and SAVIOUR, JESUS CHRIST, and his APOSTLES, &C. 195 and praifes ; but at the fame time refufed to do any part of the work that he en= joined them. In the charafler of the other fon, the difpofition of the publicans and harlots is well defcribed. They neither profeffed or promifed to do the will of their Creator; but when they came to reflex ferioufly on their condua, and the offers ofmercy which were fo kindly made them, they fubmitted to our Saviour, and amended their lives in confequence of their faith. Our Lord having thus finifhed the pa- rable, anted the Pharifees, Whether of them twaindid the will of his Father? They fay unto him, the fitji. They did not imme- diately perceive, that by this anfwer they condemned themfelves, till our Saviour made a juf application of the parable, in this fharp, but juf rebuke : Verily, I./ay untoyou, that thepublicans and the harlots go into the kingdom of God before you. For John came unto you in the way of righteoufnefs, and ye believedhim not, nor entered into your father'svineyard, though, like the fecond fon, you promife in the moll: fair and candid manner ; but thepub- licans and the harlots believedhim, repented of their former difobedience, and entered into the vineyard. Our bleffed Lord did not ref' fatisfied with (hewing the Pharifees the heinoufnefs of their fin in rejefing the Baptift, but he thought proper alfo to reprefent the crime of the nation in rejeE'ing all the prophets which had been fent fence they became a nation, and among the ref, the only be- gotten Son of the Molt High ; warning them, at the fame time, of their danger, and the punifhment that would inevitably enfue, if they continued in their rebellion. The outward ceconomy of religion, in which they gloried, would be taken from them ; their relation to God, as his people, cancelled ; and the national conflitution defroyed: but becaufe thefe topics were extremely difagreeable, he delivered them under the veil of the following parable: There was, - faid he, a certain houfholder, which planted a vineyard, and hedged it round about, anddigged a wineprep in it, and built a tower, and let it out to hufband- men,, and went into afarcountry. We frequently find in the facred Scrip- tures, the comparifon of the church to a vineyard ; but this particular parable, for the fuller conviEtion of the Jews, is ex- prefsly taken from the fifth chapter of the prophet Ifaiah, with which they could not fail of being well acquainted, nor ig- norant of it's meaning; as the prophet at the end of it adds : The vineyard of the Lord of hefts is the houle of Ifrael, and the men of Judah his plea/ant plant: and he looked for judgment, but behold op,brel/ion; for righteovfne/l, but behold a cry. Our Saviour, therefore; continued the meta- phor, telling them; That when the time of the fruit drew near, hePent hisfervants to the hufbandmen, that they might receive thefruits of-it. And the. hu/bandmen took hisfervants, and beat one, and killed ano- ther, and /toned another. : The Almighty fent the prophets to exhort the Jews to entertain juf fentiments of religion, and tread the paths of virtue; but the Jews, extremely irritated at the prophets for the freedom they ufed in reproving their fins, perfecuted and flew them with Unrelenting fury. Their wickednefs, however, in killing thefe meflengers, did not inflantly provoke the Almighty to pour down his vengeance upon them : he fent more pro- phets to exhort and reclaim them, but they met with no better fate than the former. His mercy however fill continued ; and that no means might be left untried, he fent unto them his own fond whofe autho- rity, beingclearly elablifhed by undeniable miracles, ought to have been acknowledged cheerfully by thefe wicked men : but how different was the confequence? When the hufbandmen few the fin, theyPaid among themfelves, This is the heir; come, let us kill him, and let us feize on his inheritance. When the Lord, therefore, of the vineyard conzeth, what will he do unto thole hufband men? Theyfay unto hint, He will aniferab0 defray
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