V. Satan will be particularly anxious to lead those into sin who seem to be escaping from his power. V. 43, 44. (Gal. v. 7. 8.)

VI. To go back after we have begun to serve God is worse than not to begin at all. V. 45. (2 Peter ii. 20-22.)

VII. Happy those whom Jesus looks upon as his dearest relations! V. 49, 50. (2 Cor. vi. 17, 18. Heb. ii. 11, 12.)

NINETEENTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY.

PARABLE OF THE SOWER.

MATT. xiii. 1-23.

(Compare Mark iv. 1-20, and Luke viii. 4—15.)

1. Sea side.-The sea of Galilee or Tiberias.

2. And sat.-The common posture of the teacher. (See ch. v. 1. xxiii. 2. Luke iv. 16-20.)

3. Parables.-Little stories which represent moral and religious truths under the figure of some earthly objects which may be compared to them.

4. Way side.-The road or path-way; where it would be too hard for the seed to grow, and it would soon be picked up by the birds.

5. Stony places.-In Luke, "on a rock"-i. e., a hard rock underneath, covered with a little earth.

Forthwith.-Immediately.

7. Among thorns.-Ground full of weeds and bushes; where the plant for want of air and nourishment would be unhealthy, and yield no fruit.

9. Who hath ears.-A proverbial expression; let every one attend who is capable of hearing, and prepared to receive the truth. 12. Whosoever hath.-And uses rightly what he has. (See ch. XXV. 29. and the context.)

13. See not.-Do not care to see, or try to get good from what they see; they only attended to the story, without endeavouring to enter into the meaning of the parable.

14. Esaias.-(Is. vi. 9, 10.)

20. Anon.-Forthwith, or immediately.

22. Deceitfulness of riches.-St. Mark adds, "and lusts of other things;" and St. Luke, "the pleasures of this life."

23. Good ground.-St. Luke says that the word is kept "in an honest and good heart, not a heart naturally good, for none such could be found; but one made good by the grace of God, as the ground is prepared for receiving the seed.

SUMMARY.

By the parable of a sower, whose seed fell on four different kinds of ground, our Lord represents the different effects produced by the preaching of the word; this he explains to his disciples on their asking him the meaning of the parable.

LESSONS.

I. How wonderful that plants should grow from such little things as seeds! yet not less wonderful are the effects produced by the word of God. (Heb. iv. 12.)

II. There are many different ways of hearing the word in vain. (Ezek. xxxiii. 31, 32. James i. 22—24.)

III. Many are no more improved by what they hear, than the hard road would be by having seeds dropped upon it. V. 4-19. (Mark vii. 6, 7.)

IV. It is not enough to be deeply affected for a time, nothing but being rooted and grounded in the truth can keep us stedfast when difficulties arise. V. 5, 6, 20, 21. (Rev. iii. 2 James i. 12.)

V. Watch against all that is calculated to take away the life of religion from the soul, for without this, the outward profession will be fruitless, and therefore useless. V. 7-22. (Luke x. 41, 42. Matt. xxvi. 41.)

VI. Even in the true Christian there are various degrees of fruitfulness let us seek to be bearing fruit an hundredfold! V. 8-23. (1 Cor xii. 29-31.)

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VII. The misimprovement of privileges provokes God to withdraw them. V. 10–15. (Amos viii. 11, 12.)

TWENTIETH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY.

PARABLE OF THE TARES.

Matt xiii. 24--30, 36-43.

25. While men slept.-Taking advantage of the time when it was least expected, and no one was watching against his approach.

26. Brought forth fruit.—It is plain from this that the weed spoken of here is not the same as our tares, which could be distinguished from wheat long before the ear is formed, and pulled up without fear of any mistake being made; it was a plant which much more closely resembles wheat, but produced no grain.

27. The servants of the householder.-These seem intended to represent all who take a deep interest in the advancement of Christ's kingdom, and especially ministers. We may be ready to think, as these servants did, that it would be very desirable to have the

wheat free from tares, or to have none but true Christians in the visible church; but in attempting to separate between false and sincere professors, we should be making constant mistakes.

38. Good seed.-This is used with a different meaning from that which it had in the preceding parable-there the seed was the word, and the soil on which it fell represented different persons who heard it-here the good and bad seed represent the opposite characters: all good comes from God, all evil from Satan; he first introduced sin into the world, and still labours to promote its influence.

40. Gathered and burned.-The wicked often take courage from the fact that so many are like themselves; but the quantity of tares does not secure them from the fire; but makes it burn the more fiercely.

SUMMARY.

In another parable our Lord describes the mixture of characters always to be found in the Christian church, and the separation which will certainly take place at the day of judgment.

LESSONS.

I. Satan takes advantage of every season when he can surprise those who are off their guard. V. 25. (1 Peter v. 8.)

II. False professors are often mixed with the godly without being known. V. 26-30. (1 John iv. 1.)

III. The conduct of each will frequently give some indication of their character. V. 26. (Matt. vii. 20. xii. 35.)

IV. Yet man cannot judge with certainty who are true Christians and who are not. V. 29. (1 Sam. xvi. 7. last clause.)

V. A complete separation will be made in the last day. V. 30. (Matt. xxv. 31-33.)

VI. Let us then faithfully examine our own hearts, and see in which class we shall be found. V. 43. (2 Cor. xiii. 5.)

ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURE.

LOCUSTS.

COL. NEEDHAM, who had lived some time in Teneriffe, informed Sir Hans Sloane, that in 1649 locusts destroyed all the produce of that island. They saw them come from off the coast of Barbary, the wind being a Levant from thence. They flew as far as they could, then one alighted in the sea, and another upon that, so that one after another they made a heap as large as the greatest ship

above water, and were thought to be almost as many under. Those above water, on the next day, after the sun's refreshing them, took flight again, and came in clouds to the island, from whence they had perceived them in the air, and had gathered all the soldiers of the island and of Laguna together, being 7,000 or 8,000 men, who, laying aside their arms, some took bags, some spades, and having notice by their scouts from the hills where they alighted, they went forward, made trenches, and brought their bags full, and covered them with mould. This, however, did not do, for some of the locusts escaped, or being cast on the shore, were revived by the sun, and flew about and destroyed all the vineyards and trees. They ate the leaves, and even the bark of the vines where they alighted. But all would not do; the locusts remained there for four months; cattle ate them and died, and so did several men; and others struck out in blotches. The other Canary islands were so troubled also, that they were forced to bury their provisions. "I cannot better represent their flight to you," says Beauplan, "than by comparing it to the flakes of snow in cloudy weather, driven about by the wind; and when they alight upon the ground to feed, the plains are all covered, and they make a murmuring noise as they eat, and in less than two hours they devour all close to the ground; then rising, they suffer themselves to be carried away by the wind; and when they fly, though the sun shines ever so bright, it is no lighter than when most clouded. The air was so full of them, that I could not eat in my chamber without a candle; (Joel ii. 2-10.) all the houses being full of them, even the stables, barns, chambers, garrets, and cellars. (V. 9.) I caused cannon-powder and sulphur to be burnt to expel them, but all to no purpose; for when the door was opened, an infinite number came in, and the others went out, fluttering about; and it was a troublesome thing, when a man went abroad, to be hit on the face by those creatures, sometimes on the nose, sometimes the eyes, and sometimes the cheeks, so that there was no opening one's mouth but some would get in. Yet all this was nothing, for when we were to eat, those creatures gave us no respite; and when we cut a bit of meat, we cut a locust with it; and when a man opened his mouth to put in a morsel, he was sure to chew one of them. I have seen them at night, when they sit to rest them, that the roads were four inches thick of them, one upon another; so that the horses would not trample over them, but as they were put on with much lashing, pricking up their ears, snorting, and treading fearfully. The wheels of our carts, and the feet of our horses, bruising those creatures, there came from them such a stink, as not only offended the nose, but the brain. I was not

able to endure that stench, but was forced to wash my nose with vinegar, and hold a handkerchief dipped in it continually at my nostrils. The swine feast upon them as a dainty, and grow fat; but nobody will eat of them so fattened, only because they abhor that sort of vermin that does them so much harm."*

Mr. Morier says, "On the 11th of June, while seated in our tents about noon, we heard a very unusual noise, that sounded like the rustling of a great wind at a distance. On looking up we perceived an immense cloud, here and there semi-transparent, in other parts quite black, that spread itself all over the sky, and at intervals shadowed the sun. These we soon found to be locusts, whole swarms of them falling about us. These were of a red colour, and I should suppose are the red predatory locust, one of the Egyptian plagues; they are also the "great grass-hopper," mentioned by the prophet Nahum ; no doubt, in contradistinction to the lesser, chap. iii. 17. As soon as they appeared, the gardeners and husbandmen made loud shouts, to prevent their settling on their grounds. It is to this custom that the prophet Jeremiah, perhaps, alludes, when he says, Surely I will fill thee with men, as with caterpillars, and they shall lift up a shout against thee," (chap. li. 14.) They seemed to be impelled by one common instinct, and moved in one body, which had the appearance of being organized by a leader. (Joel ii. 7.) Their strength must be very great, if we consider what immense journeys they have been known to make."+

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Even our own island has been alarmed by the appearance of locusts, a considerable number having visited us in 1748; but they happily perished without propagating. They have frequently entered Italy and Spain, from Africa. In the year 591, an immense army of them ravaged a considerable part of the former country, and it is said that nearly a million of men and beasts were carried off by a pestilence occasioned by their stench.-Taylor's Calmet.

CHURCH SERVICE.

THE PSALMS.

THE Psalms follow, which are read through in the church once a month. They are indeed admirably adapted for public worship, being the marrow of the Bible applied to purposes of devotion. Here, as in another Eden, every flower blooms with perennial * Gentleman's Magazine, 1748. + Second Journey, p. 99.