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Its import, as it respects us, may be comprised in two observations

I. God invites us to partake of the blessings of his gospel

The gospel dispensation is fitly compared to a sumptuous feast

[In feasts every thing is set forth that can gratify the palate

Thus in the gospel there is every thing that can administer delight or vigour to the soul

There is pardon for all the sins that we have ever committed strength against all the corruptions or temptations

Christ

that can assail us

communion with God through our Lord Jesus

There are foretastes and earnests of the heavenly gloryOn these accounts the prophets also spake of it under the image of a feast-]

God sends his servants to invite men to his table

[The first persons that were invited to it were the JewsUpon their rejection of the gospel the Gentiles were to be called ind

The invitation to us Gentiles is still continued

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The servants of God are sent to hasten your tardy stepsWe are to inform you, that "all things are now ready, and, as it were, waiting for you

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We are moreover to urge you to accept the invitationWe are to take, as it were, no denial from you Such is God's desire to bless us with all spiritual blessings-] Nor are any, however mean or abandoned, to be over looked 41

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[We are to go and call people of all ranks and descrip

We are to search out the persons most distant, most obscure, most impious

e Isai. xxv. 6.

d Rom. xi. 11,

e The blood, which is to cleanse you, is already shed: the Spirit, that is to renew you, is already poured out: God is reconciled and is ready to receive you: nothing is wanting, but that you come and fill the place prepared for you.

f It is the force of persuasion which we are to use; not the force of penal statutes: such compulsion as that, is as abhorrent from reason as it is from religion.

g This seems intimated by the streets and lanes of the city, and the highways and hedges without the city.

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We are to bring them in, however, labouring under infirmities of body, or distress of soul"—

God will have his "house to be filled"

Nor are his servants to desist from their labours till that work be accomplished

And, thanks be to God! "there yet is room" for more-] One would suppose that such rich blessings would meet with universal acceptance: but

II. We ungratefully reject them with vain and frivo

lous excuses

Few find any inclination to accept the invitations of the gospel

[The Jews in their day withstood the solicitation of the apostles

So now, all, however importuned, "begin to make excuse"Some plead the importance of their earthly business

Others urge that they must attend to the concerns of their families-

Thus, earthly cares, or carnal ease and pleasure, stupify the world-+]

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But God will resent the contempt poured upon his

mercy

[The pleas urged in the parable are not sinful in themselves

But nothing, however good, should keep us from attending to the one thing needful

Every concern becomes sinful, when it is inordinately followed

Hence God declares that he is "angry" with those who offer such pleas

He threatens that they shall never partake of the feast they so despise-

Nor even "taste" of his bounty to all eternity

"None," however attentive to their wordly callings, shall find an exception in their favour

1

How awful their state, who are never to taste of pardon, peace, or glory!

May we never bring upon ourselves so terrible a doom!-] ADDRESS

1. Those who are averse to accept the invitations of the gospel

guilt

[Every one is forward to offer pleas in extenuation of his

"The poor, the halt, &c." may refer to their spiritual as well as temporal condition.

And, while some civilly beg to be excused, others roughly "I cannot come'

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But whatever be our plea, and in what way soever it be offered, God will discern its fallacy

Indeed the very persons who refuse our invitations, know that their excuses will avail nothing in the day of judgmenti

What folly then is it to offer that in justification of ourselves now, which will serve only to condemn us in the last day!— Let us no longer cherish such fatal delusions

We may give to the world and our family a due portion of

our care

But let nothing keep us from the feast which God has prepared-]

2. Those who are afraid to come at the bidding of their Lord

[Many are kept from Christ by an apprehension of their own unworthiness

They think it would be presumption in them to accept his invitation

But it is not possible to describe more clearly the persons invited

If we be poor, or halt, or maimed, or blind, we are expressly called—

Nor is our distance or unworthiness any ground of exclusion

Let none then yield to unbelieving fears

We would "compel" you all, by every argument we can devise

Reflect on the greatness of the host that invites you, and the excellence of the feast he sets before you

Consider the blessedness of partaking of it, and the certain consequences of absenting yourselves from it

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Let all come, and "delight their souls with fatness"The command given to the church is yet addressed to you!-]

i "I can not," and "I will not," will then be found to have meant the same thing.

k If the Sacrament be administered, it may be observed that the table is now spread before their eyes, &c. I Cant. v. 1.

CCLIV. THE FOOLISH BUILDER AND THE INCONSI

DERATE KING.

Luke xiv. 28–33. Which of you intending to build a tower, sitteth not down first, and counteth the cost, whether he have

sufficient to finish it? Lest haply, after he hath laid the foundation, and is not able to finish it, all that behold it, begin to mock him, saying, This man began to build, and was not able to finish. Or what king going to make war against another king, sitteth not down first, and consulteth whether he be able with ten thousand, to meet him that cometh against him with twenty thousand? or else, while the other is yet a great way off, he sendeth an ambassage, and desireth conditions of peace. So likewise, whosoever he be of you, that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple.

MANKIND in general, when they want us to engage in their pursuits, are apt to exaggerate the advantages, and to hide as much as possible the difficulties, that will attend the adoption of their plans-Our Lord on the contrary declared plainly to his followers the conflicts they must engage in, and the losses they must sustain if they would be his disciples-In the verses preceding the text he states in very strong language the only terms on which he would admit them into his family; and having cautioned them by two familiar parables against engaging rashly in his service, he again reminds them, that they must forsake all if they will follow him-To elucidate the passage we shall consider

I. The scope of the parables

Both of them have the same general tendency to guard men against an hasty and inconsiderate profession of religion-But

The former points out the folly of such conduct

[Every one sees, that a builder, who through a neglect to count the cost, should be compelled to leave his structure unfinished, would be universally derided as a foolish man-But incomparably greater is his folly who begins to follow Christ, and afterwards by his apostasy shews, that he had never duly considered how much was requisite to make us Christians indeed-The very people who have turned him aside, will be the first to deride him for his instability; and while they reverence him who maintains a firm and consistent conduct, they will despise in their hearts the man who proves unfaithful to his God -The saints indeed will not "mock him," because they know what a "fearful thing it is to fall into the hands of the living God;" but they will pity him, as a poor infatuated creature, who has "left off to behave himself wisely," and reduced himself by his folly to the extremest misery-Nor is it long ere he himself will see his folly in its true light; when he will behold afar off that heaven upon which he turned his back, and inherit that portion which he so thoughtlessly preferred—]

The latter leads us rather to contemplate the danger of such conduct

[A king who should inconsiderately plunge himself into a war with an enemy that was too powerful for him, would expose both his kingdom and his life to the most imminent danger-Thus it is also with a man who commences a warfare with sin and satan without knowing how he shall make head against them: for as an hasty profession of religion exposes him to self-deception, so an hasty dereliction of it will subject him to the heavier condemnation—It is true that all must perish who do not enlist under the banners of Christ; but it is equally true, that cowardly soldiers, who forsake their standard, are far more guilty than if they had never been enrolled upon his list: "It is better never to have known the way of righteousness than, after having known it, to turn from it;" their end is worse than their beginning; and they shall be punished with more stripes in proportion to the advantages they have enjoyed, and the professions they have made―]

These parables will afford still further instruction if we consider

II. Our Lord's improvement of them

Our Lord did not amuse his hearers with speculative truths, but brought them home to their conscience by a direct and personal application.

1. We must count the cost

[Here the cost is plainly told us; “We must forsake all;" that is, forsake all comparatively in respect of affection, and absolutely, whenever it stands in competition with our duty; nor, if we refuse these terms, can we be his disciples—We are not indeed to cast away our possessions at all events; but so to withdraw our affections from them, as to be willing to resign them whenever the retaining of them shall be inconsistent with our allegiance to him-This we ought to weigh in our minds, and to consider whether the benefits of religion be sufficient to counterbalance its trials-We must be ready to part with our reputation, our interest, our carnal ease and pleasures, our friends, our liberty, our life; but in return for them we may expect, "the honour that cometh of God," "the riches of Christ that are unsearchable," "the pleasures that are at God's right hand for evermore;" we shall even now possess that "peace which passeth all understanding," together with the liberty of the sons of God; and soon we shall inherit eternal life and glory in his more immediate presence -We should dispassionately balance these against each other, that we may see which scale preponderates, and whether the pearl be worth the price demanded for it-]

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