ing of teeth." For many are called but few

EMILY.

Mamma, I suppose it is God; and that the Son is Jesus Christ; for you have shewn me before how Jesus is compared to a bridegroom, and his Church to the bride.'

MRS. M. Yes; the marriage which the king made for his son seems here to mean the union between Christ and our human nature, which he took upon himself; the feast to which the guests are invited, signifies the blessings purchased by that union; purchased by Jesus Christ for his people, when in his human nature he shed his blood for them. We find the blessings of the gospel compared by Isaiah in the twenty-fifth chapter, verse sixth, to a feast.'

GEORGE. • Who are the servants, mamma? and what means their being sent to call those that were bidden?'

MRS. M. • Bidden you know means

invited. The Jews had been invited to believe in the atonement that was in after days to be made for sin by the blood of Christ; it had been foreshewn to them in various rites and ceremonies and sacrifices under the law of Moses. It had been declared to them also by the prophets, who had repeatedly proclaimed the Lord's invitation to believe in the Messiah that was to come.'

EMILY. 6

Yes, mamma, and after he was come, John the Baptist again invited them to receive him.'

GEORGE. I suppose the oxen and the fatlings are to represent the abundance of good things, the blessings and privileges which the gospel affords.

MRS. M. True, George; but they made light of these blessings, and went their way; engaged in the business, or the pleasures, or probably the gains of this world. Others, even more averse to accepting this glorious invitation, more violent in their opposition, slew these messengers of peace and love. George, where do we find an account of such

things happening to the servants who came to call the guests to the wedding; an account of their being slain?

GEORGE. 'In the Acts of the Apostles,

mamma.'

:

MRS. M. Yes there we find the Jews still persecuting the Apostles and servants of our Lord, and that in one case even to death. Now, Emily, what was the consequence of this conduct?"

EMILY. The king was wroth, and sent forth his armies and destroyed those murderers.'

MRS. M. How were these words of our Lord fulfilled?'

GEORGE. The Roman armies came and destroyed the city and temple of Jerusalem, filling its streets with blood.'

MRS. M. And was the feast then still unfurnished with guests?'

GEORGE. 6 No; the master said, "The wedding is ready, but they which were bidden were not worthy go ye therefore into

the high-ways, and as many as ye shall find, bid to the marriage.”

MRS. M. The Jews, who had first received the invitation, were unworthy; by refusing the invitation they forfeited their privileges, but the purposes of God remained the same. The king sends his messengers to the highways, i. e. to the Gentiles. The Jews had been a peculiar people hedged in, (as we have before remarked) like a vineyard, separate from all other people: to them had long before been made the promise that the Messiah should come; therefore to them the invitation should have been no surprise. But to the Gentiles, it was as unexpected as it would now be to a man travelling on the high-way to receive an invitation to a wedding-feast, as is said in the sixty-fifth chapter of Isaiah, "I am sought of them that asked not for me, I am found of them that sought me not; I said, Behold me, behold me, unto a nation that was not called by my name.' Now, Emily, how did this invitation succeed?'

EMILY. They gathered together all as many as they found, and the wedding was furnished with guests.'

MRS. M. By the preaching of the Gospel, many were gathered into the outward Church of Christ: and here let us remark, that this outward Church is the subject of many of the Parables we have been considering. It is the floor in which the wheat and the chaff are mixed; it is the ground in which the seed was sown; the field in which the wheat and the tares grew; the net in which the fishes are gathered together, bad and good; the wise and foolish virgins; the vineyard where the labourers were called to work; the fold in which both sheep and goats are found.'

GEORGE. ·

Mamma, will you explain to me what you mean by the outward Church of

Christ?'

MRS. M. I mean all who profess to believe in Jesus Christ, as the supreme Head of the Church, and admit him to be the means of salvation: all those, even, who by accept