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purpose of impreffing religious truth. When he fpoke the words which have been recited, he was fitting at meat at the table of a wealthy Pharifee. From the antecedent part of the chapter it appears that he had already taken occafion twice, from incidents which occurred at this entertainment, to deliver an important leffon to thofe who were present. First; in reproving the pride which impelled them eagerly to contend for the places accounted the most honourable; he taught the excellence of humility in the fight of men as well as of God. And afterwards, he admonished them not to be anxious, when they prepared a dinner or a fupper, to affemble their opulent relations and neighbours, in order that they might be themselves invited to feafts in return: but rather to call to their table the poor, the blind, and the diftreffed, from whom they could look for no retribution, that God, the friend of the wretched, might blefs them, and recompence them at the refurrection of the juft. A perfon of the company was forcibly ftruck with these discourses; and exclaimed, Blessed is he that fhall eat bread in the kingdom of God: bleffed is he who fhall be received as an affociate of the promised Redeemer; and after having been admitted as a member of his kingdom O 2 upon

upon earth, shall finally become a partaker of the glories and happiness of heaven. Whether this man believed Jefus Chrift to be the promised Redeemer is very doubtful. Our Lord however replied to the obfervation by a parable: in which he predicted that numbers, who profeffed a zealous defire to hear and obey the gospel, would difregard and reject it when preached to them; and would prefer the purfuits of the prefent world to the falvation of their fouls. A certain man, faid he, made a great fupper, and bade many. God has prepared a glorious kingdom for those who fhall embrace and ftedfaftly obey the gofpel of his Son; and has invited all the human race to participate in its bleffings. And he fent bis fervant at fupper time, to fay to them that were bidden, Come: for all things are now ready. At the period ordained from eternity Jefus Chrift appeared upon earth, and preached the gofpel to the Jews. After his afcenfion he preached it by his disciples to many other nations. At this day he preaches it by his minifters to you, and to millions in various parts of the world. now invites you, as in former ages he invited the Jews and the Gentiles, to come unto Him for falvation; and encourages you with the affurance that you cannot be more folicitous

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to ask than he is to beftow. How did the Jews, to whom the offer was first made, receive it? They all with one confent began to make excufe. The first faid, I have bought a piece of ground, and I must needs go and fee it. I pray thee have me excufed. And another faid, I have bought five joke of oxen, and I go to prove them. I pray thee have me excufed. And another faid, I have married a wife: and therefore I cannot come. The nature of thefe excufes will be examined hereafter. At present it is fufficient to observe that all the reft who were invited had their pretences ready, fome of one kind, fome of another, for not going to the feaft. All began to make excufe, So that fervant came, and fhewed his Lord thefe things. Then the mafter of the house, being angry, faid to his fervant: Go out quickly into the streets and lanes of the city; and bring in hither the poor and the maimed, and the halt and the blind. The Jews refused to receive Jefus Chrift; and completed their guilt by crucifying him. The anger of God was kindled. He caft them off from being his people. He com manded the minifters of his word to go forth, and to preach the gospel to the Gentiles: to the nations whom the Jews abhorred as outcafts from the divine mercy; whom they beheld with an eye of fuperiority not lefs contemp03

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tuous than that with which the poor, the halt, and the blind, if ftationed as guests at the ta ble, would have been viewed by the proudest of those originally invited to the feaft. Still however the gueft-chamber was not full, The fervant faid; Lord, it is done as thou haft commanded; and yet there is room. And the Lord faid unto the fervant; Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, by urgent importunity and perfuafion constrain them to enter, that my house may filled. For I fay unto you, that none of those men which were bidden fhall tafte of my fupper. Though the apoftles preached the Christian religion with great fuccefs among many nations of the Gentiles, both in Afia and Europe, and alfo in fome of the coafts of Africa; yet the kingdom of heaven was not replenished with inhabitants, nor was the mercy of God exhaufted. He has therefore continued during more than feventeen hundred years to provide a conftant fupply of minifters of his gofpel; and to fend them forth even to the moft diftant corners of the earth, and to perfons funk in the loweft ftate of ignorance and wretchednefs, with the kindeft offers to every man of falvation through faith in the Lord Jefus, and with the most urgent invitations to accept it. And we know from the certain de

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clarations of prophecy, that he will graciously perfevere, until the clofe of all things, to invite by his messengers all mankind to repent and believe; and that all the kingdoms of this world Shall become the kingdoms of our Lord and of his Chrift. We know that at last even the Jews themselves fhall look on Him whom their forefathers pierced; that they fhall mourn with the deepest humiliation and anguish for the crucifixion of the great Redeemer; and with contrite hearts and faith unfeigned shall embrace the gofpel, and fhall again be received as the people of God. But those who deny the Lord of glory, thofe who flight his offers of falvation, fhall neither be admitted into his church on earth, nor into the glorious inheritance which he has prepared beyond the grave for his ferv

ants.

Such is the general import of this parable.. Let us fiudy through the bleffing of God to apply it to ourselves.

I. We learn in the firft place the guilt and the dreadful consequences of rejecting Christ; of refufing to believe his religion, or of believing without obeying it. Not one of those who were bidden fhall taste of my supper. When we had no claim to be delivered from

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