worse than before, seven times; which circum stance will be particularly described in notes on Luke xvi. last paragraph.

ILLUSTRATION.

It is generally understood that the Saviour pointed to a future state of endless punishment, when he said, "the last state of that man is worse than the first. Even so shall it be unto this wick ed generation." This is supposing that Christ, at that time, judged and condemned that generation to a state of endless misery. Yet this same divine teacher says, "For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved." It is evident that if Christ condemned that generation in the sense above stated, he condemned it so as to render it impossible for him to do what God sent him to do, namely, to SAVE, and not CONDEMN. The mistake which has been made by supposing that the Savieur alluded to a future state of endless misery, in those passages where he speaks of the situation. into which the Jews would be immediately brought, has given a general character to the preaching of the christian clergy, which is very different from the ministry of reconciliation. There is a passage in the 13th of St. Luke, which has been made frequent use of in the way of the above named mistake, and if it were not for the special demands of christian charity, it would be next to impossible to believe those sincere who so misapply that text. It reads as follows: "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, which killest the prophets, and stonest them that are sent unto thee; how often would I have gathered thy children together, as a hen doth gather

her brood under her wings, and ye would not! Behold, your house is left unto you desolate :" At this colon it is customary to stop short, and apply the text to the eternal destruction of the inhabitants of Jerusalem, accompanying the application with an animadversion on the conduct of the Jews, by which they justly merited such punishment. However, the conclusion of the verse fully refutes such an application, and renders those who make the mistake as destitute of an excuse, at least, as the Jews were who denied Christ. See the text: "And verily I say unto you, ye shall not see me, until the time come when ye shall say, blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord." This precious prophecy, because it contains a declaration of mercy to the blinded house of Israel, is as much neglected by teachers in general, as the Saviour was by those to whom this merciful prophecy was spoken. The prayer of our Saviour on the cross is a complete refutation of all the arguments which are made use of to prove the sins of the Jews, in rejecting Christ, UNPARDONABLE, as is generally represented. "Father, forgive them,. for they know not what they do." Who were those who knew not what they did? See the answer in Acts xiii. 27, 28, 29. "For they that dwell at Jerusalem, and their rulers, because they knew him not, nor yet the voices of the prophets which are read every sabbath day, they have fulfilled them in condemning him. And though they. found no cause of death in him, yet desired they Pilate that he should be slain. And when they had fulfilled all that was written of him, they took him down from the tree, and laid him in a sepul chre,"

If the Saviour had before judged those people to an endless state of punishment, or had represented their sins as unpardonable, where is the propriety of his praying to his Father, in the hour of his death, to forgive them? Here was a glorious display of the power of that love which triumphed over sin and death in the person of Jesus. How contrary is it to the very spirit of the gospel, to suppose that the sin of the Jews triumphed over the love of him who died for them, and prayed his Father to forgive them? Can we reasonably suppose that this prayer was contrary to the will of God in the plan of grace? Will it do to conclude that Jesus made this prayer without faith? The plain fact is, the common opinion makes the death of Christ void, makes his prayer void, makes his faith void, and, in a word, makes his gospel void. Hence it is evident that we ought to be cautious not to explain the scriptures in such a way as to confound them, or to contradict the grand design of the gospel dispensation. We ought to ⚫ remember and keep it in mind, that God will never suffer any opposition to his gospel, to defeat his own plan of divine grace.

PARABLE XIII.

Another parable put he forth unto them, saying, The king. dom 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 ap. peared 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.”

MAT. xiii, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30.

THE reader, by casting an eye on the preceding paragraphs of this chapter, will find the above text introduced by an explanation of a preceding parable, in which a sower is represented sowing his seed; the seed falling in different situations and on different grounds, &c. Different effects were the consequence, as is shown in the accurate explanation. Christ then goes on to give further intimations of what would happen, or come to pass, likening his kingdom, in the gospel dispensa tion, as follows: 1st. Himself, a sower of good seed. 2d. The word of the kingdom, by good seed that was sown. 3d. Man to whom the gospel was preached, by a field, whose owner is Christ. 4th. He foresheweth a declension in the religion which he was introducing, even a state of carelessness and inattention, by men sleeping

5th. The introduction of false doctrines into the church, is signified by an enemy's sowing tares 6th. He shows that falsehood among wheat. would be mixed with truth, in the understandings of christians, by the tares appearing among the wheat. 7th. The desire of professors of purging. false ideas and notions out of the church, is repre sented by servants asking leave to gather tares from among wheat. 8th. The unskilfulness of those professors, even all of those who vainly fancy themselves capable of purging Christendom of errors, is shown in the answer to the servants, "Nay; lest while ye gather up the tares, ye root up also the wheat with them." 9th. That it was

the will of the Saviour that false doctrines should be imbibed until their fruits should come to maturity, is shown in that he saith, "Let both grow together until the time of harvest." 10th. The close of the mediatorial kingdom is represented by a harvest, or (as in the explanation of this parable by Christ himself) the end of the world; the word world having the same signification as that. of kingdom in the text. 11th. An all glorious. manifestation of the gospel of reconciliation in its divine purity through the ministry of the servants of the Lord, is represented by reapers sent forth, which reapers, or angels, (as in the explanation) signify to us the faithful laborers whom the Lord of the harvest will send forth into his plenteous harvest. I view them by an eye of faith; my eyes are greatly satisfied, and my heart leapeth for joy: O my God, make me more like them. The time is coming, when the Lord will make his angels messengers, and his ministers a flaming fire indeed; when Zion's watchmen shall see eye