25. "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."

26. "The servant, therefore, fell down and worshipped him saying, Lord, have patience with me, and I will pay thee all."

27. "Then the lord of that servant was moved with compassion, and loosed him, and forgave him the debt."

28. "But the same servant went out, and found one of his fellow-servants which owed him an hundred pence: and he laid hands on him, and took him by the throat, saying, Pay me that thou owest." 29. "And his fellow-servant fell down at his feet and besought him, saying, Have patience with me, and I will pay thee all."

30. "And he would not; but went and cast him into prison, till he should pay the debt.”

31. "So, when his fellow-servants saw what was done, they were very sorry, and came and told unto their lord all that was done."

32. "Then his lord, after that he had called him, said unto him, O thou wicked servant! I forgave thee all that debt, because thou desiredst me:"

33. "Shouldest not thou also have had compassion on thy fellow-servant, even as I had pity on thee?"

34." And his lord was wroth, and delivered him to the tormentors, till he should pay all that was due unto him."

35. "So likewise shall my heavenly Father do also unto you, if ye from your hearts forgive not every one his brother their trespasses."

"Therefore is the kingdom of heaven," &c. By the kingdom of heaven, or kingdom of God, is sometimes meant, the dominion or reign of grace in the heart: "The kingdom of God is within you." Sometimes it signifies ultimate glory: "Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you before the foundation of the world." But here it signifies the gospel of Christ: "Go thou, and preach the kingdom of God." Go thou, and preach the gospel, or tidings, of the kingdom, the glory and majesty of the King of kings; set up his standard to rebels; enforce his laws; describe his throne; shew the dominion of his grace, his hereditary right to government; and proclaim his universal empire, and eternal reign; together with the real happiness of all his loyal subjects; the righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost, in which this kingdom consists; the honour and glory which are freely bestowed on all who come over to his standard, submit to his sceptre, take his yoke upon them, equip with his weapons, and, in his armour, engage in the fight of faith. "The kingdom of heaven"

"Is likened unto a certain king which would take account of his servants." The certain king is God the Saviour, who is king of Zion, and king of glory. By his servants are meant chiefly the

elect, who are called a seed that shall serve him; and shall be accounted to the Lord for a generation, Psalm xxii. 30. Some refuse his service, and continue to be the servants of sin; but, "The nation and kingdom that will not serve thee [Christ] shall perish; yea, those nations shall be utterly wasted,” Isa. lx. 12. But the elect are not left to their own will to make such a choice; they are made willing, in the day of his power, to cast off the yoke of sin and Satan, and to serve the Lord Christ; and they are to call no man Master but him; and those who serve him, them will the Father honour. Not but what all the human race are his servants, for he hath power over all flesh; and, though they reject his service, yet they are accountable to him, as their maker and preserver; and it is he who will pay them their wages for their bad service: "The wages of sin is death." But then, these are not meant here; for he will not call these to an account, or reckon with them, till the day of judgment. This king would

"Take an account of his servants." That is, he would bring them to books by the ministry of the word. When the book of the law is handled lawfully, its spiritual meaning discussed, and its vast demands enforced; if God send it with power to the sinner's heart, sin revives, and by the law sin becomes exceeding sinful, and the sinner himself appears a transgressor of every precept: this stops his mouth, and brings him in guilty before God. When the book of life is explained, and by

the Spirit of God applied, the sinner is brought in guilty of the damning sin of unbelief; and that, as an unbeliever, he makes God a liar: he appears a rebel against the king of Zion, a profaner of his name, an enemy to his religion, and a slighter and contemner of the offers of grace. When the book of God's remembrance is set forth, and that God will never forget any of their works, but make them give an account of all that is more than yea, yea, or nay, nay; their sins appear in the light of God's countenance, and are set in order before the sinner's face; and when the book of conscience is appealed to, and thoughts begin to accuse, and conscience to do his office, the poor wetch begins to tremble; he feels himself at his Lord's bar, and in his powerful hand; and then, by the ministry of the word, "He is convinced of all, he is judged of all: and thus are the secrets of his heart made manifest; and so, falling down on his face, he will worship God, and report that God is in you of a truth," 1 Cor. xiv. 24, 25. This brings the sinner to books; he sees what an infinite account stands against him, and what a sin-avenging God he is accountable to.

"And when he had begun to reckon, one was brought unto him which owed him ten thousand talents." When the word of God began to be preached, and sinners began to be convinced of their sins, and convicted for them, and forced, by their distress, to fall down and worship God, and sue for pardon; one was brought, not by an

arm of flesh, much less by fire and sword, as Papists would compel them to come in, but he was brought by the power of the word and Spirit of God; and driven, by a sight and sense of his lost estate, and the anguish and agonies of his soul, to fall down before God; for at such times God comes nigh to the sinner to judgment, Mal. iii. 5, or to reckon with him. So here one was brought

"Which owed him ten thousand talents." What a talent is, I shall not inquire, for I know that these talents are sins, or trangressions of the law; which law demands of the sinner perfect and perpetual obedience; and, in case of failure, Justice says, "Vengeance is mine, I will repay;" and demands satisfaction by eternal suffering: not only a beating with many stripes, but a binding over, and a casting into, the prison of hell; and declares he shall not come out thence till he has paid the very last mite, which never can be paid; for suffering in hell never can make satisfaction, any more than rotting in a gaol can pay a thousand pounds: and therefore, when the gulph is fixed, he can never come from thence. "They that go down into the pit cannot hope for thy truth."

When the Saviour brings in the parable of the creditor and his two debtors, he there says one owed five hundred pence, and the other, fifty; and neither had any thing to pay, Luke vii. 41. Mary Magdalen seems to be pointed at as the five hundred penny debtor; and Simon, according to his own thoughts of himself, as the fifty. But this sinner