not like the Samaritan, by giving 
 money from His scrip, but blood from His heart, riven by 
 the soldier's spear ; blood from His head, drawn out by His 
 acanthine crown ; blood from His hands and feet, started 
 by the spikes of the accursed tree ; and by this precious 
 bloodshedding He obtained for us relief from our enemies, 
 spiritual health here, and life eternal beyond the grave. 
 
€{re Iffraww grid $i ||uMitan« 
 

 
THE PHAEISEE AND THE PUBLICAN. 
 
 " Two men went up into the temple to pray ; the one a Pharisee, and the other 
 a publican. The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank 
 thee that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as 
 this publican. I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess. And 
 the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, 
 but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner. I tell you, 
 this man went down to his house justified rather than the other: for every one 
 that exalteth himself shall be abased ; and he that humbleth himself shall be 
 exalted. Luke xviii. 10-14. 
 
 THE two characters introduced into this parable were 
 well known as types of the two extremes of Jewish 
 society; and the contrast is the more striking, because 
 of the preference given to the humble Publican over the 
 haughty Pharisee. 
 
 A brief examination of the characteristics of the two 
 classes will enable us to obtain clearer ideas of the persons 
 brought to our notice, and of the truth which this parable 
 was intended to convey. The Pharisee, as he thrusts 
 himself more prominently forward, will first claim our 
 attention. 
 
 The great body of the Jewish people were divided into 
 three sects : the Pharisees, the Sadducees, and the Essenes ; 
 corresponding somewhat to the three schools of Grecian 
 
 157 
 
158 THE PARABLES UNFOLDED. 
 
 philosophy: the Pythagoreans, the Epicureans, and the 
 Stoics. " Unlike the philosophy of the Greeks, however, 
 which had scarcely anything but a human ground on which 
 to stand and labour, the Jewish sects made a Divine reve- 
 lation the object of their philosophical research, and so 
 were saved from the grosser errors and absurd wanderings 
 into which the Greek schools were led, while in pursuit of 
 the airy visions of their own heated brain." 
 
 Until the Babylonish captivity, the Jews, as a body, 
 were united in opinion ; but after their dispersion, they 
 imbibed many erroneous dogmas, and, grafting the frag- 
 ments of a Greco-Oriental philosophy upon the long- 
 accumulating traditions of the elders, they sought by these 
 to interpret the Holy Scripture ; and thus, for more than a 
 century before Christ, the people became divided in doc- 
 trines and split up into factions, both political and religious. 
 The three prominent parties were named severally, the 
 Pharisees, the Sadducees, and the Essenes. Of these, the 
 Pharisees were the wealthiest, the most learned, and the 
 most influential, and were so called from a Hebrew word 
 which signifies to separate, because they separated and 
 distinguished themselves from others, by affecting uncom- 
 mon sanctity, and by wearing a peculiar garment. Thus 
 St. Paul calls the Pharisees " the straitest sect of our reli- 
 gion," and Josephus says that "they were the most reli- 
 gious of any of the Jews, and the most exact and skilful 
 in explaining the laws." 
 
 The two sources whence we obtain our knowledge 
 of Phariseeism are the writings of Josephus and the book& 
 
THE PHARISEE AND THE PUBLICAN. 159 
 
 of the New Testament. Josephus was himself a Pharisee, 
 and he has presented the views and characteristics of that 
 sect with force and minuteness in his several writings. 
 His opinion was that of one interested in the case, and his 
 representations are the most favourable that could possibly 
 be made ; yet, when closely examined, we cannot fail to 
 discover how fully the leading features of this sect as por- 
 trayed by their apologist and expounder, and as drawn in 
 Holy Writ, agree. The colouring is different, but when 
 denuded of all masks and sophistry, the lineaments are the 
 same. We will take the Bible view of their case, because 
 it is Divinely true, and because it is important to a right 
 understanding of this parable, that we should look at them 
 through the delineations of the Holy Ghost. 
 
 From the New Testament, then, we learn that this sect 
 was held in high repute as expositors of the law ; that they 
 were very casuistical in unfolding the Scriptures ; full of 
 proselyting zeal ; rigorous in ritual observances ; oppressive 
 in their exactions; ostentatious in their charity and re- 
 ligion ; pompous and self-inflated in their affected holiness ; 
 covering up an intense love of sensual pleasures by a pre- 
 tended stoicism ; diligent in the performance of every out- 
 ward rite, that they " might be seen of men," while 
 " inwardly they were ravening wolves ;" haughty and im- 
 perious to inferiors, yet cringing parasites of royalty and 
 power; neglecting the weightier matters of the law, and 
 minutely critical in tithing and doing what the law did not 
 require ; " serpents" in wisdom, but leaving the trail of their 
 slimy deeds behind them; "vipers" in the sudden and un- 
 
160 THE PARABLES UNFOLDED. 
 
 expected stings which they fastened wherever they thought 
 they could strike their fangs with impunity ; " graves," over 
 which the people walked and knew not the hollowness 
 beneath until they fell into the pit ; " whited sepulchres," 
 which indeed " appear beautiful outward, but within were 
 full of dead men's bones and all uncleanness." They substi- 
 tuted human traditions for God's Word ; made their boast of 
 the law by wearing broad phylacteries, and yet dishonoured 
 the law ; turned their prayers into instruments of covetous- 
 ness and extortion ; " compassed sea and land to make one 
 proselyte," and then made him " twofold more a child of hell 
 than themselves ;" united in the one aim of destroying Jesus, 
 and effected their purpose through bribery, blasphemy, per- 
 jury, and a bitter vindictiveness, that could slake its thirst 
 for blood only in the opened veins and riven heart of the 
 Messiah. So that it is unquestionably true, as has been 
 well remarked by Mosheim, " that the religion of the Pha- 
 risees was for the most part founded in consummate hypo- 
 crisy ; and that in general they were the slaves of every 
 vicious appetite ; proud, arrogant, and avaricious ; consult- 
 ing only the gratification of their lusts, even at the very mo- 
 ment when they professed to be engaged in the service of their 
 Maker." Yet their pretended claims to the guardianship 
 of the law ; their rabbinical learning ; their great outward 
 sanctity, gave them such influence with the people, that if 
 they gave out any report against a high priest or king, 
 they were believed ; while their political influence was so 
 vast, that at times they virtually ruled the people through 
 the almost automaton hands that held the sceptre. No 
 
THE PHARISEE AND THE PUBLICAN. 161 
 
 wonder, then, that John the Baptist, and our blessed Lord, 
 whose omniscient eye took in at a glance their whole 
 character, denounced them in the strongest terms as 
 " serpents," as " generations of vipers," as unable to escape 
 the damnation of hell ? 
 
 We turn now to contemplate another class. As the 
 Pharisee was in the highest repute among the Jews, for 
 sanctity, the Publican was regarded as the lowest of the 
 race, in vice. At the time of our Saviour, Judea was a 
 province of the Roman Empire, — subject, therefore, to 
 Roman taxation ; and the Publicans were the officers em- 
 ployed to collect the taxes. There were at this time two 
 sorts of people called Publicans; the Mancipes, and the 
 Socii. The " Mancipes" were those who farmed the taxes 
 of the several provinces ; had the oversight of the inferior 
 Publicans ; received their accounts and collections, and 
 transmitted them to the Qusestores iErarii, who presided 
 over the finances at Rome. These Mancipes were some- 
 times Roman knights ; and Cicero makes honourable men- 
 tion of them in his orations, Pro Lege Manilla and Pro 
 Plancio. 
 
 The " Socii" were a lower class of Publicans, to whom 
 the Mancipes let out their several districts in smaller 
 sections, and whose duty it was to collect from the pe< pie 
 the sums levied by the senate. Both of these are propel ly 
 styled " Telonai ;" though the former are those whom the 
 Greeks call " Architelonai ;" which term St. Luke applies 
 to Zaccheus. 
 
 While, then, the Mancipes or Architelonai were gene- 
 11 
 
162 THE PARABLES UNFOLDED. 
 
 rally men of probity and morality, and mostly of the 
 Equestrian order, the Socii or lower class of Telonai, were 
 frequently freedmen or slaves, and are spoken of with 
 great contempt by heathen, as well as Jewish writers. 
 Theocritus says of them — " Among the beasts of the wil- 
 derness, bears and lions are the most cruel ; among the beasts 
 of the city, the publican and the parasite." The reason 
 of this general hatred was their rapacity and extortion ; 
 for they oppressed the people with unlawful exactions in 
 order to enrich themselves. 
 
 Besides, Publicans were peculiarly odious to the Jews, 
 who looked upon them as the instrument of their subjec- 
 tion to Rome, and who consequently regarded them as out 
 of the pale of civilized society. Accordingly (in the New 
 Testament), we find them joined with harlots and sinners, 
 and other profligate persons ; hence the objection made to 
 our Lord, that He was " the friend of publicans and sin- 
 ners," was designed as a reproachful slur upon His charac- 
 ter. The Publican in the parable was one of this lower 
 or despised order, with whom the self-righteous Pharisee 
 thought it sinful to converse, and whom he regarded as 
 u the offscouring of all things." 
 
 In conformity with the custom of the Jews, both the 
 Pharisee and the Publican went up into the temple to 
 pray at the hour of prayer. In common discourse, the 
 word "temple" comprehended all the chambers, courts, 
 and colonades connected with the sacred edifice on Mount 
 Moriah. When, therefore, it is said that the Pharisee and 
 the Publican, that Peter and John, that Paul and Timothy, 
 
THE PHARISEE AND THE PUBLICAN. 163 
 
 went up into the temple, nothing more is meant than that 
 they went into one of the courts of the temple, and not 
 into the sacred building itself, which contained the Holy 
 and Most Holy Place ; for into the Holy Place none but 
 priests were admitted, and into the Holy of Holies only 
 the High Priest could enter, and he but once a year, and 
 then only with the blood of the atonement and the censer 
 of burning incense. Into the temple, strictly so called, 
 our Lord himself never entered, though He frequently 
 visited its courts and walked and taught in its porches. 
 
 The "hour of prayer" was the "third and ninth hour'* 
 of Jewish time, corresponding to the nine o'clock in the 
 morning and three o'clock in the afternoon of our compu- 
 tation ; and the place where prayers were wont to be 
 made was that part of the temple called " the court of the 
 Israelites," which was divided into two portions by an 
 ascent of fifteen steps — the lower being appropriated to 
 the women, and the higher to the men. 
 
 But though the Pharisee and the Publican came with 
 the same ostensible purpose to the temple, yet how widely 
 diverse in their devotions! "The Pharisee stood and 
 prayed thus with himself." There is something quite 
 emphatic in the phrase prayed " with himself," as if his 
 prayer was for his own satisfaction, for the gratification of 
 his own pride, for the laudation of his own merit. He in 
 whose heart there is no godly humility, will always pray 
 " with himself," rather than to God. The Publican 
 " stood," also, because it was not permitted to pray in the 
 temple in any other posture ; though elsewhere kneeling 
 
164 THE PARABLES UNFOLDED. 
 
 and bowing of the head were practised. "I will either," 
 sa}"s an old divine, speaking of the posture in prayer, " I 
 will either stand as a servant before my Master, or kneel 
 as a suppliant to my King ; but I will not dare sit as an 
 equal." 
 
 The prayer of the Pharisee (if such it can be called) was, 
 " God, I thank thee that I am not as other men are, un- 
 just, extortioners; or even as this Publican. I fast tw 7 ice 
 in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess." There is in 
 this prayer great self-complacency, ostentatious devotion, 
 and a boastful liberality. There was no humility of soul, 
 no confession of sin, no craving of Divine pardon. It was 
 rather the proud heart condescending to tell God how good 
 it w^as, and how much it had done for Him ; while, at the 
 very moment of prayer, disdain for a fellow worm dwelt 
 in his heart and was uttered by his lips. He "went up" 
 to the court of the temple, and " stood" in the attitude of 
 prayer, to pronounce in the ear of God a eulogy upon his 
 own virtues. 
 
 The Publican, "standing afar off," at the other side of 
 the Men's Court, w r as so abased in his own estimation 
 that he " w r ould not so much as lift up his eyes unto Hea- 
 ven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to 
 me a sinner." Here is manifested conscious guilt, deep 
 penitence, profound humility, sincere confession, and ear- 
 nest petition. The words which he utters are few, but he 
 condenses in them the whole force and fervour of his soul. 
 The prayer is brief, but effective. It comes from a heart 
 awakened by the Holy Ghost to a sense of its guilt, and 
 
 
THE PHARISEE AND THE PUBLICAN. 165 
 
 made conscious of merited wrath ; the cry for mercy proves 
 that there was a felt deserving of judgment; the appeal to 
 God evidenced a knowledge of sin as committed against 
 Him, and of pardon as flowing only from Him ; the calling 
 of himself " a sinner" was a confession of iniquity, which 
 was the first step to repentance; while repentance and 
 conversion were not far distant from him who was so over- 
 powered by conscious vileness and needed grace, as to pray, 
 with smiting upon his breast, " God be merciful to me a 
 sinner." This petition therefore, in its closest analysis, 
 develops all the elements of genuine prayer, and illustrates 
 the fact, how the deep yearnings of the heart can be con- 
 densed into one terse and vigorous ejaculation, that shall 
 enter into the ear of the Lord of Sabaoth. 
 
 What a contrast to the prayer of the Pharisee ! There 
 is here no boasting, no self-laudation, no ungenerous com- 
 parison of himself with others ; but self-renunciation, self- 
 abasement, and an unreserved casting of himself upon the 
 mercy of God as his only shelter from the curse of His 
 broken law. 
 
 The result of these two prayers our Lord gives us in the 
 concluding words of the- parable, saying, "I tell you this 
 man (the Publican) went down to his house justified, rather 
 than the other ; for every one that exalteth himself shall 
 be abased, and he that humble th himself shall be exalted." 
 
 The prayer of the Publican secured for him the favour 
 of God ; and, being pardoned through the abounding mercy 
 which he so earnestly craved, he became, in the sight of 
 God, as one who had not sinned, as a righteous or justified 
 
166 THE PARABLES UNFOLDED. 
 
 person, to whom pertained the promise of eternal life, and 
 from whom had been removed the condemning power of 
 the law, for he was "justified freely" by the grace of God. 
 
 The Pharisee received no such answer to his prayer. 
 He had prayed " with himself," and of course God did not 
 hear him, to answer him ; he sought no mercy, and conse- 
 quently none was received. So he went down from the 
 temple to his house as he went up, a proud, self-righteous 
 hypocrite. 
 
 This parable has two very important designs, viz., to re- 
 buke religious pride or Phariseeism, and to point out the 
 true way in which sinners should sue for pardoning grace, 
 agreeably to the moral drawn by our Saviour Himself: 
 " Every one that exalteth himself shall be abased, and he 
 that humbleth himself shall be exalted." 
 
 Religious pride or Phariseeism exhibits itself in a great 
 variety of ways ; and though its marks cannot always be 
 read in the outward character, its ravages in the soul are 
 naked and open to the eyes of Him with whom we have 
 to do. 
 
 Following the course of thought suggested by the 
 parable, we remark, that the first sign of religious pride or 
 Phariseeism, is to " trust in themselves that they are 
 righteous." The Pharisees vainly supposed that they made 
 themselves righteous by their own works ; and not only so. 
 but, by a delusion stranger still, they supposed that God 
 would look upon those works precisely as man looked upon 
 them. They had so completely corrupted the Word of 
 God by their traditions, that they had lost a true know- 
 
THE PHARISEE AND THE PUBLICAN. 167 
 
 'edge of some of His most necessary attributes. As for 
 understanding the nature of true righteousness, either 
 as resulting from a perfect obedience to God's law, or as a 
 easting of the soul upon God's mercy, through faith in an 
 anticipated Redeemer, it scarcely found lodgment in their 
 minds. They reduced their religion to human standards ; 
 estimated their good works at a human valuation ; and 
 then measuring themselves by themselves, and comparing 
 themselves among themselves, came to indulge much self- 
 conceit; and because friends nattered, and parasites praised, 
 and the ignoble crowd stood in awe of their apparent 
 sanctity, they esteemed themselves to be the most religious 
 men of the day, the possessors of a righteousness that 
 would fully justify them in the sight of God. In this low 
 standard of religion, and in this self-righteous judgment, 
 they are followed by many professedly good people at the 
 present day. Because such persons have been guilty of no 
 great crime; because they are not notorious evil livers; 
 because they are zealous for the outward services of religion, 
 and the visible means of grace ; because they are regular 
 in the discharge of public duties, and possess great worldly 
 integrity blended with an unimpeached morality and an 
 attractive amiability, they readily, under the flattery of 
 friends, think within themselves that they are righteous. 
 The adversary of their souls lulls them into security with 
 this deceptive thought ; makes them more and more pleased 
 with their state; keeps from them as much as possible 
 whatever will alarm their fears, or break up their delusion ; 
 and thus causing them to tread in slippery places, " their 
 
168 THE PARABLES UNFOLDED 
 
 feet shall slide in due time." The true Christian casts 
 away all his personal righteousness in which he once 
 trusted, as filthy rags, and trusts for his righteousness to 
 the imputed merits of his dear Redeemer, made his by that 
 appropriating faith which is itself the gift of God. He 
 loathes himself; his language is, " Behold, I am vile." He 
 is ready to put his hand upon his mouth, and his mouth in 
 the dust, and cry " Unclean ! unclean !" He sees in himself 
 nothing but vileness — in God nothing but holiness ; in the 
 law nothing but righteousness; and in Christ alone, the 
 Redeemer of his soul from the impending curse of God. 
 Thus he finds no righteousness of a justifying character in 
 himself; it is all derived from Christ, and he is accounted 
 as righteous " only for the merit of our Lord and Saviour 
 Jesus Christ, by faith." So long as a man " trusts in him- 
 self that he is righteous," he will never seek to be clothed 
 upon with Christ's righteousness; but this is the only 
 righteousness winch will avail with God, or secure our sal- 
 vation : hence the absence of it, like the simple lack of the 
 wedding garment, will insure being cast into outer dark- 
 ness, "where there is weeping, and wailing, and gnashing 
 of teeth." 
 
 A second mark of religious pride or Phariseeism is, to 
 " despise others." This is a natural and necessary result 
 of self-righteousness, a great part of which consists in com- 
 paring one's self with those around, and drawing invidious 
 conclusions, as the Pharisee in the temple did, in reference 
 to the Publican. 
 
 There are, it must be confessed, proud and haughty pro- 
 
THE PHARISEE AND THE PUBLICAN. 169 
 
 fessors of religion, who look down upon their fellow Chris- 
 tians, because they occupy lower stations in the Church or 
 in social life, because they are less educated and refined, or 
 because of their less apparent piety. They are keen-sighted 
 in detecting the errors and failings of their friends and 
 neighbours ; and they delight to depreciate real talent and 
 true worth, in the hope that, by so doing, they will elevate 
 their own position and character. Hence, they are devoid 
 of that " charity" which "suffereth long and is kind," which 
 " vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, doth not behave 
 itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, 
 thinketh no evil;" without which, says St. Paul, "the 
 tongues of men and of angels," " the gift of prophecy," the 
 possession of a "faith" that "could remove mountains," 
 the bestowal of " goods to feed the poor," and the giving 
 of one's " body to be burned," is profitless and vain ; for 
 prophecies " shall fail," tongues " shall cease," knowledge 
 "shall vanish away," but "charity never faileth," for it is 
 the greatest of the three abiding graces of the Christian 
 life. 
 
 The despising of others proves us to have an unkind 
 and censorious spirit, widely at variance with the Gospel 
 of Christ. It proves us to be under the influence of ma- 
 lign and selfish passions, which are, in all instances, of Sa- 
 tanic origin. It proves us to be devoid of the Spirit of 
 Christ, who was no respecter of persons ; and St. Paul tells 
 us, " If any man have not the spirit of Christ, he is none 
 of His." It proves us to be deficient in self-knowledge, or 
 in an understanding of our true position before God, or of 
 
170 THE PARABLES UNFOLDEL. 
 
 our true relations to Jesus Christ. It proves that we are 
 puffed up in our fleshly minds, thinking of ourselves above 
 that we ought to think. It proves, in fine, that we have 
 not the first element of the true Christian, but that all our 
 professions, from the foundation-stone to the turret, being 
 laid upon the shifting sand, will soon fall and bury us in 
 its ruins. 
 
 A third trait of religious Phanseeism is, the cultivation 
 of a mere ostensive piety. 
 
 The Pharisees practised their religion "to be seen of 
 men." The wide phylacteries, the enlarging the borders 
 of their garments, the long prayers, the sounding alms- 
 trumpet, the washings and ablutions, the sanctimonious 
 visage, the rigid fastings, the scrupulously paid tithes, 
 were all done for show, to make an outward impression 
 upon the popular mind ; and this was carried to such an 
 extent, that our Saviour compared them to whited sepul- 
 chres, "which indeed appear beautiful outwards, but within 
 are full of dead men's bones, and all uncleanness." 
 
 Nor has this feature of Phariseeism been done away. 
 It exists in full vigour at the present day. We would not 
 be uncharitable, but are we not warranted by the Bible and 
 daily observation in saying, that a large portion of the 
 religion of Christendom is a surface religion ; a praying of 
 the lips, and not of the heart; a bowing of the knees, 
 but not of the soul; a singing with the voice, but not 
 of the spirit; and a going up to the courts of the Lord, 
 not with singleness of purpose to worship Him who is a 
 Spirit in the beauty of holiness, but because it is the decent 
 
THE PHARISEE AND THE PUBLICAN. 171 
 
 custom of society, and to be gazed at by the great assembly ? 
 Religious forms are necessary to the fencing in and pro- 
 tection of the faith, but whoever trusts in them, rather 
 than in the faith which they enclose, is leaning upon the 
 hope of the hypocrite, which " will perish with the giving 
 up of the ghost." We are made true children of God, not 
 by becoming strict rubricians, or minute ritualists ; tithing, 
 as it were, the anise, mint, and cumin, to the exclusion 
 of the weightier matters of the law ; but by being born 
 again of water and the Holy Ghost. We must observe 
 rubrics, and conform to rites, and obey canons, as means 
 whereby we gain important religious benefits ; but not as 
 an end, to rest in them alone. Whoever trusts to the forms 
 of religion alone for salvation, trusts to the mere scaffolding 
 of the Church, which shall be taken down when the whole 
 building, "fitly framed together, groweth unto an holy 
 temple in the Lord." God recognises no religion that 
 dwells not in the soul, that springs not from His Holy 
 Spirit, and that does not work by faith and purify the 
 heart. 
 
 A fourth trait of Phariseeism is, to boast of one's good- 
 ness. 
 
 We have been struck, on reading some of the ancient 
 Rabbins, with the unblushing egotism of the Pharisees. 
 Humility was unknown, self-praise was a virtue, and their 
 perpetual ambition was to seek out the chief seats and 
 high places of earth. 
 
 The sound common sense of modern society puts a strong 
 restraint upon this egotistical spirit, so that it does not 
 
172 THE PARABLES UNFOLDED. 
 
 betray itself as much now as then ; still there is much of 
 it abroad, masked under affected humility, seeking to win 
 praise by a false meekness, that only half conceals the 
 pride of heart that lurks beneath. But no true Christian 
 is a boasting Christian. One of the first works of the 
 Spirit of God upon the heart is to take down the idol self, 
 and erect Christ on its vacant pedestal ; and when Christ 
 takes possession of our heart, we feel so vile and sunken in 
 His presence, so worthless and unprofitable, so leprous with 
 sin, and hell-deserving with an ever accumulating guilt, 
 that we, like the Publican, scarcely dare lift up our eyes to 
 Heaven, much less to boast of our goodness or make a 
 parade of our virtues. A boasting Christian is a living 
 libel on the cross of Christ. Instead of talking of our 
 goodness, or praising our piety, let us look at our sins in 
 the light of God's countenance, and bewail our shortcoming 
 beneath the outstretched arms of the Crucified. 
 
 When we can work out our salvation, we shall be privi- 
 leged to boast ; but so long as salvation is " not of works, 
 but of grace," being in very truth " the gift of God," 
 " boasting is excluded." For the poor, humble, Christ- 
 dependent penitent is justified by God, before the praying, 
 fasting, tithing, alms-giving, yet boasting Pharisee. 
 
 The other lesson which this parable teaches, is the spirit 
 in which sinners should approach God, as indicated by the 
 prayer of the Publican, and the words of our Saviour, " He 
 that huinbleth himself shall be exalted." By reason of 
 original sin, which "is the fault and corruption of every 
 

 'fHE PHARISEE AND THE PUBLICAN. 173 
 
 man that naturally is engendered of the offspring of 
 Adam," we have alienated ourselves, and that radically, 
 from the love and favour of God. Return to Him we 
 must before our sins can be pardoned, and our souls be 
 saved. But how shall we return ? We cannot come to 
 Him as claimants of His favour, for we have no claims 
 where we have forfeited every right and title to regard. 
 We cannot come as purchasers, bartering our own goodness 
 for God's mercy, for our boasted righteousness is as filthy 
 rags, vile and worthless; nor can we throw ourselves just 
 as we are upon God's clemency, and run the risk of accept- 
 ance and consequent salvation, for God out of Christ " is a 
 consuming fire ;" and such presumptuous conduct would be 
 only rushing " upon the thick bosses of Jehovah's buckler." 
 The only way of access to the: mercy of God is through 
 the blood of Jesus Christ. This is the way of His 
 own appointment, to which He has annexed all His 
 promises and blessings, and out of which, seek it as much 
 as men may, they will find no salvation. We can be 
 saved only in God's way; and every attempt to scale 
 the gate of heaven by schemes of man's devising, is in- 
 sulting to God, as it virtually discredits His wisdom, mercy, 
 goodness, and truth; and is ruinous to man, for the 
 Bible distinctly declares that there is " none other name 
 under heaven given among men whereby they can be 
 saved." 
 
 We must come to God, then, conscious of our condition 
 as sinners, confessing our iniquities, forsaking and truly 
 
174 THE PARABLES UNFOLDED. 
 
 repenting of our sins past, pleading for mercy for Jesus* 
 Christ's sake, and resting the strength of our plea on the 
 infinite merits and perfect sacrifice of the Lamb of God, 
 "who taketh away the sins of the world." This is taking 
 God at His word, and believing on the Lord Jesus Christ 
 as our only hope and salvation ; and when, through the 
 operation of the Holy Ghost, we are enabled to lay hold 
 on this " hope set before us" in the Gospel, then do we find 
 a peace and joy which the world can neither give nor take 
 away. These are the authenticating seals of the Spirit, 
 " whereby we are sealed unto the day of redemption," cer 
 tifying to us, under the hand of the Third Person of the 
 adorable Trinity, that " there is now no condemnation to 
 them that are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh 
 but after the Spirit." This is the only way to approach 
 God, through repentance and faith ; and these are the gift 
 of God, to be sought for by earnest prayer and supplication ;. 
 for it is only in Christ that God is found " reconciling the 
 world unto Himself." 
 
 Great, then, is the encouragement which the truly peni- 
 tent and believing have to come to Jesus. What though, like 
 the Publican, they be regarded as the offscouring of all 
 things ? Christ came " to save sinners :" What though they 
 feel their vileness so as to cause them to smite upon their 
 breast in anguish, and be afraid to lift up so much as their 
 eyes to heaven? the deeper the consciousness of guilt, the 
 more they feel the need of a Saviour, and the more precious 
 becomes His salvation. We cannot be too humble, for 
 " He resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble." 
 We cannot be too full in our confessions, for " He that 
 
THE PHARISEE AND THE PUBLICAN. 175 
 
 confesseth and forsaketh his sins shall find mercy." We 
 cannot be too penitential for our transgression, for it is " the 
 broken and contrite heart with which God is well pleased." 
 We cannot be too strong in our faith, for " without faith it 
 is impossible to please God." We cannot be too importu- 
 nate in our supplication, for " the kingdom of heaven 
 sunereth violence, and the violent take it by force." Come, 
 then, in humility, in godly sorrow, in true repentance, in 
 simple faith, in earnest prayer to the Throne of Grace, and, 
 like the Publican, we shall find acceptance with God, and 
 go down to our house justified before Him. 
 

W$t itetaww in \\t ffawpto. 
 
 12 
 
THE LABOURERS W THE VINEYARD. 
 
 " Fob, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a man that is a householder, which 
 went out early in the morning to hire labourers into his vineyard. And when he 
 had agreed with the labourers for a penny a day, he sent them into his vineyard. 
 And he went out about the third hour, and saw others standing idle in the market- 
 place, and said unto them, Go ye also into the vineyard ; and whatsoever is right 
 I will give you. And they went their way. Again he went out about the sixth 
 and ninth hour, and did likewise. And about the eleventh hour he went out, and 
 found others standing idle, and saith unto them, Why stand ye here all the day 
 idle ? They say unto him, Because no man hath hired us. He saith unto them, 
 Go ye also into the vineyard; and whatsoever is right, that shall ye receive. So 
 when even was come, the lord of the vineyard saith unto his steward, Call the 
 labourers, and give them their hire, beginning from the last unto the first. And 
 when they came that were hired about the eleventh hour, they received every man 
 a penny. But when the first came, they supposed that they should have received 
 more ; and they likewise received every man a penny. And when they had received 
 it, they murmured against the good man of the house, saying, These last have 
 wrought but one hour, and thou hast made them equal unto us, which have borne 
 the burden and heat of the day. But he answered one of them, and said, Friend, 
 I do thee no wrong: didst not thou agree with me for a penny? Take that thine 
 is, and go thy way ; 1 will give unto this last, even as unto thee Is it not lawful 
 for me to do what I will with mine own ? Is thine eye evil, because I am good ? 
 So the last shall be first, and the first last ; for many be called, but few chosen." 
 
 Matt. xx. 1-16. 
 
 THE materials out of which this parable i» constructed 
 require but little explanation, except what is necessary 
 to understand the Jewish method of computing time. They 
 
 179 
 
180 THE PARABLES UNFOLDED. 
 
 reckoned the day from sunrise to sunset, dividing it into 
 twelve portions or hours ; consequently, " early in the 
 morning," the time at which the " householder" first went 
 out to hire labourers, answers to our six o'clock ; the " third 
 hour," to our nine in the morning ; " the sixth hour," to 
 our noon ; "the ninth hour," to our three in the afternoon; 
 and " the eleventh hour," to five o'clock, or an hour before 
 sunset, reckoning it at equinoctial time. 
 
 At these several hours " the lord of the vineyard" went 
 out to the market-place (or bazaar, as it is termed in the 
 East, the ordinary resort of porters and labourers waiting 
 for employment), to get workmen for his vineyard, and hired 
 five different sets of labourers. 
 
 " When even was come," the steward was directed to 
 " call the labourers and give them their hire, beginning 
 from the last unto the first." The eleventh-hour labourers 
 therefore advanced, and " received every man a penny" — 
 a sum equal to about fifteen cents of our money, and which 
 was then the usual wages of a labourer, and the pay of a 
 soldier. Seeing this, those who had laboured all day sup- 
 posed that, when their turn to be paid came, they would 
 receive more, "and they likewise received every man a 
 penny." They had laboured three, six, nine, and eleven 
 hours more than the first paid labourers ; had toiled, some 
 of them, through " the burden and heat of the day," and they 
 thought that they had a right to more wages ; and though 
 they took the stipulated penny, yet they "murmured 
 against the good man of the house," as if he had done them 
 great injustice. Turning, however, to one who, perhaps, 
 
THE LABOURERS IN THE VINEYARD. 181 
 
 was foremost in complaining, he said, " Friend, I do thee 
 no wrong. Didst thou not agree with me for a penny ?" 
 I did not compel you to labour ; I hired you at the usual 
 wages ; you agreed to my offer ; you have done your part, 
 which was, to labour until sunset, I have done mine, which 
 was, to pay you a penny. Where is the injustice of this ? 
 Therefore, "take that thine is, and go thy way. I will 
 give unto this last even as unto thee. Is it not lawful for 
 me to do what I will with mine own ? Is thine eye evil, 
 because I am good ?" 
 
 Many interpretations have been given to this parable. 
 The different hours specified have by some been referred to 
 the several ages of man; the call to labour in the Lord's 
 vineyard being made in many cases, " early in the morning'* 
 of life, as with Samuel and Timothy ; in others, at the 
 third hour, or youth, as in the cases of Joseph and Josiah ; 
 in others at the sixth, or manhood hour, as was done to 
 the Apostles of the Lord; in others at the ninth, or 
 declining hour; and in some extraordinary cases, as the 
 penitent thief at the hour before life's sunset. 
 
 Other commentators refer the periods at which the 
 labourers were hired to the several ages of the world ; as 
 that the first call was made in the world's " early morn- 
 ing," in Eden ; the third-hour call was in the day of Noah ; 
 the sixth-hour call, in the times of the Mosaic dispen- 
 sation; the ninth-hour call was in the day of Christ's. 
 advent ; and the eleventh was the mission to the Gentiles*. 
 
 Various other interpretations have been made of these 
 calls ; but it will be unnecessary as well as unprofitable to 
 
182 THE PARABLES UNFOLDED. 
 
 consume time in running out any of these analogies, as we 
 shall thereby be led away from the scope and import of the 
 parable, as they unfold themselves in the circumstances 
 undei which it was delivered, and the moral which our 
 Lord deduced. The points which are distinctly brought 
 out in the parable, and which it is important for us to 
 know, are these : 
 
 1st. That there is a vineyard in which to work. Under 
 the similitude of a vine stock, or a vineyard, the Bible fre- 
 quently represents the Jewish and the Christian Church. 
 It seems to be a favourite idea of the olden prophets, being 
 used by David, Solomon, Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel; 
 and our Lord often employs the same imagery to illustrate 
 the relations which the Church holds to himself and to the 
 world. The fitness of this language to express what is de- 
 signed is peculiarly felicitous ; for a vineyard was most prized 
 and esteemed of all possessions ; required most anxious care 
 at all seasons of the year, and yielded to the diligent hus- 
 bandman a larger return than any other culture. 
 
 The Christian Churjh is now what the Jewish Church 
 was in the Levitical dispensation, "the vineyard of the 
 Lord of Hosts." It is fenced off from the world by the 
 forms of a public profession of faith in Christ ; planted with 
 the " choicest vine," even Christ, " the true vine," and dressed 
 by husbandmen of God's calling and appointment, whose 
 duty it is so to superintend the culture, as that it shall bring 
 forth fruit to the glory of " the Lord of the vineyard." 
 
 In this vineyard, or visible Church of Christ, there is 
 much work to be done, more than sufficient to tax all the 
 
THE LABOURERS IN THE VINEYARD. 183 
 
 energies of mind and body ; and the call is, " Go work 
 to-day in my vineyard." There is the work of weeding out 
 and cultivating one's' own heart until it becomes fruitful with 
 all the graces of the Spirit. There is the work of main- 
 taining purity of life and faith in the particular church 
 with which we are connected. There is the work of bring- 
 ing those around us under the influences of Gospel truth 
 and Gospel institutions : the vast home work of the Church, 
 embracing all agencies and instrumentalities necessary to 
 the tillage of the domestic field. There is, lastly, the work 
 of spreading the religion of Jesus " into the regions beyond ;" 
 the great foreign work of the Church, by which it is to act 
 upon its Lord's commission, " Go ye into all the world, and 
 preach the Gospel to every creature." " The whole world 
 lieth in wickedness," and the earthly instrumentality 
 whereby it is to be converted to God is in the keeping of pro- 
 fessing Christians. They are to be " co-workers with God ;" 
 and, if they fail to labour to the extent of their ability, the 
 responsibility of lost souls and of disobeyed commands 
 will rest upon them for ever. 
 
 2d. All who are not labouring in Christ's vineyard are 
 "idle." Not that they are physically idle; not that they 
 are intellectually idle ; nor yet that they are morally idle, 
 for that is impossible, as every man in one sense is morally 
 active. The soul is ever working; thoughts are busy 
 there, passions wrestle there, affections move there, and 
 never is there a moment when there is vacuity and repose. 
 But by " idle" is meant unprofitably employed. All unpro- 
 fitable employment of our time is virtual idleness, even in 
 
184 THE PARABLES UNFOLDED. 
 
 a worldly and business aspect ; how much more so in a 
 heavenly and spiritual one ! Everything is morally unpro- 
 fitable which has not a tendency to advance the glory of 
 God and the salvation of our souls. Unconverted men, 
 though they may be busy about their farms, their studies, 
 their merchandise, are not doing anything for the glory of 
 God, or for the salvation of their own souls ; hence, all 
 unconverted men are spiritually " idle." 
 
 They may be diligent in working out a worldly morality, 
 but they are spiritually idle ! They may be sedulous in 
 building up a self-righteousness by works of charity, of 
 ritualism, of penance, of w r ill-worship, of Pharisaic devo- 
 tion, but they are only busy idlers in the sight of God. 
 Their works are vain — their labour shall not profit — and 
 their toil shall only end in their deeper ruin ; because they 
 are not working in the field of the Church, and conse- 
 quently are not obeying the injunction of the Divine 
 " Householder," " Go ye also into the vineyard." 
 
 3d. It is never too late to go into the vineyard of the 
 Church. This remark is made not to encourage presump- 
 tion, but to rebuke despair. The uncertainty of life, the 
 possibility of grieving away the Holy Spirit, the danger 
 that our mental powers may not be preserved to us in our 
 last sickness, or that we may be suddenly summoned to 
 the bar of God, warn us with great force against any delay 
 in making our peace with God. To postpone, therefore, a 
 profession of Christ's religion because we may, perchance, 
 enter the vineyard at the eleventh hour, is most daring 
 rebellion and impiety towards God, and a solemn trifling 
 
THE LABOURERS IN THE VINEYARD. 185 
 
 with our soul, which should fill us with trembling and 
 alarm. When we say, therefore, that it is not too late to 
 go into the vineyard, we do not mean that it will not be 
 too late if we put it off to a future day ; for we know 
 nothing of the future, not even " what a day may bring 
 forth ;" but we mean that if we have put it off to the pre- 
 sent time, it is not too late now to go to Christ." 
 
 All the invitations of the Gospel are addressed to us in 
 the present tense. The language of the Bible is, " Behold, 
 now is the accepted time ; behold, now is the day of salva- 
 tion." To-day, if ye will hear His voice, harden not your 
 hearts." " Exhort one another daily while it is called to- 
 day!' " Son, go work to-day in my vineyard." There is no 
 to-morrow in all the offers of grace, or in all the overtures 
 of the Spirit. To-morrow is a fiction of time — it never 
 comes. It is a present work that we have to do — there is 
 a present time allotted to us for doing it ; there is a present 
 Spirit vouchsafed to begin and carry on the work. Avail 
 ourselves of these present privileges, and the future shall 
 be bright with heavenly glory; neglect them, and the 
 future shall be dark with eternal woe. You may have 
 passed the " early morning" of your life, and " the third 
 hour" may find you out of the vineyard ; we call to you, 
 then, in this third hour, this dew-time of youth, " Go ye 
 also into the vineyard." You may have reached the meri- 
 dian of life, and the "sixth hour" may find you still 
 " idle ;" and we call to you, therefore, in the noon of man- 
 hood, "Go ye also into the vineyard." You may have pro- 
 gressed into the afternoon of life, and " the ninth hour'* 
 
186 THE PARABLES UNFOLDED. 
 
 may find you still unengaged in Christ's service ; and we 
 call to you, therefore, in this waning period of the day, 
 " Go ye also into the vineyard." Or it may be that " the 
 shadows of the evening are stretched out," and the sun of 
 your existence, already far down in the western sky, is 
 hastening to his setting; and at this eleventh hour you 
 are and have been " all the day idle ;" and we cry out to 
 you, therefore, with but one hour of daylight in your 
 possession, and the night of death fast coming on, " Go ye 
 also into thevineyard; and whatever is right, that shall ye 
 receive." Few, however, who pass the third and the sixth 
 hour out of the vineyard, enter it at the ninth or the 
 eleventh. We know of many who gave themselves to 
 God's service in life's morning, in life's noon-tide ; but the 
 number of those who become His in the evening of their 
 days, are very few ; and the Bible records but one eleventh- 
 hour convert, the thief on the cross : one ! that none might 
 despair ; only one ! that none might presume. 
 
 4th. God will reward all who labour for Him, when 
 their work is done. It is not until even comes that the 
 Lord of the Vineyard will " call the labourers and give 
 them their hire." We often labour in this world without 
 seeming to receive any reward ; nor should we expect to 
 receive it here. But, though long delayed, it will come at 
 last, for " He is faithful that promised." It is, to a great 
 extent, withheld from us here, because our work is not all 
 done when we are removed from the vineyard. We live 
 and we work in our influence and in the agencies and 
 instrumentalities which we set in motion, long after we 
 
THE LABOURERS IN THE VINEYARD. 187 
 
 have passed away. Though dead, we yet speak to future 
 generations ; and, as it is a principle of the Divine economy, 
 to hold us responsible not only for our actual words and 
 overt deeds, but for everything that results from our 
 example, our influence, our labours, so is it impossible to 
 mete out the rewards which pertain to us through Divine 
 grace, until, in the final closing up of earthly scenes and 
 accounts, it shall be seen what we accomplished for Christ ; 
 not merely what we did for him living, but what we did for 
 him through means and institutions and influences which 
 emanated from us, and which were in active operation 
 long after we had slumbered in the dust. Hence it is that 
 the day of judgment is placed at " the end of the world :" 
 because then only shall all the lines of influence, good and 
 bad, be fully run out ; then, only, will all the results of our 
 lives, good and bad, be fully developed. Take, for example, 
 the work done by Paul. Could he have been rewarded 
 (speaking after the manner of men) during his lifetime ? 
 Is not the power of Paul still felt ? Is not the influence 
 of Paul still at work ? and, though he died eighteen centu- 
 ries ago, does he not speak to the dwellers in the nineteenth 
 century, and to the inhabitants of England and America, 
 as forcibly as he did to those who lived in the dawn of the 
 Christian era, and who heard his oral teachings in Damas- 
 cus, Corinth, and Rome ? So of Augustine, Wiclif, Luther, 
 Cranmer, Martyn, Simeon, and a whole galaxy of sainted 
 ones, who now shine " as stars in the firmament." They 
 have gone to their rest, and left their work, as the world 
 
188 THE PARABLES UNFOLDED. 
 
 would say, unfinished ; but not so ; their work is still going 
 on, and will continue until time shall be no longer. It 
 matters very little, therefore, whether we see much of the. 
 fruit of our labours while we tabernacle in the flesh, bufc 
 when the even of the world comes, when the Lord of the. 
 Vineyard shall say, "Call the labourers" to the judgment-- 
 seat, and " give them their hire," then shall we receive- 
 " according to that which we have done, be it good or bad." 
 Then can the sum total of our work be cast up ; then the 
 whole amount of labour be known ; then the reward be- 
 rightly bestowed. 
 
 Lastly, the reward that we shall receive will be nothing 
 that we can claim of right, but will be bestowed upon us 
 by the free sovereign grace of God. 
 
 And here comes out the true intent and purpose of the- 
 parable. In the arbitrary division of the Bible into 
 chapters, made by Cardinal Hugo in 1240, the chapter- 
 containing this parable was unfortunately cut off from the 
 19th chapter, whereas it is, in fact, a continuation of it. 
 In that 19th chapter we find that a " Young Ruler," with 
 much external reverence for Christ, had come to him with 
 the inquiry, " Good Master, what shall I do to inherit 
 eternal life ?" Our Lord told him what to do, and put his- 
 eincerity to the test by ordering him " to sell all that he 
 had, and give to the poor," — a test which discovered the 
 latent covetousness of his heart, and one which he did not 
 attempt to carry out, for " he went away sorrowful, for he- 
 had great possessions." 
 
THE LABOURERS IN THE VINEYARD. 189 
 
 This striking example of clinging to the seen and the 
 earthly, rather than to the unseen and the heavenly, gave 
 •occasion lor Christ to say, " Verily I say unto you, that a 
 rich man shall hardly enter into the kingdom of heaven ;" 
 which so amazed the disciples that they exclaimed in 
 wonder, " Who then can be saved ?" But Peter, foremost 
 among the disciples in speaking as in acting, said to the 
 Saviour, " Behold, we have forsaken all, and followed thee ; 
 what shall we have therefore ?" We who, unlike the rich 
 young man, have left all and followed thee. In the spirit 
 •of a hireling who was looking to wages rather than to 
 work, he seemed to think that something was deserved by 
 them who had made such sacrifices, and who at the first 
 call had gone into the vineyard ; and, in the working of a 
 self-complacent mind, he wished to know what they would 
 receive. Our Lord replies to them and says, " Every one 
 that hath forsaken houses, or brethren, or sisters, or fathers, 
 or mothers, or wife, or children, or lands, for my name's 
 -sake, shall receive . a hundredfold, and shall inherit ever- 
 lasting life ;" adding, " but many that are first shall be last, 
 and the last shall be first ;" and then follows the parable 
 under consideration, designed to show that the rewards of 
 grace are not for the first called alone, and do not follow 
 the length of Christian service, but that while all shall 
 receive the promised wages, viz., eternal life, God will do 
 as he wills with his own infinite blessings, bestowing them 
 when, where, and how he will, according to his own good 
 pleasure. The value of the work stands not in the amount 
 
190 THE PARABLES UNFOLDED. 
 
 of labour performed, in the number of hours employed, or 
 in bearing the burden and heat of the day, but in the ani- 
 mus, the spirit in which it is done; and that spirit should 
 be humility, not boasting of long service, or arduous 
 service ; not grudging at others' preference or others' 
 wages, but regarding any pay as undeserved, and all 
 reward as out of God's infinite grace, and not for the 
 worthiness of individual merit, And as the work stands 
 only in humility, so the reward stands only in grace. Do 
 what we may ; heap up labour upon labour, and sacrifice 
 upon sacrifice; yet there is so much of sin mixed with all 
 that we do, that were we to receive according to the real 
 merit of the works performed, they would each be cast out 
 of God's sight as sinful, and we ourselves be driven from 
 his presence. If the reward then is of grace, "it is no* 
 more of works, otherwise grace is no more grace ; but if 
 it be of works, then is it no more grace, otherwise work 
 is no more work." 
 
 Would that we could feel this more ! It would humble- 
 our proud hearts ; it would bridle in our rampant spirits; it 
 would abate our self-complacent minds, flattering ourselves 
 tnat we deserve more, and grudging whatever is bestowed 
 upon others; it would bring us more like docile, feeble, little- 
 children, to the feet of Jesus, causing us to cling to him by 
 a simple faith, and to lean only upon the merits of " His 
 blessed passion and precious death." 
 
 And then, too, how will it enhance the value of the 
 reward to know that we deserved nothing! That the 
 
THE LABOURERS IN THE VINEYARD. 191 
 
 best, the most diligent, the most faithful, was, after all, but 
 an unprofitable servant, and that the reward is the expres- 
 sion of the overflowing love and bounty of our God, given 
 to us, not for our service or for our deservings, but od 
 account of Christ's pleadings and in virtue of his perfect 
 sacrifice. 
 

Cftt fmm £ty-£wt. 
 
 13 
 
THE BARREN FIG-TREE. 
 
 "A certain man had a fig-tree planted in his vineyard ; and he came and sought 
 fruit thereon, and found none. Then said he unto the dresser of his vineyard, 
 Behold, these three years I come seeking fruit on this fig-tree, and find none : cut 
 it down ; why cumbereth it the ground ? And he answering, said unto him, Lord, 
 let it alone this year also, till I shall dig about it, and dung it : and if it bear fruit, 
 well ; and if not, then after that thou shalt cut it down." Luke xiii. 6—9. 
 
 THIS, like several other of our Lord's parables, has a 
 double signification : one immediate, pertaining to the 
 Jews ; one ulterior, referring to all time. 
 
 It primarily refers to the nation of Israel as a people 
 whom God had chosen to be " His people," whom he had 
 assiduously cultivated by special and long-continued mer- 
 cies, and from whom it was very natural that He should 
 expect fruit in some measure answerable to the blessing 
 and labour bestowed. 
 
 They proved, however, barren and unfruitful \nd when 
 He looked that they should have borne fruit, He found no- 
 thing but the most aggravated sterility. In consequence 
 of this, they were cut down as "a barren fig-tree;" rooted 
 up from their ancient home, and scattered, like autumn 
 leaves, by every wind under the expanse of heaven. 
 
 In a more enlarged sense, this parable evidently refers 
 to the unfruitful professors of Christ's religion, or to those 
 
 195 
 
196 THE PARABLES UNFOLDED. 
 
 who are barren of all fruit of righteousness, under the intlu* 
 ences and within the enclosure of the Gospel vineyard. 
 
 The professors of Christ's religion are emphatically 
 " planted in the vineyard of the Lord," the Church ; for 
 under the figure of a vineyard, the Bible represents both 
 the Old and New Testament Church. In this spiritual 
 vineyard they have better soil, better care, better protec- 
 tion, than in the world without. There the Gospel is fully 
 preached ; there the sacraments are duly ministered ; there 
 the dews of the Spirit more surely descend; there the 
 early and the later rain of reviving grace falls ; there the 
 Sun of Righteousness shines with full-orbed splendour, and 
 the winds of the Spirit blow, and the husbandmen of God 
 labour, to bring the trees of His planting to maturity and 
 fruitfulness. Whatever is necessary to enrich the soil has 
 been abundantly lavished, so that when we find any 
 therein who are barren, we know that it is no fault of the 
 ground, or of the sun, or of the rain, or of the husband- 
 man, but of the tree itself; it is sapless, graceless; and a 
 professor of religion, whose heart is devoid of spiritual 
 vitality, and in whom there are no pulsations of a godly 
 life, can no more bear fruit than a tree planted in the 
 richest soil, and tended by the closest care, which yet has 
 no sap, no vegetable blood vitalizing its trunk, and circu- 
 lating through all its branches. The one case is just as 
 impossible as the other. 
 
 What Christ seeks, and what He has a right to expect 
 of all the trees of His vineyard, is, fruit, good fruit ; not 
 the leaves of profession only, which fall with the frosts of 
 
THE BARREN FIG-TREE. 19V 
 
 time ; not the blossoms of promise merely, which drop off 
 ere they come to maturity ; but " fruit meet for repentance," 
 " fruit unto holiness," " fruit unto eternal life." 
 
 That there are unfruitful professors, is evident to all 
 who look into the condition of the visible Church. "We see 
 them occupying the same position year by year, yet never 
 discover any fruits of righteousness. Their lives give no 
 evidence of piety ; they are indeed outwardly moral and 
 religious, decent in all the externals of Christian duty, 
 but there is an evident lack of inward grace. You discover 
 no ardent love for Christ ; no kindling up of soul under 
 the preaching of Divine truth; no warmoutspringingsof 
 heart towards fellow Christians ; no generous liberality in 
 the cause of Jesus ; no delight in talking about the 
 Saviour ; no enjoyment in private prayer or meditation ; 
 no desires after greater conformity to the Divine likeness ; 
 and no strong cryings of soul after more faith, more love, 
 more grace, more consecration of spirit. Where we mark 
 the absence of these things, we have indubitable evidence 
 of an unfruitful professor, a barren fig-tree. 
 
 But, giving to the parable a wider scope, still we may 
 say that all who live in Gospel lands, and within the sound 
 of the church-going bell, are, in one sense, planted in the 
 vineyard of the Lord, in contrast to those who dwell in 
 heathen lands, where the Gospel of the Son of God has not 
 been proclaimed. All those who live in Christian coun- 
 tries, and within reach of the means of grace, even though 
 they do not avail themselves of it, dwell, as it were, under 
 " the droppings of the Sanctuary," and partake more or less . 
 of its influence. 
 
j_98 THE PARABLES UNFOLDED. 
 
 The influence of the Bible, the influence of the Sabbath, 
 the influence of the Church, the influence of Christian 
 institutions, the influence of a sanctified press, the influence 
 of the godly lives of individual Christians, have a power 
 fully moulding effect upon society. These influences 
 combined, shape and fashion to a great extent the views 
 and opinions of the people, and restrain, modify, and 
 govern even those who are ashamed to acknowledge their 
 power; nay, even the sceptic, the licentious, the profane, 
 the rabid infidel, deny it as they may, are under their potent 
 sway, and are kept from committing the gross outrages 
 which their several creeds permit, by the overawing power 
 of Christian principle. It is a blessed thing to be connected 
 by any links with the people of God, for the streams of 
 mercy which flow to them, and the streams of godly in- 
 fluence which flow from them, make broad bands of verdure 
 on each side of their borders. 
 
 From each one upon whom God has bestowed these 
 numerous favours, the Master of the vineyard expects and 
 seeks for fruit : it was to make us fruit^bearing that He 
 surrounded us with these privileges and blessings, and we 
 are guilty of great ingratitude if we suffer ourselves to be 
 barren ; for if we yield no fruit of righteousness after so 
 much has been done, the fault is all our own. 
 
 Yet, in the midst of the anxiety of the Lord of the vine- 
 jrard to obtain fruit, He manifests the greatest forbearance. 
 '* Lo, these three years I come seeking fruit, and finding 
 none!" implying that He had given ample time for it to 
 manifest its fruitfulness if it had any: days, months, 
 
THE BARREN FIG-TREE. 199 
 
 years have passed, and yet no fruit appears. He does not, 
 at the first indication of barrenness, cut us down ; there is 
 no hasty procedure with our Lord ; He is long-suffering and 
 full of forbearance, waiting to be gracious. Men act in hot 
 haste, and repel injuries with prompt chastisement; but 
 God arises to judgment only after long delay, and when the 
 overtures of mercy have been signally disregarded. Beau- 
 tifully has the Psalmist illustrated this, where, speaking of 
 the perverseness of the children of Israel, and God's long- 
 suffering towards them, he says, " But He being full of com- 
 passion, forgave their iniquity, and destroyed them not; 
 yea, many a time turned He His anger away, and did not 
 stir up all His wrath." 
 
 Thus is it now. You have perhaps been receiving bless- 
 ings and mercies from your youth up, and many a blossom 
 of hope has cheered the eye of watching friends. You 
 have been watered and nursed as tender plants in the 
 heritage of our Lord, and many a bud of promise has indi- 
 cated the beginning of spiritual life; yet manhood, and 
 mid life, and old age have been reached, while, as yet, no 
 fruit appears. During all this while Christ has waited to 
 be gracious. He has stood by looking at you in pity, call- 
 ing to you in love, making the ground around you fertile 
 with the rich blessings of the Gospel, but the barrenness 
 is not removed, the fruit does not appear. When the 
 angels sinned, there was no long-suffering and forbearance 
 exhibited towards them ; their punishment followed close 
 upon their sin, for such high-handed rebellion required high- 
 handed justice. 
 
200 1HE PARABLES UNFOLDED. 
 
 But He has not dealt so with us. His bearing has ever 
 been that of a God waiting to be gracious. " The long- 
 suffering of God/' says St. Peter, " waited in the days of 
 Noah while the ark was building, even one hundred and 
 twenty years ;" and the entire history of the Jews is a record 
 of God's forbearing mercy. In the days of Moses the Lord 
 inquired, " How long shall I bear with this evil congregation 
 which murmur against me ?" Hundreds of years after- 
 wards Nehemiah exclaims, " Many years didst thou forbear 
 them :" and later still, the Prophet Jeremiah adds, " The 
 Lord could no longer bear, because of the evil of your 
 doings." The New Testament exhibits the same feature 
 of the Divine goodness. " God endureth," says St. Paul, 
 " with much long-suffering the vessels of wrath fitted for 
 destruction :" and St. Peter declares that the Lord is long- 
 suffering to usward, not willing that any should perish, but 
 that all should come to repentance. 
 
 Thus is it now. God patiently waits upon sinners, to be 
 gracious; He kindly stands at the door of their hearts 
 knocking for entrance, and there you have kept Him until 
 He says, " My head is filled with dew, and my locks with 
 the drops of the night." But mercies having failed, for- 
 bearance being no longer a virtue, God now comes to some 
 determination : " Behold, these three years I come seeking 
 fruit on this fig-tree, and find none; cut it down, why 
 cumbereth it the ground?" 
 
 There are two reasons why God should cut down the 
 barren fig-tree : its own uselessness, and its cumbering 
 soil that might be better occupied. It was worthless in 
 
THE BARREN FIG-TREE. 201 
 
 itself, and made the ground worthless on which it stood. 
 The spiritually unfruitful man, be he a professor of religion 
 or not, is useless in himself, and takes up room or cum- 
 bers the vineyard with his presence; for as there is no 
 middle ground of action, all who are not doing moral good, 
 are doing moral harm ; according to the striking words 
 of Christ, " He that is not with me is against me." Life is 
 wasted to him who brings forth no fruits of righteousness. 
 It may be crowded with what the world esteems noble and 
 generous deeds ; it may teem with the fruits of honour 
 and fame ; the life of such a man may call forth eulogies, 
 and his death panegyrics, while his name may be given in 
 charge to applauding history : yet, if he has been toiling 
 for the glories of time alone ; if he concentrated his ener- 
 gies upon the ever-changing present; if he has made no 
 provision for his soul, and secured no peace with God 
 through Jesus Christ, he is a barren fig-tree, a useless 
 cumberer in God's moral vineyard. 
 
 The test of moral usefulness consists in doing works 
 that shall survive the things of time and sense. The 
 region of such labours is the soul, the higher and eternal 
 interests of our being. Here, is where fruitfulness must be 
 seen. We must do deeds that shall live after the trump 
 of the Archangel shall sound; deeds that conscience can 
 approve in the hour of death — that Christ can applaud in 
 the day of judgment — that will be remembered with 
 delight through eternity. It will not be asked in the last 
 day, did you build a city, or erect a kingdom, or lead an 
 army to victory ; but did you bring forth fruits of right- 
 
202 THE PARABLES UNFOLDED. 
 
 eousness, did you cultivate the graces of the Spirit, did you 
 do the humble works of a child of God. Have you 
 laboured to extend the kingdom of Christ, and win souls 
 to His sceptre; and if you have, though poor in this 
 world's goods, and looked down upon by this world's 
 nobles, you shall prove yourself to be a tree of God's 
 planting, soon to be transplanted into the Paradise above. 
 
 Not only are the lives of unconverted men useless as 
 regards their souls, they are also cumberers or wasters of 
 the ground. Their lives and their influence prove an 
 hindrance to the Gospel. They oppose its progress in their 
 own hearts, and throw the whole weight of their authority 
 and example upon the side of the world, the flesh, and the 
 devil. Every unrenewed man virtually and publicly 
 declares, that he is opposed to the religion of Jesus Christ ; 
 that he has no confidence in the ordinances of the Church, 
 no belief in the revelation of God. This, we repeat, is the 
 virtual declaration of each unrenewed man; it is the 
 language of his daily life. This may seem harsh judg- 
 ment, but it is only plain Bible truth. 
 
 Suppose an individual should present himself before you, 
 and show you deeds properly drawn and duly authenti- 
 cated, which were to place you in possession of a great yet 
 distant estate. You listen to his story, read the deeds, 
 examine the seals ; if now you proceed no further, and 
 take no steps to secure this property, but on the contrary 
 turn away from the whole subject — you say as strongly as 
 actions can say, that you do not believe the report of the 
 messenger, and that you discredit his pretended titles ; and 
 
THE BARREN FIG-TREE. 203 
 
 by your neglect of him you virtually give the lie to all that 
 he has said and shown you. This would be the judgment 
 of every unbiassed mind. Apply this to religion. The 
 ambassador of Christ comes to you with the Word of God. 
 He points out in it the title-deeds to an inheritance 
 reserved in Heaven for you ; he shows you the means by 
 which to secure it ; he offers to conduct you through the 
 processes necessary to attain it ; he solemnly pledges the 
 veracity of God to its truth; and he establishes the 
 genuineness and authenticity of his message by evidence 
 that cannot be overthrown. If now you turn your back upon 
 Christ, and refuse to believe on His name, you virtually 
 declare your disbelief in the whole thing ; or if, professing 
 to believe it with your lips, you put off the work of salva- 
 tion to a future day, you in effect say, I do not believe that 
 God will be as strict as He says He will ; I will try His 
 long-suffering a little longer ; and though the Holy Ghost 
 says, "Now is the accepted time, behold, now is the day 
 of salvation," yet I will run the risk of postponing repent- 
 ance towards God and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, 
 because He knows that I intend some time or other to 
 become a Christian, and He will not therefore cut me 
 down as a cumberer of the ground. In this delusion many 
 sinners pass months and years, until they are " suddenly 
 destroyed, and that without remedy." We are too apt to 
 forget that there is a time beyond which God's Spirit will 
 not strive, there is a boundary line over which mercy 
 never steps. 
 
 At the very point when the forbearance of God seems 
 
204 THE PARABLES UNFOLDED. 
 
 to end, an intercessor appears ; Christ comes into view, and 
 pleads for " one year" more of probation. " Let it alone 
 this year also : and if it bear fruit, well ; if not, after that 
 thou shalt cut it down." He does not pray that it 
 should never be cut down, but not nyyw. Every sinner is 
 at this moment under the condemnation of eternal death ; 
 and the reason why he is not executed is, that Christ 
 pleads, " Let him alone this year also !" 
 
 This, however, is a reprieve, not a pardon ; a reprieve 
 for a short time, yet long enough to make full trial. 
 During this reprieve God is giving him the culture and 
 tillage necessary to fruitfulness; the means of grace, the 
 bleeding Saviour, the striving Spirit, the ordinances of the 
 Church. His position is one of extreme peril, and of 
 extreme solicitude : of peril, because the time is short — 
 the isthmus of probation between the land of hope and 
 the world of despair is very narrow, and his feet stand on 
 slippery places; of solicitude, because upon his resolves 
 this year may hinge the destiny of his soul for ever. 
 
 If, through the renewing influences of the Holy Ghost, 
 sought for and received as the free gift of God, he becomes 
 a "tree of righteousness," and "brings forth fruit," it is 
 well : " well" in life, " well" in the hour of death : " well" 
 at the day of judgment, "well" throughout eternity. If 
 not, then, after that probation ended, he shall be "cut 
 down" as a "cumberer of the ground." And a fearful 
 thing it will be to be " cut down," after having been by 
 baptism planted in the vineyard, after having had years of 
 spiritual culture under Gospel vine- dressers, and especially 
 
THE BARREN FIG-TREE. 205 
 
 after having been spared yet longer on probationary 
 ground, through the intercession of Christ Himself as the 
 Master of the vineyard ; for to the guilt of disobeying the 
 commands of God, and of slighting the ordinances of the 
 Church, there is superadded the setting at nought of the 
 Lord Jesus, under circumstances of the most deliberate 
 contempt, which cannot fail to call down the wrath of the 
 Almighty. To all such we commend the declaration of St. 
 Paul to the Hebrews — " He that despised Moses' law died 
 without mercy under two or three witnesses ; of how much 
 sorer punishment suppose ye shall he be thought worthy, 
 who hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath 
 counted the blood of the covenant wherewith He was 
 sanctified an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the 
 Spirit of Grace ? It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands 
 of the living God." 
 

 
THE UNJUST JUDGE: THE IMPORTUNATE 
 FRIEND. 
 
 " There was in a city a judge, which feared not God, neither regarded man : 
 and there was a widow in that city ; and she came unto him, saying, Avenge me 
 of mine adversary. And he would not for a while : but afterward he said within 
 himself, Though I fear not God, nor regard man ; yet because this widow troubleth 
 me, I will avenge her, lest by her continual coining she weary me. And the Lord 
 said, Hear what the unjust judge saith. And shall not God avenge his own elect, 
 which cry day and night unto him, though he bear long with them ? I tell you 
 that he will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of man cometh, 
 shall he find faith on the earth ?" Luke xviii. 1-8. 
 
 "Which of you shall have a friend, and shall go unto him at midnight, and say 
 unto him, Friend, lend me three loaves ; for a friend of mine in his journey is come 
 to me, and I have nothing to set before him ? And he from within shall answer 
 and say, Trouble me not: the door is now shut, and my children are with me in 
 bed; I cannot rise and give thee. I say unto you, Though he will not rise and 
 give him, because he is his friend, yet because of his importunity he will rise and 
 give him as many as he needeth." Luke xi. 5-8. 
 
 THE parable of the Unjust Judge grew out of the circum- 
 stances related by St. Luke in the seventeenth chapter. 
 The Pharisees had demanded of Christ, "when the 
 kingdom of God should come?" This impertinent curi- 
 osity he justly rebukes; but, at the same time, takes occa- 
 sion, from their question, to foretell his disciples the dire 
 effect that would attend the destruction of Jerusalem, 
 14 209 
 
210 THE PARABLES UNFOLDED. 
 
 rivalling the horrors of a deluged world, or the ravages oi 
 Sodom's conflagration. 
 
 This announcement was calculated to depress their 
 spirits and shake their faith : for, be it remembered, Christ 
 offered no outward inducement to men to become His fol- 
 lowers ; He gave no flattering encomiums ; He held out nc 
 rich patronage ; He presented no anticipations of earthly 
 pleasure, wealth, ease, or honours ; — but, on the contrary, 
 told them that shame and reproach awaited them ; that 
 they " would be hated of all men for His name's sake ;" and 
 that " whosoever killed them would think that he did God 
 service." 
 
 In order, therefore, to teach them that they should not 
 faint in the day of adversity, that there should be a de- 
 liverer and a deliverance, and that the way and means of 
 securing much of their needed help was in their own reach, 
 he relates to them the parable of the Unjust Judge. The 
 elements of the parable are quite simple, and need but 
 little elucidation. Of the judge, two things are said — that 
 "he feared not God, neither regarded man." 
 
 This was a proverbial expression, used even by such 
 classical writers as Homer and Euripides, denoting con- 
 summate and unblushing wickedness ; indeed, most of the 
 heathen writers employ the term to signify one totally 
 abandoned to all evil. 
 
 Take away from man " the fear of God," and you fill the 
 soul with every inward sin, and make it " a cag t f unclean 
 birds." Take away from man " a regard for man," a proper 
 respect for human opinion, when sound and wholesome, 
 
THE UNJUST JUDGE: THE IMPORTUNATE FRIEND. 211 
 
 and you surround him with every outward sin, and make 
 him a selfish despot, grinding out from his fellow men 
 whatever may contribute to his own lusts or aggrandize- 
 ment, reckless of their happiness, solicitous only for his 
 own. Strike out from the heart both these elements — the 
 fear of God and a regard for man — and you make him a 
 monster with a human shape, but a devil's heart. When 
 such sit upon the bench of law, or in the seat of equity, we 
 may take up the lamentation of Isaiah, and say, " Judgment 
 is turned away backward, and Justice standeth afar off, 
 for truth is fallen in the streets, and equity cannot enter !" 
 
 The other character introduced to us in this parable is 
 a widow — a name which stirs the fountain of sympathy by 
 telling us of sorrow, loneliness, and bereavement. Like a 
 vine torn by the scathing lightning from the tree around 
 which it clung, and left to trail in the dust, yet leaving still 
 some tendrils clasping the rifted trunk, so is woman when 
 Death writes " -widow" on her broken heart. 
 
 The introduction of this widow here gives increased 
 interest and pathos to the parable. Left to struggle alone 
 with the world, her natural protector gone, she has evi- 
 dently been overreached or defrauded by one of those 
 craven-hearted men, who, while they dare not oppress their 
 own sex, yet cowardly triumph over unprotected woman- 
 hood. The cases of such were specially provided for by 
 God, and judges were bound by the Divine law to see that 
 justice was meted out to the widow. "Ye shall not afflict 
 any widow or fatherless," was the command of Jehovah ; 
 and among the curses pronounced upon. Mount Ebal, was 
 
212 THE PARABLES UNFOLDED. 
 
 that uttered by the Levites, "Cursed be he that perverteth 
 the judgment of the stranger, fatherless, and widow ; and 
 all the people shall say, Amen !" 
 
 The widow came to this judge to be avenged of her ad- 
 versary. The word which our English translators have 
 rendered " avenge," is from a Greek verb, which signifies to 
 execute right or justice, to maintain one's right, or to de- 
 fend one's cause. The Geneva Bible of 1557 translates it, 
 "do me justice of mine adversary." 
 
 The old English writers use the words avenge and revenge 
 to signify, not evil intent and malice, as the terms now im- 
 port, but simply the assigning to a plaintiff what is just, 
 and thereby delivering him from the evil acts or purposes 
 of his adversary. This poor widow then came to the unjust 
 judge for simple justice, and he, by the law of God and 
 man, was bound to give it to her ; but either through in- 
 difference or indolence, for a long time he refused to give 
 her audience. But put off once, she came again ; rebuffed 
 to-day, she returned to-morrow ; and with an energy born 
 amidst sorrow and nursed by oppression, she persisted in 
 her appeal until the judge listened to her cry. To this he 
 was moved, not by duty or compassion, but by her impor- 
 tunity acting upon his selfishness ; for he gives the reason 
 of this conduct when he says, " Though I fear not God, 
 neither regard man, yet because this widow troubleth me 
 1 will avenge her, lest by her continual coming she weary 
 me." There is a great deal more of meaning in the word 
 " weary," as used here, than appears upon its face to an 
 English reader: hence, to understand its full force as an 
 
THE UNJUST JUDGE: THE IMPORTUNATE FRIEND. 213 
 
 operating motive upon the mind of the judge, we must 
 resort to its primitive signification. The original word 
 literally means, to strike one under the eye, and was a 
 term used by the boxers of the Grecian games to designate 
 a stunning blow in that part of the face, which, more than 
 any other, was galling to a pugilist; it came at length to 
 express by metaphor whatever is irksome, wearisome, or 
 galling. The same word is used by St. Paul in the Co- 
 rinthians, w T here speaking of his self-discipline he says, " I 
 keep under my body," as if he had said I so ill treat or beat 
 down my natural appetites and evil lusts that I keep the 
 sinful desires of the flesh in subjection to the rule of my 
 spiritual life, and thus my body is " kept under," or morti- 
 fied in all its corrupt manifestations. 
 
 It is a very homely but expressive rendering which good 
 old Tyndale gives in his version three hundred years ago. 
 " Yet because this widow troubleth me, I will avenge her, 
 lest at the last she come and liagge on me!' Hagge is an 
 Anglo-Saxon name for fury or goblin, answering some- 
 what to the Hecate of mythology, and is used by Shak- 
 speare to signify a witch or enchantress. To hag any one, 
 then, is to harass or torment them with real or fancied 
 terrors ; and this is what the martyr Tyndale meant, when 
 he put the expression, " lest she come and hagge on me," 
 into the mouth of the unjust judge. 
 
 Let us turn now to the parable of the Importunate 
 Friend at Midnight. 
 
 The subject of our Saviour's discourse at the time this 
 was uttered was prayer. He had Himself been " praying 
 
214 THE PARABLES UNFOLDED. 
 
 in a certain place;" and His disciples, standing probably at 
 a respectful distance, yet observing His words and actions, 
 felt a desire to know something of prayer themselves; 
 reasoning, with much truth, that if He, their Lord and 
 Master, needed to pray, much more was such devotion 
 necessary for them. In addition to this incentive, they 
 were stimulated still further to prefer the request, from the 
 fact that John had taught his disciples to pray — had given 
 them probably a form of prayer as the guide to their devo- 
 tion ; and, therefore, not to be behind John's disciples in 
 the privileges of grace, they approach Jesus with the 
 request, " Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his 
 disciples." 
 
 Jesus immediately complies, by giving to them as a for- 
 mulary what is commonly denominated the Lord's Prayer; 
 that remarkable collection of petitions and ascriptions, 
 which contain within themselves the elements of every 
 prayer that can ever be offered by the faithful heart to our 
 Father in Heaven. Each want of the renewed soul, each 
 object of its most anxious desire, everything for which it 
 can pray aright, lie enfolded in some one or other of the 
 petitions of this prayer, as the majestic oak lies wrapt up 
 in the acorn. The more we meditate upon the paragraphs 
 of this prayer, the more profound and comprehensive do 
 they appear ; no human mind can grasp the full meaning 
 of any one of the sentences of this prayer, or sound the 
 depths of its spiritual mysteries. It carries in itself the 
 proof that Christ is Divine, for only a mind possessing 
 Divinity could frame a prayer that should concentrate 
 
THE UNJUST JUDGE: THE IMPORTUNATE FRIEND. 215 
 
 every possible aspiration of the soul and every known 
 attribute of the Godhead ; giving to a few rude disciples a 
 set of words which they readily comprehended and used, 
 which yet, at the same time, is a form of prayer suited to 
 every age of life, every period of time, every class of per- 
 sons, every nation of earth, and to every condition of the 
 soul, from the time that it draws the first breath of spirit- 
 ual life, until at the hour of death it exchanges the prayers 
 of earth for the praises of heaven. 
 
 Having given His disciples this model prayer, and thus 
 taught them for what they should pray, the necessary ele- 
 ment of acceptable petition, He proceeds to show them how 
 they should pray, and this He does in two ways : first by 
 parable, then by precept ; the parable giving more emphasis 
 to the precept, and the precept more point to the parable. 
 
 It is not unusual in those hot countries to journey in 
 the night, thus avoiding the burning rays of the sun, and 
 enjoying the refreshing coolness which then prevails. The 
 coming in, therefore, of a friend at midnight is quite in 
 keeping with oriental usages, and supplies an important 
 element of the parable. Had the friend thus surprised by 
 an unexpected visit gone to his neighbour in the day time, 
 to ask for " three loaves," he would easily have obtained 
 them ; but going at midnight, when his house was closed, 
 its doors barred, his family at rest, and rousing him from 
 the first sweet sleep of the night, was a test of friendship 
 and liberality of no ordinary kind. 
 
 To the request, then, for "three loaves," to supply the 
 necessities of this traveller, the man " from within" answers, 
 
'216 THE PARABLES UNFOLDED. 
 
 " Trouble me not; the door is now shut, and my child- 
 ren are with me in bed ; I cannot rise and give thee." 
 These reasons for declining do not weigh against the 
 necessities of his hungering, fainting friend, therefore he 
 goes not away at this rebuff, but presses his request more 
 and more with shameless earnestness, until the house- 
 holder, wearied with his importunity, rises, and " gives him 
 as many as he needeth." 
 
 The key-word of this parable, then is, Importunity — an 
 earnest persevering effort to obtain his request. This was 
 the point to which the Saviour wished to direct the atten- 
 tion of his disciples, and by the means of this parable He 
 designed to enforce the duty of earnest, persevering prayer, 
 and in this respect the parable is not unlike that of the 
 Unjust Judge, and though there are points of difference, 
 yet so far as it regards the setting forth of importunate 
 prayer, they may be regarded and treated as one. 
 
 That spirit which these parables enjoin is still further 
 enforced by the precept with which our Lord follows up 
 the similitude of the Midnight Friend : " And I say unto 
 you, ask, and it shall be given unto you ; seek, and ye 
 shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you. For 
 every one that asketh, receiveth ; and he that seeketh, 
 findeth ; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened." 
 
 The end which our Lord had in view in uttering the 
 parable of the Unjust Judge was, as He declares, " that 
 men ought always to pray, and not to faint ;" and from 
 the two parables, combined, we learn these truths : First, 
 That men "ought always to pray;" Secondly, That we must 
 
THE UNJUST JUDGE: THE IMPORTUNATE FRIEND. 217 
 
 " not faint" at the apparent delay of God, and the pressure 
 of our adversary ; Thirdly, That this prayer must be im- 
 portunate ; and lastly, that instant and earnest prayer will 
 always prevail, and that they who ask shall receive, they 
 who seek shall find, and to those who knock the door of 
 grace shall be opened. 
 
 First. " Men ought always to pray." We usually give 
 form to our petitions by praying on our knees, with closed 
 eyes and solemnly uttered words ; but to pray always in 
 this manner is impossible, physically and mentally ; hence 
 our Lord must mean something else than the formal and 
 distinctive act of prayer when he said, " Men ought always 
 to pray ;" and St. Paul also must have had in his mind 
 something else than set, closet petitions, when he exhorted 
 the Thessalonians, " Pray without ceasing," and the Ro- 
 mans to be " instant in prayer." 
 
 Prayer is the expression of the soul's desires ; but " God 
 is a Spirit" and the soul is immaterial, and there is needed, 
 therefore, no intervention of words or posture, no utterances 
 of the tongue, no attitudes of the body, in order to have 
 intercourse with Him. There may be prayer without 
 words, without a closet, without the bended knee, without 
 the shut eye. There may be pra}<er in the thronged street, 
 in the busy market, in the din of the workshop, in the 
 bustle of the store, amidst the books of the office, and the 
 activities of professional life. When the soul is so attuned 
 to God's will that there is an ever-growing harmony between 
 it and God, and an ever-increasing conformity of mind and 
 heart tc Jesus Christ, then is that soul in a praying frame. 
 
218 THE PARABLES UNFOLDED. 
 
 ready at any moment to commune with its Heavenly 
 Father; now darting out a desire, now ejaculating a peti- 
 tion, now breathing out a holy wish, and now silently 
 reflecting back the manifestations of Divine love, with a 
 glow of emotion and tenderness of sensibility peculiarly 
 affecting. He who cultivates this spirituality of mind lives 
 in an atmosphere of prayer, and breathes the spirit of sup- 
 plication. He is always in a praying condition. It requires 
 no violent wrenching off of his mind from things seen and 
 earthly, before it can be fastened on things unseen and 
 eternal ; but it passes from his avocations to the Throne of 
 Grace with ah easiness of transition evincive of the little 
 hold things on earth have upon his heart, and of the power- 
 ful attraction of the Mercy-Seat. 
 
 It is the privilege of the Christian to have this perpetual 
 intercourse with God, to have his soul thus brought into 
 fellowship and communion with the adorable Saviour; and 
 where we fail to enjoy it the cause is in ourselves, and not 
 in God, — for His ear is ever open to our requests, being 
 " more ready to hear than we to pray, and more willing to 
 give than either we desire or deserve." 
 
 In this praying state men " ought always" to keep their 
 souls, because it is the only truly healthful state of the 
 soul, its only truly happy state, its only true preparative 
 to the unveiled enjoyment of God in heaven. 
 
 Secondly. We must " not faint" at the apparent delay of 
 God, and pressure of our adversaries. In ourselves, indeed, 
 we should often faint, for our strength is weakness, and 
 our strongest resolutions are but as the thread of the gossa 
 
THE UNJUST JUDGE: THE IMPORTUNATE FRIEND. 219 
 
 mer around the sinewy arms of some giant passion. But 
 we should " faint not," because we pray to an almighty 
 God ; we go to a throne of grace from which we are never 
 excluded ; we offer our prayer through the Saviour, who 
 is always a prevailing intercessor; and we are aided by 
 the Spirit of grace and supplication, who "helpeth oui 
 infirmities." 
 
 The widow fainted not, even though she had an unjust 
 judge to appeal to; and because she fainted not she gained 
 her petition. And if this weak, unprotected woman, by 
 the mere force of importunity, wrung from the hands of a 
 judge "who feared not God, neither regarded man," redress 
 of her grievance, shall not God's own children, if they faint 
 not, in due time reap, from their heavenly Father, full 
 and satisfactory answers to their requests ? Can He, who 
 is all justice and all- love, do less for His importuning chil- 
 dren than this "doomsman of wickedness" did for the 
 afflicted widow ? Indeed, Christ Himself puts the question, 
 "Shall not God avenge His own elect, which cry night 
 and day unto Him, though He bear long with them?" and 
 He answers His own question by declaring, with marked 
 emphasis, " I tell you that He will avenge them speedily." 
 
 The "elect" of God have, as we learn both from the 
 Bible and experience, " an adversary," that great adversary 
 " the Devil, who goeth about like a roaring lion, seeking 
 whom he may devour." This "adversary" of God and 
 man is none other than that " archangel ruined," who at 
 the head of legions of other fallen angels is plotting, 
 though impotently, the overthrow of the moral govern- 
 
220 THE PARABLES UNFOLDED. 
 
 merit of God on earth. To this end they assault the 
 Church of God and " His own elect" with peculiar virulence 
 and power, level against them every fiendish weapon, 
 spread out every deceiving lure, and seek to entrap their 
 souls into eternal ruin. They torment the children of God 
 with fears, and doubt, and spiritual darkness ; they harass 
 them with innumerable temptations, and leave no point 
 unassailed, from the infusing of secret unbelief to the open 
 and iron-hearted persecution of the saints by fire and fagot. 
 by sword and scaffold, by dungeon and death. Every 
 child of God feels the enmity of this adversary, and groans 
 to be delivered from his power ; some he vexes more than 
 others, but all are made to bear the marks of his violence, 
 and to endure his hatred and reproach. But think you 
 that God will suffer this to go on unavenged ? Can he, 
 as a Father, see His children prostrated by this prince of 
 darkness, and not hasten to their rescue ? Can He, as a 
 covenant God, behold those who have laid hold upon His 
 covenant assaulted and persecuted by this great adversary, 
 and not avenge them ? "I tell you," says Christ, " He 
 will avenge them speedily !" and though, from God's 
 " bearing long" with the machinations of this adversary, 
 it may seem as if He did not regard His suffering people, 
 yet there is only a seeming hiding of His power, for He 
 has declared, " Vengeance is mine, I will repay ;" for when 
 His people are almost faint and despairing, then shall He 
 arise to judgment, and making bare His arm, shall put His 
 hand on the throat of His enemies. This was proved in 
 the destruction of Jerusalem, when those who had cried 
 
THE UNJUST JUDGE: THE IMPORTUNATE FRIENI).22l 
 
 out concerning Jesus, " Crucify Him ! Crucify Him !" 
 coupled with the horrid imprecation, " His blood be upon 
 us and on our children," and who had visited their wrath 
 upon the first Christians, were suddenly shut up within 
 the walls of the city, and subjected to a series of trials, and 
 sufferings, and deaths till then unheard of in the annals 
 of retributive vengeance. 
 
 In every age since, not a persecution of the Church has 
 existed which has not been followed by the avenging curse 
 of God. Nay, further, not a leader or originator of any 
 of the great persecutions which have been directed against 
 Christianity in its first planting among the nations, or in 
 its subsequent revivals, who has not been made " to drink 
 of the wine-cup of the wrath of God." Collect the biogra- 
 phies of all the sword-armed or torch-bearing antagonists 
 of the Church, whether you find them among Roman 
 emperors or Roman pontiffs ; whether among Gallic 
 princes or Gallic cardinals ; whether among Spanish kings 
 or Spanish inquisitors ; whether among English sovereigns 
 or English prelates, and you shall find that all have expe- 
 rienced the vengeance of Almighty God. 
 
 There is scarce an exception to this remark, from the 
 time of Pontius Pilate, who, like Judas, u went out and 
 hanged himself," and Herod Agrippa, who was eaten up of 
 worms and died ; down to the imbecile Charles IX., before 
 whose crazed vision the bloody scenes of St. Bartholemew's 
 day ever glared its spectral horrors, and, like the ghost of 
 B.mquo before Macbeth, would not "down at his bidding;" 
 or Mary of England, the "bloody Mary," who reigned amidst 
 
 
222 THE PARABLES UNFOLDED. 
 
 rebellions, and died amidst the taunts and triumphs of her 
 hating subjects. It is a truth written in God's Word, " He 
 will avenge his elect !" it is a truth written on the breast- 
 plate of God's justice, " He will avenge them speedily ;" 
 it is a truth that all history reiterates and confirms, " Je- 
 hovah shall tread down His enemies ;" and so will it ever Ixj 
 unto the end of the world. God often " bears long" with 
 sinners in order to test the faith of His people, and to show 
 to the world how grievously men will sin if left for a season 
 to themselves, but when his disciplinary course is over, his 
 punitive begins, and there is no escaping out of His 
 hands. 
 
 Thirdly. We learn from these parables that Christ re- 
 quires earnest and importunate prayer. A few formal 
 phrases, a few languid petitions, a few ascriptions of 
 praise, and a few acknowledgments of mercies, are not the 
 kind of prayers which are pleasing to God. He requires 
 deep-felt, heart prayers, the wellings up of desires from 
 souls that feel their sin and their need of a Saviour, and 
 that burn with love and zeal. 
 
 It is not "eloquent prayers," elaborately carved and 
 polished by the tools of rhetoric, for ears refined, that are 
 pleasing to God. It is not an harangue addressed to men 
 under the form of prayer to God, that He approves ; neither 
 is it "much speaking," or "vain repetitions," that engage 
 His attention. Do you wish to pray aright ? go to God as 
 a sinful child, go to Him as your Father, reconciled by the 
 death of His Son, go in faith and hope, in love and adora- 
 tion ; tell Him your fears, your trials, your doubts, your 
 
THE UNJUST JUDGE: THE IMPORTUNATE FRIEND.223 
 
 sins ; unburden your soul at the gate of his ear ; go with a 
 broken and a contrite heart, looking only for acceptance in 
 and through the merits and sacrifice of Jesus Christ, and 
 you shall assuredly be heard, for the word of His promise 
 is, " Whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, believing, ye 
 shall receive," and " Him that cometh unto me I will in no 
 wise cast out." 
 
 Fourthly. Instant and earnest prayer will always pre- 
 vail. 
 
 To use in part the words of another, the widow was a 
 stranger, not at all related to the judge ; but Christians are 
 " God's elect," His favoured, His " peculiar people." The 
 unjust judge was not interested in granting her petition ; 
 but God's honour and truth is concerned in relieving the 
 wants of His people. There was little hope of prevailing 
 with such a merciless and unjust judge ; but we address a 
 loving and compassionate Father. The widow, moreover, 
 had none to intercede for her ; but " we have an advocate 
 with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous." She was in 
 danger of irritating the judge by her entreaties ; but the 
 more importunate we are the more is God pleased, for " the 
 prayer of the upright," says Solomon, "is His delight." 
 She, notwithstanding all her difficulties, obtained her 
 request ; how much more shall we, who, in lieu of difficul- 
 ties, have such abundant encouragements ! 
 
 The same line of argument and the same inferences can 
 be drawn from the parable of the Friend at Midnight, 
 though we need not stop to recapitulate them here. 
 
224 THE PARABLES UNFOLDED. 
 
 To unfold fully the encouragements which we have to 
 importunate prayer, would require a volume rather than a 
 page. We find them in the attributes of God ; in the cove- 
 nant made with Christ; in the manifold promises of His 
 holy Word ; in the recorded instances of its success, as in 
 the cases of Jacob, and Moses, and David, and Daniel, and 
 Paul ; and in our own experience of God's faithfulness and 
 truth, in reference to every earnest cry which we have 
 uttered in His ear. 
 
 In order to the putting forth of this earnest importuning 
 prayer there is needed more " faith on the earth." Faith 
 is the essential basis of all prevailing prayer. There is no 
 acceptable prayer without it. Our prayers will be fervent 
 and effectual, just in proportion to the strength and vitality 
 of our faith. If we have but a faint belief in God's 
 government and care ; if we have but little trust in Jesus 
 Christ, as our only Saviour; if we believe but in part the 
 full and free promises of grace ; and if, instead of the 
 manly, vigorous walk of faith, we take the tottering steps 
 of an infantile belief, then will our prayers be weak, inef- 
 fectual, unedifying. But if we cling to God's Word with 
 unrelaxing tenacity ; if we yield ourselves up to Christ 
 in undoubting confidence; if we hold fast the precious 
 promises, and, steadying ourselves by the staff of hope, 
 walk with firm step in the pathway of the just, then shall 
 we reap the rich results of our devotions. Our prayers will 
 be heard, will be answered ; and blessings uncounted, 
 unmerited, and unspeakable in richness and in glory, will 
 descend upon our souls. 
 
THE UNJUST JUDGE: THE IMPORTUNATE FRIEND. 225 
 
 Nor should our prayers be confined to our own needs 
 alone, for we find in the parable of the Importunate Friend 
 a great incentive to intercessory prayer for others. The 
 poor widow pleaded for herself; her own wrongs, her own 
 necessities urged her to continually press her suit : but in 
 the other parable, the one who came to borrow bread of his 
 friend did not ask it for himself, but for a traveller who 
 had unexpectedly presented himself at his door. His whole 
 importunity was in behalf of another's necessities, not his 
 own ; and he continued pleading at that midnight hour, 
 and before that bolted door, until he gained his request. 
 
 While, therefore, we should, like the widow, plead with 
 unrelaxing earnestness for our own spiritual needs, we 
 should likewise present importunate supplications to 
 Almighty God in behalf of those whom His providence 
 has placed under our care, those near and dear to us by 
 the ties of consanguinity or affection. The promise is not, 
 Ask for yourselves only, and ye shall receive ; seek for your- 
 selves alone, and ye shall find ; knock only for personal 
 admittance at the door of heaven, and it shall be opened ; 
 but it runs in this broad language : " Whatsoever ye shall 
 ask in my name, believing, ye shall receive." " Yerily I say 
 unto you, that if two of you shall agree on earth as touch- 
 ing any thing, it shall be done for them of my Father 
 which is in Heaven." How often do we find in the narra- 
 tive of our Saviour's miracles, that He wrought special 
 deeds of mercy upon persons brought to Him by others, 
 and because of the faith of those who brought them ! 
 
 The man who was let down on a bed before Him 
 15 
 
226 
 
 THE PARABLES UNFOLDED. 
 
 through the broken-up roof of the house, was healed 
 because of the faith of those who had borne him to Jesus 
 The servant of the Capernaum centurion, the daughter of 
 the Svrophoenician woman, and many other cases, were 
 each healed by Jesus because of the faith of those who 
 applied to Him for aid and favour. 
 
 The preceptive part of Scripture sustains the truth thus 
 taught by the parables and the miracles of Jesus St. 
 Paul begs an interest in the prayers of his fellow Christ- 
 ians He told the Corinthians that they had helped to 
 deliver him from dangers through their prayers; he assured 
 the Philippians that he knew that his afflictions would 
 « turn to hi? salvation through their prayers." He often 
 sneaks of remembering others in his prayers, and St. James 
 distinctly urges, "Pray one for another." Intercessory 
 prayer for each other is then the plain and bounden duty 
 of the children of God ; they should come with boldness to 
 the Throne of Grace; they should plead the necessity of 
 their friends with the importunity of that midnight house- 
 holder; they should faint not in their apphcatmn, even 
 though at first God seems to say, "I cannot rise and gl ve 
 thee" Pray on; God will hear, will arise, will open to 
 you the windows of heaven, and give yon, not "three 
 loaves" merely, hut will rain down upon your soul and the 
 souls of those for whom you intercede, " heavenly manna, 
 that "angels' bread," which shall strengthen and sustam 
 both you and them, until you enter the promised land 
 above. 
 
&j)£ pitfofc iteteiftmra. 
 
THE WICKED HUSBANDMEN. 
 
 'There was a certain householder, which planted a vineyard, and hedged it round 
 about, and digged a wine-press in it, and built a tower, and let it out to husband- 
 men, and went into a far country. And when the time of the fruit drew near, ho 
 sent his servants to the husbandmen, that they might receive the fruits of it. And 
 the husbandmen took his servants, and beat one, and killed another, and stoned 
 another. Again, he sent other servants more than the first : and they did unto 
 them likewise. But last of all he sent unto them his son, saying, They will reve- 
 rence my son. But when the husbandmen saw the son, they said among themselves, 
 This is the heir ; come, let us kill him, and let us seize on his inheritance. And 
 they caught him, and cast him out of the vineyard, and slew him. When the lord 
 therefore of the vineyard cometh, what will he do unto those husbandmen ? They 
 say unto him, He will miserably destroy those wicked men, and will let out his 
 vineyard unto other husbandmen, which shall render him the fruits in their seasons. 
 Jesus saith unto them, Did ye never read in the Scriptures, The stone which the 
 builders rejected, the same is become the head of the corner : this is the Lord's 
 doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes ? Therefore say I unto you, The kingdom 
 of God shall be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits 
 thereof. And whosoever shall fall on this stone shall be broken : but on whomso- 
 ever it. shall fall, it will grind him to powder." Matt. xxi. 33-44. 
 
 "A certain man planted a vineyard, and set a hedge about it, and digged a 
 place for the wine-fat, and built a tower, and let it out to husbandmen, and went 
 into a far country. And at the season he sent to the husbandmen a servant, that 
 he might receive from the husbandmen of the fruit of the vineyard. And they 
 .caught him, and beat him, and sent him away empty. And again he sent unto 
 them another servant ; and at him they cast stones, and wounded him in the head, 
 and sent him away shamefully handled. And again he sent another; and him 
 they killed, and many others ; beating some, and killing some. Having yet there- 
 fore one son, his well-beloved, he sent him also last unto them, saying, They will 
 reverence my son. But those husbandmen said among themselves, This is the 
 ■heir : come, let us kill him, and the inheritance shall be ours. And they took him, 
 
 229 
 
230 THE PARABLES UNFOLDED. 
 
 and killed him, and cast him out of the vineyard. What shall therefore the lord 
 of the vineyard do? He will come and destroy the husbandmen, and will give the 
 vineyard unto others. And have ye not read this Scripture, The stone which the 
 builders rejected is become the head of the corner: this was the Lord's doing, and 
 it is marvellous in our eyes? And they sought to lay hold on him, but feared the 
 people ; for they knew that he had spoken the parable against them : and they left 
 him, and went their way." Makk xii. 1-12. 
 
 "A certain man planted a vineyard, and let it forth to husbandmen, and went 
 into a far country for a long time. And at the season he sent a servant to the 
 husbandmen, that they should give him of the fruit of the vineyard : but the hus- 
 bandmen beat him, and sent him away empty. And again he sent another servant: 
 and they beat him also, and entreated him shamefully, and sent him away empty. 
 And again he sent a third : and they wounded him also, and cast him out. Then 
 said the lord of the vineyard, What shall I do ? I will send my beloved son : it 
 may be they will reverence him when they see him. But when the husbandmen 
 Baw him, they reasoned among themselves, saying, This is the heir : come, let us 
 kill him, that the inheritance may be ours. So they cast him out of the vineyard, 
 and killed him. What therefore shall the lord of the vineyard do unto them ? He 
 shall come and destroy these husbandmen, and shall give the vineyard to others. 
 And when they heard it, they said, God forbid." Luke xx. 9-16. 
 
 THERE are two aspects under which this parable may 
 be viewed : one as it respects the Jews ; the other as 
 it regards the world at large. It was delivered in the 
 court of the temple, to the chief priests and scribes who 
 had gathered around Jesus to cavil at His words; and just 
 after His triumphant entry into Jerusalem. 
 
 The Jewish application of this parable is evident from 
 collateral Scripture and historical facts, as will appear from 
 a very brief analysis. The "certain man," or "house- 
 holder," as Matthew expresses it, is God ; and the " vine- 
 yard" is the Jewish Church. Under the appellation of a 
 vineyard, David, Jeremiah, and Isaiah speak of their 
 nation ; and there is much show of truth in the supposition 
 
THE WICKED HUSBANDMEN. 23l 
 
 that our Lord, when he framed this parable, alluded to 
 the words of Isaiah, " For the vineyard of the Lord of 
 Hosts is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah His 
 pleasant plant ; and He looked for j udgment, but behold 
 oppression ; for righteousness, but behold a cry." 
 
 The "husbandmen" to whom he let it out were the 
 priests and Levites and scribes, to whom were committed 
 the moral and religious culture of the nation. The going 
 " into a far country," means in the original that He left 
 them for a time, which indeed was done, when the Sheki- 
 neh, the emblem of His glory, was removed from them. 
 The sending of servants, " when the time of the fruit drew 
 near," " to the husbandmen, that they should give him of 
 the fruit of the vineyard," for the rent of the same, as was 
 and is customary in Eastern countries, refers to the Pro- 
 phets whom God sent to His people through the whole 
 period of the Levitical dispensation, beginning with Moses, 
 and ending, eleven hundred years after, with Malachi. 
 
 The treatment which these ancient ministers received is 
 well described by the conduct of the husbandmen towards 
 the servants sent to receive the fruits of the vineyard; 
 they "beat one," "stoned another," "killed another," 
 treated one " shamefully," " wounded" another, and " cast 
 him out of the vineyard." Both the Prophets Elijah and 
 Daniel complain that the Jews have slain the prophets 
 with the sword. Jerusalem especially had this reputation, 
 as our Lord's apostrophe testifies : " 0, Jerusalem, Jerusa- 
 lem, that killest the prophets, and stonest them that are 
 sent unto thee;" and St. Paul, when he enumerates the 
 
232 THE PARABLES UNFOLDED. 
 
 long list of worthies in his catalogue of the faithful, in the 
 eleventh chapter of Hebrews, says that they " had trial of 
 cruel mockings and scourgings, yea, moreover, of bonds and 
 imprisonment : they were stoned, they were sawn asunder, 
 were tempted, were slain with the sword ; they wandered 
 about in sheepskins and goatskins; being destitute, 
 afflicted, tormented, they wandered in deserts, and in 
 mountains, and in dens, and in caves of the earth ;" and 
 though the Apostle in this passage does not design to refer 
 so much to individual cases as to the great varieties of 
 sufferings experienced in the persecution under Antiochus 
 Epiphanes, yet we know of instances of each of these 
 kinds of torture in the history of God's ancient servants : 
 for Elijah, Elisha, Ezra, Nehemiah, Jeremiah, Micaiah, and 
 Eleazar "had trials of cruel mockings and scourgings," 
 Sampson and Daniel were in " bonds and imprisonment," 
 Zechariah was " stoned" in the court of the Lord's house ; 
 Isaiah, according to ancient tradition, was " sawn asunder" 
 with a wooden saw, by order of king Manasseh ; the 
 "Lord's priests" at Nob were hewn in pieces with the 
 sword of Saul, and " the prophets of the Lord" were cut 
 off by Jezebel, the wife of Ahab; Elijah, and Elisha, and 
 John the Baptist, "wandered about in sheepskins and 
 goatskins ;" and all of them were more or less " destitute, 
 afflicted, tormented ;" for this was the way in which these 
 wicked husbandmen, the Kings and Priests and Levites, 
 treated the servants sent by God " to receive the fruit of 
 the vineyard." 
 
 After repeated messages and great forbearance, the lord 
 
THE WICKED HUSBANDMEN. 233 
 
 •of the vineyard asks, " What shall I do ?" and he resolves, 
 rt last of all I will send my beloved son ; it may be they 
 will reverence him when they see him." And so in the 
 last days of the Jewish economy, when temple, and altar, 
 and synagogue, and priest, and Levite, and ritual were to 
 be done away, and to give place to the higher, holier 
 ministry, temple, and service of the Christian Church, 
 God, who loved His vineyard notwithstanding the treat- 
 ment which His servants had received, determined to 
 give the Son of His bosom, " His only begotten" and 
 "well beloved Son," to die for His rebellious children. 
 ^"It may be," He says, "they will reverence my Son;" 
 the dignity of the person sent and of the person sending, 
 ought to inspire a reverential regard, and reason might have 
 well argued, "they will reverence my Son." This Son 
 •came ; He left " the glory which He had with the Father 
 before the world was," the courts of heaven, the worship 
 of angels, and came to the husbandmen of earth to receive 
 the fruit of His vineyard. " But when the husbandmen 
 saw Him they reasoned among themselves, saying, This is 
 the heir; come, let us kill Him, that the inheritance may be 
 ours." 
 
 Yes, Christ was "the heir;" "heir of all things," as St. 
 Paul says ; heir in His mediatorial character, and by Divine 
 xippointment ; but in order to kill this heir the chief 
 priests and scribes and Pharisees "counselled together." 
 It was the one vengeful purpose of their lives, the one great 
 aim of their efforts, begun by Herod at the birth of this 
 
234 THE PARABLES UNFOLDED. 
 
 heir, and consummated by Pilate and Caiaphas when they 
 hung Him on the accursed tree. 
 
 In pursuance of this foul design " they cast Him out of 
 the vineyard," saying, " Away with Him," delivering Him- 
 into the Roman power, and with the cry, "Crucify Him' 
 crucify Him !" they " killed Him" on Calvary. 
 
 " What, therefore," asks our Saviour, " shall the Lord of 
 the vineyard do unto them ?" His audience, not as yet 
 perceiving the force of the parable, replied, " He will 
 miserably destroy those wicked men, and will let out His 
 vineyard unto other husbandmen, who shall render Him 
 the fruits in their season :" thus unwittingly condemning, 
 themselves, and pronouncing their own well-deserved doom. 
 Nor was it long before their own sentence was carried into 
 execution ; for by the irruption of the Roman army into 
 Judea, the vineyard of God's planting — the Holy City — 
 was destroyed ; its temple, the glory of the whole earth, 
 was burnt with fire ; its palaces were razed to the ground ; 
 its streets were filled with ruins ; its walls were broken 
 down, and with a havoc unparalleled in the history of the 
 world, those husbandmen were destroyed by fire, by pesti- 
 lence, by famine, and by the sword. The siege of Jerusa- 
 lem began about the feast of the Passover, one of the three 
 festivals when all the males of the nation were required 
 " to present themselves before the Lord :" and when, there- 
 fore, more than three millions of people were pent up 
 within its walls. Of these, over eleven hundred thousand 
 were killed, and nearly a hundred thousand others were 
 carried captive into Egypt, Rome, and the colonies of 
 
THE WICKED HUSBANDMEN. 235 
 
 Augustus. Not only was their land, the beautiful and 
 almost consecrated hills of Judea, given to others, to the 
 Roman, the Syrian, and the Egyptian, but their Church 
 was broken up, the veil of its temple was rent in twain, its 
 oblation ceased, its priesthood was abolished, its splendid 
 ritual was done away, and those who were once restricted to 
 the outer courts of the Jewish sanctuary, are now made to 
 draw nigh unto God, even into the inner courts of a more 
 glorious temple, built up by Christ of "lively stones," on 
 Himself, " the chief corner stone," a temple whose only 
 High Priest is the Lord of Glory, whose only sacrifice is 
 " the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world," whose 
 incense is "the prayers of saints," whose choral service 
 are the hymnings of the redeemed, whose " walls are sal- 
 vation, and whose gates praise." 
 
 This parable must have tingled upon the ears of the 
 priests and Pharisees, and when they came to understand 
 its import, they immediately, " the same hour, sought to 
 lay hands on Him, for they perceived that He had spoken 
 this parable against them ;" and had they not " feared the 
 people," they would immediately have caught Him, and 
 cast Him out of the vineyard, and killed Him. 
 
 But this parable has a Christian, as well as a Jewish 
 aspect. It is true that we have not killed the Prophets ; we 
 have not cast the Heir of the Lord of the vineyard out of 
 the vineyard ; we have not imbrued our hands in His blood ; 
 but if sin is the same in all ages, as we know that it is ; 
 if man's nature is the same through all generations, as 
 experience proves ; then need not the sinner congratulate; 
 
236 THE PARABLES UNFOLDED. 
 
 himself that he is guiltless of the blood of Jesus, for there 
 lies in his heart a principle which, if fully developed, 
 would lead him to do precisely what the Jews did, slay the 
 prophets, and cast the Heir, even Christ, out of His vine- 
 yard. Both hate God, both disobey His laws, both set 
 aside His Gospel, and both say in their acts, if not in 
 words, " we will not have this man to reign over us." 
 
 Each human heart is a vineyard of God's planting, and 
 through His Holy Word He has sent to you Prophets and 
 Apostles to receive the fruit of your tillage; have you 
 listened to the words of His servants, and returned to Him 
 the hire of your vineyard ? Nay, has not Christ himself 
 stood at the door of your heart knocking, and saying, 
 " Rise and let me in ;" and have you not suppressed as 
 much as possible all thoughts of Him, and refused Him 
 entrance ? And where, in the sight of God, is the differ- 
 ence between the Jews and yourself? but that, in the 
 former, the overt act of insult and murder was superadded 
 to the inward feeling of enmity and rebellion ? 
 
 Every one who does not receive Christ into his heart, 
 does virtually " cast Him out of His vineyard." Every one 
 who refuses to listen to the call of God's ministers, does in 
 fact evil entreat the servants of the Lord. Every one who 
 withholds from the " Householder" the wages of righteous- 
 ness, does, to that extent, strive to take from Him the 
 inheritance. Each one of these assertions, strong as they 
 may seem, is borne out and sustained by the Word of God. 
 "He that is not with me," says Christ, "is against me." 
 -''He that heareth you," says the same blessed Saviour tc 
 
THE WICKED HUSBANDMEN. 237 
 
 His disciples, "heareth me; and he that despiseth you, 
 despiseth me; and he that despiseth me, despiseth Him 
 that sent me." " Will a man rob God ?" asks the Prophet 
 Malachi; "yet ye have robbed me; but ye say, wherein 
 have we robbed thee ? in tithes and offerings ;" i. e. in not 
 rendering to God that which He requires ; and His require- 
 ment of each human being is, " Thou shalt love the Lord 
 thy God with all thy heart, and mind, and strength, and 
 thy neighbour as thyself." There is no evading this 
 responsibility on the one hand, and this accountability on 
 the other — the one you must bear through life, and the 
 other will meet you at the bar of God ; and there you will 
 be judged, not so much for what you did as for what you 
 did not do ; not so much for overt acts as for the inward 
 feelings of your soul towards your adorable Redeemer. 
 
 We have seen, though briefly, what the Lord did to the 
 wicked husbandmen ; and what shall he do to the impenitent 
 now ? They give no heed to the messages He sends, yield to 
 Him no revenue of praise, and in their hearts crucify His Son 
 afresh, and " put Him to an open shame." They break His 
 laws, reject His love, refuse His salvation, choose to "walk 
 in the light of their own eyes, and after the counsels of 
 their own hearts," and what shall He do to them ? The 
 Apostle answers for us : " He that despised Moses' law died 
 without mercy under two or three witnesses ; of how much 
 sorer punishment suppose ye shall he be thought worthy 
 who hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath 
 counted the blood of the covenant wherewith he was sanc- 
 tified an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the Spirit 
 
238 THE PARABLES UNFOLDED. 
 
 of Grace : for we know Him that hath said, Vengeance 
 belongeth unto me ; I will recompense, saith the Lord." 
 
 We are emphatically taught by this parable that God 
 will hold us responsible for our treatment of Jesus Christ. 
 He held the Jews, the husbandmen of his ancient vine- 
 yard, responsible for their conduct towards his servants and 
 his Son; and fearfully have they been made to endure, 
 even to this day, the severity of that self-assumed curse, 
 "His blood be on us and on our children;" and they will 
 continue to endure it " until the fulness of the Gentiles be 
 brought in." But as the sin of unbelievers now is more 
 aggravated, in many of its aspects, than that of the Jews 
 in the time of Christ's earthly ministry, so will God, in 
 accordance with the principles of eternal justice, hold every 
 living soul, who has heard of Christ, responsible for his 
 conduct towards that blessed Jesus. 
 
 Even those who take a comparatively low view of our 
 moral relations to God, acknowledge that we are responsible 
 for the right use of our time, our money, our talents, our 
 influence ; and shall God hold us strictly accountable for 
 these, in one sense, minor and inconsiderable things, and 
 not make inquisition of us for our treatment of that " un- 
 speakable gift," " his well-beloved Son ?" The supposition 
 is impossible ! God must cease to love " His only-begotten 
 Son," must ignore His law, must annul His covenant, must 
 vacate His attributes, must revoke His w T ord, must change 
 the very elements of His being, before He can suffer the 
 rejectors of Christ and His Gospel to go unpunished ; and 
 hence the force of that declaration of Christ, after His resur- 
 
THE WICKED HUSBANDMEN. 23& 
 
 rection and just prior to His ascension, " He that belie veth 
 and is baptized shall be saved, but he that believeth not 
 shall be damned." 
 
 The simple keeping of Christ out of our heart is, small 
 as it may appear to worldly men, the crowning sin of the 
 ungodly ; and until He is admitted there, and believed on 
 by a faith that " worketh by love and purifies the soul," 
 all other changes will be of no avail. We may correct this 
 evil habit, and prune away that sin; we may turn from 
 debauchery to purity, from profanity to reverence, from 
 covetousness to charity ; we may polish our characters till 
 we shall appear beautiful to ourselves and others ; we may 
 even have a sentimental regard for Christ, and experience 
 a sort of respect for His ordinances, and join with outward 
 devotion in the praises of the sanctuary ; yet, build up 
 these characters as high as we may, adorn them with every 
 worldly grace, set them off with every earthly virtue, un- 
 less Christ is formed in our hearts the hope of glory, they 
 are nothing "but whited sepulchres, which, indeed, appear 
 beautiful outward, but within are full of dead bones and 
 all uncleanness." 
 
 On the other hand, no matter what may have been our 
 former course, no matter what the turpitude of our cha- 
 racter, though our sins be black as midnight, and numberless 
 as the stars, and gross as lust itself; yet, if we now repent 
 and open the door to Christ, and receive Him into our 
 hearts in the fulness of a faith that trusts in Him alone, 
 and will " make mention of His righteousness only," all will 
 be well : " though your sins be as scarlet, they shall become 
 
240 THE PARABLES UNFOLDED. 
 
 as snow ; and though they be red like crimson, they shall 5 
 be as wool ;" for this blessed Jesus had declared, " Him 
 that cometh unto me I will in no wise cast out." 
 
 Keep, then, this "beloved Son" no longer out of the 
 vineyard of your heart, but, as He stands at the door and 
 knocks, let your language be, in the words of an olden; 
 poet — 
 
 " No longer, Master, shalt thou knock to me ; 
 Once more I feel thy need. Oh, enter in, 
 As my proud heart forsakes its idol sin, 
 And contrite grown, now listening waits for Thee. 
 I know that I have turned a heavy ear 
 Unto thy gentle knocking ; sometimes cried 
 With a rough voice, Why this persisting here ? 
 Go Thou thy way, and keep the outer side. 
 This have I said to Thee, who for me died ! 
 But, Master ! I repent ; come Thou anear, 
 And by the love Thou hast borne me alway, 
 Let me forgiven be, and sanctified ; 
 And henceforth humbly serve Thee and obey: 
 Oh! Master, enter; even while I pray.*' 
 
t iflforc. 
 
 ie 
 
THE SOWER. 
 
 " Behold, a sower went forth to sow ; and when he sowed, some seeds fell by 
 the way side, and the fowls came and devoured them up : some fell upon stony 
 places, where they had not much earth : and forthwith they sprung up, because 
 they had no deepness of earth : and when the sun was up, they were scorched ; 
 and because they had no root, they withered away. And some fell among thorns ; 
 and the thorns sprung up and choked them : but others fell into good ground, and 
 brought forth fruit, some a hundrsdfold. some sixtyfold. some thirtyfold." 
 
 Matt. xiii. 3-8. 
 
 " Hearken ; Behold, there went out a sower to sow. And it came to pass, as he 
 sowed, some fell by the way side, and the fowls of the air came and devoured it up. 
 And some fell on stony ground, where it had not much earth ; and immediately it 
 sprang up, because it had no depth of earth : but when the sun was up, it was 
 scorched ; and because it had no root, it withered away. And some fell among 
 thorns, and the thorns grew up, and choked it, and it yielded no fruit. And other 
 fell on good ground, and did yield fruit that sprang up and increased ; and brought 
 forth, some thirty, and some sixty, and some a hundred." Mark iv. 3-8. 
 
 "A sower went out to sow his seed : and as he sowed, some fell by the way side; 
 and it was trodden down, and the fowls of the air devoured it. And some fell upon 
 a rock ; and as soon as it was sprung up, it withered away, because it lacked 
 moisture. And some fell among thorns ; and the thorns sprang up with it, and 
 choked it. And other fell on good ground, and sprang up, and bare fruit a hundred 
 fold. And when he had said these things, he cried, He that hath ears to hear, let 
 him hear." Luke viii. 6-8. 
 
 " Hear ye therefore the parable of the sower. When any one heareth the word 
 of the kingdom, and understandeth it not, then cometh the wicked one, and 
 catcheth away that which was sown in his heart. This is he which received seed 
 
 243 
 
244 THE PARABLES UNFOLDED. 
 
 by the way side. But he that received the seed into stony places, the same is h« 
 that heareth the word, and anon with joy receiveth it ; yet hath he not root in 
 himself, but dureth for a while : for when tribulation or persecution ariseth because 
 of the word, by and by he is offended. He also that received seed among the thorns 
 is he that heareth the word ; and the care of this world, and the deceitfulness of 
 riches, choke the word, and he becometh unfruitful. But he that received seed 
 into the good ground is he that heareth the word, and understandeth it; which also 
 beareth fruit, and bringeth forth, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty." 
 
 Matt. xiii. 18-23. 
 
 "The sower soweth the word. And these are they by the way side, where the 
 word is sown ; but when they have heard, Satan cometh immediately, and taketh 
 away the word that was sown in their hearts. And these are they likewise which 
 are sown on stony ground ; who, when they have heard the word, immediately 
 receive it with gladness ; and have no root in themselves, and so endure but for a 
 time : afterward, when affliction or persecution ariseth for the word's sake, imme- 
 diately they are offended. And these are they which are sown among thorns ; such 
 as hear the word, and the cares of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and 
 the lusts of other things entering in, choke the word, and it becometh unfruitful. 
 And these are they which are sown on good ground ; such as hear the word, and 
 receive it, and bring forth fruit, some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some a hundred." 
 
 Maek iv. 14r-20. 
 
 " Now the parable is this : The seed is the word of God. Those by the way side 
 are they that hear ; then cometh the devil, and taketh away the word out of their 
 hearts, lest they should believe and be saved. They on the rock are they, which, 
 when they hear, receive the word with joy ; and these have no root, which for a 
 while believe, and in time of temptation fall away. And that which fell among 
 thorns are they, which when they have heard, go forth, and are choked with cares 
 and riches and pleasures of this life, and bring no fruit to perfection. But that on 
 the good ground are they, which in an honest and good heart, having heard the 
 word, keep it, and bring forth fruit with patience." Luke viii. 11-15. 
 
 THE many mighty works which our Saviour did in and 
 around Capernaum, drew together large multitudes to 
 see and hear Him. Some, like the Scribes, and Pharisees, 
 and Herodians, mingled with His audience " to entangle Him 
 in His talk;" others came to bring their maimed or dis- 
 
THE SOWER. 245 
 
 eased friends to be healed ; others, impelled by curiosity, 
 grouped around Him to see the wondrous miracles which 
 lie performed : while few assembled to listen to His words 
 of heavenly wisdom, or to be instructed in the things con- 
 cerning the Kingdom of God. 
 
 Knowing the hearts of all men, He was aware of these 
 varying dispositions in His hearers, and distinguished in 
 each the motive which led them to His teaching. Accord- 
 ingly, He addressed to them a parable which met their 
 several cases, and illustrated their different receptions of 
 His truth. 
 
 So great, however, was the crowd, that, in order to avoid 
 the press, Jesus was compelled to get into a ship, and push 
 out a little from the land, while His audience sat down 
 upon the sea-shore ; which, gently rising from the beach, 
 made a fine natural amphitheatre, where each could see 
 and hear. 
 
 How picturesque the scene which meets the eye of the 
 mind ! The dense crowds of the people, mingling all 
 ranks and classes ; the turbulent Galilean ; the restless 
 Gadarene; the sanctimonious Pharisee, the brisk Scribe, 
 the dark-browed Herodian, all clustered in waiting silence 
 on the borders of the lake. To the right was the town of 
 Capernaum, with its busy market and toll-booths, where 
 the clay cottage of the fisherman leaned against the stone 
 walls of the palace. Behind Him lay the Sea of Galilee, 
 dotted with boats passing to and fro between Tiberias, 
 Genesereth, Dalmanutha, and Capernaum. Around Him 
 were the bronzed-faced sailors, leaning upon the tackling 
 
24C THE PARABLES UNFOLDED. 
 
 of their ship, with their nets dragging at its side; and 
 there He stood, a fishing-boat His pulpit ; the sloping banks 
 of Tiberias His temple ; the rippling waves and rustling 
 winds His choir ; preaching the doctrines He had brought 
 from Heaven, and speaking, " as man never spake," of the 
 things which make for our eternal peace. 
 
 But hark ! He waves His hand to command silence ; 
 the shifting multitude stand still ; the hum of voices is 
 hushed, for Jesus opens His lips, and truths such as earth 
 never heard before, leap from his tongue with an eloquence 
 as simple and majestic as His own character. 
 
 The truths were divine — the illustrations earthly; per- 
 haps his eye at that very moment caught the form of some 
 Galilean farmer, traversing his newly ploughed field, and 
 casting his seed about him on the right hand and on the 
 left; some falling upon the still standing thorns; some 
 upon the rocky ledge; some on the beaten footpath; and 
 some into the upturned furrows; while birds hovered 
 behind him to pick up the uncovered seed which lay scat- 
 tered upon the rock or the wayside. Taking this scene as 
 His text, He uttered the simple yet exquisite parable of 
 the Sower, wherein He designed to represent the different 
 soils of the human heart, and the different receptions and 
 results which the seed of the Gospel meets with as it is 
 sown broadcast over the world. 
 
 Our Saviour here distinguishes several kinds of hearers 
 who attend upon the Gospel ministry ; and in some one or 
 other of these four classes may every man in Christendom 
 find his true position. The causes of this diversity are 
 
THE SOWER. 247 
 
 skilfully analyzed, and the results of such kinds of hearing 
 are distinctly classified in his exposition of the parable, 
 which, in answer to their request, He subsequently made 
 to His disciples. 
 
 Let us, then, as little children, sit at the feet of Jesus, 
 while he unfolds to us this beautiful parable. His mild eye 
 invites inquiry, and we look up and ask, " Lord, who are 
 meant by the wayside hearers ?" He replies, " When any 
 one heareth the word of the kingdom, and understandeth 
 it not, then cometh the wicked one, and catcheth away 
 that which was sown in his heart. This is he which 
 received seed by the wayside." 
 
 The peculiar wording of the parable, as recorded by St. 
 Luke, intimates a subdivision of this class of wayside 
 hearers into the indifferent, who allow the fowls of the air 
 to pick up and devour the seed ; and the infidels, who treat 
 it with contempt and tread it under foot. Of this latter 
 class we shall not speak, as none will probably read these 
 pages ; of the former, " the indifferent," we desire to give a 
 few marks and warnings. 
 
 The wayside is a public thoroughfare, beaten smooth and 
 hardened by the feet of travellers, so that seed dropped 
 there cannot sink in, but is speedily picked up by the birds, 
 or trodden down by men. 
 
 Of many a human heart may it be said, it is a wayside, 
 where all thoughts travel; where evil imaginations, and 
 sinful feelings, and corrupt desires meet and exchange salu- 
 tations ; where the " lusts of the eye" stand peering at the 
 corners of the street ; where the " lusts of the flesh" look 
 
248 THE PARABLES UNFOLDED. 
 
 in at the windows of her house, "which is the waj r to hell, 
 going down to the chambers of death ;" where the '* pride 
 of life" flaunts its train and trappings, that it may excite 
 the buzz of admiration, or the homage of the vulgar. The 
 heart of such a man is trodden down and made hard like 
 a wayside, by overrunning thoughts and sins. When he 
 enters the house of God, his heart is thronged with evil 
 imaginations; when he bows in prayer, his spirit prays 
 not ; when he stands up to sing God's praise, his soul only 
 sends back echoes of earthly ditties ; and when the minis- 
 ter sows broadcast " the seed of the word," it falls upon 
 his affections as upon a wayside, to be either trodden under 
 foot by negligence, or else picked up by the evil one, who 
 cometh like the fowls of the air to snatch away the newly 
 dropped grain of gospel grace. How many ostensible wor- 
 shippers of God there are who, Sabbath after Sabbath, sit 
 under the droppings of the Sanctuary, and yet heed them 
 not, because of the pre-occupancy of their thoughts and 
 affections by the great adversary of souls ! The word 
 reaches only the outward ear, it never vibrates on the 
 tympanum of the soul. On these wayside hearers, the 
 word of God has no effect at all, and herein they differ 
 from the three remaining classes, in one of which it has at 
 least a momentary effect ; in another it has an imperfect 
 effect; and in the last a good and productive result. But on 
 this class it is entirely devoid of benefit. Once their hearts 
 were susceptible and tender; once they were stirred 
 with the story of a Saviour's love and death ; or trembled 
 at the threatenings of a sin-hating God. Whence then 
 
THE SOWER. 249 
 
 this change? Whence this stony-heartedness, this indu- 
 rated wayside soul ? They have resisted again and again 
 the strivings of the Spirit ; they have stifled the oft-recur- 
 ring convictions of sin; they have not sought to under- 
 stand the truth — they have even affected to disbelieve it; 
 they have allowed other and worldly impressions to over- 
 power their minds, and have yielded to the hostile influ- 
 ences of sin, which, like hovering birds, have waited to 
 catch up and bear away the seed as fast as it fell upon 
 their hearts. This course, persisted in for a series of years, 
 while, at the same time, all the outward duties of life, and 
 all the external requirements of religion, have been per- 
 haps attended to, has conspired to make them gospel- 
 hardened, and no pleadings of Divine love can rouse them, 
 no thunders of Sinai break up their indifference. 
 
 The one prominent characteristic here is heedlessness — a 
 perfect inattention to truth, a complete negligence of the 
 means of grace, a continued carelessness concerning their 
 souls, and a total thoughtlessness about God, and Christ, 
 and the Holy Ghost. Such a process inevitably lays waste 
 the soil of the heart, beats it down, hardens it, and makes 
 it barren of all spiritual life. 
 
 Of all mournful spectacles, this is among the most 
 mournful; for, combined with a seeming respect for the 
 Gospel, and a high-toned morality, and an honourable dis- 
 charge of life's duties, there is a wilful resistance to the 
 Holy Ghost ; a deliberate rejection of the blessed Saviour ; 
 a hardened impenitence towards Almighty God ; and for 
 such men, though they may flourish on earth "like a green 
 
250 THE PARABLES UNFOLDED. 
 
 bay tree," there is reserved the fearful and eternal punish- 
 ment of an insulted God. 
 
 But our inquiring glance is again directed to the Saviour, 
 and we ask, "Lord, who are designated by the stony-ground 
 hearers?" " They are those," he replies, "who, when they 
 have heard the word, immediately receive it with gladness, 
 and have no root in themselves, and so endure but for a 
 time ; afterward when affliction or persecution ariseth be- 
 cause of the word, immediately they are offended, and so 
 fall away." The several Evangelists, in recording this 
 parable, have a slight variation here : St. Matthew says, 
 " stony places," St. Mark, " stony ground," St. Luke, 
 " rock." The idea designed to be conveyed by each is, how- 
 ever, one and the same, viz., a rock with a superficial 
 covering of earth, just enough to fructify the seed, and give 
 it a temporary germination, not enough to allow it deep- 
 ness of root, and consequent permanence and fruit. So 
 there are many hearts which are, indeed, stony, but which 
 are yet coated over with a thin layer of sensibilities and 
 emotions, just enough of the soil of goodness to start into 
 vegetation the seed of the word, but not enough to give it 
 depth of root or perfectness of growth. 
 
 A great multitude of those who attend the ordinances 
 of grace have delicate and excitable natures : their minds 
 are, to a certain extent, interested, their imaginations are 
 pleased, their sensibilities are touched, and, at times, they 
 seem powerfully affected by the truth ; their feelings are all 
 quickened into excitement, they listen with intense interest, 
 tears start to their eyes at the story of the Saviour's love 
 
THE SOWER. 251 
 
 and death ; they resolve to break off from their sins, and 
 turn to God, to abandon their evil companions, and to unite 
 themselves with the Church of Christ; the seed has fallen 
 upon the thin soil, it has taken root, but ere long some gay 
 associate, some irreligious jester, some scheme of pleasure, 
 or some plan of business, calls off their minds, and the seed 
 which began to germinate so rapidly for good, perishes as 
 soon as the hot sun of persecution is up, because " it has 
 no deepness of earth." 
 
 Much of the religion of the world is the product of mere 
 sensibility, acted upon by an excited imagination; it is a 
 piety springing up from the thin soil of morality, that lies 
 upon the top of man's rock-like heart. 
 
 Such " stony-ground hearers" may, for some time, appear 
 well, especially if the seed has fallen into some cleft of 
 amiability ; but let persecutions arise, let tribulations sweep 
 over the Church, and their slender stalks of grace are 
 uprooted, and lie withered and destroyed. Or let such be 
 exposed only to the minor persecutions of ungodly friends 
 and relatives, let them be ridiculed and contemned, let 
 them be avoided and neglected, let the tribulations through 
 which every child of God must pass as he travels heaven- 
 ward, come upon them, and "they endure but for a time," 
 being soon " offended" at a religion which exposes them to 
 such trials ; and, rather than bear the taunts of men, they 
 dare the frowns of God, and so return to the world which 
 they once promised to renounce. 
 
 In the wayside hearers the seed is caught up by the 
 wicked one; in the stony-ground hearers the seed takes 
 
252 THE PARABLES UNFOLDED. 
 
 root, springs up, and is then wilted by the scorching sun. 
 In the one case Satan "catcheth away that which was 
 sown, lest they should believe and be saved ;" in the other 
 case he brings to bear outward and inward trials consequent 
 on a reception of the truth, compared here to the scorching 
 rays of the sun, or to the burning desert wind, which began 
 to blow when the sun was up. "As that heat, had the- 
 plant been rooted deeply enough, would have furthered its 
 growth and hastened its ripening; so these tribulations 
 would have furthered the growth in grace of the true 
 Christian, and ripened him for heaven. But, as the heat. 
 scorches the blade which has 'no deepness of earth' and 
 has sprung up on shallow ground, so the troubles and afflic- 
 tions which would have strengthened a true faith, cause a 
 faith which was merely temporary to fail." So, having no 
 "root in himself," or inward root, he "but dureth for a 
 while," "and in time of temptation falls away." 
 
 There is great emphasis in the words, " having no root 
 in himself." Such persons have no deeply rooted convic- 
 tions of sin, no deeply rooted sense of the need of a Saviour,, 
 no deeply rooted resolves of abandonment of their iniquities, 
 no deeply rooted faith in the Lord Jesus, no deeply rooted 
 principles of a Christian life. And where these radical 
 elements are wanting, there all will be loose, shifting, and 
 superficial. Only those who are rooted and grounded in. 
 Christ, whose hope, whose faith, whose love, whose joy, like- 
 so many roots, strike down deep into the gospel soil, and 
 twine around the very heart of Jesus, drawing thence their 
 fife-sap, and circulating it through all the arteries of the- 
 
THE SOWER. 253 
 
 soul, can bear the storms of adversity, the sun of persecu- 
 tion, and so endure unto the end. 
 
 Beware against trusting to these shallow impressions; 
 beware of this mere surface religion ; beware of these 
 slight and transient resolves of reform, which, like " the 
 morning cloud" and " the early dew," soon vanish away. 
 
 But listen ! Christ is describing the thorny-ground 
 hearers, and says they are such " as hear the word, and the 
 ■cares of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the 
 lust of other things entering in, choke the word, and it 
 become th unfruitful." 
 
 Here we have a good soil, and depth of soil, but a soil in 
 which are already planted the germs or roots of evil. Con- 
 sequently, when the seed of the word is sown in it, it springs 
 up indeed, but the thorns spring up with it and choke it, 
 so that it " becometh unfruitful." 
 
 This applies to the nominal members of the church of 
 Christ : " Those who do not quite cast off their profession, 
 and yet come short of any saving benefit by it ; the good 
 they gain by the word being insensibly overcome and over- 
 borne by the things of this world." 
 
 This, then, is the picture of one in whose heart grace is 
 struggling for existence against the cares of this world, the 
 deceitfulness of riches, and the lusts of other things. The 
 originals of this portrait are to be found in every Sabbath 
 congregation. They are punctual in their accustomed 
 place in the house of prayer; they maintain a devout 
 appearance ; the seed is received into their hearts, it takes 
 root, it springs up, but alas ! side by side with the upshoot- 
 
254 THE PARABLES UNFOLDED. 
 
 ing blade of grace is the choking thorn-stalk, drawing its- 
 life-sap from the same soil, and by its speedier, ranker 
 growth impoverishing that soil to the damage and sterility 
 of the tender sproutings of the good seed. 
 
 Instead of pausing at the first appearance of these 
 thorns, and plucking them up by the roots; instead of 
 bestowing a careful husbandry upon the soil, watching the 
 incast seed, and rooting up everything that would choke 
 its growth ; they suffered the operations of business, the 
 plans of wealth, the schemes of ambition, the love of feast- 
 ings, parties, amusements, and the cares and anxieties of 
 life, to grow up unchecked, until they overtopped the plants 
 of grace, sucked out the strength of the affections, impo- 
 verished the soul, and left the good seed to become choked,, 
 and " bring no fruit to perfection." 
 
 Several things are mentioned here as choking the work 
 of grace in the heart, — 1. The cares of this world, viz., 
 those feverish anxieties, active energies, fruitful plans, 
 fretting worriments, perplexing aims, connected with pro- 
 viding for the wants of our worldly existence, everything 
 in fine that hinges upon the question, " What shall we eat,, 
 and what shall we drink, and wherewithal shall we be 
 clothed?" These cares must necessarily take up a large 
 portion of our time. Our physical necessities, our social 
 relations, our public responsibilities demand much and 
 earnest attention; and inattention to them is sinful, and 
 directly violates the precepts of the Bible. 
 
 The curse is upon the earth, and the brow of man must 
 sweat with labour to force from it a precarious subsistence. 
 
THE SOWER. 255 
 
 All this is granted ; but because these duties of self-support 
 and family support are so important, shall we make them 
 paramount? Because we must live on this earth a little 
 while, shall we adopt the epicurean maxim, "let us eat 
 and drink, for to-morrow we die," and centre all the inter- 
 ests of life in a mere animal existence ? Is the body alone 
 to engage attention ? Have we no higher aims than what 
 centre in flesh and blood? Here then lies the defect in 
 this class of thorny-ground hearers — they do not keep the 
 things of time and sense in subordination to things spiritual 
 and eternal. They do not regard the wants of the soul 
 and its care as the first object to be attended to ; watching 
 against whatever encroaches on it, or is detrimental to its 
 interests : but, on the contrary, are so careful of the inter- 
 ests of business and daily life, that they check even the 
 sproutings of grace itself, lest it should interfere with suc- 
 cess in worldly schemes. Religion will never prevent a 
 due attention to legitimate business and necessary cares of 
 this life ; and these, on the other hand, will never interfere, 
 when duly regulated with the strict performance of our 
 religious duties. The moment that the cares of this life, 
 be they what they may, crowd out humble, frequent, heart- 
 felt prayer, or make distasteful the reading of God's Word, 
 or irksome the duties and services of the Christian's daily 
 life, or unprofitable the hours and employments of the 
 holy Sabbath, that moment must the man take his stand, 
 and either root out the thorns, or suffer the thorns to choke 
 the soul. 
 
 2. Another enemy of the Christian life is found in " the 
 
256 THE PARABLES UNFOLDED. 
 
 deceitfulness of riches, and the lusts of other things entering 
 in." The deceitfulness of riches prepares the way for a 
 whole retinue of soul-strangling lusts. Observe, here, it is 
 not riches, but the deceitfulness of riches. Riches them- 
 selves are God's gift — are valuable in their legitimate use ; 
 but they become deceitful when we put our confidence in 
 them, rest our happiness in them, trust our hopes to them, 
 and regard them as the chief good of our existence. 
 
 " They that will be rich," says St. Paul, " fall into tempt- 
 ation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, 
 which drown men in destruction and perdition." How 
 earnestly should we take heed to a warning so solemn and 
 so awful as this ! That riches are deceitful we all know ; 
 they promise much comfort, but he who has the most 
 money has the least enjoyment of it. They cannot heal 
 disease ; they cannot ward off evils ; they cannot restore 
 the unbalanced mind; they cannot heal family feuds; 
 they cannot give peace to the burdened conscience ; they 
 cannot purchase an entrance into Heaven. They take to 
 themselves wings and fly away ; the tempest wastes them, 
 the fire burns them, the ocean wrecks them; they are 
 yours to-day, to-morrow you may but clutch at their 
 shadow. Yet, though we assent to these truths, the great 
 aim of the majority is to get rich ; and when that desire 
 seizes upon the soul, like Aaron's rod, it swallows up all 
 other aims, and becomes the ruling passion. Then the 
 labour is to get money ; then is heard the horse-leech cry 
 of avarice, " give ! give !" Then are the sympathies for 
 the poor, and the sensibilities to sorrow, seared, lest gold 
 
THE SOWER. 257 
 
 should ooze out through those tender channels. Then is 
 mammon erected into an idol, and worshipped with more 
 than Eastern devotion. Then is the man consecrated to 
 lucre, "filthy lucre;" and he takes more delight in the 
 company of Bunyan's Mr. Muck-rake, talking of gains and 
 bargains, than in associating with angels, communing about 
 God and Heaven. " How hardly," says Christ, {i shall they 
 that have riches enter into the kingdom of Heaven !" It 
 is a fearful thing when the lust of wealth gets headway in 
 the soul. It must be narrowly watched, immediately 
 checked : for if we do not guide our wealth into channels 
 of benevolence, and baptize it for Christ and His Church, 
 it will drive us into spiritual unfruitfulness, and ruin our 
 immortal souls. 
 
 Especially in these days is this warning needed. The 
 vast increase of the precious metals by the discoveries in 
 Australia and California; the remarkable unfoldings of 
 mercantile and commercial wealth through the many new 
 avenues of trade and the use of a steam marine ; the rapid 
 development of the agricultural and industrial resources 
 of our country by the building of railroads, canals, tele- 
 graphs; the wonderful stimulus imparted to all branches 
 of trade and all the pursuits of men, by the inventions and 
 science and energy of the present century, have had, in 
 some respects, a very sad moral influence, and have done 
 much to keep the Church in a comparatively lethargic state. 
 Everything, now, is excitement, hurry ; the long-established 
 methods of trade are found too slow and quiet ; dashing 
 operations, bold schemes, hazardous adventures are rife on 
 17 
 
258 THE PARABLES UNFOLDED. 
 
 every side. The game of business is deeply, and very sel- 
 dom fairly, played. Young men are inveigled into courses 
 that, a few years ago, would have been denounced with 
 horror. Clerks are taught the tricks of trade and the arti- 
 fices of decoying, to the utter destruction of their moral 
 sensibilities; and consequent upon this, are habits of waste- 
 ful expenditure, of dissipation, of dishonesty, of rash specu- 
 lation, of ruin. 
 
 In social life, this deceitfulness of riches manifests itself 
 in personal and household display : in building sumptuous 
 dwellings, furnishing them with gorgeous furniture, giving 
 luxurious balls and parties, keeping up a liveried equipage, 
 dressing in costly garments, aiming to dazzle and outshine 
 at the fashionable watering-places, an affectation of foreign 
 manners, bolstered up by a smattering of foreign travel, 
 picked up from Murray's Guide Books, during a three- 
 months' tour in Europe. 
 
 These things are grievous thorns, growing up in the 
 heart, choking the plants of Divine grace. The man who 
 yields to their influence at all soon becomes entirely ab- 
 sorbed. There is so much of rivalry, of jostling, so much 
 to excite and spur on effort, that a course of social extra- 
 vagance, once entered upon, progresses with an ever accele- 
 rating speed, until the majority are landed in bankruptcy 
 and disgrace. Nor is this great evil confined to what are 
 termed the upper classes. The grades of society beneath 
 are ever striving to climb upwards ; and they toil up the 
 rounds of the social ladder, deeming no position on it be- 
 yond their reach, and ready to make any sacrifice to attain 
 
THE SOWER. 259 
 
 their desire. Hence they ape the manners and habits of 
 the wealthy, seek to pursue a course which will recommend 
 them to their notice, and the whole burden of their daily 
 toil is to secure a standing in fashionable circles. Is it 
 possible, with such processes as these going on in the soul, 
 for the seed to bring forth fruit ? What has the religion 
 of Christ to do with such scenes of luxury, prodigality, and 
 heartless sociality ? What has the Spirit of God to do with 
 the struggling after rank and name and wealth that so 
 occupy the heart? 
 
 There is as much incompatibility between worldliness 
 and spirituality as between fire and water. One must, of 
 necessity, destroy the other. This is no new truth, though 
 the present times enforce it with new emphasis. Long ago 
 the Searcher of Hearts declared, "Ye cannot serve God 
 and Mammon ;" "whosoever will be the friend of the world 
 is the enemy of God ;" " he that is not with me is against 
 me;" "he that taketh not up his cross and cometh after 
 me, cannot be my disciple ;" " seek first the kingdom of 
 God and his righteousness, and all these things shall be 
 added unto you." 
 
 You must, therefore, take your stand in this matter. If 
 you prefer that your heart should bring forth thorns — fit 
 only for the burning of hell — yield to the influences of the 
 world, and they will spring up with rank luxuriance, and 
 cover your moral nature with the brambles of iniquity. Go 
 on and enjoy the pleasures of sin ; say to your soul, "take 
 thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry." Shut down the 
 window of your heart that looks out upon the future, and 
 
260 THE r ARABLES UNFOLDED. 
 
 curtain it around with the painted tapestry of present de 
 lights; and then, throttling conscience and hoodwinking 
 reason, cajole yourselves that all is well for time and foi 
 eternity. Lull yourself with these opiates of the deceiver, 
 until death shall break the spell, and you wake up, a lost 
 spirit amidst eternal burnings. 
 
 If these inevitable issues to such a course are too fearful 
 for you to risk, then, in the name of Christ, and in the 
 power of the Holy Ghost, and through the vouchsafed grace 
 of Almighty God, set about the work of plucking up these 
 thorns, and of cultivating these sproutings of the true seed. 
 Address yourselves to watchfulness, and prayer, and self- 
 examination, and careful culture of your souls, and, dis- 
 trusting your own strength, rely only on the Divine aid, 
 to enable you to labour with unrelaxing diligence and 
 unsleeping vigilance in the effort to " work out your salva- 
 tion with fear and trembling, for it is God that worketh in 
 you, both to will and to do of his good pleasure." 
 
 Under these three classes, viz., the wayside hearers, the 
 stony-ground hearers, the thorny-ground hearers, mny be 
 ranked all who sit under the ministry of the gospel, who 
 are yet out of Christ. 
 
 And here observe that the failure in each of these cases 
 to bring forth fruit was not any defect in the seed sown, 
 nor in the sower who scattered it, nor in the sun and rain 
 and dew which visited all alike ; the difficulty was not so 
 much without the man as within him. In one case there 
 was no receptive power, in another there was no deepness 
 of soil, and in the third there was pre-occupancy of the 
 
THE SOWER. 261 
 
 giound by the rank and choking thorns. Man's ruin is in 
 every instance self-produced, and the consciousness of this 
 will be one of the most fearful elements of his everlasting 
 woe. 
 
 But we once more look up to our Divine teacher, and 
 say, " Tell us, Lord, we beseech thee, who are the good- 
 ground hearers ?" and He responds in those cheering words, 
 they are those who, "in an honest and good heart, having 
 heard the word, understand and keep it, and bring forth 
 fruit with patience," "some an hundredfold, some sixty, 
 some thirty." 
 
 Though the Scriptures positively declare that " there is 
 none that doeth good, no, not one," yet there are those, 
 speaking after the manner of men, who may be said to 
 have "an honest and good heart;" i. e., they receive the 
 truth without questionings and disputings; they do not 
 twist and cavil at the word ; they treat it honestly, and act 
 upon it with simple-minded sincerity, and a desire to profit. 
 Such persons, when they hear the word, give it their atten- 
 tion, and hence, applying their hearts to wisdom, " under- 
 stand it," recognise it as God's word, and embrace it as 
 suited to their wants; thus forming a contrast to the way- 
 side hearers, who understood not the word of the Kingdom, 
 and consequently did not believe it. But this under- 
 standing of the truth can only result from the teaching of 
 the Spirit; because "the natural man," says St. Paul, 
 " receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God ; for they 
 are foolishness unto him; neither can he know them, 
 because they are spiritually discerned." The fact, there- 
 
262 THE PARABLES UNFOLDED. 
 
 fore, of their understanding the word, proves that the Holy 
 Ghost has been at work in their hearts, making them 
 receptive of truth, and enlightening their minds, making 
 them to comprehend the truth. 
 
 The spirituality of this work is still further evinced by 
 the additional mark mentioned by our Lord, that such 
 " having heard the word, keep it;" do not allow Satan to 
 " catch it away," as the birds picked up the seed dropped 
 upon the wayside, but " keep it" in their memories, ponder- 
 ing it over in careful, prayerful meditation ; " keep it" in 
 their hearts, as the man of their council and the guide of 
 their lives ; hiding it there, that they may not sin against 
 God. 
 
 There is much force in the word here translated " keep 
 t." It means, to occupy, to dwell in, and in classical 
 isage is applied to the " tutelary gods," who had an 
 abiding place in every household; and as, among the 
 heathen, no family or individual was considered safe 
 without the guardianship of one or more of these tutelary 
 gods dwelling in their halls or rooms, so should no 
 Christian feel himself safe from the evil influences of his 
 great adversary, without having the seed of the word 
 occupy and dwell in his soul; not to be an occasional 
 visiter, not a temporary tenant, but permanently abiding 
 there in full, undisturbed possession. 
 
 Our Christian character does not depend so much on our 
 hearing as on our keeping the word. It will not benefit us 
 to have it pass through the mind : it must dwell there ; be 
 
THE SOWER. 263 
 
 kept there with a jealous guarding and a scrupulous care, 
 as the greatest treasure confided to our hands. 
 
 The necessary result of this indwelling of the "good 
 seed" .n the "good ground" is, that it will be productive; 
 but the seed will not fructify equally in all, nor will the 
 soils produce a like amount of harvest. There are 
 circumstances of early education, natural disposition, social 
 position, mental temperament, business relations, idiosyn- 
 crasies of character, intellectual advantages, which are 
 ever operating upon the soil of the heart, increasing or 
 lessening its fertility ; consequently some bring forth 
 thirtyfold, some sixty, some a hundred. Our own expe- 
 rience testifies to the truth of this. We see one Christian 
 fertile in the graces of the Spirit, abundant in fruit, 
 rejoicing in hope ; and another, who manifests but little 
 increase, producing but small results ; but in all cases there 
 is some increase. Increase is the absolute condition and 
 requirement of the Christian life. This alone evidences 
 that we have received the seed, that we have kept the 
 seed, and that the soil is good ; and while the ratio of 
 increase is variable, the increase itself is the necessary 
 exponent of Christian vitality. 
 
 This fruit manifests itself in two ways : first, in a 
 growth in grace, whereby our hearts become more and 
 more conformed to the image of God's dear Son, through 
 the indwelling of the Holy Ghost; and secondly, by 
 increasing efforts for the extension of the Redeemer's 
 kingdom. But this inner and outer work of the soul are so 
 interlaced that they cannot be separated. Where there is 
 
264 THE PARABLES UNFOLDED. 
 
 a growth of holiness in the heart, there is always found 
 deeper love for Christ, and where that exists, there of 
 necessity springs up a love for the souls for whom Christ 
 died, and a desire to labour for and with Christ in so 
 bringing men to the truth, as that our blessed Saviour 
 " shall see of the travail of his soul, and be satisfied." 
 
 But this fruit, says our Lord, is brought forth "with 
 patience." Patience is that grace which enables one to 
 bear afflictions, calamities, and oppositions with constancy 
 and calmness of mind, and with humble submission to 
 Almighty God. It is an essential element of Christian 
 character, and as such is much insisted on by the Apostles 
 John, and James, and Peter, and Paul, as well as by Christ 
 himself. Impatience is the mark of an unpoised mind and 
 uncurbed will. It is a dangerous trait even in a worldly 
 character, because it leads to rash and hasty measures, and 
 produces a chafed and irritated spirit. Much more then 
 must it be adverse to godliness of heart, and to all 
 productive efforts in the cause of Christ. With what truth 
 might the Apostle say to us as to the Hebrews, " Ye have 
 need of patience !" and with what earnestness would Le 
 repeat to us, what he urged upon them, " run with patience 
 the race set before 3 ou !" for, unless we persevere with 
 unshaken steadfastness, enduring patiently the reproach 
 and opposition of the world, stemming with even mind and 
 submissive will the difficulties that lie before us, we cannot 
 bring forth fruit, we cannot glorify God, we cannot secure 
 " the prize of our high calling in Christ Jesus." 
 
 In gathering up into a few closing reflections the 
 
THE SOWER. 265 
 
 teachings of this parable, we remark, first, that we are 
 personally responsible for every particle of the seed of the 
 word sown in our hearts; secondly, that no "wayside" 
 hearer can be saved; thirdly, that no "stony-ground" 
 hearer can be saved; fourthly, that no "thorny-ground" 
 hearer can be saved ; and lastly, that only the fruit-pro- 
 ducing hearer can enter into the kingdom of heaven. 
 In which class are you t 
 
Cfrt to* 
 
THE TARES. 
 
 'The ki tgdom of heaven is likened unto a man which sowed good seed in his 
 field ; but while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and 
 went his way. But when the blade was sprung up, and brought forth fruit, then 
 appeared the tares also. So the servants of the householder came and said unto 
 him, Sir, didst not thou sow good seed in thy field ? from whence then hath it tares ? 
 He said unto them, An enemy hath done this. The servants said unto him, Wilt 
 thou then that we go and gather them up ? But he said, Nay ; lest while ye gather 
 up the tares, ye root up also the wheat with them. Let both grow together until 
 the harvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye 
 together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them : but gather the 
 wheat into my barn." Matt. xiii. 24-30. 
 
 "Jesus sent the multitude away, and went into the house; and his disciples came 
 auto him, saying, Declare unto us the parable of the tares of the field. He 
 answered and said unto them, He that soweth the good seed is the Son of man ; 
 the field is the world ; the good seed are the children of the kingdom ; but the tares 
 are the children of the wicked one ; the enemy that sowed them is the devil ; the 
 harvest is the end of the world; and the reapers are the angels. As therefore the 
 tares are gathered and burned in the fire : so shall it be in the end of this world. 
 The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his king- 
 dom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity; and shall cast them into a 
 furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth. Then shall the 
 righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Who hath ears 
 to hear, let him hear." Matt. xiii. 36-43. 
 
 THIS parable, like that of the Sower, is drawn from the 
 walks of agriculture, and needs no explanations to 
 unfold the terms used or the personages introduced. The 
 
 269 
 
270 THE PARABLES UNFOLDED. 
 
 field, the wheat, the tares, the servants, the householder, 
 the enemy sowing tares at midnight, are each intel- 
 ligible to the common mind, involving no points of thought, 
 or usages of life, diverse from those with which we are 
 daily conversant. 
 
 There is one peculiarity about this parable, however, 
 which it has in common with that of " The Sower," viz., its 
 subsequent interpretation by our Lord himself, in answer to 
 the special request of His disciples. Since He, therefore, 
 who uttered it, has condescended to unfold it, it is more 
 glorious to follow His footsteps than to mark out any new 
 path of our own. When He instructs, w T e have nothing to 
 do but listen, practise, and obey. 
 
 " The field," says our Saviour, " is the world ;" a thought 
 so great that we are really startled at its magnitude ; and 
 looking at it in its merely human aspect, as the utterance 
 of a Jew, whose nation w r as separated from all other 
 nations by theocratic institutions, which constituted them 
 "a peculiar people," and w T ho, from this national stand- 
 point, regarded the Gentiles as " aliens from the common- 
 wealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenant of promise," 
 there is something in it morally sublime ; indicating a mind 
 of vast breadth, a soul devoid of prejudice, a heart that 
 expanded its affections to the circumference of earth, and 
 a faith that looked upon the far off, yet certain result, with 
 the calmness of anticipated triumph. 
 
 But Christ was not a narrow-minded Jew, bound down 
 by national prejudices. He was God as well as man; and 
 His utterance here was the Divine annunciation of a truth 
 
THE TARES. 271 
 
 brought from heaven, and by Him revealed to man. So 
 that it is a prophecy as well as an assertion ; it is the 
 glorious prediction of His own assured success, as well as 
 the statement of an ultimate fact ; and uttered as it was in 
 the day of His humiliation, with but a handful of followers, 
 amidst the scorn and neglect of His own countrymen, it 
 showed the God bringing the future before the eye of the 
 present, with a clearness of vision and distinctness of state- 
 ment which could only result from an omniscience that 
 saw " the end from the beginning." 
 
 The narrow province of Judea sufficed for the Jewish 
 Church, which was only designed to be the temporary 
 depository of God's law and promise, the forerunner of that 
 dispensation which the Messiah, "the hope of Israel," 
 should, " in the fulness of time," establish " for all nations." 
 The laws and ritual of the Jewish Church absolutely pre- 
 cluded it from ever becoming universal ; it was a church 
 which, as a church, could only flourish in certain latitudes 
 and longitudes, and contained within itself the elements 
 of its own dissolution. Its great office was, to be the 
 depository and keeper of revealed truth ; to prefigure 
 Christ by type and ritual; to announce His advent by an 
 ever augmenting voice of prophecy; to receive Him into 
 its bosom when He appeared ; and then to give place to a 
 dispensation, which, rejecting the Jewish ritual and the 
 Jewish boundaries, should be equally adapted to every land 
 and clime, and become the sole religion of the world. In 
 this world-wide field was to be sown "good seed" by "the 
 Son of man." This " Son of man" is none other than 
 
272 THE PARABLES UNFOLDED. 
 
 Jesus Christ ; that being one of His peculiar titles, and by 
 which He most frequently designated himself; thus rightly 
 appropriating the title under which Daniel prophesied of 
 the Messiah's kingdom and glory. 
 
 " The good seed are the children of the kingdom :" i. e. 
 those individuals in whom the good seed of God's w T ord had 
 so taken root and fructified as to identify themselves with 
 it, in such manner that they might well be called "the 
 good seed;" not indeed in the abstract, as that which was 
 sown, for as children of the kingdom they were not sown, 
 but as being the fruit of that which had been sown by 
 the Son of man, and which, in the parable of the Sower, 
 is called "the word of God;" this, falling into "good 
 ground," takes root and springs up, and develops itself into 
 " children of the kingdom," who are thus, by a figure of 
 speech, called the " good seed." Wherever " the w r ord of 
 God" finds lodgment in the heart and receives, through 
 the agency of the Holy Ghost, fructifying power, there will 
 it ever bring forth a child of the kingdom. This is its 
 only and its legitimate fruit; hence, St. Peter speaks of 
 Christians as "being born again, not of corruptible seed, 
 but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and 
 abideth for ever;" "and this," he adds, "is the word which 
 by the Gospel is preached unto you." Thus the preached 
 Gospel is that good seed, which, in the field of the world, 
 will ever produce the children of the kingdom. It is said 
 to be sown by the Son of man, because the word, which is 
 the seed, " proceedeth out of His mouth," and because it is 
 by His authority and commission that the blessed Gospel 
 
THE TARES. 273 
 
 is preached, or scattered broadcast, throughout the world ; 
 for His irrevocable promise to His ministering servants, the 
 seed-sowing husbandmen of His Church, is, "Lo, I am 
 with you always, even to the end of the world ;" so that, 
 through all time, to all classes of people, throughout all 
 the habitations of men, the ministers of the Gospel have 
 the promised presence of "the Son of Man," giving 
 efficiency to their sowing, fructification to the seed, and 
 causing it in every part of this world-field to bring forth 
 " the children of the kingdom." 
 
 This is one, and the bright side of this parabolic picture. 
 We turn with reluctance to the other, wherein we behold 
 another kind of seed, another sower, and widely different 
 results. 
 
 " The Son of man," who sowed the good seed, had " an 
 Enemy," here called " the Devil," who, after the wheat had 
 been cast into the ground, and while the sowers slept, came 
 stealthily into the field, and "sowed tares among the 
 wheat, and went his way." From the Bible we learn that 
 the devil is a person, not an idea. That he was once an 
 angel of light — now a fallen spirit ; that he is the deceiver 
 of the world, the enemy of God, the earthly antagonist of 
 Jesus Christ ; that he is " the spirit that ruleth in the 
 hearts of the children of disobedience ;" that he is full of 
 guile, subtlety, and falsehood ; that he is "a murderer from 
 the beginning," and " the father of lies ;" " the accuser of 
 the brethren," and " as a roaring lion walketh about seek- 
 ing whom he may devour." His great aim is to thwart 
 the moral purposes of God in man's creation ; which he 
 18 
 
274 THE PARABLES UNFOLDED. 
 
 first attempted, and with apparent success, in the garden 
 of Eden, in that fearful assault upon the faith and obedi- 
 ence of Adam and Eve. But when, at the very moment 
 of his seeming triumph, there was uttered the hope- 
 inspiring promise, that " the seed of the woman should 
 bruise the serpent's head," then were all his mighty 
 energies gathered into one effort to oppose that " seed of 
 the woman," even Jesus Christ, and overthrow Him and 
 the kingdom which He came from heaven to establish. 
 This was the one aim of all his multifarious movements 
 before and at the coming of Christ; this caused him to 
 make that daring assault on Jesus himself, when the 
 blessed Saviour was weak through protracted fasting, 
 and unsustained by human aid, in the wilderness. This 
 led him to enter into Judas to betray his master, into 
 the high priests and scribes to condemn Him, into the 
 people to cr}^ out " crucify him," into Pilate to deliver Him 
 to his soldiers to be hung upon the accursed tree. And 
 ever since has he waged a relentless conflict with the Great 
 Head of the Church and His ministers, and the children 
 of the kingdom — being unremitting in toil, unrelaxing in 
 vigilance, unsparing in deception, unblushing in effrontery, 
 unscrupulous in his wiles to entrap the souls of men, an J 
 lead them as captives to his own abodes of eternal sorrow. 
 This is that arch-enemy of God and man who sowed 
 * tares" in the field of the world j and it marks the great 
 wiliness of this enemy, that he sowed that kind of seed 
 which, in its upspringing, would require some time to 
 develop its true characters, its first appearings being so 
 
THE TARES. 275 
 
 like the good grain, that only when it had taken too deep 
 root to be plucked up without injuring the wheat also, 
 could its real character he detected. The u tares" spoken 
 of were not another kind of seed from the wheat, but of 
 the same kind, only a bastard or degenerate wheat. Thus 
 we find that all the grievous heresies and defections that 
 have been produced in the Church are not the results of 
 bald and undiluted falsehoods, but of degenerate or bastard 
 truths, retaining enough of the truth to catch the conscience, 
 yet using the little truth only as a means of making more 
 deadly the error which it was designed to advance. 
 
 The danger of any soul-destroying error is in proportion 
 to the amount of truth which it enfolds ; the nearer the 
 truth, while it yet avoids it, the more deceptive does it 
 become. It is when Satan " transforms himself into an 
 angel of light" that he most effectually seduces the child- 
 ren of the kingdom ; and never did he come so near uttering 
 the truth in its letter, and yet fail to speak it in its spirit, 
 as when he thrice tempted the blessed Saviour, backing one 
 of his assaults with a quotation from the Word of God. 
 
 The ingenuity of the deceptions, and the protean shapes 
 of evil which the devil assumes, are f-uch as no unaided 
 mind can either comprehend or unravel. It requires the 
 aid of God's Holy Spirit to enable us, like Milton's Ithuriel, 
 so to touch him with the spear of truth, under whatever 
 form he may be disguised, as to cause him " to return of 
 force to his own likeness, discovered and surprised.' 
 
 As in the case of the Son of man, the seed which was 
 sown was not " the children of the kingdom," but that 
 
276 THE PARABLES UNFOLDED. 
 
 which produced them ; so here, the tares scattered by the 
 devil were not "the children of the wicked one," but that 
 which brought them forth; those evil principles and 
 thoughts, which in their germination result in men of such 
 sinfulness and guilt, as well to deserve the denunciation, 
 " Children of the wicked one." In this class are included 
 all who are not the " children of the kingdom ;" for there are 
 but these two moral families in God's household, — termed 
 sometimes, "children of light," and "children of dark- 
 ness ;" those who " walk by faith," and those who " walk 
 by sight ;" " men of the world, who have their portion in 
 this life," and men who " confess themselves to be strangers 
 and pilgrims upon earth, seeking a better country, that is, a 
 heavenly;" men "alive unto God," and men "dead in tres- 
 passes and sins ;" the " friends," and the " enemies" of Christ. 
 We may thus search through the Word of God, and though 
 we find these two classes described under diverse names, 
 yet we never discover any third or middle family ; a matter 
 which our blessed Lord has set at rest in the most positive 
 terms by saying, " He that is not with me, is against me, 
 and he that gathereth not with me, scattereth abroad." It 
 is indeed a fearful thing to be one of the children of the 
 wicked one ; to have such a moral paternity as only the 
 devil can furnish ; to be one of his fiendish household, 
 copying his example, animated by his precepts, following 
 his rules, and day by day preparing for the weeping, and 
 the wailing, and the gnashing of teeth, which shall be the 
 portion of the children of the wicked, for ever and ever. 
 In consequence of this double sowing, we find springing 
 
THE TARES. 277 
 
 up in this world-field, wheat and tares ; and to the question 
 of the servants of the householder, " Wilt tho 1 then that 
 we go and gather them up ?" the reply is, " Nay, lest while 
 ye gather up the tares, ye root up also the wheat with 
 them. Let both grow together until the harvest." In 
 this answer, as we understand it, lies the real force and 
 import of the parable ; which seems to have been uttered 
 to show that in the visible Church of Christ on earth, 
 there will ever be the bad mingled with the good, and that 
 those who look for an unalloyed communion here will not 
 find it until after the harvesting, " at the end of the world." 
 We draw then, from this statement, these four propo- 
 sitions : — 1st. That in the visible Church there is a present 
 intermixture of the children of the kingdom, and the 
 children of the wicked one. We use the the word Church 
 here precisely as it is used in the XlXth of our Articles 
 of Religion, where it says, " The visible Church of Christ 
 is a congregation of faithful men, in the which the pure 
 word of God is preached, and the sacraments be duly 
 ministered," &c. Here, the term visible distinguishes it 
 from the invisible Church, composed of those who " are 
 very members incorporate in the nrystical body of 
 Christ, which is the blessed company of all faithful 
 people," and who are known only to God himself. The 
 word men confines it to this earth, in contradistinction 
 to that community of which " the whole family in 
 heaven and earth is named," embracing angels and the 
 spirits of the just made perfect, as well as beings still on 
 earth. The word fcdihfvl restricts the term Church to 
 
278 THE PARABLES UNFOLDED. 
 
 those who believe in the Lord Jesus, and consequently 
 excludes all associations of imposture — infidelity or hea- 
 thenism ; and the expression " in which the pure word of 
 God is preached, and the sacraments be duly ministered," 
 &c, mark it as the Church militant, not the Church trium- 
 phant; the Church warring in the wilderness this side 
 Jordan, not the Church at rest beyond its swellings in the 
 Canaan above. But though the visible, militant Church, 
 be in general terms " a congregation of faithful men," yet 
 it manifestly embraces many who have no real faith 
 towards God, and no true love to Jesus Christ, and no new 
 birth of the Holy Ghost. And such has been the fact 
 through the entire period of the Church's history. We 
 need but casually read the records of the Old and New 
 Testaments to see how many there were who by hereditary 
 descent, or outward profession, became members of the 
 visible Church, under the Patriarchal, the Levitical, and 
 the Christian dispensations, who yet had neither part nor 
 lot in the blessings of the covenant of grace, because their 
 heart was not right in the sight of God. 
 
 In the band of our Lord's Apostles was a Judas; in 
 the little Church of Samaria, a Simon Magus; in the 
 Church of Pergamos, those " who held the doctrines of 
 Balaam ;" in the Church of Thyatira, a Jezebel-like 
 woman ; in the Church of Sardis, those whose works "had 
 not been found perfect before God ;" and in the Churches 
 of Rome, Corinth, Colosse, Ephesus, Philippi, Thessalonica, 
 w r ere those " who had a name indeed to live, but who yet 
 were dead in trespasses and sins." And what was true 
 
THE TARES. 27 d 
 
 then is true now. In every Gospel field we find tares 
 growing up with the wheat ; in every ecclesiastical net are 
 enclosed fishes good and bad ; in every fold of Christ are 
 there sheep sound and tainted ; and into every ark of the 
 Church, as into the ark of Noah, do there enter beasts 
 clean and unclean. This is indeed a lamentable fact, and- 
 one that should make us walk humbly in the presence not 
 only of God, but of a carping, sneering world; and yet it 
 is a fact which, in the end, both illustrates and promotes 
 the glory of the grace of God : for by this state of things, 
 not only are the goodness, mercy, long-suffering, forbear- 
 ance, and other attributes of God more gloriously dis- 
 played, than if he immediately visited sin with prompt 
 punishment; but the character of His children, and 
 their meetness for heaven, are greatly benefited by the 
 very processes of trial and temptation through which, in 
 consequence of this intermixture of good and evil, they 
 are called to pass. Thomas Fuller, in the fifth book of 
 his " Holy State," gives these six reasons why God permits 
 the wheat and the tares to grow up together in the field 
 of the Church until the harvest : — " 1st. Hypocrites can 
 nevei be severed but by Him that can search the heart. 
 2dly. If men should make the separation, weak Christians 
 would be counted no Christians, and those who have a 
 grain of grace, under a load of imperfection, would be 
 counted reprobates, odly. God's vessels of honour for all 
 eternity not as yet appearing, but wallowing in sin, would 
 be made castaways. 4th. God, by the mixture of the 
 wicked with the godly, will try the patience and watchful- 
 
280 THE PARABLES UNFOLDED. 
 
 ness of his servants. 5thly. Because thereby He will 
 bestow many favours on the wicked to clear His justice, 
 and render them the more inexcusable. Lastly : Because 
 the mixture of the wicked grieving the godly, will make 
 them the more heartily pray for the day of judgment." 
 
 The second proposition is, that the bad members of the 
 Church in many respects resemble the good, but have a 
 different origin and a different termination. 
 
 The tares mentioned in the parable are probably the 
 darnell or degenerate kind of wheat which, in its early 
 blade, closely resembles true wheat ; and the Rabbins say, 
 that the tares of Palestine are like the wheat, except that 
 the ears are not so large, nor the grains so many, nor the 
 quality so good. So, in the Church of God, the bad or 
 unsound members simulate the good in very many par- 
 ticulars. Their outward profession, appearance, and par- 
 ticipation of ordinances are the same. They are perhaps 
 liberal in the support of church institutions, show great 
 regard to the sanctuary and sacraments, go through the 
 same outward round of religious duties, and thus grow 
 up together until the harvest. But they differ from the 
 children of the kingdom in their origin ; they have not 
 been born again by that spiritual regeneration which is 
 effected by the Holy Ghost. The seeds which have sprung 
 up with such semblance of goodness are tares sown by the 
 wicked one, producing counterfeit graces and spurious doc- 
 trines, w T ith which multitudes rest satisfied, because at least 
 it gives them an outward position in the Church of God. 
 Sometimes these seeds are received unwarily at first, and 
 
THE TARES. 281 
 
 when they spring up, they look so much like the true 
 wheat, that the recipients never trouble themselves to 
 examine whether the resemblance continue, or whether, 
 after all, it is not darnell that they are cultivating, instead 
 of wheat. Many there are, who rest their salvation on the 
 fact, that once they had convictions, and, as they supposed, 
 conversion ; and, wresting to their own destruction the 
 doctrine that man cannot fall from grace, they settle down 
 their hopes upon a past experience, and say, once in grace 
 always in grace, and thus grow up as rank and noxious 
 tares, fit only for the burning. 
 
 But God has not left us to uncertainty in this matter. 
 Though we may be deceived about others, we have at least 
 the means of detecting the falsity within ourselves. He 
 has given us the proper tests and criteria by which we may 
 discriminate between the good and the bad seed, so as to 
 know whether or not we are the children of the kingdom, 
 or the children of the wicked one. 
 
 If we are really anxious to know the truth and the 
 whole truth, as to our souls' sanctification and justification, 
 we can know it by marks and evidences of that personal 
 spiritual kind, beyond the art of the devil to counterfeit or 
 invalidate; for the Bible distinctly declares, "Whosoever 
 doeth the will of God, shall know of the doctrine whether 
 it be of God." 
 
 The third proposition is, that no thorough separation can 
 take place in this life. The command is, " Let both grow 
 together until the harvest," and the reason assigned is, 
 " lest while ye gather up the tares, ye root up also the 
 
282 THE PARABLES UNFOLDED. 
 
 wheat with them." While the eye of God beholds with 
 unerring certainty who are the tares and who are the 
 wheat, man does not ; and were it left to him to root up the 
 tares, he might leave many stalks of tares, supposing them 
 to be genuine wheat, and pluck up many stalks of wheat, 
 under the mistaken notion that they were tares. The terri- 
 ble persecutions which have taken place between different 
 sections of the Church, for the so-called purgation of the 
 body ecclesiastic, afford sad examples of the way in which 
 human servants, had they the power, w r ould root up what 
 they would call the " tares" in the field of the Church. 
 We have great reason to bless God that He has removed 
 this power from the hands of short-sighted and narrow- 
 minded men. The Church has never used the extirpating 
 sword but to the disgrace of its name, and to the dishonour 
 of its Divine head. What Christ has commissioned the 
 Church to do is, to plant and sow and cultivate with nicest 
 skill the incast seed of the Word, but not to root up tares. 
 This He has reserved for His commissioned angels, who, 
 when sent forth, "shall gather out of His kingdom all 
 things that offend, and them which do iniquity, and shall 
 cast them into a furnace of fire ; there shall be w r ailing and 
 gnashing of teeth." 
 
 So far is this passage, therefore, from sanctioning perse- 
 cution, it strongly, though inferentially, condemns it; it 
 reserves the final decision to omniscient power, the final 
 gathering to angelic reapers, ministering spirits, swayed by 
 no human passions, and acting under the eye and finger of 
 their Eternal King. 
 
 The fourth and last proposition is, that both the parable 
 
THE TARES. 283 
 
 and the interpretation given by our Lord, emphatically 
 show, that a separation shall take place at some future day 
 Whatever, then, may be the condition of the Church of 
 God now, there is a da^ coming, when "judgment shall 
 begin at the house of God." Then shall this permixtion 
 of good and evil end ; then shall the tares be gathered for 
 the burning and the wheat for the garner ; then shall there 
 be a separation, total, complete, and for ever, of the true 
 and false professors, who now grow up together in the field 
 of the Church. As it is the design of another parable, 
 viz., " The Draw-Net," to represent this special truth, we 
 shall not dwell upon it here; but, simply announcing the 
 fact that such a separation will -take place by Divine com- 
 mand, under Divine direction, and for purposes of Divine 
 judgment, we pass to the final result of such a severing 
 of the good from the bad — first, as to the tares ; and then, 
 secondly, as to the wheat. 
 
 The " tares" are first reaped, then bound " in bundles to 
 burn," then cast " into a furnace of fire," producing " wail- 
 ing and gnashing of teeth" — figurative words, designed to 
 show the intensity of the suffering of the wicked in the 
 world to come : for it is only by terms borrowed from phy- 
 sical pain, or from implements and instruments of bodily 
 torture, that we can set forth the unspeakable anguish of 
 soul which they shall experience who "lie down in ever- 
 lasting sorrow," " where their worm dieth not, and their 
 fire is not quenched." The fierce struggle of contending 
 passions ; the unchecked power of evil, rising and swelling 
 with tumultuous rage; the writhings of a spirit bereft of 
 
28-t THE PARABLES UNFOLDED. 
 
 every hope, and haunted by despair; the goadings of a 
 conscience quickened into intense activity by the memory 
 of the past ; the forebodings of an ever-increasing torment, 
 waxing keener throughout eternity; the remembrance of 
 what is lost — heaven, the soul, God's pardon, Christ's 
 favour, everlasting bliss ; and the consciousness of what 
 has been self-induced — weeping and w r ailing and gnashing 
 of teeth for ever. Oh ! this, this is the fire that ever burns 
 with gnawing, but never-consuming flame. This is the 
 furnace, "seven times heated" by the fuel of an ungodly 
 life, in which retributive justice shall cast the unrepenting 
 soul, and leave it there, to memory, to conscience, to Sa- 
 tan, to despair. Well may the prophet say, " Woe unto 
 the wicked, it shall be ill with him, for the reward of his 
 hands shall be given him." With equal truth does God 
 declare, "Say unto the righteous, it shall be well with 
 him, for they shall eat the fruit of tiie~i- doings." Their 
 condition, after the day of judgment, shall be one of splen- 
 dour and rejoicing. Freed from the body of this death, 
 removed from a world of sin, exempt from the temptations 
 of the adversary, full of love and peace and joy, they shine 
 forth in their true characters, as "children of light and of 
 the day." While on earth they were " lights in the world," 
 but the light was obscured by their imperfections and sins, 
 it was more frequently hidden under a bushel than set on 
 a candlestick ; but now, the clouds of error, of unbelief, of 
 sin, have been rolled away, and, in the clear sky of heaven, 
 they manifest their true character, and shine forth " as the 
 sun" in the kingdom of God; and there they shall shine, 
 says the prophet Daniel, "for ever and ever." 
 
t |Jit*ta& §n)i. 
 
THE MUSTARD SEED. 
 
 "The kingdom of heaven is like to a grain of mustard seed, which a man took 
 and sowed in his field : Which indeed is the least of all seeds ; but when it is 
 grown, it is the greatest among herbs, and becometh a tree, so that the birds of the 
 air come and lodge in the branches thereof." Matt. xiii. 31, 32. 
 
 " Whereunto shall we liken the kingdom of God ? or with what comparison shall 
 we compare it ? It is like a grain of mustard seed, which, when it is sown in the 
 earth, is less than all the seeds that be in the earth ; but when it is sown, it 
 groweth up, and becometh greater than all herbs, and shooteth out great branches ; 
 so that the fowls of the air may lodge under the shadow of it." 
 
 Mark iv. 30-32. 
 
 "Unto what is the kingdom of God like? And whereunto shall I resemble it? 
 It is like a grain of mustard seed, which a man took, and cast into his garden ; 
 and it grew, and waxed a great tree; and the fowls of the air lodged in the 
 branches of it." Luke xiii. 18, 19. 
 
 FEW words, but pregnant trums! The aim of our 
 Saviour was to find some comparison or similitude 
 that would best illustrate the outward growth and develop- 
 ment of the Kingdom of God. In asking the question of 
 those around him, " Unto what is the Kingdom of God 
 like? and whereunto shall I resemble it?" He did not 
 design that they should answer it, for they could not, being 
 ignorant of the nature of the Kingdom of Heaven ; but by 
 starting the question he excited their minds to action, 
 caused them to feel more forcibly their inability to reply, 
 
288 THE PARABLES UNFOLDED. 
 
 and, by stimulating their curiosity, produced a deeper 
 desire to understand the nature of that kingdom of which 
 Jesus spoke. When, therefore, after bending to Him their 
 attentive ears, they heard Him compare it to a grain of 
 mustard seed, they must for the moment have been shocked 
 at the insignificance of the resembling object, so different 
 from their preconceived ideas of the glory and magnifi- 
 cence which they supposed would usher in the Messiah's 
 reign. 
 
 Unbiassed as we are by those temporal and national 
 views of the person and reign of Christ, which blinded the 
 minds of the Jews; and looking at this Kingdom of God, 
 not from a prophetic stand-point, as something yet to take 
 its rise, but from an historic one, wherein we see it already 
 begun, and in process ; we can see the felicity of the com- 
 parison, and mark its close resemblance. 
 
 The grain of mustard seed is indeed "the least of all 
 the seeds that are sown in the earth," which produce 
 ligneous steins and branches; and it was in this sense, 
 doubtless, that our Lord spoke of it, — alluding rather to 
 the relative size of the seed, and the developed plant, than 
 to the seed in the abstract, because the seeds of poppy and 
 rue are smaller than those of mustard, though the plants 
 themselves never rise beyond the character of humble 
 herbs, whereas the mustard seed " becometh a great tree," 
 and " shooteth out great branches." 
 
 Thus small and insignificant was the first germ of the 
 Kingdom of God in its earthly manifestations. We say 
 earthly manifestations, because, as it existed in the mind 
 
THE MUSTARD SEED. 289 
 
 of the Triune God, it was a Divine idea, compassing at once 
 all its results, and could not, therefore, be either small or 
 insignificant. But on earth, how did Christ, who is Him- 
 self the grain of mustard seed, out of which grew the great 
 tree of Christianity, first appear ? As an infant ! wrapped 
 in swaddling-bands and lying in a manger ! Could reason 
 see anything in Mary's child, born in a stable, to fore- 
 shadow such august results ? Certainly not. And when, 
 after thirty years of obscurity, working, doubtless, the 
 mean while, at the carpenter's bench with his reputed 
 father, "Jesus began to teach and to preach," who saw 
 in the plain Nazarene anything to indicate a greatness 
 that should fill the earth with its glory? Who would 
 recognise in Him the revolution izer of the world ? Or, 
 beholding Him at the beginning of His ministry, selecting 
 as His disciples, — not the titled, the wealthy, the influential 
 — but fishermen and tax-gatherers, ignorant and rude Ga- 
 lileans, who would not have said, looking at the subject on 
 mere worldly grounds, that here, surely was a great mistake, 
 to intrust to such uncouth and uneducated men so great a 
 treasure as the Gospel professed to be ; that, if Jesus' 
 design was to make converts and popularize His doctrines, 
 He should have selected well-skilled Scribes, or learned 
 Pharisees, or influential Sadducees, men who, from their 
 social or intellectual position, would have been treated with 
 respect, and listened to with reverence ; but to call a man 
 from his nets and fishing tackle, and tell him to go preach 
 the Gospel ; to call another from his publican's seat and 
 tax-table, and commission him to declare the whole counsel 
 19 
 
290 THE PARABLES UNFOLDED. 
 
 of God concerning man's highest and eternal interests, 
 seemed to finite minds like " casting pearls before swine," 
 or attempting to achieve great ends by totally inadequate 
 means. And when at last, after three years, going up and 
 down throughout the cities of Palestine, the founder of 
 this new religion was arrested, condemned, and crucified 
 like a slave, who would have supposed that his tenets 
 could survive the dispersion of His disciples, and His own 
 ignominious death ? Thus the life and death of Christ, in 
 its human aspects, was emphatically, as to its apparent 
 insignificance, a grain of mustard seed. 
 
 Nor does the case appear to be much better after Jesus 
 had ascended on high. The disciples whom He left behind 
 Him had all at one time deserted Him, and were now so 
 timid and so few that they all assembled in an upper room 
 for fear of the Jews. The idea, humanly speaking, was 
 absurd, that less than a dozen illiterate Galileans could 
 overthrow the old religions of the world, and set up a new 
 one, which should extend from the rising to the setting 
 sun. The mind could see in it no relation between the 
 insignificant cause and the desired effect. They were to 
 preach the Gospel to every creature — yet could speak no 
 language but their provincial tongue ; they were to disciple 
 all nations to Christ — yet every one of them had lately for- 
 saken Him and fled ; they were to uproot the idolatries of 
 earth — yet were themselves feeble and superstitious ; they 
 were to overturn the skilfully wrought schemes of human 
 philosophy — yet were themselves untaught in the schools ; 
 thev were to conquer the world to the sceptre of Jesus- -yet 
 
THE MUSTARD SEED. 291 
 
 now shut themselves up in an upper room " for fear of the 
 Jews." Great names, literary honours, the patronage of 
 kings, the favour of the people, they did not possess. To 
 mortal view it was the veriest absurdity ; to commission 
 poor, illiterate, unpolished men to convert the world, then 
 just passing from the Augustan age of its glory, to the 
 faith of the son of a carpenter in Nazareth, whom the 
 Jews had cast out of their synagogues, and the Romans 
 crucified as a malefactor ! 
 
 The Stoics, with Zeno at their head, had tried to reform 
 the world, and failed ; Socrates, and Plato, and the Acade- 
 micians had attempted it, with no better success; Aristotle 
 and the Peripatetic school had aimed at it, and met the 
 same signal defeat : how preposterous, then, to send out 
 eleven fishermen, artisans, and publicans, without books, 
 without money, without arms, without popular favour, and 
 expect them to succeed where the proudest wisdom and 
 the loftiest philosophy had signally failed ! 
 
 Such was the small, and, in its earthly appearings, insig- 
 nificant aspect of the beginnings of the Christian religion. 
 How like a grain of mustard seed in its littleness and 
 apparent worthlessness ! But from this " least of all 
 seeds," w r e turn to behold its results in the great tree, 
 shooting out great branches, gathering the fowls of the air 
 under its shadow. In warm climates the mustard seed 
 grows to an almost incredible size. The Jerusalem Talmud 
 says, at Shichin there was a mustard stalk which had 
 three branches, and one of them was cut down, and they 
 covered a ootter's booth with it. One of the Rabbins says: 
 
292 THE PARABLES UNFOLDED. 
 
 " I have one stalk of mustard seed in my field, and I go up 
 to it as one goes up to the top of a fig-tree." Ovalle, in 
 his travels in Chili, thus confirms the Scripture account : 
 u The mustard plant," he says, " thrives so mightily in Chili, 
 that it is as big as a man's arm, and so high and thick that 
 it looks like a tree. I have travelled many leagues through 
 groves which were taller than man and horse, and the 
 birds build their nests in them, as the Gospel mentions." 
 This happily illustrates the wondrous greatness into which 
 the religion of Christ grew from its small and obscure 
 beginnings. 
 
 The Apostles, in obedience to the Divine command, tar- 
 ried at Jerusalem until they were endued with power from 
 on high. That power came in the descent of the Holy 
 Ghost on the day of Pentecost. Then was it that they 
 began to preach " Jesus Christ and Him crucified, unto the 
 Jews a stumbling-block, and unto the Greeks foolishness." 
 And what was the result ? Fifty days from the ascension of 
 Jesus, three thousand were converted under the preaching 
 of Peter. In less than three years, churches were gathered 
 " throughout all Judea, Galilee, and Samaria." In seven 
 vears the Gospel was first published to the Gentiles ; and 
 in thirty years Christianity had spread through the numer- 
 ous districts of Asia Minor, Greece, southward to Egypt, 
 and westward to Rome. 
 
 In a hundred years from the time of Christ, Justin 
 Martyr, writing to the Emperor Adrian, declares : " There 
 is not a nation, either Greek or Barbarian, or of any other 
 uame, even of those who wander in tribes and live in tents. 
 
THE MUSTAED SEED. 293 
 
 among whom prayers are not offered to God the Father, in 
 the name of the crucified Jesus." " We are but of yester- 
 day," says Tertullian, writing a little later, "and have 
 filled all places belonging to you. Your cities, islands, 
 castles, towns, councils ; your very camps, wards, compa- 
 nies ; the palace, senate, forum; we have left you only 
 your temples. Should the numerous hosts of Christiana 
 retire from the empire, the loss of so many men, of all 
 ranks and degrees, would make you stand aghast at your 
 desolation." In the fourth century, Chrysostom declares, 
 " The Apostles of Christ were twelve, and they gained the 
 whole earth. If you go to India, to Scythia, to the utter- 
 most parts of the world, you will everywhere find the 
 doctrine of Christ enlightening the souls of men." Such 
 was the "great tree," " shooting out great branches," which 
 sprung from the "grain of mustard seed!" History has 
 nothing that can compare with it; it stands an everlasting 
 miracle of the Most High God. Eighteen hundred years 
 have passed since the Apostles went forth from their upper 
 room; and how stands the religion of Jesus now? Survey 
 a map of the world, and mark on it the countries most 
 celebrated for law, order, civil and political rights, and 
 there you will find the religion of Jesus. Point out on it 
 the lands most noted for virtue and morality, for social 
 blessings and individual happiness, and there you will find 
 the religion of Jesus. Designate the places where learning 
 is most encouraged, where the mind has wrought out its 
 proudest triumphs, where intellect has scattered its richest 
 treasures, and there you will find the religion of Jesus. 
 
294 THE PARABLES UNFOLDED. 
 
 And why is this ? Why is civil and religious liberty 
 found only where the Bible is free? Why does learning 
 flourish most under Gospel rule ? Why is society the most 
 elevated and refined where the tenets of God's word 
 prevail ? Why is all that is great,, and good, and lofty, and 
 inspiring in law, government, literature, science, art, and 
 morality, only found among the nations of Christendom, 
 while all that is debasing in intellect, tyrannical in power, 
 degraded in morals ; whatever strips man of his glory, 
 society of its safeguards, government of its virtue, is found 
 where the religion of Jesus does not prevail? Can we 
 solve the problem on the principles of human philosophy ? 
 Gibbon tried it in his five celebrated reasons, but most 
 signally failed. Can we explain it by the maxims of 
 political science ? Machiavel and Montesquieu, and Guizot 
 and Bacon, each assert that its wondrous development is 
 an anomaly in the government of the world. Can we 
 match it by any parallel, in any country, of any religion, 
 by any impostor ? The voice of universal history answers, 
 No ! It stands alone, the wonder of the universe ; the 
 triumphal monument of Jesus, on the plains of a fallen 
 humanity. 
 
 But its present triumphs are only a moiety of its final 
 conquests. Prophecy, reaching far into the future, has 
 declared that "the isles shall wait for His law;" that 
 "the abundance of the sea shall be converted unto Him;" 
 that "the Gentiles shall come to His light, and kings to 
 the brightness of His rising;" that "all nations shall be 
 
THE MUSTARD SEED. 295 
 
 blessed in Him ;" and that " the whole earth shall be filled 
 with His glory." 
 
 Thus that grain of truth, small as a mustard seed, sown 
 at Jerusalem by the Son of man, has grown up into a tree 
 of life, "sending out its boughs unto the sea, and its 
 branches unto the river." 
 
 Thus has it already gathered nocking nations under its 
 shadow ; and it shall yet increase, until " the kingdoms of 
 this world shall become the kingdoms of our Lord and of 
 His Christ," and the Herod-hunted child of Bethlehem, the 
 despised carpenter's son of Nazareth, the hated teacher of 
 Galilee, the crucified malefactor of Pilate, shall reign 
 " King of nations, as He now does King of Saints." 
 
t %mkiL 
 
THE LEAVEN. 
 
 " The kingdom of heaven is like unto leaven, which a woman took and hid it 
 tnree measures of meal, till the whole was leavened." Matt. xiii. 33. 
 
 " Whereunto shall I liken the kingdom of God ? It is like leaven, whic 1 a woman 
 took and hid in three measures of meal, till the whole was leavened." 
 
 Luke xiii. 20-21. 
 
 UNDER this figure, borrowed from household economy, 
 our Lord represents the assimilating power of His 
 truth when brought in contact with the human heart. In 
 the parable of the Mustard Seed, He illustrated the out- 
 ward, visible growth of Christianity in the sight of the 
 world ; here, however, He brings out its increase and power 
 in a new aspect — its assimilative rather than its accretive 
 property; its internal, penetrative, and diffusive energy, 
 rather than its external outspreading and magnitude. 
 
 Leaven is a small piece of acid dough, which, placed in 
 a larger mass of meal or paste, produces fermentation, and 
 thus, by the escape of the generated gas, diffuses a light- 
 ness, or, in technical phrase, raises the dough with which 
 it was intermixed. The word is generally used in the 
 Bible in a bad sense; and, accordingly, there have not 
 lacked interpreters, who, saying w T ith Cyril, that " leaven, 
 in the inspired writings, is always taken as the type of 
 
300 THE PARABLES UNFOLDED. 
 
 naughtiness and sin," have contended that the design of its 
 use here was to indicate the damnable heresies and corrup- 
 tions which should ferment in and adulterate the Church, 
 puffing it up with vain delusions, and eventually making 
 it a mass of apostacy and crime. This, however, is a 
 forcing of language beyond its legitimate construction. 
 The character of the parable, viewed in its contexts, is 
 against such interpretation ; and we hence regard the word 
 leaven as used here in an exceptional sense to its ordinary 
 employment — our attention being directed, not to its fer- 
 menting and puffing up properties, but to its penetrative and 
 diffusive powers, by which the whole mass in which it is 
 hidden soon partakes of its own nature. Using the figure, 
 therefore, in a good sense, it illustrates, in a forcible man- 
 ner, the work of grace — first in the individual heart, then 
 in the great mass of humanity. 
 
 It is the property of grace to change the whole soul into 
 its own likeness. The incipient operation of the Holy 
 Ghost may be as small and apparently as insignificant as a 
 little piece of leaven ; but once hidden in the heart it will 
 work little by little, until the man becomes a new creature 
 in Christ Jesus. The principle of holiness, of love, of 
 faith of godly sorrow, or any other which is wrought by 
 the Holy Ghost, cannot remain inactive in the heart ; and 
 the moment that any of them are introduced there, 
 there begins a commotion, an inward struggle for ascend- 
 ancy between the new principle of grace and the old prin- 
 ciples of sin, which is continued even until death. As sin 
 and holiness cannot commingle, they necessarily antagonize • 
 
THE LEAVEN. 301 
 
 one must displace the other — they cannot co-exist in the 
 same heart with the same power. The heart, however, is 
 by nature depraved ; it is preoccupied with evil ; it is, in 
 the words of Scripture, " full of iniquity," and sin has so 
 blinded its perceptive powers, and hardened its sensibilities, 
 and perverted its judgment, that it now " calls evil good 
 and good evil," loves its present condition, " and rejoiceth 
 in iniquity." The character of God is not loved, the Son 
 of God is not loved, the law of God is not loved, the word 
 of God is not loved ; nothing pertaining to God is an object 
 of regard; He is not in their thoughts; they "desire not 
 a knowledge of His ways." But as soon as the Holy Ghost 
 infuses into that heart, vile as it is, and dead as it is in 
 trespasses and sin, the first element of holy love, there 
 begins a change there, which, working silently, gradually, 
 yet effectively, will soon leaven the soul with the power 
 of Divine grace. One by one the old affections and pas- 
 sions of the soul become eradicated or changed ; the things 
 in which the man once took supreme delight, now afford 
 no joy; the emotions which he once cherished are now 
 uncultivated ; the plans which once absorbed his energies 
 are now neglected ; the passions which once were rampant 
 in his breast are now tamed; the desires which once 
 engrossed his thoughts are now viewed with disgust; while 
 the things which he formerly hated and shunned — com- 
 munion with God, love to Christ, joy in the Holy Ghost, 
 delight in the Sacred Scriptures, the cultivation of holiness 
 of life, the walking by faith and growing in grace, are now 
 
302 THE PARABLES UNFOLDED. 
 
 sought for and cultivated with assiduity and delight. 
 Grace is completely transforming in its nature and power. 
 It causes every one whom it visits to wear its own likeness, 
 and grow up into its own image; and when it once begins 
 its work, though its progress may be slow, it will never- 
 theless go on unto perfection, resting not until Christ is 
 formed in the soul the hope of glory. 
 
 It is perhaps important to a right understanding of this 
 truth, that we should distinguish here between regeneration 
 and sanctification — both, indeed, the work of the same 
 Holy Ghost, and therefore too often confounded, though 
 in reality quite distinct. Spiritual regeneration, or that 
 new birth of the soul, so emphatically taught by our Lord 
 in His discourse with Nicodemus, is the work of the Spirit 
 of God, by which He causes the rebellion of the heart to 
 cease, and the sinner to yield himself an humble servant 
 of Jesus Christ. This act of faith, whereby the penitent 
 lays hold on the Saviour as " the hope set before him in 
 the Gospel," is the work of a moment. Up to a certain 
 time He was a transgressor and an unbeliever; the Holy 
 Ghost visits his soul, opens to him a view of his sins ; 
 points him to the Lamb of God, makes him hear the 
 thunders of Sinai ; holds up before him the sacrifice of 
 Calvary ; melts him with the displays of love, wooes him 
 with the invitings of grace, warns him with the threat- 
 enings of the law; and, under the influence of one or more 
 of these, he is led to break off from his sins, to repent, and 
 to believe on the Lord Jesus ; and the turning point is on the 
 hinge of a single moment. There may be long and tedious 
 
THE LEAVEN. 303 
 
 processes of thought gone through before reaching that 
 point ; but when reached, the act of submission, of belief, 
 of embracing Christ, is the act of a moment, and not a 
 lengthened, tedious operation. Nor does it follow from 
 this that all are able to date the hour when they were born 
 again ; for they may have been so carefully trained in 
 infancy, and so gradually led to Jesus, that it would be 
 impossible for them to discriminate the time when He 
 first became precious to their souls. But, as they were 
 born in nature, and now are born in the Spirit ; as they 
 were once enemies, and are now friends, of Christ ; as they 
 were once exposed to Divine wrath, and are now freed 
 from condemnation ; and as, when they were not in one 
 of these states, they must have been in the other, because 
 there is no middle path : it follows, even in the case of 
 those who are unable to mark the period of their conver- 
 sion, that their change, or regeneration, was effected by the 
 Holy Ghost in an instant of time. All the examples of 
 conversion in the Bible, all the terms and phrases which 
 designate this change, and the experience of each believer, 
 confirm this statement. Regeneration, then, is that work 
 of the Holy Ghost, whereby there is begotten in the soul 
 an entirely new principle of spiritual life, so that hence- 
 forth the man lives, " not unto himself, but unto Him that 
 loved him and gave himself for him ;" and so radical and 
 thorough is this change, that the recipient of it is with 
 truth said to be " a new creature in Christ Jesus," in whom 
 " old things have passed away," and with whom " all 
 things have become new."' 
 
304 THE PARABLES UNFOLDED. 
 
 Regeneration having been thus effected by the distinct 
 act of the Holy Ghost, sanctification immediately begins; 
 which, taking this newly planted principle, cherishes and 
 develops it in its various ramifications and to various degrees 
 of strength. This, also, is the work of the Holy Ghost, 
 and is gradual and progressive. 
 
 In religion, as in nature, the new-born soul is a babe — a 
 babe in Christ ; it has at first to be fed with " the sincere 
 milk of the Word," that it may grow thereby. Hence, all 
 the directions of the Bible, in reference to the Christian's 
 life, look to growth, progress, increase; and it is only by 
 daily accretions of holiness that they are enabled to grow- 
 up into the stature of perfect men in Christ Jesus. Like 
 the action of leaven upon the three measures of meal, not 
 changing its character at once by a sudden operation, but 
 gradually and almost imperceptibly; so the doctrines of 
 grace are not absorbed by the heart all at once, but are 
 gradually received, as the spiritual power is able to receive 
 them. Each day extends the power of Divine grace; each 
 day produces more development of Christian character; 
 and as the assimilating process continues, there is seen one 
 feature after another of Christ's likeness, shining out in 
 mir lives, proving that we are being renewed "after the 
 image of Him that created us;" and this leavening process 
 works unseen to mortal eye and unheard by mortal ear, 
 until the whole heart is leavened, and Christ is formed in 
 it the hope of glory. 
 
 As the operation of the Holy Ghost is thus leaven-like 
 in its workings in the individual heart, so is it also in its 
 
THE LEAVEN. 305 
 
 effects upon the great mass of mankind. The outward 
 growth of the Church in the gathering in of new members, 
 in the "lengthening of its cords" and the "strengthening 
 of its stakes," and "breaking forth on the right hand and 
 on the left," we can see and understand ; but there is a 
 secret and hidden process prior to this open effect. There 
 is the working of grace in the heart before the confession 
 of faith with the lips ; there is an assimilating of the soul 
 to Jesus before there is a public putting on of Christ ; and 
 this process is ever at work in Christian communities. The 
 minister of Christ preaches the Gospel, and it falls like seed 
 upon the heart ; but he cannot follow it into the recesses 
 of the soul ; and yet, there, hidden away, it begins its re- 
 generating work, and. ere long, develops its full effect. The 
 Bible is read and its ; truths take hold of the conscience, 
 and in secret places the leaven of heavenly doctrine begins 
 its assimilating power, until the heart is leavened with 
 grace divine. Wherever the Gospel is preached, there is 
 this leavening process going on. The world busies itself 
 about its wars, its governments, its commerce, its literature, 
 its fashions, its farms, its merchandise, and heeds not the 
 silent work of the Holy Spirit in the inner chambers of a 
 thousand hearts, effecting there those changes, and bringing 
 out those results, which, in their aggregation, are to alter 
 the face of earth, and make it "a dwelling-place of 
 righteousness." 
 
 For, as the woman took and hid this leaven in the meal, 
 so is the grace of the Holy Spirit hidden from the carnal 
 eye ; for " the natural man understandeth not the things 
 20 
 
306 THE PARABLES UNFOLDED. 
 
 of the Spirit of God ; they are foolishness unto him, neither 
 can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned." 
 The working of this Gospel leaven does not appear on the 
 surface of society; it is covered up from outward observa- 
 tion ; but beneath the surface, in the centre of the mass, 
 at the core of humanity, it is fermenting and working, and 
 changing that with which it is brought in contact; and 
 this process it will infallibly continue " until the whole is 
 leavened." 
 
 It is a glorious thought, that this whole world shall be 
 leavened with truth ; that the secret operation of this grace 
 shall yet penetrate, purify, pervade, and assimilate to itself 
 all nations, kindreds, tribes, and people, and shall make 
 this, our fallen earth, so like the renewing power which 
 converts and sanctifies it, that it shall become a " mountain 
 of holiness," filled with the glory of the Triune God. 
 
t lib fajsuw. 
 
THE HID TREASURE. 
 
 "Ihe kingdom of heaven is like unto treasure hid in a field; the which when t 
 man hath found, he hideth, and for joy thereof goeth and selleth all that he hath, 
 and buyeth that field." Matt. xiii. 44. 
 
 THERE are no less than seven parables in this thirteenth 
 chapter of St. Matthew. They cluster together like 
 stars in a constellation, forming, in the firmament of truth, 
 a parabolic Pleiades. The first four were spoken in the 
 hearing of the multitude by the sea-shore ; but after Jesus 
 had sent the people away, and " went into the house," He 
 first, at the request of His immediate disciples, unfolded 
 the parable of the Tares of the Field, and then proceeded 
 to speak three more parables, of which that under consid- 
 eration was the first. 
 
 In the earlier parables, our Lord had spoken of Christ- 
 ianity in its general aspects and effects. He now brings it 
 down to the personal needs of each individual, showing 
 that it is not merely to be observed and admired at a dis- 
 tance ; that it is not a thing about which we may or may 
 hot be interested without involving any moral conse- 
 quences, but is, on the contrary, a matter of intense per- 
 sonal importance — that which each one must possess or 
 lose his soul. "The kingdom of heaven," says our Lord, 
 
 309 
 
310 THE PARABLES UNFOLDED. 
 
 " is like unto treasure hid in a field." The value of the 
 Gospel of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ does not lie 
 upon the surface. It is indeed a treasure of great worth, 
 even when regarded only in its historic or its literary 
 aspect; as illustrating ancient manners and customs, as 
 enforcing certain moral precepts, as exhibiting much 
 rhetorical elegance and power. Hence, we often find the 
 Bible prized and lauded by those who are not animated by 
 its spirit. Poets, philosophers, statesmen, heroes, jurists of 
 highest name, have rendered profound praise to the inspired 
 writings, who, nevertheless, " received not the truth in the 
 love of it," and did not become " new creatures in Christ 
 Jesus." The reason of their commendation is obvious. 
 There are in the Bible such pages of history, such strains 
 of poetry, such teachings of wisdom, such maxims of state 
 policy, such illustrious deeds of valour, such profound 
 principles of eternal and universal law, that even the 
 prejudiced infidel has been forced to concede their merit; 
 so that throughout Christendom the Bible has established 
 itself, not only as the great moral classic of the world, but 
 Art finds in its scenes its sublimest subjects, and Science 
 acknowledges it as her loftiest standard. 
 
 All this, however, is not the particular value here 
 alluded to. The Gospel has a deeper worth than what is 
 thus patent and generally acknowledged ; its real precious- 
 ness lies in its spiritual blessings, by which it imparts to 
 the soul " durable riches and honour." The blessedness 
 of its faith, by which the soul is united to Jesus Christ; 
 the peace, " passing all understanding," which it imparts 
 
THE HID TREASURE. 311 
 
 to the heart; the "joy unspeakable" with which it ravishes 
 the inner man; the "hope that maketh not ashamed," 
 pointing the drooping spirit to its bright inheritance in 
 heaven ; the abundant supplies of grace through the mani- 
 fold gifts of the Holy Ghost, which are bestowed upon the 
 prayerful seekers for the Divine favour; these are some 
 of the inestimable blessings which constitute the riches of 
 this " treasure hid in a field." He who admires the Bible 
 because of its outside excellencies, admires, indeed, a most 
 rare and costly casket, but he knows nothing of what the 
 casket contains. It is only the man of faith, who, with 
 the key of prayer, unlocks this casket ; that truly beholds 
 the treasure, and understands its value. 
 
 There was, therefore, great propriety in Christ making 
 this treasure to lie hidden in a field ; and this he could the 
 more naturally do, because in Eastern countries, where 
 there are no banks, or safe places Of public deposit, and 
 where, owing to the despotism of the rulers, or the relaxed 
 state of society, property is unsafe, it is not uncommon for 
 persons to make deposits of their treasures in the ground, 
 selecting obscure and unattractive places, and there hiding 
 them away. And as, in the convulsions which so often 
 shake oriental nations, the owner of such a treasure might 
 be cut off before he could have time to designate its locality 
 tp his friends or family, so, the secret dying with him, it 
 would perhaps a long while continue there until by acci 
 dent it was discovered. 
 
 The parable brings before us just this case. A person 
 has by chance discovered concealed treasure ; he sees enough 
 
312 THE PARABLES UNFOLDED. 
 
 to know that it is there, and that it is very valuable ; but 
 yet, respecting the law which made all that was in the 
 earth the property of its owner, he seeks to buy the field 
 at its ostensible value, keeping all the while the secret to 
 himself, as a piece of knowledge to which he had exclusive 
 right by reason of his exclusive discovery. Paying to the 
 owner of the field the full price that he asks, the finder 
 " sells all that he has," and buys the field, knowing that 
 the treasure hidden there will remunerate all his outlays, 
 and make him rich for life. 
 
 Two points are to be noted here :— First, The discovery 
 of this treasure. The man who found it was not expecting 
 or seeking it. He did not know of its existence ; it was by 
 the merest accident that he stumbled upon it ; he may have 
 been examining the field for the purpose of ascertaining 
 the quality of its soil, the nature of its situation, or its 
 agricultural capabilities, and while thus engaged, some for- 
 tuitous event brought him to the spot of concealment, and 
 directed him to its hidden treasure. Here, we think, lies 
 the distinction between this parable and the succeeding one. 
 In that, the merchant was on the search for goodly pearls ; 
 it was his set aim and business ; here, however, there was 
 no seeking for hid treasure until chance brought it tc 
 his notice. Thus is it often with men in spiritual matters. 
 From the force of early habit, or because of the propriety 
 of the thing, or from motives of a literary or secular cha- 
 racter, some may be daily reading God's Word, intent on 
 giving breadth and vigour to their minds, but neither seek- 
 ing nor caring for its buried treasure. They are looking at 
 
THE HID TREASURE. 313 
 
 the Bible in every light but its true one, and seeking in it 
 every blessing but that which is spiritual. While thus 
 engaged, the Holy Ghost opens the eyes of their under- 
 standing to perceive that, which by nature they cannot 
 know, and lo ! they behold glimpses of a hid treasure, 
 w Inch at once awaken joy and excite increased desires after 
 a deeper and more experimental knowledge of God's blessed 
 Word. When the soul is thus wrought upon by the Holy 
 Spirit, everything is changed. The field of Scripture, in 
 which this precious treasure has so long been hidden, now 
 becomes, in his estimation, of infinite value. It is that 
 which puts him in possession of salvation and eternal life, 
 which makes him an heir of God, and which gives him the 
 riches of Divine grace for time and for eternity. 
 
 For the discovery of this he is not indebted to the 
 research or acumen of his own powers— for by no intel- 
 lectual effort could these hid treasures be brought to light- 
 but to the Holy Ghost, who gave him that spiritual discern 
 ment and spiritual taste, by which he was enabled to dis- 
 cover and appreciate the peculiar blessings of grace as they 
 lie concealed from the natural eye and the carnal mind. 
 Such is the cause of the man's discovering the treasure, 
 and this brings us to the second point, viz., The value which 
 he puts upon this treasure. 
 
 In the parable it is said, that, "for joy thereof," the 
 man " goeth and selleth all that he hath, and buyeth that 
 field." This is precisely the feeling of the finder of Divine 
 grace. In the joy of his discovery, he is ready to renounce 
 everything of an earthly nature that conflicts with his pos- 
 
314 THE PARABLES UNFOLDED. 
 
 sessing it, and would willingly part with that which the 
 world most highly esteems, that he may gain it as his own. 
 Such was the feeling of St. Paul. As a member of the 
 Jewish community, and observing rigidly its Levitical ob- 
 servances, he had, at one time, to use his own language, 
 great "confidence in the flesh," i. e., great reliance on his 
 own self-righteousness, a trusting for salvation to his rigid 
 Phariseeism; but, when he was arrested on his persecuting 
 journey, and made to see the truth as it is in Jesus, when 
 the scales had fallen from his eyes, and he beheld the long- 
 hidden treasure before him, then he quickly abandoned all 
 that he held most dear, saying, " What things were gain to 
 me, those I counted loss for Christ. Yea doubtless, and I 
 count all things but loss for the excellency of the know- 
 ledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered 
 the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I 
 may win Christ." This is the very spirit of the man find- 
 ing the hid treasure. He puts upon it its true value; he 
 estimates everything else as comparatively worthless ; he 
 feels the force of the Saviour's assertion — " He that loveth 
 father or mother more than me is not worthy of me ;" and 
 that if we would be His disciples, we must "forsake all 
 and follow him;" and, in the spirit of these injunctions, he 
 is ready to give up everything that impedes his progress in 
 the Divine life, or that conflicts with his getting possession 
 of these hid treasures of the Gospel. 
 
 The first aim of life, now, is to be " rich towards God ;" 
 to obtain that soul-wealth which consists in faith, and love, 
 and joy, and peace in the Lord Jesus ; to receive within 
 
THE HID TREASURE. 315 
 
 himself "the earnest of his inheritance." Whatever pur- 
 suit formerly engrossed his mind is now abandoned, or made 
 subservient to his new aim ; whatever passions ruled in his 
 soul, and led him captive, are now mastered or made to do 
 willing service to his Redeemer; he no longer "lives unto 
 himself," but unto Him that loved him, and gave Himself 
 for him. 
 
 It is impossible to put too high an estimate on this Gos- 
 pel treasure. In whatever light we regard it, whether in 
 itself, as an emanation from God ; or in its effects, as re- 
 newing the soul, and making it meet for the inheritance 
 ot the saints in light, it is of priceless value. 
 
 In comparison with it, those things which the world 
 most prizes, and after which men most strive, are as worth- 
 less dross; they have lost their wonted place in his imagi- 
 nation ; he has found nobler riches ; and he will part with 
 all that earth can give him, though it could multiply its 
 gifts a thousandfold, that he may gain this priceless trea- 
 sure — the salvation of his soul. 
 
 We can never estimate spiritual blessings above their 
 real value ; in truth, we can never give them their true 
 worth ; we always underrate them, because we do not and 
 cannot now see the full blessedness and glory which they 
 contain. So much of the Christian's happiness lies in the 
 other world, and so large a portion of it is revealed under 
 figures which the mind can scarcely comprehend, that we 
 completely fail in estimating their worth. The pleasures 
 of the world we always set down at too high a figure; 
 they ever appear in inflated magnitude and unreal import- 
 
316 THE PARABLES UNFOLDED. 
 
 ance ; but the pleasures of religion are always set too low ; 
 and the world, the flesh, and the devil aim to depreciate 
 their value, by distorting their character, maligning their 
 influence, and perverting their power. But it will all be 
 of no avail to him who has truly found Christ. To all 
 such " Christ is precious," " the Chief among ten thousand, 
 and the one altogether lovely." His soul finds its full joy 
 and delight in Him. Christ is formed within him the hope 
 of glory ; his heart has become a temple of the Holy Ghost ; 
 his life is hid with Christ in God ; and, walking in faith, 
 rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation, instant in prayer, 
 he moves on through life without any fear of the future, 
 knowing that, when the earthly house of his tabernacle is 
 dissolved, "he has a building of God, a house not made 
 with hands, eternal in the heavens." 
 
I fct 
 
THE PEARL. 
 
 " 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 harl, 
 and bought it." Matt. xiii. 45-4G. 
 
 THE difference between this parable and the one of " The 
 Hid Treasure" seems to lie in this : that in the latter, 
 the man came upon the treasure unexpectedly, when he 
 was neither thinking of nor looking for such a thing ; while 
 in this, the merchant-man is seeking after the pearls, and 
 has made it his business and his care to secure the very 
 articles which he most desires. 
 
 The two parables, therefore, furnish us with types of two 
 different characters : — The man who, Paul-like, is arrested 
 by the Holy Ghost and made to discover the hid treasure 
 when he was neither seeking nor expecting it ; and those 
 who, Berean-like, are " searching the Scriptures daily," that 
 they may gather thence the pearls of grace and truth. The 
 character of the first we have already considered, and we 
 confine ourselves now to a brief delineation of the latter. 
 
 The " merchant-man" in the parable was " seeking goodly 
 pearls." That was the object of his daily care and labour 
 Ordinary pearls would not answer, they must be " goodly ;' 
 these were the object of anxious pursuit, because upon 
 
 S19 
 
320 THE PARABLES UNFOLDED 
 
 obtaining them rested his reputation as a pearl dealer, as 
 well as his profits from their sale. In his diligent search 
 he is rewarded by discovering one " of great price," and 
 such was its size, and perfection, that to obtain it he sold 
 out all the goodly ones hitherto collected, and embarked his 
 whole fortune in this one pearl, knowing, from the estima- 
 tion in which the pearl was held by oriental princes, and 
 the enormous prices which were paid for large, round, 
 smooth, and unclouded ones, that he would be able to com- 
 mand greater gains by the sale of this single pearl of great 
 price than from all the pearls of inferior value, how 
 "goodly" soever they might be. 
 
 We occasionally meet with persons who have, like 
 Timothy, been carefully instructed in the Scriptures " from 
 a child," or who, like Samuel, have early been impressed 
 with Divine truth, and who, possessing earnest and in- 
 quiring minds, anxiously seek for that which will satisfy 
 and comfort the soul. They deliberately set themselves to 
 seek the truth; they are not careless and ignorant persons, 
 but of meditative minds, of tender consciences, of craving 
 souls, who believe that there are " goodly pearls" of grace 
 to be found in God's Word, and who diligently seek them, 
 while at the same time they have such defective views of 
 the character of Christ as to make them rest short of that 
 single-hearted faith in Him which alone secures salvation. 
 There is a moral twilight as well as a natural one ; and 
 many there are in this crepusculous state, who, like the 
 man when half healed by Jesus of his blindness, " see men 
 as trees walking." They have glimmerings of the truth, 
 
THE PEARL. 32i 
 
 but have not got clear and distinct views of it ; they see it 
 looming up amidst partial darkness, but not standing out 
 sharp and clear in outline against a noonday sky. Such 
 persons are apt, with a great deal that is true, to mix up 
 deadly errors. They seek to augment their own righteous- 
 ness ; they bring in their own morality as a ground of sal- 
 vation ; they wish to do something which shall merit God's 
 favour ; they seek to blend their work with Christ's perfect 
 and finished work, and thus make a joint stock of their 
 redemption. The}' lean perhaps too heavily upon rites and 
 ceremonies, upon sacraments and ordinances : all " goodly 
 pearls" in themselves, but not to be trusted or counted of 
 value in comparison to the " one pearl of great price." 
 
 No matter, however, with what defective view r s a person 
 comes to the Word of God, if he approaches it with a 
 sincere desire to know God's will and do it ; if there is a 
 moral honesty about him, that will not let him rest until 
 he find the truth, then God will meet him in His Word, 
 and reveal Himself to his mind, and cause him to find in 
 Jesus Christ and the plan of salvation that rests on His 
 precious death and sacrifice, the " pearl of great price ;" for 
 Christ declares, " He that doeth the will of God shall know 
 of the doctrine whether it be of God ;" and the promise of 
 God is, " Ye shall find me when ye seek me with all your 
 heart." 
 
 When such persons behold this pearl of great price, then 
 
 are their eyes opened by the Holy Ghost to behold its 
 
 excellency and value. They are seized with a quenchless 
 
 desire to possess it; their former discoveries in truth, on 
 
 21 
 
322 THE PARABLES UNFOLDED. 
 
 theories of mind, in which, as " goodly pearls," they long 
 traded and delighted, now appear in their real worthless^ 
 ness; and, willing to sell off that which they have hitherto 
 obtained, they venture their eternal all upon this Pearl of 
 great price. Nothing now will satisfy the soul of the true 
 believer but Christ; he must possess Christ; he must 
 make Him his own by a living, personal, appropriating faith : 
 thus is he made to "put on Christ," to be "conformed to 
 His image," and to rejoice with a joy unspeakable and full 
 of glory. 
 
 It matters not what goodly pearls we may possess — pearls 
 of morality, or virtue, or education, or sensibility — if we 
 have not Christ, they are valueless for all the purposes of 
 salvation ; while he who has found Christ has found that 
 which swallows up all lesser pearls in its priceless excel- 
 lence and perfect beauty. 
 
 We are taught by these parables that we must make 
 every sacrifice, in order to obtain the rich blessings that are 
 found in the Lord Jesus. To this duty we are urged by 
 every consideration that can sway human conduct, and he 
 is derelict to every duty to God and to his own soul who, 
 when Christ is set before him as his Redeemer, fails to go 
 to Him as such, and to secure from Him the pardon and the 
 peace which He only can bestow. 
 
 It is a matter of wonder and adoring gratitude that God 
 condescends to put within our reach so unspeakable a gift. 
 He was under no necessity to save us. But Christ loved 
 us even when we were sinners, and by offering Himself to 
 satisfy the demands of justice, was enabled to effect our 
 
THE PEARL. 323 
 
 ransom, and yet preserve unimpaired the attributes of the 
 Most High j for, on Calvary, "mercy and truth met to- 
 gether, righteousness and peace embraced each other." 
 Since God then has given us this Pearl of Great Price, since 
 Christ offers himself to us in all the fulness of His redeem- 
 ing and mediatorial efficacy ; since the Holy Ghost pleads 
 with us to accept His overtures of grace, and " buy the 
 truth and sell it not," buy it " without money and without 
 price ;" ought not we, for whom this rich provision is made, 
 to renounce everything on which we lean, or in which we 
 trust, that we may obtain this hidden treasure of the 
 Gospel, and possess for ourselves this Pearl of Great Price ? 
 
Gjp f rafo#t 
 

 THE DRAW-NET. 
 
 "The kingdom of heaven is like unto a net that was cast into the sea, and 
 gathered of every kind : which, wben it was full, they drew to shore, and sat down, 
 and gathered the good into vessels, but cast the bad away. So shall it be at the 
 end of the world : the angels shall come forth, and sever the wicked from among 
 the just, and shall cast them into the furnace of fire ; there shall be wailing and 
 gnashing of teeth." Matt. xiii. 47-50. 
 
 WHILE the parable of " The Tares" illustrated the fact 
 that there is, and will be until the end of the world, 
 an intermixture of good and evil in the field of the Church, 
 the parable of " The Draw-Net" is evidently designed to 
 show the final separation that shall take place in God's ap- 
 pointed time. 
 
 While our Lord has so constructed some of his parables 
 as that their unfolding should elucidate nearly all the great 
 doctrines of religion, he has, in the prodigality of his in- 
 struction, uttered many others, designed to set forth single, 
 elemental truths; even though several of them may seem 
 to repeat the same ideas, or overlap each other in their 
 covering of the same ground. 
 
 Thus, we can easily draw out from the parable of the 
 Tares all the instruction contained in the parable of the 
 Draw-Net ; but Christ, wishing to fix its especial point upon 
 
328 THE PARABLES UNFOLDED. 
 
 the minds and hearts of his auditors ; or because many of 
 his hearers would better understand a figure drawn from 
 the fisher's life than the farmer's field, and acting also 
 upon the prophetic injunction, that "precept must be upon 
 precept, line upon line, here a little and there a little," 
 uttered vet another similitude, and made the draw-net of 
 the Capernaum fisherman, as well as the field of the Gali- 
 lean husbandman, illustrate the character of his Church 
 here, and the separations that shall take place in it at the 
 end of the world. 
 
 The figure which is at present before us is that of a draw- 
 net or seine. This is a fisher's implement, made of heavy 
 twine, with meshes of various size, spread over a portion 
 of the sea and sunk to a certain extent by weights, to give 
 it depth, yet buoyed up from complete submersion by floats; 
 which, after being stretched to a great distance, so as to 
 enclose a large number of fishes, is gradually drawn together 
 by its two ends, and brought to land. This operation is 
 familiar to all who live by the sea-side, or upon watercourses, 
 and needs no further explanation. 
 
 When we remember that most of our Saviour's disciples, 
 to whom this parable was more immediately addressed, 
 were fishermen, and that He had called several of His 
 Apostles from "casting their net into the sea," to become 
 " fishers of men/' we discern a force and directness in this 
 similitude which they could not fail to appreciate. 
 
 The point of special interest in this parable is, the ulti- 
 mate separation that shall take place between the common 
 occupants of this net, when it is drawn to land. 
 
THE DRAW-NET. 329 
 
 By the draw-net is represented the Church ; by the 
 fishes, the members of that Church ; and in this net are 
 enclosed fishes, both " good and bad ;" showing, as in the 
 parable of the Tares, the mixture of sound and unsound 
 professors in Christ's earthly kingdom. Concerning this 
 fact we need neither argue nor speculate. It is a revealed 
 and an experimental truth, notorious even to human obser- 
 vation, much more so to Him "who searcheth the reins 
 and trieth the hearts of the children of men." 
 
 Into the net of the Church were "gathered of every kind," 
 even as in the parable of the Marriage of the King's Son — 
 the "servants went out into the highways, and gathered 
 together all, as many as they found, both bad and good." 
 The Gospel is preached to all classes and conditions of men ; 
 and some from each of these, professedly obey the call, and 
 unite themselves to the visible Church. This state of things 
 continues as long as the net is in the sea; but, when it is 
 full, when God's purposes, in reference to his earthly Church, 
 shall be completed, then will it be "drawn to shore" — the 
 shore of eternity; and there, under the eye of God, shall 
 " the good be gathered into vessels," and " the bad shall be 
 cast away." 
 
 There is a time coming, when the moral imperfection 
 which now pertains to the Church shall be done away; 
 when the sound and faithful professors of Christ's religion 
 shall be delivered from the presence of the evil disciples 
 by whom their righteous souls have been so long vexed; 
 when, separated from all evil in themselves and around 
 themselves, they shall be, in their finite capacity, holy as 
 God is holy ; and when the wicked, severed from the good, 
 
330 THE PARABLES UNFOLDED. 
 
 shall be consigned to their merited doom. This separation 
 will be necessary on the part of God, in order to vindicate 
 his justice. It is said of Him, "Justice and judgment are 
 the habitation of His throne." This justice requires that 
 the penalties, as well as the rewards of His law, should be 
 vigorously rendered. The penalties of the law against 
 transgressors are very stringent and severe; and not to 
 inflict them would be to dishonour that law, both in its 
 enactments and sanctions, and to falsify every attribute of 
 the Divine character. Should God fail to punish the 
 breakers of His law, He would not be just to Himself, His 
 statutes, His creatures. He proclaims Himself repeatedly 
 a "God of justice:" how could He be so, unless He sus- 
 tained the penalties which He has denounced against sin? 
 He has declared again and again, that His " law is holy," 
 and His "commandment holy, and just, and good;" and 
 that He will uphold it in its letter and spirit, in its length 
 and breadth : how can He do this if He relax the sanc- 
 tions by which it is enacted, and the penal clauses by 
 which it is guarded ? He has declared that He " will by 
 no means clear the guilty ;" and the conscience that He has 
 put within His creatures, tells them that they have fully 
 incurred the displeasure of their God, and deserve His 
 reprobation : and He must fulfil His righteous promise. 
 
 It would not be just in a human lawgiver to make a 
 stringent code, and annex to its infraction severe penalties, 
 and yet never design that they should be carried out : this 
 would be a mockery of justice, and a deliberate insult to 
 the majesty of law. Nor would it be just for human laws 
 
THE DRAW NET. ^31 
 
 to take no cognisance of criminals, to permit crime to go 
 unpunished, and, by withdrawing the penalties due to the 
 guilty, virtually exempt guilt from punishment, and place 
 it on the same legal level with obedience and goodness. 
 Better have no law ; better give up a community to the 
 workings of the individual passions of its members — per 
 mitting each to " walk in the light of his own eyes, and 
 after the counsel of his own heart ;" than to suffer a law tc 
 be made null and void by stripping it of its sanctions, and 
 taking from it its punitive and coercive power. Justice 
 requires that human laws should be enforced ; the well- 
 being of society is indissolubly blended with their adminis- 
 tration ; and if justice speaks with an uncertain voice, or 
 with a fickle voice, or with a partial voice, or if it is dumb, 
 then is society torn asunder limb from limb, and the body 
 politic lies a mangled and bleeding corpse at the feet of 
 anarchy and crime. Much more, then, is it necessary that 
 God's law should be sustained, and that His justice should 
 stand out in clear and full outline in the sight of the 
 universe. 
 
 But the truth of God, as well as His justice, requires this 
 final separation between the good and the bad. He has 
 said that it should take place ; His veracity is at stake upon 
 the issue. But that God should falsify His word, that He 
 should fail to do what He has said would be done, cannot 
 for a moment be entertained by those who believe Him to 
 be " a God of Truth," " with whom is no variableness, 
 neither shadow of turning." 
 
 The plain declaration of the Most High is, " The wicked 
 
332 THE PARABLES UNFOLDED. 
 
 shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget 
 God." " The soul that sinneth it shall die." " There is no 
 peace, saith my God, to the wicked." These, with many 
 others of similar import, are the positive assurances of God; 
 and hence, as " God is not a man that he should lie, nor 
 the son of man that He should repent," so will He do what 
 His truth has pledged Him to do, viz., "send forth His 
 angels, and sever the wicked from among the just." 
 
 The holiness of God also demands this eventual separa- 
 tion. So exalted and indescribable is this attribute of the 
 Almighty, that we seem to sully it even by speaking of it. 
 We can scarcely talk of it without our very breath staining 
 its glory; for all our ideas of holiness consist in the relative 
 freedom of a person from sin, and in proportion to the sin- 
 lessness of any one, is His holiness, a state of sin being the 
 stand-point from which we judge, because we are only con- 
 versant with a world of sin. Abstract, essential, self- 
 existent holiness, such as belongs to God, surpasses our com- 
 prehension. A holiness that has no relation to sin, because 
 it existed before sin ; a holiness that can be measured by 
 no standard, because itself overtops every standard ; a holi- 
 ness so holy that even the heavens " are not clean in His 
 sight," so pure that " He covereth himself with light as 
 with a garment," so august that " He chargeth even His 
 angels with folly," so resplendent that it fills all heaven 
 with its effulgence, and so ravishing that the celestial 
 harpers make it the burden of their chants as they fall 
 down before Him, veiling their faces with their wings, as 
 they cry, "Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty:" such 
 
ThE DRAW-NET 333 
 
 a holiness is as much above our conception as are the ideas 
 of eternity or infinitude. When we can depict the sun in 
 mid-day lustre with the chromates of the painter's pallet ; 
 when we can measure the area of space with the triangu- 
 lations of the geometer ; then perhaps may we be able, with 
 the instrumentalities of earth-born words, to convey an 
 adequate idea of the holiness of Jehovah. It is a subject 
 which we shall ever study, and in which we shall never 
 weary; but to know it in its fulness, to comprehend it in 
 its infinitude, cannot be done by any created mind. This 
 attribute, so ineffably glorious, demands the severance of 
 the wicked from the good. The God who possesses it " can- 
 not look upon sin but with abhorrence," and has declared 
 that nothing unclean shall come into His holy habitation ; 
 that into it " nothing shall enter that defileth or maketh a 
 lie f that only " the pure in heart shall see God." Conse- 
 quently there must be a dividing process when the net of 
 the Church, now enclosing fishes good and bad, shall be 
 drawn to shore — the shore of eternity. 
 
 In like manner we might show that each one of the 
 attributes of God requires this separation in the visible 
 Church. But it need not be dwelt on now, because, if even 
 one attribute required such a severance, that would be 
 enough ; for God's character is not made up of diverse and 
 opposing elements, but is a moral unit, and each attribute 
 so harmonizes with the others, as that a violence done to 
 one is done to all, and that which is requisite to the 
 integrity or upholding of one, is equally necessary to the 
 maintenance of every other perfection of the Divine Being. 
 
 Leaving, therefore, the point which we think has been so 
 
334 THE PARABLES UNFOLDED. 
 
 clearly established, viz., that the character of God requires 
 this final separation in the contents of the Gospel net ; we 
 further remark, that it is necessary also to the happiness 
 and perfection of His believing people. The condition of 
 true Christians in the visible Church is one of mingled joy 
 and sorrow. They have indeed great cause for rejoicing ; 
 they have sources of pleasure, Divine alike in their origin 
 and their comfort; they have a hope "that maketh not 
 ashamed ;" they have a peace " that passeth understanding;" 
 there is for them "no condemnation," because their lives 
 are "hid with Christ in God;" and, in view of the assaults of 
 their last enemy, they are enabled to exclaim, "Thanks be 
 unto God, who giveth us the victory, through Jesus Christ 
 our Lord." Yet, at the same time, it must be confessed 
 that what the Apostle said is strictly true — "if in this life 
 only we have hope, we are of all men most miserable." 
 The very fact that we have been renewed in the temper 
 and disposition of our minds, that we have been born again 
 of the Holy Ghost, that old things have passed away and 
 that all things have become new, only makes us realize more 
 vividly our sad condition, to be thus dwellers in an ungodly 
 world, and to be thus of necessity so mixed up with sin and 
 corruption and unbelief in the walks of daily life. The true 
 Christian finds everything about him antagonistical to his 
 thoughts and feelings. He loves Christ supremely ; the world 
 hates Him supremely. He delights to do God's will; the 
 world revels in its disobedience. His heart is set on things 
 heavenly and Divine ; " the heart of the sons of men is 
 fully set in them to do evil." He longs for a release from 
 a place where his soul, like that of righteous Lot, "is 
 
THE DRAW-NET. 335 
 
 Vexed with the filthy conversation of the wicked ;" he is 
 daily pained at the manifestations of sin and unbelief; he 
 mourns at the spiritual destitution of his fellow men, and 
 at the rampant evils that rear themselves unbridled, and 
 raven unchecked upon the vitals of society. Sin meets his 
 eye wherever he turns. In the Church, he sees hypocrisy, 
 formality, self-righteousness, censoriousness, lukewarmness, 
 and backsliding. In the family, he finds peevishness, ill 
 temper, discord, variance, strifes, evil surmisings, and posi- 
 tive hatred. In the state, he perceives crimes of every sort 
 and hue, the decalogue broken in each one of its command- 
 ments, and iniquity restrained only by the strong right arm 
 of law. In business, he is made to witness fraud, over- 
 reachings, deceptions, lying; so that, look where he will, he 
 is constrained to say with the Psalmist, " Woe is me, that 
 I sojourn inMesech, that I dwell in the tents of Kedar!" 
 
 We. are ever made to feel that we are in an enemy's 
 country ; that here, as the Patriarchs confessed, " we have 
 no abiding city, but we seek one to come ;" that " we who 
 are in tabernacles of flesh do groan, being burdened ;" bur- 
 dened with the remaining corruption of our own hearts; 
 burdened with our daily short-comings and omissions of 
 duty; burdened with our positive transgressions ; burdened 
 with our often infirmities; and burdened with seeing and 
 hearing the ungodliness that surrounds us, and that is ever 
 crying to heaven for vengeance. 
 
 Such being our condition, it follows that we need deliver- 
 ance from this state of trial, that we may be brought out 
 u into the glorious liberty of the children of God." As 
 vhis is a world of probation, we do not expect that this 
 
i'SQ THE PARABLES UNFOLDED. 
 
 severance of good and ill will take place here, for it 
 would cease to be probation were all sin and temptation 
 removed from our path. But must such a commixture 
 always exist ? No. A time of deliverance is at hand ; the 
 year of release draws near ; and ere long the trumpet of 
 Jubilee, proclaiming that " the acceptable year of the Lord" 
 has come, shall ring out its silver notes of freedom and of 
 rest. God loves us, and will not always suffer us to be 
 overborne by the gruff and gainsaying world; He has 
 thoughts of mercy towards us, and hence will keep us in tri- 
 bulation only for a little season ; His gracious words are, 
 " Though ye have lain among the pots, yet shall ye be as 
 the wings of a dove covered with silver, and her feathers 
 with yellow gold ;" therefore, " look up, and lift up your 
 heads, for your redemption draweth near." His gracious 
 purposes in keeping us in the furnace of affliction being 
 accomplished, we shall be removed thence, having our 
 dross purged away, and shall come out as fine gold, meet for 
 the master's use. Then shall His suffering people be made 
 joyful in the Lord : separated from whatever has annoyed 
 and troubled them here, and manifesting themselves in their 
 true character, as " children of light and of the day," they 
 "shall shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father." 
 It is necessary, then, to the felicity of His saints, to the 
 full development of Divine grace in the soul, and to the 
 accomplishment of God's purposes in their election and 
 regeneration, that there should be a sending forth of angels 
 " at the end of the world," to " sever the wicked from 
 among the just." Reason and revelation assent to and 
 confirm this truth. It is the hope of the Christian, as he 
 
THE DRAW-NET. 337 
 
 takes his weary pilgrim steps towards the Celestial City; 
 and it is the joy of the dying believer, as he puts off this 
 tabernacle of clay, and looks forward to the mansion of 
 rest, "into which nothing shall enter that defileth or 
 maketh a lie." 
 
 It is remarkable that in this parable our Lord does not 
 say what will become of the good, after they are gathered 
 u into vessels," though He tells us what will become of the 
 bad ; as if the parable was uttered more for warning to 
 the evil professors than for encouragement to the faith- 
 ful. In the parable of the Tares, indeed, He has told us 
 that, after the separation there spoken of, " the righteous 
 shall shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their 
 Father ;" and as the righteous are one and the same class 
 in each parable, so we infer that all those who, out of the 
 Gospel net, are gathered " into vessels," will enjoy a felicity 
 and glory surpassing human conception, and only to be 
 represented to the human mind by comparing them to 
 suns, shining in full-orbed glory in the firmament of 
 Heaven. 
 
 Most fearful, however, are the words which indicate the 
 
 course of justice upon the wicked. "The angels shall 
 
 come forth and sever the wicked from among the just, and 
 
 shall cast them into the furnace of fire; there shall be 
 
 wailing and gnashing of teeth ;" the same punishment that 
 
 was to be inflicted upon the children of the wicked one in 
 
 the parable of the Tares. It cannot escape the notice of 
 
 the Bible reader, how frequently the element of fire is 
 
 made to act a part in the punishment of the ungodly. 
 
 Whether those numerous passages in which this idea is 
 90, 
 
338 THE PARABLES UNFOLDED. 
 
 brought out are to be taken literally, so that we are to 
 learn thereby that the wicked, after the resurrection, shall 
 indeed dwell with everlasting burnings; that the living, 
 quenchless flames of material fire shall ever wrap them- 
 selves about their guilty yet unconsumable bodies, causing 
 them to gnash their teeth for pain, and wail for anguish, is 
 not for us to assert or deny. One thing is certain, that, by 
 the use of such language, God designs that we should 
 gather the most painful and horrific idea of woe of which 
 it is possible for the human mind to conceive; that we 
 should understand by this means the intensity and unbear- 
 ableness of the doom which will be visited upon the 
 ungodly, and that this punishment shall never end ; for all 
 who love not the Lord Jesus Christ shall be cast into hell, 
 "where their worm dieth not, and their fire is not 
 quenched." 
 
 This is the idea that we should ever keep in mind, that 
 there is reserved for the unbelieving an anguish of spirit, 
 which in its inflicted sorrows shall be, like furnace fire, 
 ever preying upon, yet never consuming, its undying 
 victim. The warning is boldly, fully given. There is no 
 deception about its nature or its duration. The Bible 
 holds it up before men in full view, and writes it out in 
 such frequently repeated and magnified letters as that " he 
 may read that runs ;" so that men are left without excuse, 
 if, in spite of remonstrance, and invitation, and appeal, and 
 the pleadings of mercy, and the overtures of grace, they 
 deliberately go down, step by step, to that woe which is 
 emphatically expressed by being " cast into the furnace of 
 fire," where " there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth." 
 
ffe atitr fbprc*. 
 
DIYES AND LAZAEUS. 
 
 Theke was a certain rich man, which was clothed in purple and fine linen, and 
 fared sumptuously every day : And there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, 
 which was laid at his gate, full of sores : and desiring to be fed with the crumbs 
 which fell from the rich man's table : moreover, the dogs came and licked his sores. 
 And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into 
 Abraham's bosom : the rich man also died, and was buried ; And in hell he lifted 
 up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in hia 
 bosom. And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have »rercy on me, and send 
 Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, enJ cool my tongue: for I 
 am tormented in this flame. But Abraham said, Son, remember that thou in thy 
 lifetime receivedst thy good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things : but now he 
 is comforted, and thou art tormented. And besides all this, between us and you 
 there is a great gulf fixed : so that they which would pass from hence to you 
 cannot ; neither can they pass to us, that would come from thence. Then he said, 
 I pray thee, therefore, father, that thou wouldest send him to my father's house: 
 For I have five brethren ; that he may testify unto them, lest they also come into 
 this place of torment. Abraham saith unto him, They have Moses and the pro- 
 phets ; let them hear them. And he said, Nay, Father Abraham : but if one went 
 unto them from the dead, they will repent. And he said unto him, If they hear 
 not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded though one rose from 
 the lead." Luke xvi. 19-31. 
 
 IN some respects this is one of the most remarkable para- 
 bles uttered by our Lord. It brings before us the two 
 extremes of life, the two extremes of death, and the two 
 extremes of existence beyond the grave. Each of these 
 couplets may be regarded as an act in the parabolic drama ; 
 
 341 
 
342 THE PARABLES UNFOLDED. 
 
 the characters employed in their representation being a 
 beggar, a rich man, the patriarch Abraham, and attending 
 angels ; while the scene is laid in Earth, and Heaven, and 
 Hell. The consideration of these several acts will put us 
 in possession of the true scope of the parable, and enable 
 us to explain its minor features and design. 
 
 There is first exhibited before us the two extremes of 
 life. A very rich man and a very poor man. The rich 
 man presents himself clothed in purple and fine linen, and 
 faring sumptuously every day. Nothing could more clearly 
 indicate his wealth and splendour; for though, in later 
 times, robes of purple have been appropriated to royalty 
 alone, yet in Christ's day it was the dress of the rich, the 
 great, and the favourites in the courts of princes, who are 
 thence often termed by Cicero and Livy " Purpurati." 
 Robes of purple were very costly, because of the scarcity 
 of the shell-fish (murex trunculus) from which the Tyrians 
 obtained their celebrated dye, or from the rareness of the 
 purpura, from which, according to Pliny, the Phoenicians 
 extracted their rich varieties of purple. 
 
 Of nearly equal costliness was the " fine linen," in which 
 the rich man was clothed ; consisting of an under-vest or 
 tunic, composed chiefly of the Egyptian flax or Bambusa, 
 which was of a soft texture, and so expensive, being worth 
 its weight in gold, as to be worn only by princes, priests, 
 or persons of great estate. In saying, then, that he was 
 "clothed in purple and fine linen," nothing more was 
 needed to indicate the costliness and magnificence of his 
 attire. 
 
DIVES AND LAZAKUS. 34S 
 
 But he " fared sumptuously," as well as dressed royally ; 
 and that not occasionally, but " every day." His life was 
 a daily feast, full of everything that could gratify the 
 palate of an epicurean lord. Of course, his dwelling was 
 in keeping with his wardrobe and his table ; and when we 
 say, therefore, that he was gorgeously arrayed, sumptuously 
 fed, and nobly lodged, we cover the whole ground of luxu- 
 rious living, and that outward splendour which is so much 
 coveted by men. 
 
 Turn now to the Beggar. His name is Lazarus. The 
 name of the rich man has not been mentioned (for the 
 term Dives, the Latin word for rich, magnificent, is a con- 
 ventional name given to him by uninspired writers), but 
 that of the beggar has been recorded. " Seems he not to 
 you," asks Augustine, " to have been reading from that 
 book where he found the name of the poor man written, 
 but found not the name of the rich, even the book of 
 life ?" The names of multitudes of the poor, whom the 
 world knows not of, will be found recorded in " the Lamb's 
 Book of Life," and engraven on the palms of the hands of 
 the crucified, while the names of but few of the rich, the 
 wise, the noble, are written there; for they are the "men 
 of the world who have their portion in this life." 
 
 Of this Lazarus (a name derived, as some think, from a 
 Hebrew word, signifying a helpless person ; or according to 
 others, from a word which is interpreted God is ray helper) , 
 it is said, that " he was laid at the gate of this rich man, 
 full of sores, desiring to be fed with the crumbs," or broken 
 meat, " which fell from his table : moreover the dogs came 
 and licked his sores." 
 
344 THE PARABLES UNFOLDED. 
 
 The portal of a great mansion was often a place of resort 
 for beggars, that the passers in and out might give them 
 alms ; a custom mentioned as far back as Homer, in the 
 Iliad and the Odysse}', and still kept up in many parts of 
 the Eastern world. This description of Lazarus, like that 
 of the rich man, is brief, but emphatic, the strokes which 
 pencil his condition are few, but masterly, and give us a 
 full insight into his wretchedness and want. He was help- 
 less, for the verb, was laid, being in the passive voice, implies 
 that he was borne and placed there by the aid of others, 
 consequently was himself helpless. " Was laid at his gate" 
 like a common beggar, a miserable dependent mendicant; 
 "full of sores" diseased all over his body with grievous 
 ulcers, which must have been intensely painful by their 
 number and malignity, increased by his daily exposure and 
 by the want of proper sanatives and emollients ; " desiring 
 to be fed with the crumbs" not asking to sit at the rich 
 man's table, nor yet to eat with his servants, but only for 
 the broken refuse meat which fell from the platters and was 
 swept into the streets ; " the dogs came and licked his sores" — 
 so miserable that he was unable to fray away the dogs, 
 which, attracted by the blood and sanies of his diseased 
 limbs, came and licked them, thus reducing him almost to 
 the level of the brute creation. These are the outlines of 
 a misery rarely met with, and present to our imaginations 
 a loathsome and repulsive object. 
 
 Such was the relative condition of the two in this life. 
 The one, with a stately mansion, princely clothing, sump- 
 tuous fare, numerous servants, courtly friends; having all 
 
DIVES AND LAZARUS. 345 
 
 that heart could wish or money buy ; filling himselt day 
 by day with these objects of sensuality and pride, and 
 neither thinking nor caring for the poor, the sick, the 
 houseless, the hungry; absorbed in self, living for the 
 present, reckless of the future. The other, without a 
 home, a bed, a table, with no companions but dogs, no 
 resting-place but the gateway, no clothing but rags; 
 hungry, diseased, helpless ; a burden to himself, an offence 
 to the rich ; gathering a scanty pittance from the alms of 
 travellers, and satisfying a craving hunger with the crumbs 
 which he shared with dogs and menials. Who would not 
 envy the rich man ? Who would not deprecate the condi- 
 tion of Lazarus ? 
 
 But the scene changes, and brings us to the close of 
 their respective lives. "And it came to pass that the 
 beggar died; the rich man also died and was buried." 
 Death is the common lot of all. He blends the sceptre 
 and the spade, and in the language of Horace, knocks with 
 equal pace at the gates of the palace, and the hovels of 
 the poor. The beggar died first. There is, however, no 
 record of his funeral. He was hurried into the ground, 
 perhaps unhonoured, unwept, uncared for, "buried with 
 the burial of an ass, drawn and cast forth beyond the gates 
 of Jerusalem." 
 
 Not so with the rich man : " He died and was buried ;'• 
 interred, doubtless, with pomp and ceremony; for the 
 wealth which commanded friends when living, could com- 
 mand mourners when dead. Here, again, who would not 
 prefer the condition of the rich man to that of Lazarus ? 
 
346 THE PARABLES UXIOLDED. 
 
 The one dies surrounded by skilful physicians, faithful 
 nurses, officious attendants, and is borne to the costly tomb 
 with all the insignia of courtly grief; the other passes 
 away alone, is coffined in his rags, and, without a mourner 
 to drop a tear, is hurried out of sight. Thus closes the- 
 earthly history of Dives and Lazarus. Here the curtain 
 of life drops, and corruption and the worm return both to 
 their native dust. 
 
 The scene again changes, and the future, with its vast 
 consequences, opens before us. 
 
 Dives and Lazarus again come into view, but how 
 changed their state ! 
 
 The rich man ! where is he ? " In hell, lifting up his 
 eyes in torment." Where were his riches, his purple robes, 
 his sumptuous fare, his lordly mansion? Could none of 
 these save him ? Could none of these buy him a place in 
 heaven ? No ! stripped of his wealth, his robes, his feasts, 
 his friends, he is thrust into hell, where his riches and 
 luxuries but feed the flames which burn but never consume- 
 their victim. 
 
 The beggar ! where is he ? His body, perhaps, had 
 scarce the semblance of an earthly burial, yet his soul was 
 borne "by angels into Abraham's bosom." What though 
 princes even carried the body of Dives to the tomb ? Laza- 
 rus had the higher honour, for celestial spirits conveyed his 
 soul to glory. 
 
 The Jews expressed the happiness of the righteous at 
 death in three ways. — " They go to the garden of Eden ;" 
 " they go to be under the throne of glory ;" " they go to. 
 
DIVES AND LAZARUS. 347 
 
 the bosom of Abraham ;" and it was in reference to this 
 general idea that our Lord introduced this expression, to 
 denote the future happiness of Lazarus. He was in the 
 bosom of Abraham, " the Father of the faithful." He whom 
 the rich man scorned to have at his table was received into 
 the arms of Abraham, "the friend of God;" resting in tin 
 highest felicity which the Jewish mind could imagine. 
 
 The repose of Lazarus in the bosom of Abraham is repre- 
 sented in the parable as being seen by Dives, for it is stated 
 that "in hell he lifted up his eyes, being in torment, and 
 seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom." Here 
 again our Saviour accommodates his language to the com- 
 mon notions of the Jews, who were taught by the rabbinical 
 writers to believe, that the gates of Paradise were over 
 against the gates of Hell ; separated, indeed, by an impassa- 
 ble gulf, yet within eye-range and ear-shot of each other. 
 As soon as the rich man saw Lazarus he recognised him, 
 and calls him by name, and prays to Abraham to send him 
 " that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool 
 his tongue, for he was tormented in this flame;" brief 
 words, these, yet expressive of intense woe. The torment- 
 ing flame, the parching tongue, the quenchless thirst — a 
 thirst so great that- the only boon it asks is one drop of 
 water from the "tip of one finger" — superadded to the 
 humbling position of a beggar, asking like a miserable 
 mendicant for a favour from the hands of him whom, on 
 earth, he spurned with contempt, constitute the elements 
 of his unearthly agony. His request, small as it is, is 
 denied. He is bid remember, that he, "in his lifetime, 
 
348 THE PARABLES UNFOLDED. 
 
 received his good things ;" he was one of those "men of the 
 world" described by the Psalmist, " who have their portion 
 in this life," who flourish here "like a green bay-tree," 
 " whose hearts were fat as brawn," and who, in consequence, 
 lifted up their proud spirits against God, asking, with all the 
 insulting haughtiness of Pharaoh, " Who is the Lord that 
 I should serve Him ?" All this he is bid remember, and 
 as his busy memory wakes into more than wonted activity, 
 he remembers his calls of mercy rejected, his opportunities 
 of grace slighted, his vows of obedience broken, and guilt, 
 transgression, rebellion, gather around his mind with most 
 harassing power. Among all the fearful torments of the 
 lost, none will exceed those which memory will furnish in 
 the perpetual review of the past. 
 
 Undaunted by the denial of this request, he prefers 
 another: "I pray thee, therefore, Father, that thou 
 wouldst send him to my father's house, for I have five 
 brethren, that he may testify unto them, lest they also 
 come into this place of torment." By the first reply of 
 Abraham, he ascertained that there was no hope for him, 
 and abandoning all attempt to get a personal favour, 
 he turns his thoughts to his relatives on earth, who, 
 pursuing, as he knew, the same course which he had 
 followed, would, like him, take up their abode in everlast- 
 ing burnings. For their sakes, therefore, he pleads that 
 Abraham would "send Lazarus to his father's house," 
 to warn them by his end of the dreadful fate which 
 awaited them, if they continued in their sinful course. 
 Abraham replies, "They have Moses and the Prophets, let 
 
DIVES AND LAZARUS. 34S 
 
 them hear them." In the request of Dives there was a 
 virtual implication that he had not been sufficiently 
 warned, an idea which is still further sustained in his 
 rejoinder : " Nay, Father Abraham ; but if one went unto 
 them from the dead they will repent," evidently hinting 
 that Moses and the Prophets were not a sufficient warning, 
 and that had a messenger from the unseen world visited 
 him, as he wished Lazarus to do his brethren, he would 
 have repented, and avoided that place of torment; thus 
 aiming to charge upon God what he had brought upon 
 himself. But Abraham closes the dialogue with the solemn 
 yet emphatic assertion, " If they hear not Moses and the 
 Prophets, neither will they be persuaded though one rose 
 iTom the dead." 
 
 The phrase " Moses and the Prophets" is a common 
 formula to express the writings of the Old Testament; 
 and the assertion of Abraham proves that where the 
 teachings of these sacred books are disregarded, no amount 
 of personal revelation will be productive of benefit; for 
 the same evil dispositions and perverse will which hinder 
 men from believing the truths contained in the Scriptures, 
 attested as they are by signs and wonders of most miracu 
 lous power, would lead them, after the first startling 
 excitement was over, to disbelieve even though one went 
 unto them from the dead. The point at issue between 
 Dives and Abraham, resolves itself into this question : Is 
 a standing revelation better suited to man as an accountable 
 being, than a special and individual one ? This opens toe 
 wide a subject to be fully discussed here, yet it cannot be 
 
350 THE PARABLES UNFOLDED. 
 
 dismissed without some statements which will go far to 
 solve the question. 
 
 We might settle the matter in a very summary way by 
 saying that whatever plan a God of infinite wisdom has 
 devised, is that which is best adapted to man as a spiritual 
 and immortal being; a standing revelation is that plan 
 which God has devised, therefore a standing revelation is 
 that which is best adapted to man as a spiritual and im- 
 mortal being. 
 
 Those who acknowledge both the major and the minor 
 premises, as duly assumed, will unhesitatingly adopt the 
 conclusion — for the syllogism is a perfect one, and in the 
 simplest form. 
 
 Waiving however this strictly logical argument, which 
 is amply sufficient for all honest and reverent minds, we 
 can discover many reasons why there is more weight, and 
 should be more influence, in a standing than in a private 
 revelation, made to particular persons, in different times, 
 places, and conditions. 
 
 A standing re\ elation is not so easily counterfeited ; it is 
 supported by public and notorious evidences and monu- 
 ments; it is of universal application, and thus bears 
 equally on all ; it is more easily appreciated and understood, 
 as it concentrates upon itself the interpretation of thousands 
 of strong, educated, and prayerful minds ; it is more per- 
 manent and unchanging ; it is better fitted to unfold the 
 great lineaments of Jehovah's character ; and it is more 
 consonant to the analogy of nature, wherein God operates 
 through general laws, those standing and irreversible 
 
DIVES AND LAZARUS. 351 
 
 statutes of His physical kingdom, which we term the laws 
 of nature, and upon the permanence of which is based all 
 human science. 
 
 We go further, and assert that the evidence which sustains 
 our standing Revelation is greater than any which could 
 be given by one coming from the Spirit world. For con- 
 sider what would be the nature of the evidence which such 
 a messenger from the dead would give ! It would be that of 
 a private individual, who could tell only his personal ex- 
 perience, and would possess merely the authority of a 
 traveller to the Spirit land, narrating what he had seen and 
 heard. 
 
 But is the evidence of such an one at all comparable to 
 the evidence of the Bible? Is the narrative of a finite 
 creature to be preferred to the Revelation of the infinite 
 God ? Is the story of one who tells only what his limited 
 observation has gathered better than the words of Him 
 who knoweth the end from the beginning? Did Lazarus 
 who rose from the dead have a better knowledge of the 
 ■unseen world than He by whom He was raised ? 
 
 Let us look a moment at the respective value of the two 
 kinds of evidence. In the case of the Bible, the grounds 
 on which we receive and believe it, are its public, unim- 
 peached, and wondrous miracles ; its numerous, comprehen- 
 sive, and far-reaching prophecies ; the unparalleled preserva- 
 tion of its sacred books ; the ever accumulating mass of 
 historical proof; its numerous collateral and corroborative 
 monuments; its peculiar and superhuman doctrines; its 
 perfectly demonstrable inspiration by the Holy Ghost ; its 
 
352 THE PARABLES UNFOLDED. 
 
 reception by the universal Church ; its minute adaptation 
 to the multifarious wants of the soul; the regenerating 
 power which it has already exercised upon the human race.. 
 And this evidence appeals to the affections of the heart, 
 to the faculties of the mind, to the conscience, reason, and 
 judgment of mankind. 
 
 In the case of an apparition from the dead there would 
 only be the personal irresponsible authority of a single 
 Individual, appealing not to your judgment and reason, for 
 that would be lost in your fright ; not to the sober faculties 
 of your mind, for those would be paralyzed with fear ; but 
 to your excited fancies, to your stimulated imagination, 
 startled into intense action by the standing before you of 
 one "from the dead." 
 
 Let any candid mind say if this is any evidence at all, 
 worthy to be compared to that which underlies the massive 
 fabric of Revelation ! We know that just in proportion as 
 the imagination is excited beyond its healthful operations, 
 or the passions stimulated beyond their legitimate action,, 
 the reflective and judicial faculties of the mind are depressed 
 and weakened; the perceptions of the intellect are dis- 
 torted, the decisions of the judgment are perverted, the 
 operation of the will is irregular; the law of proportion, 
 which, when the mind is in a normal state, keeps all its 
 faculties in their just relation and due action, is violated,, 
 and no true judgment or decision can be had or reached 
 by an individual whose mind is either paralyzed with fear, 
 or bewildered by excitement. 
 
 It is perfectly absurd, therefore, to place the evidence 
 
DIVES AND LAZARUS. 353 
 
 afforded by an apparition from the dead on a footing with 
 that which upholds " Moses and the Prophets." But, fur- 
 ther, the very grounds on which men object to the testi- 
 mony of the Bible, apply with greater force to the evidence 
 of " one from the dead." The objections to the Bible are 
 mainly on two grounds, viz., as a revelation of the will of 
 God, and as a system of moral doctrines. The objection 
 to the Bible because it is a revelation from God, lies harder 
 against a man from the dead, than against the Scriptures, 
 for what would his message be but a revelation? and a 
 revelation of things beyond the cognisance of your senses, 
 or the testimony of your fellow men ! And so, of course, 
 on Hume's principles, it must be discarded, or else you are 
 placed in the dilemma of accepting the evidence of a soli- 
 tary and individual revelation, and rejecting the vast and 
 ever accumulating evidence which sustains the Word of 
 God. Which is most reasonable? Which demands the 
 greatest credulity ? 
 
 If the objection to a standing revelation be on account 
 of its doctrines, then, if the man from the dead taught the 
 doctrines of the Bible, you would no more believe him 
 than you would " Moses and the Prophets ;" if he taught 
 doctrines contrary to the Gospel, then, before you can 
 receive them, you must demand for their confirmation a 
 proof as strong at least as that by which we prove the 
 Scriptures to be of God, and even stronger, to counter- 
 balance the prima facie authority of Revelation. When 
 such evidence can be produced, then will we " read, mark, 
 learn, and inwardly digest it;" but as no such has been 
 23 
 
S54 THE PARABLES UNFOLDED. 
 
 given, and none possibly can be, we dismiss the objection 
 as one originating in the pride of the sinful heart, unwilling 
 to bow to the humbling doctrines of the Cross, rather than 
 in the deductions of a calm reason, or an unbiassed judg- 
 ment. 
 
 But the falsity of these subterfuges will still more 
 strongly appear, if we remember the fact that the very 
 condition of things desired by the rich man in the parable 
 has taken place, and yet the anticipated results have not 
 followed. One has come to us from the dead! Jesus 
 Christ rose from the dead, and, what is of great importance 
 to our case, rose for the very purpose of confirming the 
 doctrines of Revelation; for St. Paul so rests the whole 
 superstructure of the Gospel on the resurrection of Christ, 
 that he says, with great emphasis, " If Christ be not risen, 
 then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain : ye 
 are yet in your sins." Yet how few believe the words of 
 Jesus ; how few repent at His warnings of wrath, or His 
 invitations of grace ! 
 
 The very men who most clamorously say "but if one 
 came unto us from the dead, and told us the facts concerning 
 the unseen world, that sin is punished with unspeakable 
 woe, and that persistence in our present course will bring 
 us to that place of torment, we would repent," are those 
 who most sedulously refuse to listen to the teachings of 
 the Saviour who did come from the dead, and who tells us 
 in the Gospel what He sees and knows of the world to 
 come. 
 
 To the open ear of the sincere inquirer, the Scriptures 
 
DIVES AND LAZARUS. 355 
 
 speak out clear and full, and he who yields to their guiding 
 voice will, at death, be "carried by angels into Abraham's 
 bosom ;" but, to the wilfully closed ear, no attestations, come 
 they whence they may, will prove effectual, for persistent 
 unbelief will cast them all aside, and rush with infatuated 
 step over every barrier until death ends his earthly career, 
 and " in hell he lifts up his eyes, being in torment." 
 
 This parable is full of instructive suggestions. It teaches 
 that the condition of the soul, in the other world, is not at 
 all affected by the condition of the body in this. "God is 
 no respecter of persons." Moral qualifications alone shall 
 decide our position in eternity. 
 
 It teaches that a man may be poor and miserable and 
 despised on earth, and yet be dear to saints, to angels, and 
 to God. Joseph in Pharaoh's dungeon, David hiding in 
 caves, Elijah "hunted like a partridge upon the moun- 
 tains," the Apostles regarded as " the offscouring of all 
 things ;" and above all, the personal history of our 
 blessed Lord, who was "a man of sorrows," and "had 
 not where to lay his head," amply sustain this precious 
 truth. 
 
 It teaches that riches, honours, friends are no security 
 against death and hell. " Riches," says Solomon, " profit 
 not in the day of wrath ;" and Zephaniah boldly declares 
 of the ungodly, " Neither their silver nor their gold shall 
 be able to deliver them in the day of the Lord's wrath." 
 Honours are but rainbows painted on the spray of popular 
 applause, vanishing as soon as formed ; even as the Psalm- 
 ist says, " Man being in honour abideth not." • Friends are 
 
356 THE PARABLES UNFOLDED. 
 
 but flesh and blood, as mortal and as impotent as ourselves; 
 " none of them" writes David, " can, by any means, redeem 
 his brother, nor give to God a ransom for him." He, there- 
 fore, who trusts in either of these, trusts in that which will 
 fail him in the day of trouble. 
 
 It teaches that those who revile the godly and the 
 poor in this life, shall respect and envy them in the life to 
 come. The rich man took no notice of Lazarus when liv- 
 ing, but was most anxious to secure his services when in 
 eternity. And who are they "of whom" the Apostle says 
 "the world was not worthy?" Its kings? its poets? its 
 heroes ? its philosophers ? No ! but the lowly, despised, 
 and persecuted servants of God ; those who " had trial of 
 mockings and scourgings, yea, moreover, of bonds and im- 
 prisonments, who were stoned, were sawn asunder, were 
 tempted, were slain with the sword, who wandered about 
 in sheep skins and goat skins, being destitute, afflicted, 
 tormented." The world does not write these names in its 
 history with illuminated capitals, but they are written in 
 the "Lamb's Book of Life." They are not decked with 
 earthly honours, but they are dressed with kingly robes, 
 and wear kingly crowns in Heaven. 
 
 It teaches that all those who have their " good things 
 in this life" can expect none in the next. So much are 
 we under the dominion of the temporal and the material, 
 that the present too often absorbs our thoughts to the ex- 
 clusion of the spiritual and the eternal ; and the cry ot 
 most men, like that of the departing Prodigal, is, " Father, 
 give me the portion of goods that falleth to me." They 
 
DIVES AND LAZARUS. 357 
 
 are under the sway of sense ; they do not walk by faith ; 
 they live only for the present, and come under the class 
 described by David, "men of the world, who have their 
 portion in this life." They have chosen their part, but it 
 is a worldly one, and when called hence they lose it, and 
 have no heavenly portion in reversion. 
 
 This parable conveys a solemn warning to the rich. It 
 is to be observed that our Lord does not charge the rich 
 man with any positive crime or immorality. He merely 
 states that he was rich, and lived in a style corresponding 
 to his wealth, which may be said of many a truly good 
 man. But he was evidently one who " trusted in his 
 riches," of whom the Saviour declared, "it is easier for a 
 camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich 
 man to enter the kingdom of God/' The snare of wealth 
 lies in "its deceitfulness," and he who would avoid its 
 entangling meshes, must use his riches as a steward's trust, 
 for which he must give account at the judgment-seat of 
 Christ. 
 
 This parable should prove a consolation to the pious poor. 
 What though he begs his daily bread, and lies in rags at the 
 gates of the rich? Was not Jesus born in a stable? and 
 were not the birds and the foxes better housed than He? 
 He may have no earthly treasure, but he has "an inherit- 
 ance reserved for him in heaven." His body may be full 
 of sores, but God says to his soul, " Thy beauty was perfect 
 through my comeliness, which I had put upon thee." He 
 may have but "crumbs" to eat here, but he has an invitation 
 " to the marriage-supper of the Lamb." He may have no 
 
358 THE PARABLES UNFOLDED. 
 
 companions now, but angels minister to him as one of the 
 heirs of salvation, the Holy Ghost dwells in his heart as a 
 Comforter; Christ is to him "a friend that sticketh closer 
 than a brother;" and, from the lowest deep of earthly 
 abasement, he can look up to God, and say, " Abba, 
 Father." Therefore, to all the depressed and humbled 
 Christians, we say, in the words of the once lowly and 
 despised, but now glorious and exalted Saviour, " look up, 
 and lift up your heads ; for your redemption draweth nigh." 
 And finally, this parable teaches that our eternal future 
 corresponds to our earthly character. We enter the world 
 of spirits with precisely the same moral feelings with which 
 we leave this. " As the tree falls, so it lies." He that at 
 death is sinful, will be sinful still. He that at death is 
 holy, will be holy still. This being the case, as God's 
 Word positively assures us, and there being guarantied to 
 us only the present moment of time in which to prepare 
 for this unending future, with how much emphasis should 
 this consideration speak to us of the necessity of making 
 immediate preparations to meet our God ! Before Him we 
 may be at any moment summoned. If called hence in an 
 unrepenting and unbelieving state, we shall enter that 
 unseen world only to spend an eternity amidst the tor- 
 ments of the lost, with an impassable gulf between us and 
 the land of bliss. An "impassable gulf!" No passing 
 now ! no passing ten thousand ages hence ! no passing for 
 ever ! Once " in hell, lifting up our eyes in torment," and 
 we are there for ever ; for though there is remorse in hell. 
 
DIVES AND LAZARUS. 359 
 
 though there is sorrow there, though there is weeping and 
 wailing there, there is no repentance there, no faith there, 
 no Saviour there ! 
 
 Now, there is mercy and forgiveness; now, the blood-filled 
 fountain is open ; now, the arms of Jesus are outstretched 
 to receive us ; now, the Spirit pleads and moves upon our 
 hearts; now, the instrumentalities of grace are freely 
 offered. Seize them now, " for now is the accepted time ; 
 now is the day of salvation." 
 
% Stmt giqjpft. 
 
THE MARRIAGE OF THE KING'S SON: THE 
 GREAT SUPPER. 
 
 " The kingdom of heaven is like unto a certain king, which made a marriage for 
 his son, and sent forth his servants to call them that were bidden to the wedding : 
 and they would not come. Again, he sent forth other servants, saying, Tell them 
 which are hidden, Behold, I have prepared my dinner ; my oxen and my fatlings are 
 killed, and all things are ready, come unto the marriage. But they made light of 
 it, and went their ways, one to his farm, another to his merchandise : and the 
 remnant took his servants, and entreated them spitefully, and slew them. But 
 when the king heard thereof, he was wroth : and he sent forth his armies, and 
 destroyed those murderers, and burned up their city. Then saith he to nis servants, 
 The wedding is ready, but they which were bidden were not worthy. Go ye there- 
 fore into the highways, and as many as ye shall find, bid to the marriage. So those 
 servants went out into the highways and gathered together all, as many as they 
 found, both bad and good : and the wedding was furnished with guests. And when 
 the king came in to see the guests, he saw there a man which bad not on a wedding- 
 garment : and he saith unto him, Friend, how earnest thou in hither, not having a 
 wedding-garment? And he was speechless. Then said the king to the servants, 
 Bind him hand and foot, and take him away, and cast him into outer darkness ; 
 there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. For many are called, but few are 
 chosen." Matt. xxii. 1-14. 
 
 " A certain man made a great supper, and bade many : and sent his servant at 
 supper-time to say to them .that were bidden, Come ; for all things are now ready. 
 And they all with one consjnt began to make excuse. The first said unto him, I 
 have bought a piece of ground, and I must needs go and see it : I pray thee have 
 me excused. And another said, I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I go to 
 prove them : I pray thee have me excused. And another said, I have married a 
 wife ; and therefore I cannot come. So that servant came, and showed his lord 
 these things. Then the master of the house, being angry, said to his servant, Go 
 out quickly into the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in hither the poor, and 
 
 868 
 
364 THE PARABLES UNFOLDED. 
 
 the maimed, and the halt, and the blind. And the servant said, Lord, it is done as 
 thou hast commanded, and yet there is room. And the Lord said unto the servant, 
 Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house 
 may be filled. For I say unto you, that none of those men which were bidden, shall 
 taste of my supper." Luke xiv. 16-24. 
 
 WE have placed these two parables together, because, 
 though uttered at different times, and designed ori- 
 ginally for different purposes, they have such a general 
 unity of structure, similitude, and interpretation, that for 
 all practical purposes they may be regarded and unfolded 
 as one. 
 
 It is peculiarly interesting to observe the rich and 
 attractive drapery in which our Lord clothes His doctrines. 
 He presents before the mental eye that which is usually full 
 of joy, " a great supper ;" that which is overflowing w T ith 
 gladness, " a marriage feast :" and, that the attractions might 
 be heightened by the splendour of wealth and the pomp of 
 station, He introduces royalty itself — a King preparing a 
 bridal entertainment "for his son," — thus taking the 
 highest banquet of earth, to shadow forth " the marriage 
 supper of the Lamb" in Heaven. 
 
 No people were more accustomed to make weddings 
 occasions of festivity, than the Orientals; for they cele- 
 brated the nuptials of sons and daughters with a display 
 and magnificence equal to their rank or wealth, extending 
 the festivities over several days : hence the Greek word 
 used here by St. Matthew, and translated " marriage," is 
 put in the plural number, because these feasts continued a 
 succession of days : as we learn from the direction of Laban 
 to Jacob, "Fulfil her week;" or keep her usual marriage 
 
THE MARRIAGE OF THE KING'S SON. 365 
 
 feast : and it is recorded of Sampson, that at his marriage he 
 " made a feast seven days ; for so used the young men to do :" 
 and the Rabbins inform us, that this seven days of feasting 
 was " a matter of indispensable obligation upon all married 
 men." It was customary also to celebrate the inauguration 
 of kings and sovereigns with feasts, similar to the wedding 
 banquets ; for on the day on which they assumed the 
 government of the land to which tbey succeeded, or were 
 appointed, the kings or rulers were considered as Sponsi et 
 Mariti ; as affianced or solemnly united to their country, — 
 which is therefore compared to a Sponsa or bride. 
 
 When Jesus Christ, therefore, was to enter upon His 
 mediatorial reign, God made a marriage feast at the 
 espousals of His Son with the Church, and set out the 
 banquet with the fat things of the Gospel of His grace. And 
 in this comparison there is much propriety ; for both the 
 old and new covenants are several times spoken of by Pro- 
 phets and Apostles, as marriage contracts between God and 
 His people. Indeed, of all human relationship, this is the 
 most frequently and the most elaborately used, to express 
 the oneness, intimacy, and affection that exists between 
 Christ and the Church. St. John introduces this figure 
 with great effect in his description of the future glory of 
 the Church : " And I heard," says he, " as it were the voice 
 of a great multitude, and as the voice of many waters, and 
 as the voice of mighty thunderings, saying, Alleluia : for 
 the Lord God Omnipotent reigneth. Let us be glad and 
 rejoice, and give honour to Him : for the marriage of the 
 Lamb is come, and His wife hath made herself ready. And 
 
366 THE PARABLES UNFOLDED. 
 
 to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine 
 linen, clean and white : for the fine linen is the righteous- 
 ness of saints." " Blessed are they which are called unto 
 the marriage supper of the Lamb." Well might there be 
 " a feast of fat things on God's holy mountain," when His 
 only begotten Son was espoused to the Church ; when he 
 took His earthly Zion to His bosom as His bride, and gave 
 to her the dowry of the Holy Ghost. 
 
 "When the banquet spoken of in the parables was pre- 
 pared, the servants, in both cases, were sent out to those 
 who had been previously "bidden," with the message, 
 "Come, for all things are now ready;" in accordance with 
 the oriental usage, by which the guests to a feast were 
 twice called ; first, invited some time before, that they 
 might prepare themselves; and secondly, summoned a short 
 time previous to the banquet, that they might be there in 
 season. 
 
 Thus were the Jews, to whom these parables were ad- 
 dressed, twice bidden to the Gospel feast ; first, by the pro- 
 phets, long before, and again, by Christ's apostles and disci- 
 ples, saying, in the name of their Lord and King, " Behold, 
 I have prepared my dinner; my oxen and fatlings are killed, 
 and all things are ready, come unto the marriage." The 
 message was urgent, ample, and seasonable, and we should 
 have supposed that it would at once have been responded 
 to with alacrity and gladness. On the contrary, however, 
 they to whom the message came " made light of it," and 
 " all, with one consent, began to make excuse," pleading 
 

 THE MARRIAGE OF THE KING'S SON. 367 
 
 the most trivial affairs as a reason for slighting both the 
 entertainer and the entertainment. 
 
 What though one had " bought a piece of ground ?" the 
 ground wag not a perishable, movable thing, that "he 
 must needs go and see it" now. It would lie in the same 
 situation and have the same quality of soil to-morrow that 
 it had to-day. 
 
 What though another had " bought five 3'oke of oxen ?" 
 he could test their strength and quality to-morrow as well 
 as now ; and it was not necessary therefore that he should 
 neglect the banquet to "go and prove them." 
 
 What though another had " married a wife ?" that could 
 not be plead in excuse for such unjustifiable neglect ; for 
 his wife was not given to him to enjoy only to-day, to be 
 removed to-morrow, but was his for a lifetime, and hence 
 he could the more easily spare a portion of time now, to 
 the calls of his lord and master. 
 
 There was neither validity nor force in any of these ex- 
 cuses ; and to the contempt and refusal of some was added 
 insult and murder by others ; " for the remnant," says one 
 of the parables, " took his servants, and entreated them spite- 
 fully, and slew them ;" which thing was true of the Jews, 
 who evil-entreated and slew, by cruel deaths, nearly all 
 the Apostles of our Lord. 
 
 These insults to his servants and murders of his mes- 
 sengers the king hears of with anger, but he lays aside his 
 revenge until the feast is over. 
 
 Resolved that the wedding and the supper which had 
 been prepared should be " furnished with guests," though 
 
308 THE PARABLES UNFOLDED. 
 
 those who were first bidden were unworthy, servants are 
 " sent out into the highways, the streets and lanes of the 
 city," who " gathered together all, as many as they found," 
 " the poor, and the maimed, and the halt, and the blind ;" 
 and thus " the wedding was furnished with guests." 
 
 This circumstance has been thought by some, unac- 
 quainted with oriental manners, unnatural and impro- 
 pable ; but ancient and modern writers unite to attest its 
 truthfulness. Dr. Pococke, a distinguished Eastern travel- 
 ler, says that " an Arab prince will often dine in the street, 
 before his door, and call to all that pass, even to beggars, 
 in the name of God, to come and sit down to his table ;" 
 and to this day, in several parts of Asia, it is as common 
 for a rich man or prince to give a feast to the poor, the 
 maimed, and the blind, as it is in Europe or America for 
 gentlemen to entertain those of their own rank or order. 
 
 Thus were the Gentiles, "the maimed, the halt, the 
 poor, and the blind," as the Jews esteemed them, called to 
 the Gospel feast, when their despisers, the Israelites, had 
 haughtily rejected the repeated invitations ; for Christ had 
 just before declared, "many shall come from the east and 
 from the west, and shall sit down with Abraham, and 
 Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of God ; but the children 
 of the kingdom shall be cast out." 
 
 As there was still " room," after many had been gathered 
 out of the streets and the lanes, the servant was com- 
 manded, "go out into the highways and hedges, and 
 compel them to come in, that my house may be filled." 
 
 Much and injurious stress has been laid upon the word 
 
THE MARRIAGE OF THE KING'S SON. 369 
 
 " compel," as though it were constraint under physical fear 
 or force. The word, it is true, may admit of that inter- 
 pretation', but it cannot mean here anything more than 
 that moral compulsion which results from the stress of 
 argument and the force of personal appeal ; because the 
 one servant to whom was given the direction, " compel 
 them to come in," could not by his personal power force, 
 against their will, a sufficient number of persons to occupy 
 the seats of so great a supper. It therefore means, an 
 internal constraint through the pressure of powerful 
 motives. 
 
 The invited guests having taken their places, the feast 
 proceeds. A circumstance, however, is brought out in the 
 parable of the Marriage Supper, which is of too much 
 practical importance to be overlooked. It is said, "And 
 when the king came in to see the guests, he saw there a 
 man which had not on a wedding garment ; and he said 
 unto him, Friend" (comrade, or companion, for the original 
 word does not imply affection and regard), "how earnest thou 
 in hither, not having a wedding garment ?" In all large 
 oriental weddings, the guests were expected to appear in 
 particular robes, generally white, which were furnished by 
 the master of the feast. This is an ancient custom, for we 
 find two instances mentioned by Homer, and it is also 
 alluded to by other classical writers. 
 
 It is well known that the wardrobes of the Eastern 
 nobles constitute an important part of their riches. Thus 
 Job, speaking of the wicked, says, " Though they heap up 
 
 silver as the dust, and prepare raiment as the clay." Diodo- 
 24 
 
370 THE PARABLES UNFOLDED. 
 
 rus Siculus, in his 13th Book, gives an account of the hos 
 pitality of Gellius the Sicilian, who at one time, when five 
 hundred horsemen were driven by a storm to take refuge 
 with him, supplied them all with clothes. When Lucullus, 
 the rich Roman general, was asked if he could furnish a 
 hundred chlamydes (short military cloaks) for the theatre, 
 he replied that he could send five thousand. We may, there- 
 fore, naturally enough suppose that this king, having invited 
 guests to his feast from the highways and hedges, would 
 order his servants to see them all properly clad out of his 
 own wardrobe, that they might be not only cleanly in their 
 apparel, but also, being dressed alike, might all feel them- 
 selves on one level, and thus avoid those distinctions which 
 difference of garments so often makes. 
 
 Not to have a wedding garment was, therefore, a mark 
 of disrespect to the host, to the feast, and to the guests. 
 Indulging these feelings of hatred, and manifesting them 
 by an open refusal to appear in the prescribed dress, it is 
 not to be wondered at that, when confronted with the king 
 and questioned by him as to his appearance, the man should 
 be "speechless," — that conscious guilt should muzzle his 
 mouth with shame, for his conduct manifested a state of 
 mind and heart worthy of condign punishment; nor was it 
 long delayed, for the incensed king ordered his servants to 
 " bind him hand and foot, and cast him into outer dark- 
 ness," beyond the glare and lights of the halls and courts ; 
 where, instead of pleasure and delight, he should have 
 " wailing and gnashing of teeth," the fruits of a bitter but 
 unavailing sorrow. 
 
THE MAKRIAGE OF THE KING'S SON. 371 
 
 This wedding garment is, by some, regarded as faith, by 
 others, a holy life, but Calvin well says, " It is needlessly 
 contended, whether the wedding garment be faith or a 
 pious and holy life ; because, neither can faith be separated 
 from good works, nor are good works practicable without 
 faith. Christ, however, only meant that we must so 
 comply with the call of our Lord, as to be renewed in 
 spirit, after his image, remaining constantly in union with 
 him, that the old man, with his defilements, must be put 
 off, and the new life diligently applied to, by which means 
 our garment might become suitable to our honourable 
 calling,*' 
 
 In his Epistle to the Romans, St. Paul urges us " put ye 
 on the Lord Jesus Christ." This we are to do after having 
 cast off the works of darkness" — those deeds and thoughts 
 and feelings which belong to us in our carnal and benighted 
 state. These are the defiled garments of our depraved 
 nature ; but when, through the grace given unto us, we 
 cast these away and come to Christ, his language is, "Take 
 away the filthy garment from him ; behold, I have caused 
 thine iniquity to pass from thee, and I will clothe thee with 
 change of raiment ;" and that change of raiment is the 
 wedding garment of Christ's righteousness, seamless, spot- 
 less, which he gives to each believer, and in which alone 
 he can appear with acceptance before the Great King. 
 Thus arrayed, the devout soul can sing with the Prophet, 
 " I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, my soul shall be joyful 
 in my God : for he hath clothed me with the garments of 
 
372 THE PARABLES UNFOLDED. 
 
 salvation, he hath covered me with the robe of righteous- 
 ness." 
 
 We have reason to fear, however, that many who sit at 
 the earthly table of the Lord's House, are aptly represented 
 by the man " who had not on a wedding garment." They 
 have heard the invitation, they have gone in to the banquet, 
 but they went in the soiled and earth-stained garments of 
 their own morality, and never sought " to be clothed upon" 
 with that robe of righteousness which Christ bestows upon 
 all who come to him in true penitence and faith. The eye 
 of man cannot tell whether we are thus arrayed or not, but 
 when " the King comes in to see the guests," all shall be 
 revealed ; for, in the language of the Prophet Zephnniah, 
 " The Lord hath prepared a sacrifice, he hath bid his 
 guests ; and it shall come to pass in the day of the Lord's 
 sacrifice, that I will punish the princes and the king's 
 children, and all such as are clothed with strange apparel." 
 And what a startling question will that be, which the Lord 
 shall then put — " Friend," a seeming friend, because a 
 nominal companion, "how. earnest thou in" the Church and 
 at my table, "not having on the wedding garment?" You 
 cannot say that you did not need it, for God distinctly 
 says, " Without holiness, no man shall see the Lord." You 
 cannot say that it was not offered to you ; for it is freely 
 bestowed, yea, even pressed upon your acceptance by the 
 ministers of Christ. You cannot say that it will make no 
 difference whether I have one on or not, for it is emphati- 
 cally stated, that you can only secure the favour of God by 
 being thus robed in the garment of salvation. To the stern 
 
THE MARRIAGE OF THE KING'S SON. 373 
 
 interrogation of our Lord you, like the man in the parable, 
 will be " speechless." Your mouth will be muzzled with 
 shame, and your face covered with confusion, and you shall 
 be cast out into outer darkness, beyond the light and glory 
 of Heaven, into the blackness of eternal sorrow ; and there 
 you will be left to spend eternal ages, writhing under the 
 wrath of an angry God. 
 
 Have we this wedding garment? The hour is not far 
 distant when the King will u come in to see the guests ;" 
 are we prepared to meet his searching gaze by having put 
 on Christ, as "our wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctifi- 
 cation, and redemption ?" or have we been so careless, or 
 hypocritical, or unbelieving, as to neglect this only garment 
 of salvation, and thus procure for ourselves eternal banish- 
 ment from the presence of God ? 
 
 Ascending now from particular incidents to general 
 inferences, we remark that these parables illustrate three 
 important points, viz., the freeness and fulness of the Gos- 
 pel feast ; the perverseness of the human heart in making 
 light of and declining its invitations; and the righteous 
 vengeance which will overtake all impugners of God's 
 grace and mercy. 
 
 First, the freeness and fulness of the Gospel feast. 
 The Gospel offers everything for our spiritual wants and 
 appetites, and leaves unsatisfied no craving of the soul. 
 Are we weak in the faith, of feeble knees, and stammer- 
 ing tongues, " babes in Christ ?" here is found " the sincere 
 milk of the Word, that we may grow thereby." Are we 
 strong and masculine in our spiritual energies and capabili- 
 ties, with our " senses exercised to discern both good and 
 
374 THE PARABLES UNFOLDED. 
 
 evil ?" here is to be had " the strong meat" of doctrines and 
 mysteries. Are we crying out with one of old, " My lean- 
 ness ! my leanness !" here is that bread of life, and wine 
 of grace, that will make us muscular and robust in spirit- 
 ual health. Are we "hungering and thirsting after right- 
 eousness ?." our souls " shall be satisfied as with marrow 
 and fatness ;" every holy appetite shall be appeased, for at 
 the fable of the Lord are found those memorials of dying 
 love, of which whosoever eateth in faith, does, in the 
 language of the martyr Latimer, " Eat with the mouth of 
 his soul, and drink with the stomach of his soul, the body 
 of Christ." This is bringing us to a more than angels 
 banquet, and feeding us on more than angels' food." 
 
 And to this " feast of fat things," which Gocl has spread 
 upon His holy mountain, the Church, all are invited. 
 God has sent out His servants, His ministers, to summon 
 all to this marriage supper of the Lamb, and the invitation, 
 runs in these words : " Ho, every one that thirsteth, come 
 ye to the waters, and he that hath no money, come ; yea, 
 buy wine and milk, without money and without pricey" 
 " Come, for all things are ready ;" " And the Spirit and the 
 Bride say, Come, and whosoever will, let him come, and take 
 of the water of life freely," for the assurance of the Bride- 
 groom is, " Him that cometh unto me I will in no wise 
 cast out." Nothing can be more full and free than the 
 invitations of grace : God's ministers are commissioned to 
 go into all the world, to call men everywhere to repent- 
 ance, to offer pardon to the guiltiest, peace to the most 
 rebellious, mercy to the scarlet-dyed transgressor. 
 
THE MARRIAGE OF THE KING'S SON. 375 
 
 These free offers are made without any prerequisites on 
 our part of worth or merit. We are not to work out one 
 part of our salvation and expect Christ to do the rest. He 
 must save us wholly, or not at all. All that is required of 
 us is, to feel our sinfulness and our need of a Saviour, and 
 to take him as our alone Redeemer. He will work in and 
 with us to do the rest. These free offers of grace are made 
 in good faith on the part of God. He " is not a man that 
 he should lie." He is not a deceiver, promising much and 
 fulfilling little. " Hath he said it, and shall He not do it ? 
 Hath he spoken, and shall it not come to pass ?" " Heaven 
 and earth," he says, " shall pass away, but my word shall 
 not pass away." So that we may rely with the most im- 
 plicit trust in the free salvation offered to us by our Lord 
 and Saviour Jesus Christ. These offers of grace are also 
 as full as they are free. They cover all sins, for " the blood 
 of Jesus Christ cleanseth from all sin ;" they extend to all 
 our spiritual needs, for Christ Jesus " is of God made unto 
 us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and re- 
 demption ;" they leave nothing to be supplied by human 
 means or merit, for we " are complete" in Christ ; and they 
 open to us full and unending glories in the world to come, 
 for, once there, we " shall go no more out for ever." 
 
 Secondly. We might suppose that offers of mercy thus free 
 and full would be accepted with delight, and that sin-bur- 
 dened men would hasten to embrace the salvation proffered 
 " without money and without price ;" but our experience 
 teaches just the reverse, for it is at this point that the per- 
 verseness and depravity of the human mind manifest them- 
 
376 THE PARABLES UNFOLDED. 
 
 selves, in making light of and declining these invitations. 
 Of the great majority of those to whom the Gospel invita- 
 tion come, may it be said, that they either "make light of 
 it," or else " with one consent begin to make excuse." That 
 which is the most pressing want of their souls for time and 
 for eternity, that which involves the highest interests of their 
 moral natures, is made to occupy a subordinate place, or, 
 too often, no place at all ; while the farm, the merchandise, 
 the cares of the family, things fleeting in themselves and 
 comparatively of small value, are permitted to take an ab- 
 sorbing precedence. This is virtually saying that God's 
 estimate of the soul and sin and salvation is wrong, and 
 ours right ; and thus, acting according to the counsel of our 
 own minds and the deceitfulness of our own hearts, we 
 reject the overtures of grace, and continue on in sin and 
 unbelief. Such a charge may shock the sensibilities of 
 some, and they may deny that they are guilty of making 
 light of the invitations of grace, or of excusing themselves 
 from attendance on the Gospel feast. 
 
 It is true that you may not have made a mock of the 
 truth, or openly scoffed at the ministers of God, or laughed 
 at the ordinances of the Church ; you may, on the con- 
 trary, regard the Bible with profound respect, and reve- 
 rence His servants and His sanctuary with many kindly 
 demonstrations. When the Sabbath .bell rings out its call 
 to prayer, you may bend your head in worship ; when the 
 organ peal fills the vaulted roof, you may lift up your 
 voice in the swelling chant ; when the ambassador for 
 Jesus proclaims the truths of salvation, you may listen 
 
THE MARRIAGE OF THE KING'S SON. 877 
 
 "' as unto a very lovely song of one that hath a pleasant 
 voice, and can play well upon an instrument;" so that 
 throughout your external conduct there shall be visible no 
 impropriety of word or deed; and yet, after all this, you 
 may be fully obnoxious to the charge of the text. We 
 can illustrate this proposition by a single supposable case : 
 — You are sick ; a physician has been called in, and after 
 due examination of your symptoms, he has left certain 
 prescriptions, which he assures you will relieve your dis- 
 ease. Your common sense, your experience, your judg- 
 ment, confirm his words; but, in spite of all this, you 
 refuse to follow his directions. You do not laugh at them, 
 the matter is too serious ; you do not scoff at them, for 
 your reason tells you that they are proper remedials; but 
 you do not take the required medicines. On repeating his 
 visit, the physician finds you no better ; and learning that 
 you had refused to take his prescriptions, he tells you he 
 is sorry that you " made light" of them. " Oh, no, sir," 
 you reply, "I did not make light of them — I did not 
 laugh at them or turn them into derision — I doubt not 
 that they are very valuable." " But," interrupts the phy- 
 sician, " did you follow my directions ?" " Why, no, sir, I 
 did not." " And does not this simple refusal to do as I 
 directed," he might say, " show that you make light of 
 them — that you do not prize them ? Is it not treating me 
 with the most practical levity and slight ?" 
 
 The Great Physician of Souls has come to you and 
 found you languishing under the disease of sin. " The 
 whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint." He comes 
 
378 THE PARABLES UNFOLDED. 
 
 to you with the Balm of Gilead, and tells you what will 
 cure your dreadful malady. His prescriptions commend 
 themselves to your reason, judgment, and conscience. 
 You will die unless you conform to His directions; yet 
 day after day you hesitate, you put off compliance, refusing 
 to take that which will make you morally sound and 
 healthful in the sight of God. Is not this making light 
 of Christ in a manner insulting to Him and ruinous to 
 your own soul ? Nothing can be plainer than the proposi- 
 tion, that we make light of that which is worthy of being 
 received, and which it is important for us to receive, when 
 we do not receive it into good and honest hearts. What 
 more worthy of our reception than the offers of grace in 
 Christ Jesus ? What more important to our eternal inter- 
 ests ? Yet, not accepting them, not providing for our 
 souls' highest needs, we are in very truth making light of 
 them, to the peril of our souls. Should you, however, 
 instead of silently neglecting Christ, attempt with much 
 honeyed plausibility to excuse yourself from His service, 
 pleading your daily cares and domestic duties in extenua- 
 tion, your condition would not be much better. Excuse 
 yourself! to whom ? to God your Creator for not obeying 
 Him ! to Christ your Redeemer for not loving Him ! to the 
 Holy Ghost the Sanctifier for doing despite unto His prof- 
 fered Grace! Excuse yourself! from what? from the 
 service of God ! from union with Christ! from the renew- 
 ing of the Holy Spirit! from peace of mind! from joy ot 
 heart ! from hope of heaven ! from eternal life ! Excuse 
 yourself! for what? for a few days' continuance in sin! 
 

 THE MARRIAGE OF THE KING'S SON. 379 
 
 for the fear of sneering friends ! for the dread of coming 
 out from the world ! for lack of moral courage to acknow- 
 ledge yourself a sinner, needing salvation, and seeking it 
 where only it can be found, at the foot of the cross ! How 
 will such conduct appear in a dying hour, when the vani- 
 ties of the world are dissolving, and the realities of eternity 
 rising into view ? How will it appear at the judgment 
 seat of Christ, before those open books, and that great 
 white throne, and the once rejected Saviour, then sitting 
 there in His divine glory? God inviting! man making 
 light of the invitation ! this is a. wonder hitherto unheard 
 of in the moral universe 
 
 Thirdly, we notice the righteous vengeance which will 
 overtake those who make light of the invitation, and 
 excuse themselves from the feast. 
 
 In the parable of the Marriage of the King's Son, it is 
 said, that when the king heard of the rejection of his 
 invitation, " he was wroth, and he sent forth his armies, 
 and destroyed those murderers, and burned up their city ;" 
 in evident allusion to the fate that befell Jerusalem, where 
 these very things came to pass. In the parable of the Great 
 Supper, the master of the feast declared, " None of those 
 men. that were bidden shall taste of my supper;" while he 
 who neglected to put on the wedding garment was " cast into 
 outer darkness." All these are figurative illustrations of 
 God's wrath against the deliberate and wanton rejecters of 
 the Lord Jesus; and they indicate the positive determination 
 of the Most High, that He " will not in anywise clear the 
 guilty." As a God of holiness, He must, by the very neces- 
 
880 THE PARABLES UNFOLDED. 
 
 sities of His nature, punish sin as long as sin exists. This 
 punishment of sin must also be commensurate with the 
 greatness of the sin ; and though, in one sense, all sins are 
 great, because. committed against a great God, and because 
 they are violations of a great law ; yet there is a grade in 
 transgressions, rising in degrees of guilt from the simplest 
 thought of evil to the sin against the Holy Ghost, which, 
 our Lord says, shall never be forgiven. We cannot classify 
 our sins, because we do not know their real malignity or 
 influence j yet we can easily see that transgressions such 
 as are implied in making light of Christ, and refusing the 
 overtures of grace, must be very, grievous, and must evoke 
 severe vengeance. And what we thus argue on principles 
 of ordinary reason, the Bible declares, by setting forth in 
 language of the most vivid and decided kind, the greatness 
 and the woe of those who thus draw upon themselves swift 
 destruction. 
 
 But we turn from the consideration of these mournful 
 yet impressive truths, to listen for a moment to a voice 
 which speaks to us in one of the parables, uttering the 
 sweet invitation, "Come, for all things are now ready!" 
 It is the voice of mercy, speaking from the very throne of 
 God. It is a voice calling to each sin-stricken heart in 
 tones of comfort, for it is full of promise, hope, and joy. 
 It tells us that " all things are now ready" on Earth. The 
 incarnation, crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension of 
 Christ, by which atonement was made for sin, and death 
 and the grave stripped of their victories, have taken place, 
 and their blessed results are now ready to be applied to the 
 
THE MARRIAGE OF THE KING'S SON. 381 
 
 hearts and consciences of men. The Church on earth is 
 ready to embrace you ; the earthly ministers of Christ are 
 waiting to receive you; the ordinances of grace are ready 
 for your participation ; so that in every particular we can 
 say, "all things" on earth "are ready; come unto the 
 marriage." 
 
 This blessed voice also tells us, " Come, for all things 
 are now ready" in Heaven. Christ has swoing open to us 
 its long-closed door; and, having gone before to prepare 
 the way, has fitted up those mansions in His Father's 
 house, destined for the occupation of believers. Every- 
 thing is prepared in heaven ; angels wait there to receive 
 us ; the spirits of the just watch for our coming ; the gates 
 of pearl are opened to admit us; the harp, and crown, 
 and robe, and palm-branch are made ready for our use ; 
 the marriage supper is already spread out beneath the 
 sunless sky of glory; so that, in every particular, we can 
 say, " all things" in lieaee>: *' >n^ r«-ady, come unto the mar- 
 riage." 
 
 And with this invitation there is also coupled the 
 assurance, " and yet there is room." . There is room 
 in the Church for more disciples ; there is room in the 
 mercy of God for the very chief of sinners ; there is 
 room in the blood-filled Fountain of Salvation for multi- 
 tudes more of the vile and the degraded ; there is room 
 in the grace of the Holy Ghost for all classes, ages, 
 sexes, stations, climes, and kindred ; there is room in 
 Heaven ; the number of its inhabitants is not yet com- 
 pleted ; its " many mansions" are not yet all occupied ; its 
 
382 THE PARABLES UNFOLDED. 
 
 wardrobe of wedding garments is not yet exhausted : and 
 not only room in Heaven, but welcomes; and not only 
 welcomes, but anthems of joy, as one after another shall 
 come from the North and from the South, from the East 
 and from the West, and sit down, with Abraham and Isaac 
 and Jacob, to the marriage supper of the Lamb. If we 
 perish now, after this full and free provision, the fault is 
 all our own ; for God still says to us in His holy Word, 
 "Come, for all things are ready;" come, for "yet there is 
 room." 
 
 THE END. 
 
 
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