Num. XVIII. Matt. xxiv. 40, 41. Then shall two be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left. Two women shall be grinding at the mill; the one shall be taken, and the other left. That is, not arbitrarily, and without reason; but the wicked are severed from among the just. See Numbers XII. and XIII. Numb. XIX. Ver. 51. And shall cut him asunder, and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. I only observe, that this is agreeable to the rest of our Lord's representations of this matter. He is so far from giving any hint of any thing analogous to a state of probation, to be expected after the present, or of any likelihood of the repentance or recovery of the wicked, that he represents them, on the contrary, as utterly disabled; they are bound hand and foot, they are cut asunder, the talent originally intrusted to them is entirely taken away from them, and they are cast into outer darkness; expressions which, if they mean any thing, seem to insinuate, that they are laid under great disadvantages, (perhaps a total incapacity,) with regard to free agency, moral improvement, or any alteration whatever for the better, of their moral state and character. See Numbers XVI. XXI. Num. XX. Matt. xxv. 10, 11, 12. 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 vir gins, saying, Lord, Lord, open to us. But he answered and said, Verily I say unto you, I know you not. Nothing can be plainer than it is from these words, and the drift and design of the parable to which they belong, that when the righteous are entered into the kingdom of heaven, and the door is shut, all after-thought or application of the wicked for admission will be in vaino. This is no incidental part of the parable, but the direct instruction which it conveys; and on which the practical direction, ver. 13, is founded: Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh. What state awaits them, or what place is prepared for them, after this exclusion, we must learn as we can from other places; but from this it is plain enough, that it is not that state and place which they that are ready enter into, with the bridegroom, distinguished by the name of the kingdom of heaven. Mr. W. makes an observation from this parable, of which, though not directly to the point in hand, it may not be improper to take some notice. "It is "not," he says, " to be quite overlooked, that our "Saviour himself, in the latter part of his ministry, "intimates to us, that the number of good men was "hardly then inferior to that of the bad; I mean in "the parable of the ten virgins: five of which were "wise, and five were foolish." But the parable has no relation to the latter part of our Saviour's ministry, any further than it might be spoke at that time; but relates to the day of judgment: Then • Vid. Theophyl, in loc. P P. 118. shall the kingdom of heaven be likened, &c. ver. 1. That is, at the day of judgment, as appears from the connexion with the last chapter, and from what follows in this. If therefore any conclusion can be drawn from hence, about the equal number of good men that will obtain salvation, Mr. W. has hurt his own argument. For it is a much more considerable point gained, to have an equal number of good men that will obtain salvation at the day of judgment, than (in Judæa suppose) in the latter part of Christ's ministry. Indeed, if we may argue in this manner, there is another parable which opens to us a still more comfortable scene than this; in the parable of the marriage of the king's son, when the king comes in to see the guests, he finds but one man among that great multitude, collected from hedges and highways, who had not on a wedding garment. Which intimates to us, according to Mr. W.'s way of reasoning in the other case, that the number of Christians who will obtain salvation will be in a vastly greater proportion than that of half. And God Almighty grant that they may! Vid. Hieron. in loc. Prudentem semper admoneo lectorem, ut non superstitiosis acquiescat interpretationibus, et quæ commatice pro fingentium dicuntur arbitrio: sed consideret priora, media, et sequentia; et nectat sibi universa, quæ scripta sunt. Ex hoc ergo quod infert; Vigilate, quia nescitis diem neque horam, intelliguntur universa, quæ dixit, id est, de duobus qui in agro sunt, et de duabus molentibus, et de patrefamilias qui servo suo credidit substantiam, et de decem Virginibus, ideo parabolas esse præmissas; ut quia ignoramus omnes judicii diem, solicite nobis lumen bonorum operum præparemus; ne dum ignoramus, Judex veniat. Num. XXI. Matt. xxv. 28, 29, 30. 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 shall 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. This parable appears to me to teach us very plainly two things of great moment in this debate; and which are indeed the main hinges on which it turns the one is, that the present life is a state of probation; the other, that this probation will be decisive and final. The first lies open to our experience, and wants no proof; but may be explained hereafter. The last is, in effect, what I am endeavouring to evince in the course of these pages. I have before observed, (see Num. IX.) that the time when the Lord cometh, and reckoneth with his servants, ver. 19, is the day of judgment. He then finds one, out of three, who, instead of trading with his talent, had hid it in the earth; that is, in the moral and application of the parable, had not made that use of this probationary state, and of the several powers, opportunities, and capacities (the sum of all which is represented by the talent) answerable and correspondent thereto, which he ought to have done. How now does his Lord decide in this affair? does he, on this fair occasion, give the most distant nint that he will bear any longer with him, that he will try him once more; or, because he has failed here, remove him to some more advantageous situation, where he may stand a better chance for improvement? Directly contrary; he takes the talent entirely from him; that is, the whole sum of his powers as a moral and free agent; and casts him into a place agreeable to this state of moral inactivity, without light or liberty, without motive, inducement, or example to grow better. Thus the case stands, as far as I can judge, upon the foot of this parable; especially in conjunction with other places and parables of the gospel. For this is the sole uniform view exhibited to us by Jesus Christ in all his representations of the nature and design of this world, and of human life, and of his kingdom, and of the transactions at the last day. And whoever directs the eyes of Christians to any false and flattering prospects, contrary to this, endeavours to fix them on a vision and spectre only of his own imagination, that has no support, that I know of, either in reason or the written word of God. pare Numbers XII. XIII. XVI. XIX. XX. Numb. XXII. Com Matt. xxv. 31, 32, 33, 34, 41, 46. When the Son of man In this clear, distinct, and full account of the pro- |