it speaks alike to men at all times, and every age, and all persons are alike concerned in the instruction it holds forth to us, and alike called upon to make their own advantage of it. For instance; in the parable we have now been hearing, Christ speaks particularly to, and of the Jews, and of the destruction which was coming upon them for slighting all the means which God had used for their reformation; ill treating and persecuting the messengers he sent to them from time to time, and, at last, filling up the measure of their iniquities by killing his Son. Now, if you should ask, what is this parable to us, and how are we concerned in it? I would desire you to observe and consider what instruction an attentive, serious reader of Scripture would draw from it, and how we may all make it profitable to our own souls. Were the Jews favoured of God more than any other nation; received into covenant with him as his own people; living under his immediate government and protection; and heirs of his promises? And was the threatening we here read of," that on whomsoever the stone should fall "it would grind him to powder," more especially levelled against them, and not many years after actually executed upon them, in the sorest judgments that ever befel any people? O Christian, "if God spared not the natural "branches, take heed lest he also spare not thee." Here is a terrible warning to all flesh. Wherever sin is found, the nature of it is to give us up to destruction. For God hates it alike in all persons and places: and in vain do we boast ourselves in the name of Jesus, and expect favour at the hands of God, on account of our baptism and Christian profession, if we do not make it good by the purity of our lives. We cannot be more his people than the Jews were; and for the same reason that he punished them, we may be sure he will reject us, when

ever, by our sins, we provoke his displeasure, and render ourselves unworthy of his mercy.

Consider, therefore, what you read, and learn from this example, that no profession, name, or outward privileges, will be your security in the day of judgment; but, instead thereof, an aggravation of your sin and punishment, if you continue unreformed, and abuse the advantages which God has put in your power. And if you are a conscientious reader of Scripture, and receive it as the word and testimony of God, you will look narrowly at this parable, and ask yourself, as you will answer it to your soul, whether the whole, or any part of it, belongs to you. The vineyard was the Jewish then, is now the Christian church, planted by God, and put into a condition of bearing fruit. Think, O man, whoever thou art that hearest this, has God done all that was necessary, and more than thou couldest expect, to bring thee to a fruit-bearing state, and is the day coming when he will look for his fruit at thy hands? Has he not sent his messengers, his holy prophets and apostles, to thee? Have they not brought thee light from heaven, delivered to thee all that was put into their hearts, and made known to thee the will of God for thy salvation, and is not thy minister appointed to bring it continually to thy remembrance? Is not the book of Scripture, which thou hast in thy hands, an account of what God has been doing in the world, from the beginning of it, for the recovery of lost mankind? Is not the Lord Jesus Christ, his only Son, therein revealed to thee as thy Saviour, to purge thy sins with his own blood, to set thee in the way of life, to bring thy straying heart back again to God, and make thee a new creature fit for heaven? I say, bethink yourselves what effect all this has had upon your souls. Do you reverence the Son? Is Christ precious

to you? Have you fruit for him? Do you pray? Do you hear him with deep attention, speaking to you in his word? Do you receive it with great thankfulness to God? Do you make it the guide of your consciences? Do you think it your bounden duty to live unto him that died for you? If you do not, but make little account of his bloodshedding and teaching, neither knowing what you want him for, nor blessing God for him, nor desiring his salvation, nor choosing to be governed by him; I must tell you the truth, you are the same men, whatever else you do, whatever you may think of yourselves, and have the same hearts with those who said, "This is the heir; come, "let us kill him." Beware, therefore, lest, by rejecting him in unbelief, or refusing his work, and having no fruit to show for yourselves, you read your doom in those words, "whosoever shall fall on this stone shall be "broken, and on whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind " him to powder." If Christ is not the rejoicing of your souls as your Saviour; sent of God to deliver you from the guilt and power of your sins; to take that burden from your consciences, and bear rule in your hearts, perceive and confess this day that the parable speaks to you; not to fret and harden yourselves against it, but to beseech God that it may be the opening of your eyes, and that you may make haste and escape for your lives; knowing that the time is coming on apace, when the Lord of the vineyard will require an account of what we have all been doing in it, and render to every man according to his work.

PRAYER.

O Lord, who hast called us to the knowledge of thy grace and mercy in Jesus Christ; make us, we beseech thee, thy own people, in truth and purity, and grant that we may give all diligence to make our calling and election

sure, by living unto him that died for us. From all blindness and hardness of heart, good Lord, deliver us, and enable us this day, and all the days of our lives, to search and examine ourselves by the doctrine of thy holy word. Let thy light and thy truth, which thou hast sent down from above, guide our feet into the way of peace; and as thou hast given us thy only Son to be a sacrifice of atonement for all our sins, give us grace to receive him in all his offices, as our Saviour, Teacher, and Lawgiver; that, rejoicing in thy salvation, we may have our fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life, for the sake, and through the alone merits of the same Jesus Christ, our blessed Mediator and Redeemer. Amen.

SECTION XLIX.

ST. MATTHEW, xxii. 2.

THE kingdom of heaven, &c.-In its present state, as beginning here upon earth, though ending in heaven, considered with respect to our entrance into it, continuance and improvement in it now whilst we live..

-Which made a marriage for his Son.-Believers know how to conceive of this from other parts of Scripture, as a strict marriage with the King's son, the Lord Jesus Christ, in which we are one flesh, and one spirit with him: and, in virtue of this union, received to a full participation of his merits and perfect righteousness, brought into a fruit-bearing state, and live in subjection to him as our Lord and Husband.

Ver. 3. To call them that were bidden.-The Jews. It was the will of God that they, as the seed of Abraham, and his covenanted people, should be first invited. But you will perceive in what follows, that we are now invited

as well as they; and, therefore, in the opening of the parable, must apply every part of it to ourselves. Blessed be God, all are bidden. You have your call in these words, this very hour, to the marriage; that is, as you have heard, to be joined in marriage with Christ, that he may take us, with our sins, to himself, and we may take him to purge the guilt, and deliver us from the power of sin, and present us to God in himself.

And they would not come.

man's damnation-an opposing will.

See here the cause of

Ver. 4. Behold, I have prepared my dinner. It is of God's preparing, and salvation is freely offered to us. Behold, also, the riches of God's patience and forbearance; and how he allures us, by setting before us the plenty of good things he has provided. We might be ashamed to refuse his first invitation; let us not harden ourselves against a second. We should come at once, if he called us to nothing else but oxen and fatlings.

-All things are ready. The Saviour, in all his offices, always; peace with God, rest for the soul in his favour, and newness of life by the Spirit.

Come unto the marriage. - Think who says, Come, and to what grace and mercy you are invited. Think you hear this voice now from heaven, and that you may never hear it again. Are you come? If you are not, and will not, what further proof do you need of the desperate wickedness, and natural aversion of your heart from God?

Ver. 5. But they made light of it, &c.-Merchandise, and the farm, must not be neglected. The Scripture is as much for honest industry as any book in the world. Nevertheless, the preferring of any thing to God, to our interest in Christ, and the grace of the Gospel, is a damnable state, and a great part of mankind are ruined by the necessary business of the world. You think,