Matthew 25 commentary

The circumstances of the parable of the ten virgins were taken from the marriage customs among the Jews, and explain the great day of Christ's coming. See the nature of Christianity. As Christians we profess to attend upon Christ, to honour him, also to be waiting for his coming. Sincere Christians are the wise virgins, and hypocrites the foolish ones. Those are the truly wise or foolish that are so in the affairs of their souls. Many have a lamp of profession in their hands, but have not, in their hearts, sound knowledge and settled resolution, which are needed to carry them through the services and trials of the present state. Their hearts are not stored with holy dispositions, by the new-creating Spirit of God. Our light must shine before men in good works; but this is not likely to be long done, unless there is a fixed, active principle in the heart, of faith in Christ, and love to God and our brethren. They all slumbered and slept. The delay represents the space between the real or apparent conversion of these professors, and the coming of Christ, to take them away by death, or to judge the world. But though Christ tarry past our time, he will not tarry past the due time. The wise virgins kept their lamps burning, but they did not keep themselves awake. Too many real Christians grow remiss, and one degree of carelessness makes way for another. Those that allow themselves to slumber, will scarcely keep from sleeping; therefore dread the beginning of spiritual decays. A startling summons was given. Go ye forth to meet Him, is a call to those prepared. The notice of Christ's approach, and the call to meet him, will awaken. Even those best prepared for death have work to do to get actually ready, 2Pe 3:14. It will be a day of search and inquiry; and it concerns us to think how we shall then be found. Some wanted oil to supply their lamps when going out. Those that take up short of true grace, will certainly find the want of it one time or other. An outward profession may light a man along this world, but the damps of the valley of the shadow of death will put out such a light. Those who care not to live the life, yet would die the death of the righteous. But those that would be saved, must have grace of their own; and those that have most grace, have none to spare. The best need more from Christ. And while the poor alarmed soul addresses itself, upon a sick-bed, to repentance and prayer, in awful confusion, death comes, judgment comes, the work is undone, and the poor sinner is undone for ever. This comes of having oil to buy when we should burn it, grace to get when we should use it. Those, and those only, shall go to heaven hereafter, that are made ready for heaven here. The suddenness of death and of Christ's coming to us then, will not hinder our happiness, if we have been prepared. The door was shut. Many will seek admission into heaven when it is too late. The vain confidence of hypocrites will carry them far in expectations of happiness. The unexpected summons of death may alarm the Christian; but, proceeding without delay to trim his lamp, his graces often shine more bright; while the mere professor's conduct shows that his lamp is going out. Watch therefore, attend to the business of your souls. Be in the fear of the Lord all the day long.

Christ keeps no servants to be idle: they have received their all from him, and have nothing they can call their own but sin. Our receiving from Christ is in order to our working for him. The manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal. The day of account comes at last. We must all be reckoned with as to what good we have got to our own souls, and have done to others, by the advantages we have enjoyed. It is not meant that the improving of natural powers can entitle a man to Divine grace. It is the real Christian's liberty and privilege to be employed as his Redeemer's servant, in promoting his glory, and the good of his people: the love of Christ constrains him to live no longer to himself, but to Him that died for him, and rose again. Those who think it impossible to please God, and in vain to serve him, will do nothing to purpose in religion. They complain that He requires of them more than they are capable of, and punishes them for what they cannot help. Whatever they may pretend, the fact is, they dislike the character and work of the Lord. The slothful servant is sentenced to be deprived of his talent. This may be applied to the blessings of this life; but rather to the means of grace. Those who know not the day of their visitation, shall have the things that belong to their peace hid from their eyes. His doom is, to be cast into outer darkness. It is a usual way of expressing the miseries of the damned in hell. Here, as in what was said to the faithful servants, our Saviour goes out of the parable into the thing intended by it, and this serves as a key to the whole. Let us not envy sinners, or covet any of their perishing possessions.

This is a description of the last judgment. It is as an explanation of the former parables. There is a judgment to come, in which every man shall be sentenced to a state of everlasting happiness, or misery. Christ shall come, not only in the glory of his Father, but in his own glory, as Mediator. The wicked and godly here dwell together, in the same cities, churches, families, and are not always to be known the one from the other; such are the weaknesses of saints, such the hypocrisies of sinners; and death takes both: but in that day they will be parted for ever. Jesus Christ is the great Shepherd; he will shortly distinguish between those that are his, and those that are not. All other distinctions will be done away; but the great one between saints and sinners, holy and unholy, will remain for ever. The happiness the saints shall possess is very great. It is a kingdom; the most valuable possession on earth; yet this is but a faint resemblance of the blessed state of the saints in heaven. It is a kingdom prepared. The Father provided it for them in the greatness of his wisdom and power; the Son purchased it for them; and the blessed Spirit, in preparing them for the kingdom, is preparing it for them. It is prepared for them: it is in all points adapted to the new nature of a sanctified soul. It is prepared from the foundation of the world. This happiness was for the saints, and they for it, from all eternity. They shall come and inherit it. What we inherit is not got by ourselves. It is God that makes heirs of heaven. We are not to suppose that acts of bounty will entitle to eternal happiness. Good works done for God's sake, through Jesus Christ, are here noticed as marking the character of believers made holy by the Spirit of Christ, and as the effects of grace bestowed on those who do them. The wicked in this world were often called to come to Christ for life and rest, but they turned from his calls; and justly are those bid to depart from Christ, that would not come to him. Condemned sinners will in vain offer excuses. The punishment of the wicked will be an everlasting punishment; their state cannot be altered. Thus life and death, good and evil, the blessing and the curse, are set before us, that we may choose our way, and as our way so shall our end be.

Matthew 25:1. Then shall the kingdom of heaven. By this term is meant the condition of the future Church, which was to be collected by the authority and direction of Christ. He employs this remarkable title, that believers may not deceive themselves by an erroneous opinion that they have arrived at absolute perfection. The parable is borrowed from the ordinary custom of life; for it was a childish speculation of Jerome and others, to adduce this passage in praise of virginity; while Christ had no other object in view than to lessen the uneasiness which they might be apt to feel in consequence of the delay of his coming. He says, therefore, that he asks nothing more from us than is usually done for friends at a marriage-feast. The custom was, that virgins, who are tender and delicate—should, by way of respect, accompany the bridegroom to his chamber. But the general instruction of the parable consists in this, that it is not enough to have been once ready and prepared for the discharge of duty, if we do not persevere to the end.

2. Five were wise. Towards the close of the former chapter, our Lord specially required steward to be wise, (Matthew 24:45) for it is reasonable, that the heavier the charge which any man sustains, and the more important the matters in which he is employed, the wisdom with which he conducts himself should be the greater. But now he demands wisdom from all the children of God in general, that they may not, through inconsiderate rashness, expose themselves to be the prey of Satan. Now this kind of wisdom he describes by saying, that they are to provide themselves with the supplies necessary for completing the course of their life. For the warmth of our impatience makes us look upon the time, however short, as far too long protracted; and next, our poverty is such, that we need supplies for every hour.

5. And while the bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered and slept. Some interpret this slumbering in a bad sense, as if believers, along with others, abandoned themselves to sloth, and were asleep amidst the vanities of the world; but this is altogether inconsistent with the intention of Christ, and with the structure of the parable. There would be greater probability in explaining it to denote death, which overtakes believers before the coming of Christ; for it is not at that time only that we must look for salvation, but also when we have left the world and are sleeping in Christ. But I take it more simply as denoting earthly occupations, in which believers must be engaged, so long as they dwell in the body; and, though forgetfulness of the kingdom of God ought never to steal upon them, yet the distracting influence of the occupations of this world is not inappropriately compared to sleep. For they cannot be so constantly occupied with the thought of meeting Christ, as not to be distracted, or retarded, or entangled by a variety of cares, in consequence of which, while they watch, they are partly asleep.

6. At midnight a cry arose. With respect to the cry I view it as taken metaphorically for his sudden arrival; for we know, that when any thing new and unexpected happens, men are wont to make a loud noise. True, indeed, our Lord cries daily, that he will come quickly, (Revelation 22:20;) but at that, time, the whole frame of the world will resound with the cry, and his dreadful majesty will fill heaven and earth in such a manner, as not only to awaken those who are asleep, but to bring the dead out of their graves, (John 5:28.)

8. And the foolish said to the wise. This is a reproof of the late repentance of those who never think of what they are in want of, till the door is shut against every remedy. For those who do not make provision for a long period are charged with folly, because they are careless, and flatter themselves amidst their poverty, and allow the season of mutual intercourse to pass in such a way as to despise the aids which were offered to them. As they do not, in proper time, bethink themselves about procuring oil, Christ, mocking the knowledge which they have acquired when it is too late, shows how their stupidity will be punished, when they shall see themselves to be empty and unprovided, while there is no remedy.

9. Lest there be not enough for you and us. We know that the Lord distributes his gifts so variously to each, according to his measure, in order that they may give mutual aid to each other, and may employ for the general advantage what has been entrusted to each individual; and that in this way is preserved the sacred connection which exists among the members of the Church. But Christ here points out the time when he shall summon all men to his tribunal, each carrying his bundle, that he may bring with him according as he has done in his body. That portion of grace received, which every man has laid up for himself, is, therefore, justly compared to a stock of provisions for a journey, which would not be enough for a greater number of persons.

But rather go to them that sell, and buy for yourselves. These words immediately follow, and are not intended as an admonition, but a reproof; and the meaning is: “There once was a time for buying, which you ought not to have neglected; for oil was at that time offered for sale, but the means of obtaining it are now withdrawn.” And yet it is foolish in the Papists to infer from this, that by our own virtues or industry we obtain the gift of perseverance. For the word buy does not at all imply that a price has been given; as appears clearly from the passage in Isaiah, (55:1) where the Lord, while he invites us to buy, demands no price, but informs us, that he has wine and milk in abundance, to be gratuitously bestowed. There is no other way of obtaining it, therefore, but to receive by faith what is offered to us.

10. And the door was shut. At length it follows that the door of the heavenly kingdom will be shut against all who have not made provision, because they failed in the middle of the course. We must not enter here into minute inquiries, how it is that Christ says that the foolish virgins went to buy for it means nothing else than that all who shall not be ready at the very moment when they shall be called will be shut out from entering into heaven.

MATTHEW 25:31-46; LUKE 21:37-38

Matthew 25:31-46

Luke 21:37-38

31. Now when the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory: 32. And all the nations shall be assembled before him; and he shall separate them from one another, as a shepherd separateth the sheep from the goats. 33. And he shall place the sheep on his right hand, and the goats on the left. 34. Then will the King say to those who shall be on his right hand, Come, you blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: 35. For I was hungry, and you gave me to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave me to drink; I was a stranger, and you received me kindly; 36. I was naked, and you clothed me; I was sick, and you visited me; I was in prison, and you came to me. 37. Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when did we see thee hungry, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink? 38. And when did e see thee a stranger, and received thee kindly? or naked, and clothed thee? 39. Or when did we see thee sick, or in prison, and came to thee? 40. And the King answering will say to them, Verily I tell you, So far as you did it to one of these my brethren, you did it to me. 41. Then will he say also to those who shall be on the left hand, Depart from me, you cursed, into everlasting fire, which is prepared for the devil and his angels: 42. For I was hungry, and you gave me no food; I was thirsty, and you gave me no drink. 43. I was a stranger, and you did not receive me kindly; I was naked, and you did not clothe me; I was sick, and in prison, and you did not visit me. 44. Then will they also answer him, saying, Lord, when did we see thee hungry, or thirsty, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not assist thee? 45. Then will he answer them, saying, Verily I tell you, So far as you did it not to any of the least of these, you did it not to me. 46. And these shall go away into everlasting punishment, and the righteous into everlasting life. “Mais les justes iront;” — “but the righteous will go.”

37. And he taught in the temple by day; but at night he went out, and lodged in the mountain, which is called the mountain of Olives. 38. And early in the morning all the people came to him, to hear him in the temple.

Matthew 25:15. To every one according to his own ability. By this term Christ does not distinguish between natural gifts and the gifts of the Spirit; for we have neither power nor skill “Il n’y a ne puissance, ne industrie, ou dexterit;” — “there is neither power, nor industry, nor skill.” which ought not to be acknowledged as having been received from God; and, therefore, whoever shall determine to give God his share will leave nothing for himself. What then is meant by saying, that the master of the house gives to each person more or less, according to his own ability? It is because God, as he has assigned to every one his place, and has bestowed on him natural gifts, gives him also this or the other injunction, employs him in the management of affairs, raises him to various offices, furnishes him with abundant means of eminent usefulness, and presents to him the opportunity.

It is absurd, however, in the Papists to infer from this, that the gifts of God are conferred on every man according to the measure which he deserves. For, though the old translator, “Le translateur Latin ancien;” — “the old Latin translator.” employed the word virtus, An interpreter who was willing to twist a passage, so as to bring out of it any meaning that he chose, would find the vagueness of the Latin word virtus to be well suited to his purpose. Its derivation from vir, a man, shows that it originally signified manliness, from which it easily passed to denote courage, and, from the high estimation in which courage was held among warlike nations, became the general expression for moral excellence, out of which arose the application of it to other kinds of excellence, as in the phrase, virtutes orationis, the ornaments of style. Again, from denoting manly vigor it came naturally to denote ability; and it is undoubtedly in this sense, with which our English version accords, that rirtus is employed by the Vulgate in this passage. — Ed. he did not mean that God bestows his gifts, according as men have acquitted themselves well, and obtained the praise of virtue, but only so far as the master of the house has judged them to be suitable. Now we know that no man is found by God to be suitable till He has made him so; and the Greek word δύναμις, (power, ability,) which Christ employed, is free from all ambiguity.

20. And he who had received five talents. Those who employ usefully whatever God has committed to them are said to be engaged in trading The life of the godly, “Des fideles;” — “of believers.” is justly compared to trading, for they ought naturally to exchange and barter with each other, in order to maintain intercourse; and the industry with which every mall discharges the office assigned him, the calling itself, the power of acting properly, and other gifts, are reckoned to be so many kinds of merchandise; because the use or object which they have in view is, to promote mutual intercourse among men.

Now the gain which Christ mentions is general usefulness, “C’est le profit ou l’avancement de toute la compagnie des fideles en commun;” — “it is the profit or advancement of the whole company of believers in common.” which illustrates the glory of God. For, though God is not enriched, and makes no gain, by our labors, yet when every one is highly profitable to his brethren, and applies advantageously, for their salvation, the gifts which he has received from God, he is said to yield profit, or gain, to God himself. So highly does our heavenly Father value the salvation of men, that whatever contributes to it he chooses to place to his own account. That we may not become weary in doing well, (Galatians 6:9,) Christ declares that the labor of those who are faithfully employed in their calling will not be useless.

According to Luke, he says that he who gained five pounds obtains the government of five cities; by which words he informs them, that the glory of his kingdom will be very different at his last coming from what it now appears. For now “En ce monde;” — “in this world.” we have labor and anxiety in managing, as it were, the affairs of an absent master; but then he will have at his command an ample and copious supply of honors, to ennoble and enrich us. The form of expression employed by Matthew is more simple, Enter thou into the joy of thy master; by which he means that faithful servants, whose discharge of duty shall meet with his approbation, will share with himself a blessed abundance of all good things.

But it is asked, What is meant by what is added, Take from him the talent, and give it to him who hath ten talents? For every kind of trading will then be at an end. I reply, We ought to keep in remembrance what I formerly mentioned, that those who insist on explaining, with exactness, every minute phrase, are mistaken. The true meaning is, though slothful and unprofitable servants are now endued with the gifts of the Spirit, yet they will at length be deprived of them all, that their wretched and shameful poverty may redound to the glory of the good. Now these slothful persons, Christ tells us, hide either the talent or the pound in the earth; because, while they consult their own ease and gratifications, they refuse to submit to any uneasiness; as we see very many who, while they are privately devoted to themselves and to their own advantage, avoid all the duties of charity, and have no regard to the general edification. When it is said that the master of the house, after his return, called the servants to account; as this ought to impart courage to the good, when they understand that they do not lose their pains, so the indolent and careless, on the other hand, ought to be struck with no small terror. Let us therefore learn to call ourselves daily to account, before the Lord come, and make a reckoning with us.

24. I knew thee, that thou art a harsh man. This harshness has nothing to do with the substance of the parable; and it is an idle speculation in which those indulge, who reason from this passage, how severely and rigorously God deals with his own people. For Christ did not intend to describe such rigor, any more than to applaud usury, when he represents the master of the house as saying, that the money ought to have been deposited with a banker, that it might, at least, gain interest Christ only means, that there will be no excuse for the indolence of those who both conceal the gifts of God, and waste their time in idleness. Hence also we infer that no manner of life is more praiseworthy in the sight of God, than that which yields some advantage to human society.

29. To every one that hath shall be given has been explained See p. 104 of this volume. under Matthew 13:12

30. And cast the unprofitable servant into outer darkness. We have also explained, Harmony, vol. 1. p. 384. under Matthew 8:12, that outer darkness is contrasted with the light which is within the house; “De la lumiere et clarte qui est en la maison;” — “with the light and brightness that is within the house.” for, as banquets were anciently held, for the most part, at night, and were illuminated by numerous torches and lamps, of those who are banished from the kingdom of God, Christ says, that they are cast without into darkness

Matthew 25:31. Now when the Son of man shall come in his glory. Christ follows out the same doctrine, and what he formerly described under parables, he now explains clearly and without figures. The sum of what is said is, that believers, in order to encourage themselves to a holy and upright conduct, ought to contemplate with the eyes of faith the heavenly life, which, though it is now concealed, will at length be manifested at the last coming of Christ. For, when he declares that, when he shall come with the angels, then will he sit on the throne of his glory, he contrasts this last revelation with the disorders and agitations of earthly warfare; as if he had said, that he did not appear for the purpose of immediately setting up his kingdom, and therefore that there was need of hope and patience, lest the disciples might be discouraged by long delay. Hence we infer that this was again added, in order that the disciples, being freed from mistake about immediate and sudden happiness, might keep their minds in warfare till Christ’s second coming, and might not give way, or be discouraged, on account of his absence.

This is the reason why he says that he will then assume the title of King; for though he commenced his reign on the earth, and now sits at the right hand of the Father, so as to exercise the supreme government of heaven and earth; yet he has not yet erected before the eyes of men that throne, from which his divine majesty will be far more fully displayed than it now is at the last day; for that, of which we now obtain by faith nothing more than a taste, will then have its full effect. So then Christ now sits on his heavenly throne, as fir as it is necessary that he shall reign for restraining his enemies and protecting the Church; but then he will appear openly, to establish perfect order in heaven and earth, to crush his enemies under his feet, to assemble his believing people to partake of an everlasting and blessed life, to ascend his judgment-seat; and, in a word, there will be a visible manifestation of the reason why the kingdom was given to him by the Father. He says that he will come in his glory; because, while he dwelt in this world as a mortal man, he appeared in the despised form of a servant. And he calls it his glory, though he elsewhere ascribes it to his Father, but the meaning is the same; for he means simply the divine glory, which at that time shone in the Father only, for in himself it was concealed. “Pource qu’en Christ elle estoit cachee et ne se monstroit;” — “because in Christ it was concealed, and was not exhibited.”

32. And all nations shall be assembled before him. He employs large and splendid titles for extolling his kingdom, that the disciples may learn to expect a different kind of happiness from what they had imagined. For they were satisfied with this single consideration, that their nation was delivered from the miseries with which it was then oppressed, so that it would be manifest that God had not in vain established his covenant with Abraham and his posterity. But Christ extends much farther the benefit of the redemption brought by him, for he will be the Judge of the whole world. Again, in order to persuade believers to holiness of life, he assures them that the good and the bad will not share alike; because he will bring with him the reward which is laid up for both. In short, he declares that his kingdom will be fully established, when the righteous shall have obtained a crown of glory, and when the wicked shall have received the reward which they deserved.

As a shepherd separateth the sheep from the goats. When our Lord says that the separation of the sheep from the goats is delayed till that day, he means that the wicked are now mixed with the good and holy, so that they live together in the same flock of God. The comparison appears to be borrowed from Ezekiel 34:18, where the Lord complains of the fierceness of the goats, which attack with their horns the poor sheep, and destroy the pastures, and pollute the water; and where the Lord expressly declares that he will take vengeance. And therefore Christ’s discourse amounts to this, that believers ought not to think their condition too hard, if they are now compelled to live with the goats, and even to sustain many serious attacks and annoyances from them; secondly, that they ought to beware of being themselves infected by the contagion of their vices; and, thirdly, to inform them that in a holy and innocent life their labor is not thrown away, for the difference will one day appear.

34. Come, you blessed of my Father. We must remember Christ’s design; for he bids his disciples rest satisfied now with hope, that they may with patience and tranquillity of mind look for the enjoyment of the heavenly kingdom; and next, he bids them strive earnestly, and not become wearied in the right course. To this latter clause he refers, when he promises the inheritance of the heavens to none but those who by good works aim at the prize of the heavenly calling. But before speaking of the reward of good works, he points out, in passing, that the commencement of salvation flows from a higher source; for by calling them blessed of the Father, he reminds them, that their salvation proceeded from the undeserved favor of God. Among the Hebrews the phrase blessed of God means one who is dear to God, or beloved by God. Besides, this form of expression was not only employed by believers to extol the grace of God towards men, but those who had degenerated from true godliness still held this principle. Enter, thou blessed of God, said Laban to Abraham’s servant, (Genesis 24:31.) We see that nature suggested to them this expression, by which they ascribed to God the praise of all that they possessed. There can be no doubt, therefore, that Christ, in describing the salvation of the godly, begins with the undeserved love of God, by which those who, under the guidance of the Spirit in this life, aim at righteousness, were predestined to life.

To this also relates what he says shortly afterwards, that the kingdom, to the possession of which they will be appointed at the last day, had been prepared for them from the beginning of the world. For though it may be easy to object, that the reward was laid up with a view to their future merits, any person who will candidly examine the words must acknowledge that there is an implied commendation of the grace of God. Nay more, Christ does not simply invite believers to possess the kingdom, as if they had obtained it by their merits, but expressly says that it is bestowed on them as heirs.

Yet we must observe another object which our Lord had in view. For though the life of the godly be nothing else than a sad and wretched banishment, so that the earth scarcely bears them; though they groan under hard poverty, and reproaches, and other afflictions; yet, that they may with fortitude and cheerfulness surmount these obstacles, the Lord declares that a kingdom is elsewhere prepared for them. It is no slight persuasive to patience, when men are fully convinced that they do not run in vain; and therefore, lest our minds should be east, down by the pride of the ungodly, in which they give themselves unrestrained indulgences—lest our hope should even be weakened by our own afflictions, let us always remember the inheritance which awaits us in heaven; for it depends on no uncertain event, but was prepared for us by God before we were born,—prepared, I say, for each of the elect, for the persons here addressed by Christ are the blessed of the Father.

When it is here said only that the kingdom was prepared from the beginning of the world, while it is said, in another passage, that it was prepared before the creation of heaven and of earth, (Ephesians 1:4) this involves no inconsistency. For Christ does not here fix the precise time when the inheritance of eternal life was appointed for the sons of God, but only reminds us of God’s fatherly care, with which he embraced us before we were born; and confirms the certainty of our hope by this consideration, that our life can sustain no injury from the commotions and agitations of the world.

35. For I was hungry. If Christ were now speaking of the cause of our salvation, the Papists could not be blamed for inferring that we merit eternal life by good works; but as Christ had no other design than to exhort his people to holy and upright conduct, it is improper to conclude from his words what is the value of the merits of works. With regard to the stress which they lay on the word for, as if it pointed out the cause, it is a weak argument; for we know that, when eternal life is promised to the righteous, the word for does not always denote a cause, but rather the order of procedure. “Elle ne touche pas tousjours la cause et le fondement de salut, mais plustost l’ordre et la procedure que Dieu y tient;” — “it does not always refer to the cause and foundation of salvation, but rather to the order and procedure which God observes in regard to it.” But we have another reply to offer, which is still more clear; for we do not deny that a reward is promised to good works, but maintain that it is a reward of grace, because it depends on adoption. Paul boasts (2 Timothy 4:8) that a crown of righteousness is laid up for him; but whence did he derive that confidence but because he was a member of Christ, who alone is heir of the heavenly kingdom? He openly avows that the righteous Judge will give to him that crown; but whence did he obtain that prize but because by grace he was adopted, and received that justification of which we are all destitute? We must therefore hold these two principles, first, that believers are called to the possession of the kingdom of heaven, so far as relates to good works, not because they deserved them through the righteousness of works, or because their own minds prompted them to obtain that righteousness, but because God justifies those whom he previously elected, (Romans 8:30.) Secondly, although by the guidance of the Spirit they aim at the practice of righteousness, yet as they never fulfill the law of God, no reward is due to them, but the term reward is applied to that which is bestowed by grace.

Christ does not here specify every thing that belongs to a pious and holy life, but only, by way of example, refers to some of the duties of charity, by which we give evidence that we fear God. For though the worship of God is more important than charity towards men, and though, in like manner, faith and supplication are more valuable than alms, yet Christ had good reasons for bringing forward those evidences of true righteousness which are more obvious. If a man were to take no thought about God, and were only to be beneficent towards men, such compassion would be of no avail to him for appeasing God, who had all the while been defrauded of his right. Accordingly, Christ does not make the chief part of righteousness to consist in alms, but, by means of what may be called more evident signs, shows what it is to live a holy and righteous life; as unquestionably believers not only profess with the mouth, but prove by actual performances, that they serve God.

Most improperly, therefore, do fanatics, under the pretext of this passage, withdraw from hearing the word, and from observing the Holy Supper, and from other spiritual exercises; for with equal plausibility might they set aside faith, and bearing the cross, and prayer, and chastity. But nothing was farther from the design of Christ than to confine to a portion of the second table of the Law that rule of life which is contained in the two tables. The monks and other noisy talkers had as little reason to imagine that there are only six works of mercy, because Christ does not mention any more; as if it were not obvious, even to children, that he commends, by means of a synacdoche, all the duties of charity. For to comfort mourners, to relieve those who are unjustly oppressed, to aid simple-minded men by advice, to deliver wretched persons from the jaws of wolves, are deeds of mercy not less worthy of commendation than to clothe the naked or to feed the hungry.

But while Christ, in recommending to us the exercise of charity, does not exclude those duties which belong to the worship of God, he reminds his disciples that it will be an authentic evidence of a holy life, if they practice charity, agreeably to those words of the prophet,

I choose mercy, and not sacrifice, (Hosea 6:6;)

the import of which is, that hypocrites, while they are avaricious, and cruel, and deceitful, and extortioners, and haughty, still counterfeit holiness by an imposing array of ceremonies. Hence also we infer, that if we desire to have our life approved by the Supreme Judge, we must not go astray after our own inventions, but must rather consider what it is that He chiefly requires from us. For all who shall depart from his commandments, though they toil and wear themselves out in works of their own contrivance, will hear it said to them at the last day, Who

hath required those things at your hands? (Isaiah 1:12.)

37. Then wilt the righteous answer him. Christ represents the righteous as doubting—what they know well—his willingness to form a just estimate of what is done to men. “La charit, qu’on exerce envers les hommes;” — “the charity which is exercised towards men.” But as this was not so deeply impressed on their minds as it ought to have been, he holds out to them this lively representation. “Il leur represente au vif, tout ainsi que si la chose se faisoit devant lcurs yeux;” — “he represents it to them in a lively manner, quite as if the thing were done before their eyes.” For how comes it that we are so slow and reluctant to acts of beneficence, but because that promise is not truly engraven on our hearts, that God will one day repay with usury what we bestow on the poor? The admiration which Christ here expresses is intended to instruct us to rise above the apprehension of our flesh, whenever afflicted brethren ask our confidence and aid, that the aspect of a despised man may not hinder us from treating him with kindness.

40. Verily I tell you. As Christ has just now told us, by a figure, that our senses do not yet comprehend how highly he values deeds of charity, so now he openly declares, that he will reckon as done to himself whatever we have bestowed on his people. We must be prodigiously sluggish, if compassion be not drawn from our bowels by this statement, that Christ is either neglected or honored in the person of those who need our assistance. So then, whenever we are reluctant to assist the poor, let us place before our eyes the Son of God, to whom it would be base sacrilege to refuse any thing. By these words he likewise shows, that he acknowledges those acts of kindness which have been performed gratuitously, and without any expectation of a reward. And certainly, when he enjoins us to do good to the hungry and naked, to strangers and prisoners, from whom nothing can be expected in return, we must look to him, who freely lays himself under obligation to us, and allows us to place to his account what might otherwise appear to have been lost.

So far as you have done it to one of the least of my brethren. Believers only are expressly recommended to our notice; not that he bids us altogether despise others, but because the more nearly a man approaches to God, he ought to be the more highly esteemed by us; for though there is a common tie that binds all the children of Adam, there is a still more sacred union among the children of God. So then, as those, who belong to the household of faith ought to be preferred to strangers, Christ makes special mention of them. And though his design was, to encourage those whose wealth and resources are abundant to relieve the poverty of brethren, yet it affords no ordinary consolation to the poor and distressed, that, though shame and contempt follow them in the eyes of the world, yet the Son of God holds them as dear as his own members. And certainly, by calling them brethren, he confers on them inestimable honor.

41. Depart from me, you cursed. He now comes to the reprobate, who are so intoxicated by their fading prosperity, that they imagine they will always be happy. He threatens, therefore, that he will come as their Judge, and that he will make them forget those luxurious enjoyments to which they are now so entirely devoted; not that the coming of Christ will strike them with terror—for they think that they

have made a covenant with death, (Isaiah 28:15,)

and harden themselves in wicked indifference—but that believers, warned of their dreadful ruin, may not envy their present lot. For as promises are necessary for us, to excite and encourage us to holiness of life, so threatenings are likewise necessary to restrain us by anxiety and fear. We are therefore taught how desirable it is to be united to the Son of God; because everlasting destruction and the torment of the flesh await all those whom he will drive from his presence at the last day. He will then order the wicked to depart from him, because many hypocrites are now mixed with the righteous, as if they were closely allied to Christ.

Into everlasting fire. We have stated formerly, that the term fire represents metaphorically that dreadful punishment which our senses are unable to comprehend. It is therefore unnecessary to enter into subtle inquiries, as the sophists do, into the materials or form of this fire; for there would be equally good reason to inquire about the worm, which Isaiah connects with the

fire for their worm shall not die, either shall their fire be quenched, (Isaiah 66:24.)

Besides, the same prophet shows plainly enough in another passage that the expression is metaphorical; for he compares the Spirit of God to a blast by which the fire is kindled, and adds a mixture of brimstone, (Isaiah 30:33.) Under these words, therefore, we ought to represent to our minds the future vengeance of God against the wicked, which, being more grievous than all earthly torments, ought rather to excite horror than a desire to know it. But we must observe the eternity of this fire, as well as of the glory which, a little before, was promised to believers.

Which is prepared for the devil. Christ contrasts with himself the devil, as the head of all the reprobate. For though all the devils are apostate angels, yet many passages of Scripture assign thee highest authority to one who assembles under him, as in one body, all the wicked to perdition; in the same manner as believers assemble to life under Christ, and grow under him, till, having reached perfection, they are entirely united by him to God, (Ephesians 4:13; Colossians 2:19.) But now Christ says, that hell is prepared for the devil, that wicked men may not entertain the belief that they will be able to escape it, when they hear that they are involved in the same punishment with the devil, who, it is certain, was long ago sentenced and condemned to hell, without any hope of deliverance.

And his angels. By the devil's angels some understand wicked men, but it is more probable that Christ speaks only of devils. And so these words convey an indirect reproach, that men, who had been called to the hope of salvation through the Gospel, chose to perish with Satan, and, rejecting the Author of salvation, voluntarily threw themselves into this wretched condition; not that they were not appointed to destruction as well as the devil, but because in their crime is plainly seen the cause of their destruction, when they reject the grace of their calling. And thus, though the reprobate were devoted to death, by a secret judgment of God, before they were born, yet, so long as life is offered to them, they are not reckoned heirs of death or companions of Satan, but their perdition, which had been formerly concealed, is discovered and made evident by their unbelief.

44. Then shall they also answer him. The same kind of striking delineation which Christ had formerly employed is now repeated, in order to inform the reprobate, that their vain excuses, by which they now deceive themselves, will be of no avail to them at the last day. For whence comes the great cruelty of their pride towards the poor, but because they think that they will not be punished for despising them? To destroy this self-complacency, our Lord gives them warning, that they will one day feel—but when it will be too late—what they do not now deign to consider, that those who are now so greatly despised are not less esteemed by Christ than his own members.

MATTHEW 26:1-13; MARK 14:1-9; LUKE 22:1-2

Matthew 26:1-13

Mark 14:1-9

Luke 22:1-2

1. And it happened when Jesus had finished all these discourses, he said to his disciples, 2. You know that after two days is the passover; and the Son of man is betrayed to be crucified. 3. Then were assembled the chief priests, and scribes, and elders of the people, in the palace of the high priest, who was called Caiaphas, 4. And entered into consultation how they would take Jesus by stratagem, and kill him. 5. But they said, Not during the festival, lest there be a commotion among the people. 6. And when Jesus was in Bethany, in the house of Simon the leper, 7. A woman came to him, having ointment, and poured it on his head, while he sat at table. 8. And his disciples, when they saw it, were angry, saying, Why is this waste? 9. For this ointment might have been sold for a great price, and given to the poor. 10. But Jesus, knowing this, said to them, Why do you trouble the woman? for she hath performed a good action towards me. 11. For you have the poor always with you, but me you have not always. “Mais vous ne m’aurez point tousjours;” — “but you will not have me always.” 12. For as to this ointment which this woman hath poured on my body, she did it to bury me. 13. Verily I tell you, Wheresoever this gospel shall be preached throughout the whole world, this also which she hath done will be told in remembrance of her.

1. And after two days was the passover, and the feast of unleavened bread; and the chief priests and scribes sought how they would seize him by craft, and kill him. 2. But they said, Not during the festival, lest there be a commotion among the people. 3. And while he was in Bethany, in the house of Simon the leper, while he sat at table, a woman came, having an alabaster box of ointment of spikenard, very precious; and she broke the box, and poured it on his head. 4. And there were some who were angry within themselves, and said, Why is this waste of the ointment? 5. For this might have been sold for more than three hundred denarii, Reckoning silver at five shillings an ounce, a denarius, which weighed a drachm, was worth sevenpence-halfpenny; and three hundred denarii were equal to nine pounds, seven shillings, and sixpence, of our money. — Ed. and given to the poor. And they murmured against her. 6. But Jesus said, Let her alone: why do you trouble her? she hath performed a good action towards me. 7. For you have the poor always with you, and whenever you choose, you may do good to them; but me you have not always. “Mais vous ne m’aurez point tousjours;” — “but you will not have me always.” 8. She hath done what she could; she hath come beforehand, to anoint my body to the burying. 9. Verily I tell you, Wheresoever this gospel hath been preached throughout the whole world, this also which she hath done shall be told in remembrance of her.

1. Now the feast of unleavened bread, which is called the Passover, was at hand. 2. And the chief priests and scribes sought how they might kill him; for they dreaded the people.

CHAPTER 25

Mt 25:1-13. Parable of the Ten Virgins.

This and the following parable are in Matthew alone.

1. Then--at the time referred to at the close of the preceding chapter, the time of the Lord's Second Coming to reward His faithful servants and take vengeance on the faithless. Then

shall the kingdom of heaven be likened unto ten virgins, which took their lamps, and went forth to meet the bridegroom--This supplies a key to the parable, whose object is, in the main, the same as that of the last parable--to illustrate the vigilant and expectant attitude of faith, in respect of which believers are described as "they that look for Him" (He 9:28), and "love His appearing" (2Ti 4:8). In the last parable it was that of servants waiting for their absent Lord; in this it is that of virgin attendants on a Bride, whose duty it was to go forth at night with lamps, and be ready on the appearance of the Bridegroom to conduct the Bride to his house, and go in with him to the marriage. This entire and beautiful change of figure brings out the lesson of the former parable in quite a new light. But let it be observed that, just as in the parable of the Marriage Supper (Lu 14:15-24), so in this--the Bride does not come into view at all in this parable; the Virgins and the Bridegroom holding forth all the intended instruction: nor could believers be represented both as Bride and Bridal Attendants without incongruity.

2. And five of them were wise, and five were foolish--They are not distinguished into good and bad, as Trench observes, but into "wise" and "foolish"--just as in Mt 7:25-27 those who reared their house for eternity are distinguished into "wise" and "foolish builders"; because in both cases a certain degree of goodwill towards the truth is assumed. To make anything of the equal number of both classes would, we think, be precarious, save to warn us how large a portion of those who, up to the last, so nearly resemble those that love Christ's appearing will be disowned by Him when He comes.

3. They that were foolish took their lamps, and took no oil with them:

4. But the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps--What are these "lamps" and this "oil"? Many answers have been given. But since the foolish as well as the wise took their lamps and went forth with them to meet the Bridegroom, these lighted lamps and this advance a certain way in company with the wise, must denote that Christian profession which is common to all who bear the Christian name; while the insufficiency of this without something else, of which they never possessed themselves, shows that "the foolish" mean those who, with all that is common to them with real Christians, lack the essential preparation for meeting Christ. Then, since the wisdom of "the wise" consisted in their taking with their lamps a supply of oil in their vessels, keeping their lamps burning till the Bridegroom came, and so fitting them to go in with Him to the marriage, this supply of oil must mean that inward reality of grace which alone will stand when He appears whose eyes are as a flame of fire. But this is too general; for it cannot be for nothing that this inward grace is here set forth by the familiar symbol of oil, by which the Spirit of all grace is so constantly represented in Scripture. Beyond all doubt, this was what was symbolized by that precious anointing oil with which Aaron and his sons were consecrated to the priestly office (Ex 30:23-25, 30); by "the oil of gladness above His fellows" with which Messiah was to be anointed (Psa 45:7; He 1:9), even as it is expressly said, that "God giveth not the Spirit by measure unto Him" (Joh 3:34); and by the bowl full of golden oil, in Zechariah's vision, which, receiving its supplies from the two olive trees on either side of it, poured it through seven golden pipes into the golden lamp-stand to keep it continually burning bright (Zec 4:1-14)--for the prophet is expressly told that it was to proclaim the great truth, "Not by might, nor by power, but by My Spirit, saith the Lord of hosts [shall this temple be built]. Who art thou, O great mountain [of opposition to this issue]? Before Zerubbabel thou shalt become a plain [or, be swept out of the way], and he shall bring forth the head stone [of the temple], with shoutings [crying], Grace, Grace unto it." This supply of oil, then, representing that inward grace which distinguishes the wise, must denote, more particularly, that "supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ," which, as it is the source of the new spiritual life at the first, is the secret of its enduring character. Everything short of this may be possessed by "the foolish"; while it is the possession of this that makes "the wise" to be "ready" when the Bridegroom appears, and fit to "go in with Him to the marriage." Just so in the parable of the Sower, the stony-ground hearers, "having no deepness of earth" and "no root in themselves" Mt 13:5; Mr 4:17), though they spring up and get even into ear, never ripen, while they in the good ground bear the precious grain.

5. While the bridegroom tarried--So in Mt 24:48, "My Lord delayeth His coming"; and so Peter says sublimely of the ascended Saviour, "Whom the heaven must receive until the times of restitution of all things" (Ac 3:21, and compare Lu 19:11, 12). Christ "tarries," among other reasons, to try the faith and patience of His people.

they all slumbered and slept--the wise as well as the foolish. The world "slumbered" signifies, simply, "nodded," or, "became drowsy"; while the world "slept" is the usual word for lying down to sleep, denoting two stages of spiritual declension--first, that half-involuntary lethargy or drowsiness which is apt to steal over one who falls into inactivity; and then a conscious, deliberate yielding to it, after a little vain resistance. Such was the state alike of the wise and the foolish virgins, even till the cry of the Bridegroom's approach awoke them. So likewise in the parable of the Importunate Widow: "When the Son of man cometh, shall He find faith on the earth?" (Lu 18:8).

6. And at midnight--that is, the time when the Bridegroom will be least expected; for "the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night" (1Th 5:2).

there was a cry made, Behold, the Bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet him--that is, Be ready to welcome Him.

7. Then all those virgins arose, and trimmed their lamps--the foolish virgins as well as the wise. How very long do both parties seem the same--almost to the moment of decision! Looking at the mere form of the parable, it is evident that the folly of "the foolish" consisted not in having no oil at all; for they must have had oil enough in their lamps to keep them burning up to this moment: their folly consisted in not making provision against its exhaustion, by taking with their lamp an oil-vessel wherewith to replenish their lamp from time to time, and so have it burning until the Bridegroom should come. Are we, then--with some even superior expositors--to conclude that the foolish virgins must represent true Christians as well as do the wise, since only true Christians have the Spirit, and that the difference between the two classes consists only in the one having the necessary watchfulness which the other wants? Certainly not. Since the parable was designed to hold forth the prepared and the unprepared to meet Christ at His coming, and how the unprepared might, up to the very last, be confounded with the prepared--the structure of the parable behooved to accommodate itself to this, by making the lamps of the foolish to burn, as well as those of the wise, up to a certain point of time, and only then to discover their inability to burn on for want of a fresh supply of oil. But this is evidently just a structural device; and the real difference between the two classes who profess to love the Lord's appearing is a radical one--the possession by the one class of an enduring principle of spiritual life, and the want of it by the other.

8. And the foolish said unto the wise, Give us of your oil; for our lamps are gone out--rather, as in the Margin, "are going out"; for oil will not light an extinguished lamp, though it will keep a burning one from going out. Ah! now at length they have discovered not only their own folly, but the wisdom of the other class, and they do homage to it. They did not perhaps despise them before, but they thought them righteous overmuch; now they are forced, with bitter mortification, to wish they were like them.

9. But the wise answered, Not so; lest there be not enough for us and you--The words "Not so," it will be seen, are not in the original, where the reply is very elliptical--"In case there be not enough for us and you." A truly wise answer this. "And what, then, if we shall share it with you? Why, both will be undone."

but go ye rather to them that sell, and buy for yourselves--Here again it would be straining the parable beyond its legitimate design to make it teach that men may get salvation even after they are supposed and required to have it already gotten. It is merely a friendly way of reminding them of the proper way of obtaining the needed and precious article, with a certain reflection on them for having it now to seek. Also, when the parable speaks of "selling" and "buying" that valuable article, it means simply, "Go, get it in the only legitimate way." And yet the word "buy" is significant; for we are elsewhere bidden, "buy wine and milk without money and without price," and "buy of Christ gold tried in the fire," &c. (Is 55:1; Re 3:18). Now, since what we pay the demanded price for becomes thereby our own property, the salvation which we thus take gratuitously at God's hands, being bought in His own sense of that word, becomes ours thereby in inalienable possession. (Compare for the language, Pr 23:23; Mt 13:44).

10. And while they went to buy, the Bridegroom came; and they that were ready went in with him to the marriage: and the door was shut--They are sensible of their past folly; they have taken good advice: they are in the act of getting what alone they lacked: a very little more, and they also are ready. But the Bridegroom comes; the ready are admitted; "the door is shut," and they are undone. How graphic and appalling this picture of one almost saved--but lost!

11. Afterward came also the other virgins, saying, Lord, Lord, open to us--In Mt 7:22 this reiteration of the name was an exclamation rather of surprise; here it is a piteous cry of urgency, bordering on despair. Ah! now at length their eyes are wide open, and they realize all the consequences of their past folly.

12. But he answered and said, Verily I say unto you, I know you not--The attempt to establish a difference between "I know you not" here, and "I never knew you" in Mt 7:23--as if this were gentler, and so implied a milder fate, reserved for "the foolish" of this parable--is to be resisted, though advocated by such critics as Olshausen, Stier, and Alford. Besides being inconsistent with the general tenor of such language, and particularly the solemn moral of the whole (Mt 25:13), it is a kind of criticism which tampers with some of the most awful warnings regarding the future. If it be asked why unworthy guests were admitted to the marriage of the King's Son, in a former parable, and the foolish virgins are excluded in this one, we may answer, in the admirable words of Gerhard, quoted by Trench, that those festivities are celebrated in this life, in the Church militant; these at the last day, in the Church triumphant; to those, even they are admitted who are not adorned with the wedding garment; but to these, only they to whom it is granted to be arrayed in fine linen clean and white, which is the righteousness of saints (Re 19:8); to those, men are called by the trumpet of the Gospel; to these by the trumpet of the Archangel; to those, who enters may go out from them, or be cast out; who is once introduced to these never goes out, nor is cast out, from them any more: wherefore it is said, "The door is shut."

13. Watch therefore; for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh--This, the moral or practical lesson of the whole parable, needs no comment.

Mt 25:14-30. Parable of the Talents.

This parable, while closely resembling it, is yet a different one from that of The Pounds, in Lu 19:11-27; though Calvin, Olshausen, Meyer, and others identify them--but not De Wette and Neander. For the difference between the two parables, see the opening remarks on that of The Pounds. While, as Trench observes with his usual felicity, "the virgins were represented as waiting for their Lord, we have the servants working for Him; there the inward spiritual life of the faithful was described; here his external activity. It is not, therefore, without good reason that they appear in their actual order--that of the Virgins first, and of the Talents following--since it is the sole condition of a profitable outward activity for the kingdom of God, that the life of God be diligently maintained within the heart."

14. For the kingdom of heaven is as a man--The ellipsis is better supplied by our translators in the corresponding passage of Mark (Mr 13:34), "[For the Son of man is] as a man," &c.,

travelling into a far country--or more simply, "going abroad." The idea of long "tarrying" is certainly implied here, since it is expressed in Mt 25:19.

who called his own servants, and delivered unto them his goods--Between master and slaves this was not uncommon in ancient times. Christ's "servants" here mean all who, by their Christian profession, stand in the relation to Him of entire subjection. His "goods" mean all their gifts and endowments, whether original or acquired, natural or spiritual. As all that slaves have belongs to their master, so Christ has a claim to everything which belongs to His people, everything which, may be turned to good, and He demands its appropriation to His service, or, viewing it otherwise, they first offer it up to Him; as being "not their own, but bought with a price" (1Co 6:19, 20), and He "delivers it to them" again to be put to use in His service.

15. And unto one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one--While the proportion of gifts is different in each, the same fidelity is required of all, and equally rewarded. And thus there is perfect equity.

to every man according to his several ability--his natural capacity as enlisted in Christ's service, and his opportunities in providence for employing the gifts bestowed on him.

and straightway took his journey--Compare Mt 21:33, where the same departure is ascribed to God, after setting up the ancient economy. In both cases, it denotes the leaving of men to the action of all those spiritual laws and influences of Heaven under which they have been graciously placed for their own salvation and the advancement of their Lord's kingdom.

16. Then he that had received the five talents went and traded with the same--expressive of the activity which he put forth and the labor he bestowed.

and made them other five talents.

17. And likewise he that had received two he also gained other two--each doubling what he received, and therefore both equally faithful.

18. But he that had received one went and digged in the earth, and hid his lord's money--not misspending, but simply making no use of it. Nay, his action seems that of one anxious that the gift should not be misused or lost, but ready to be returned, just as he got it.

19. After a long time the lord of those servants cometh and reckoneth with them--That any one--within the lifetime of the apostles at least--with such words before them, should think that Jesus had given any reason to expect His Second Appearing within that period, would seem strange, did we not know the tendency of enthusiastic, ill-regulated love of His appearing ever to take this turn.

20. Lord, thou deliveredst unto me five talents; behold, I have gained besides them five talents more--How beautifully does this illustrate what the beloved disciple says of "boldness in the day of judgment," and his desire that "when He shall appear we may have confidence, and not be ashamed before Him at His coming!" (1Jo 4:17; 2:28).

21. His lord said unto him, Well done--a single word, not of bare satisfaction, but of warm and delighted commendation. And from what Lips!

thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things, &c.

22. He also that had received two talents came ... good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things--Both are commended in the same terms, and the reward of both is precisely the same. (See on Mt 25:15). Observe also the contrasts: "Thou hast been faithful as a servant; now be a ruler--thou hast been entrusted with a few things; now have dominion over many things."

enter thou into the joy of thy lord--thy Lord's own joy. (See Joh 15:11; He 12:2).

24. Then he which had received the one talent came and said, Lord, I knew thee that thou art an hard man--harsh. The word in Luke (Lu 19:21) is "austere."

reaping where thou hast not sown, and gathering where thou hast not strawed--The sense is obvious: "I knew thou wast one whom it was impossible to serve, one whom nothing would please: exacting what was impracticable, and dissatisfied with what was attainable." Thus do men secretly think of God as a hard Master, and virtually throw on Him the blame of their fruitlessness.

25. And I was afraid--of making matters worse by meddling with it at all.

and went and hid thy talent in the earth--This depicts the conduct of all those who shut up their gifts from the active service of Christ, without actually prostituting them to unworthy uses. Fitly, therefore, may it, at least, comprehend those, to whom Trench refers, who, in the early Church, pleaded that they had enough to do with their own souls, and were afraid of losing them in trying to save others; and so, instead of being the salt of the earth, thought rather of keeping their own saltness by withdrawing sometimes into caves and wildernesses, from all those active ministries of love by which they might have served their brethren.

Thou wicked and slothful servant--"Wicked" or "bad" means "falsehearted," as opposed to the others, who are emphatically styled "good servants." The addition of "slothful" is to mark the precise nature of his wickedness: it consisted, it seems, not in his doing anything against, but simply nothing for his master.

Thou knewest that I reap where I sowed not, and gather where I have not strawed--He takes the servant's own account of his demands, as expressing graphically enough, not the hardness which he had basely imputed to him, but simply his demand of a profitable return for the gift entrusted.

27. thou oughtest therefore to have put my money to the exchangers--the bankers.

and then at my coming I should have received mine own with usury--interest.

29. For unto every one that hath shall be given, &c.--See on Mt 13:12.

30. And cast ye--cast ye out.

the unprofitable servant--the useless servant, that does his Master no service.

into outer darkness--the darkness which is outside. On this expression see on Mt 22:13.

there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth--See on Mt 13:42.

Mt 25:31-46. The Last Judgment.

The close connection between this sublime scene--peculiar to Matthew--and the two preceding parables is too obvious to need pointing out.

31. When the Son of man shall come in his glory--His personal glory.

and all the holy angels with him--See De 33:2; Da 7:9, 10; Jude 14; with He 1:6; 1Pe 3:22.

then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory--the glory of His judicial authority.

32. And before him shall be gathered all nations--or, "all the nations." That this should be understood to mean the heathen nations, or all except believers in Christ, will seem amazing to any simple reader. Yet this is the exposition of Olshausen, Stier, Keil, Alford (though latterly with some diffidence), and of a number, though not all, of those who hold that Christ will come the second time before the millennium, and that the saints will be caught up to meet Him in the air before His appearing. Their chief argument is, the impossibility of any that ever knew the Lord Jesus wondering, at the Judgment Day, that they should be thought to have done--or left undone--anything "unto Christ." To that we shall advert when we come to it. But here we may just say, that if this scene does not describe a personal, public, final judgment on men, according to the treatment they have given to Christ--and consequently men within the Christian pale--we shall have to consider again whether our Lord's teaching on the greatest themes of human interest does indeed possess that incomparable simplicity and transparency of meaning which, by universal consent, has been ascribed to it. If it be said, But how can this be the general judgment, if only those within the Christian pale be embraced by it?--we answer, What is here described, as it certainly does not meet the case of all the family of Adam, is of course so far not general. But we have no right to conclude that the whole "judgment of the great day" will be limited to the point of view here presented. Other explanations will come up in the course of our exposition.

and he shall separate them--now for the first time; the two classes having been mingled all along up to this awful moment.

as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats--(See Eze 34:17).

33. And he shall set the sheep on his right hand--the side of honor (1Ki 2:19; Psa 45:9; 110:1, &c.).

but the goats on the left--the side consequently of dishonor.

34. Then shall the King--Magnificent title, here for the first and only time, save in parabolical language, given to Himself by the Lord Jesus, and that on the eve of His deepest humiliation! It is to intimate that in then addressing the heirs of the kingdom, He will put on all His regal majesty.

say unto them on his right hand, Come--the same sweet word with which He had so long invited all the weary and heavy laden to come unto Him for rest. Now it is addressed exclusively to such as have come and found rest. It is still, "Come," and to "rest" too; but to rest in a higher style, and in another region.

ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world--The whole story of this their blessedness is given by the apostle, in words which seem but an expression of these: "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ; according as He hath chosen us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love." They were chosen from everlasting to the possession and enjoyment of all spiritual blessings in Christ, and so chosen in order to be holy and blameless in love. This is the holy love whose practical manifestations the King is about to recount in detail; and thus we see that their whole life of love to Christ is the fruit of an eternal purpose of love to them in Christ.

35. For I was an hungered ... thirsty ... a stranger, &c.

36. Naked ... sick ... prison, and ye came unto me.

37-39. Then shall the righteous answer him, &c.

40. And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, &c.--Astonishing dialogue this between the King, from the Throne of His glory, and His wondering people! "I was an hungered, and ye gave Me meat," &c.--"Not we," they reply. "We never did that, Lord: We were born out of due time, and enjoyed not the privilege of ministering unto Thee." "But ye did it to these My brethren, now beside you, when cast upon your love." "Truth, Lord, but was that doing it to Thee? Thy name was indeed dear to us, and we thought it a great honor to suffer shame for it. When among the destitute and distressed we discerned any of the household of faith, we will not deny that our hearts leapt within us at the discovery, and when their knock came to our dwelling, 'our bowels were moved,' as though 'our Beloved Himself had put in His hand by the hole of the door.' Sweet was the fellowship we had with them, as if we had 'entertained angels unawares'; all difference between giver and receiver somehow melted away under the beams of that love of Thine which knit us together; nay, rather, as they left us with gratitude for our poor givings, we seemed the debtors--not they. But, Lord, were we all that time in company with Thee? ... Yes, that scene was all with Me," replies the King--"Me in the disguise of My poor ones. The door shut against Me by others was opened by you--'Ye took Me in.' Apprehended and imprisoned by the enemies of the truth, ye whom the truth had made free sought Me out diligently and found Me; visiting Me in My lonely cell at the risk of your own lives, and cheering My solitude; ye gave Me a coat, for I shivered; and then I felt warm. With cups of cold water ye moistened My parched lips; when famished with hunger ye supplied Me with crusts, and my spirit revived--/Ye did it unto Me.'" What thoughts crowd upon us as we listen to such a description of the scenes of the Last Judgment! And in the light of this view of the heavenly dialogue, how bald and wretched, not to say unscriptural, is that view of it to which we referred at the outset, which makes it a dialogue between Christ and heathens who never heard of His name, and of course never felt any stirrings of His love in their hearts! To us it seems a poor, superficial objection to the Christian view of this scene, that Christians could never be supposed to ask such questions as the "blessed of Christ's Father" are made to ask here. If there were any difficulty in explaining this, the difficulty of the other view is such as to make it, at least, insufferable. But there is no real difficulty. The surprise expressed is not at their being told that they acted from love to Christ, but that Christ Himself was the Personal Object of all their deeds: that they found Him hungry, and supplied Him with food: that they brought water to Him, and slaked His thirst; that seeing Him naked and shivering, they put warm clothing upon Him, paid Him visits when lying in prison for the truth, and sat by His bedside when laid down with sickness. This is the astonishing interpretation which Jesus says "the King" will give to them of their own actions here below. And will any Christian reply, "How could this astonish them? Does not every Christian know that He does these very things, when He does them at all, just as they are here represented?" Nay, rather, is it conceivable that they should not be astonished, and almost doubt their own ears, to hear such an account of their own actions upon earth from the lips of the Judge? And remember, that Judge has come in His glory, and now sits upon the throne of His glory, and all the holy angels are with Him; and that it is from those glorified Lips that the words come forth, "Ye did all this unto Me." Oh, can we imagine such a word addressed to ourselves, and then fancy ourselves replying, "Of course we did--To whom else did we anything? It must be others than we that are addressed, who never knew, in all their good deeds, what they were about?" Rather, can we imagine ourselves not overpowered with astonishment, and scarcely able to credit the testimony borne to us by the King?

41.Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, &c.--As for you on the left hand, ye did nothing for Me. I came to you also, but ye knew Me not: ye had neither warm affections nor kind deeds to bestow upon Me: I was as one despised in your eyes." "In our eyes, Lord? We never saw Thee before, and never, sure, behaved we so to Thee." "But thus ye treated these little ones that believe in Me and now stand on My right hand. In the disguise of these poor members of Mine I came soliciting your pity, but ye shut up your bowels of compassion from Me: I asked relief, but ye had none to give Me. Take back therefore your own coldness, your own contemptuous distance: Ye bid Me away from your presence, and now I bid you from Mine--Depart from Me, ye cursed!"

46. And these shall go away--these "cursed" ones. Sentence, it should seem, was first pronounced--in the hearing of the wicked--upon the righteous, who thereupon sit as assessors in the judgment upon the wicked (1Co 6:2); but sentence is first executed, it should seem, upon the wicked, in the sight of the righteous--whose glory will thus not be beheld by the wicked, while their descent into "their own place" will be witnessed by the righteous, as Bengel notes.

into everlasting punishment--or, as in Mt 25:41, "everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels." Compare Mt 13:42; 2Th 1:9, &c. This is said to be "prepared for the devil and his angels," because they were "first in transgression." But both have one doom, because one unholy character.

but the righteous into life eternal--that is, "life everlasting." The word in both clauses, being in the original the same, should have been the same in the translation also. Thus the decisions of this awful day will be final, irreversible, unending.

Then shall the kingdom of heaven - The state of Jews and professing Christians - the state of the visible Church at the time of the destruction of Jerusalem, and in the day of judgment: for the parable appears to relate to both those periods. And particularly at the time in which Christ shall come to judge the world, it shall appear what kind of reception his Gospel has met with. This parable, or something very like it, is found in the Jewish records: so in a treatise entitled Reshith Chocmah, the beginning of wisdom, we read thus: "Our wise men of blessed memory say, Repent whilst thou hast strength to do it, whilst thy lamp burns, and thy oil is not extinguished; for if thy lamp be gone out, thy oil will profit thee nothing." Our doctors add, in Medrash: "The holy blessed God said to Israel, My sons, repent whilst the gates of repentance stand open; for I receive a gift at present, but when I shall sit in judgment, in the age to come, I will receive none." Another parable, mentioned by Kimchi, on Isa 65:13. "Rabbi Yuchanan, the son of Zachai, spoke a parable concerning a king, who invited his servants, but set them no time to come: the prudent and wary among them adorned themselves and, standing at the door of the king's house, said, Is any thing wanting in the house of the king? (i.e. Is there any work to be done?) But the foolish ones that were among them went away, and working said, When shall the feast be in which there is no labor? Suddenly the king sought out his servants: those who were adorned entered in, and they who were still polluted entered in also. The king was glad when he met the prudent, but he was angry when he met the foolish: he said, Let the prudent sit down and eat - let the others stand and look on." Rabbi Eliezer said, "Turn to God one day before your death." His disciples said, "How can a man know the day of his death?" He answered them, "Therefore you should turn to God to-day, perhaps you may die to-morrow; thus every day will be employed in returning." See Kimchi in Isa 65:13.

Virgins - Denoting the purity of the Christian doctrine and character. In this parable, the bridegroom is generally understood to mean Jesus Christ. The feast, that state of felicity to which he has promised to raise his genuine followers. The wise, or prudent, and foolish virgins, those who truly enjoy, and those who only profess the purity and holiness of his religion. The oil, the grace and salvation of God, or that faith which works by love. The vessel, the heart in which this oil is contained. The lamp, the profession of enjoying the burning and shining light of the Gospel of Christ. Going forth; the whole of their sojourning upon earth.

Five of them were wise - Or, provident, φρονιμοι - they took care to make a proper provision beforehand, and left nothing to be done in the last moment.

Five were foolish - Μωροι, which might be translated careless, is generally rendered foolish; but this does not agree so well with φρονιμοι, provident, or prudent, in the first clause, which is the proper meaning of the word. Μωρος in the Etymologicon, is thus defined, μη ὁρᾶ το δεον, he who sees not what is proper or necessary. These did not see that it was necessary to have oil in their vessels, (the salvation of God in their souls), as well as a burning lamp of religious profession, Mat 25:3, Mat 25:4.

Took oil in their vessels - They not only had a sufficiency of oil in their lamps, but they carried a vessel with oil to recruit their lamps, when it should be found expedient. This the foolish or improvident neglected to do: hence, when the oil that was in their lamps burned out, they had none to pour into the lamp to maintain the flame.

The bridegroom tarried - The coming of the bridegroom to an individual may imply his death: his coming to the world - the final judgment. The delay - the time from a man's birth till his death, in the first case; in the second, the time from the beginning to the end of the world.

Slumbered and slept - Or, ενυϚαξαν και εκαθευδον, they became drowsy and fell asleep. As sleep is frequently used in the sacred writings for death, so drowsiness, which precedes sleep, may be considered as pointing out the decays of the constitution, and the sicknesses which precede death. The other explanations which are given of this place must be unsatisfactory to every man who is not warped by some point in his creed, which must be supported at every expense. Carelessness disposed them to drowsiness, drowsiness to sleep, deep sleep, which rendered them as unconscious of their danger as they were before inattentive to their duty. The Anglo-Saxon has hit the meaning of the original well - of which my old MS. Bible gives a literal version, in the English of the 14th century: forsothe-alle nappeden and sleptyn.

At midnight there was a cry - The Jewish weddings were generally celebrated in the night; yet they usually began at the rising of the evening star; but in this case there was a more than ordinary delay.

Behold, the bridegroom cometh - What an awful thing to be summoned to appear before the Judge of quick and dead! The following is an affecting relation, and fas est ab hoste doceri. "When Rabbi Jochanan ben Zachai was sick, his disciples came to visit him; and when he saw them he began to weep. They say to him, Rabbi! the light of Israel, the right hand pillar, the strong hammer, wherefore dost thou weep? He answered them, If they were carrying me before a king of flesh and blood, who is here today, and to-morrow in the grave; who, if he were angry with me, his anger would not last for ever: if he put me in prison, his prison would not be everlasting; if he condemned me to death, that death would not be eternal; whom I could soothe with words or bribe with riches; yet even in these circumstances I should weep. But now I am going before the King of kings, the holy and the blessed God, who liveth and endureth for ever and for ever; who, if he be angry with me, his anger will last for ever; if he put me in prison, his bondage will be everlasting; if he condemn me to death, that death will be eternal; whom I cannot soothe with words nor bribe with riches: when, farther, there are before me two ways, the one to hell and the other to paradise, and I know not in which they are carrying me, shall I not weep?" Talmud Beracoth, fol. 29.

Trimmed their lamps - Εκοσμησαν, adorned them. I have seen some of the eastern lamps or lanthorns, the body of which was a skeleton of wood and threads, covered with a very thin transparent membrane, or very fine gauze, and decorated with flowers painted on it. It is probable that the nuptial lamps were highly decorated in this way; though the act mentioned here may mean no more than preparing the lamps for burning.

The following account of the celebration of a wedding in Persia, taken from the Zend Avesta, vol. ii. p. 558, etc., may cast some light on this place. "The day appointed for the marriage, about five o'clock in the evening, the bridegroom comes to the house of the bride, where the mobed, or priest, pronounces for the first time the nuptial benediction. He then brings her to his own house, gives her some refreshment, and afterwards the assembly of her relatives and friends reconduct her to her father's house. When she arrives, the mobed repeats the nuptial benediction, which is generally done about Midnight; immediately after, the bride, accompanied with a part of her attending troop, (the rest having returned to their own homes), is reconducted to the house of her husband, where she generally arrives about three o'clock in the morning. Nothing can be more brilliant than these nuptial solemnities in India. Sometimes the assembly consists of not less than two thousand persons, all richly dressed in gold and silver tissue; the friends and relatives of the bride, encompassed with their domestics, are all mounted on horses richly harnessed. The goods, wardrobe, and even the bed of the bride, are carried in triumph. The husband, richly mounted and magnificently dressed, is accompanied by his friends and relatives, the friends of the bride following him in covered carriages. At intervals, during the procession, guns and rockets are fired, and the spectacle is rendered grand beyond description, by a prodigious number of Lighted Torches, and by the Sound of a multitude of musical instruments."

There are certain preparations which most persons believe they must make at the approach of death; but, alas! it is often too late. The lamp is defiled, the light almost out, and the oil expended; and what adorning is a wretched sinner, struggling in the agonies of death, capable of preparing for his guilty soul!

Our lamps are gone out - Σβεννυνται, are going out. So then it is evident that they were once lighted. They had once hearts illuminated and warmed by faith and love; but they had backslidden from the salvation of God, and now they are excluded from heaven, because, through their carelessness, they have let the light that was in them become darkness, and have not applied in time for a fresh supply of the salvation of God.

A Jewish rabbin supposes God addressing man thus: - I give thee my lamp, give thou me thy lamp; if thou keep my lamp I will keep thy lamp; but if thou extinguish my lamp I will extinguish thy lamp. That is, I give thee my Word and testimonies to be a light unto thy feet and a lanthorn to thy steps, to guide thee safely through life; give me thy Soul and all its concerns, that I may defend and save thee from all evil: keep my Word, walk in my ways, and I will keep thy Soul that nothing shall injure it; but if thou trample under foot my laws, I will cast thy soul into outer darkness.

Lest there be not enough for us and you - These had all been companions in the Christian course, and there was a time when they might have been helpful to each other; but that time is now past for ever - none has a particle of grace to spare, not even to help the soul of the dearest relative! The grace which every man receives is just enough to save his own soul; he has no merits to bequeath to the Church; no work of supererogation which can be placed to the account of another.

Go ye rather to them that sell, and buy - By leaving out the particle δε, but, (on the indisputable authority of ABDGHKS, and HV, of Matthai, with sixteen others, the Armenian, Vulgate, and all the Itala but one), and transposing a very little the members of the sentence, the sense is more advantageously represented, and the reading smoother: Rather go to them that sell, and buy for yourselves, lest there be not enough for us and you. Beza, Mill, Bengel, and Griesbach, approve of the omission of the particle δε.

While they went to buy, the bridegroom came - What a dismal thing it is, not to discover the emptiness of one's heart of all that is good, till it is too late to make any successful application for relief! God alone knows how many are thus deceived.

And they that were ready - They who were prepared - who had not only a burning lamp of an evangelical profession, but had oil in their vessels, the faith that works by love in their hearts, and their lives adorned with all the fruits of the Spirit.

The door was shut - Sinners on a death-bed too often meet with those deceitful merchants, who promise them salvation for a price which is of no value in the sight of God. Come unto me, says Jesus, and buy: there is no salvation but through his blood - no hope for the sinner but that which is founded upon his sacrifice and death. The door was shut - dreadful and fatal words! No hope remains. Nothing but death can shut this door; but death may surprise us in our sins, and then despair is our only portion.

Afterwards came also the other virgins, saying, Lord, Lord - Earnest prayer, when used in time, may do much good: but it appears, from this parable, that there may come a time when prayer even to Jesus may be too late! - viz. when the door is shut - when death has separated the body and the soul.

I know you not - As if he had said, Ye are not of my company - ye were neither with the bride nor the bridegroom: ye slept while the others were in procession. I do not acknowledge you for my disciples - ye are not like him who is love - ye refused to receive his grace - ye sinned it away when ye had it; now you are necessarily excluded from that kingdom where nothing but love and purity can dwell.

Watch therefore - If to watch be to employ ourselves chiefly about the business of our salvation, alas! how few of those who are called Christians are there who do watch! How many who slumber! How many who are asleep! How many seized with a lethargy! How many quite dead!

Wherein the Son of man cometh - These words are omitted by many excellent MSS., most of the versions, and several of the fathers. Griesbach has left them out of the text: Grotius, Hammond, Mill, and Bengel, approve of the omission.

Called his own servants - God never makes the children of men proprietors of his goods. They are formed by his power, and upheld by his bounty; and they hold their lives and their goods, as in many of our ancient tenures, quamdiu domino placuerit - at the will of their Lord.

Unto one he gave five talents - to every man according to his several ability - The duties men are called to perform are suited to their situations, and the talents they receive. The good that any man has he has received from God, as also the ability to improve that good. God's graces and temporal mercies are suited to the power which a man has of improving them. To give eminent gifts to persons incapable of properly improving them, would be only to lead into a snare. The talent which each man has suits his own state best; and it is only pride and insanity which lead him to desire and envy the graces and talents of another. Five talents would be too much for some men: one talent would be too little. He who receives much, must make proportionate improvement; and, from him who has received little, the improvement only of that little will be required. As five talents, in one case, are sufficient to answer the purpose for which they were given; so also are two and one.

The man who improves the grace he has received, however small, will as surely get to the kingdom of God, as he who has received most from his master, and improved all.

There is a parable something like this in Sohar Chadash, fol. 47: "A certain king gave a deposit to three of his servants: the first kept it; the second lost it; the third spoiled one part of it, and gave the rest to another to keep. After some time, the king came and demanded the deposit. Him who had preserved it, the king praised, and made him governor of his house. Him who had lost it, he delivered to utter destruction, so that both his name and his possessions were blotted out. To the third, who had spoiled a part and given the rest to another to keep, the king said, Keep him, and let him not go out of my house, till we see what the other shall do to whom he has entrusted a part: if he shall make a proper use of it, this man shall be restored to liberty; if not, he also shall be punished." See Schoettgen. I have had already occasion to remark how greatly every Jewish parable is improved that comes through the hands of Christ.

In this parable of our Lord, four things may be considered: -

I. The master who distributes the talents.

II. The servants who improved their talents.

III. The servant who buried his talent. And

IV. His punishment.

I. The master who distributes the talents.

1. The master's kindness. The servants had nothing - deserved nothing - had no claim on their master, yet he, in his Kindness, delivers unto them his goods, not for his advantage, but for their comfort and salvation.

2. The master distributes these goods diversely; - giving to one five, to another, two, and to another one. No person can complain that he has been forgotten; the master gives to each. None can complain of the diversity of the gifts; it is the master who has done it. The master has an absolute right over his own goods, and the servants cannot find fault with the distribution. He who has little should not envy him who has received much, for he has the greater labor, and the greater account to give. He who has much should not despise him who has little, for the sovereign master has made the distinction; and his little, suited to the ability which God has given him, and fitted to the place in which God's providence has fixed him, is sufficiently calculated to answer the purpose of the master, in the salvation of the servant's soul.

3. The master distributes his talents with Wisdom. He gave to each according to his several ability, i.e. to the power he had to improve what was given. It would not be just to make a servant responsible for what he is naturally incapable of managing; and it would not be proper to give more than could be improved. The powers which men have, God has given; and as he best knows the extent of these powers, so he suits his graces and blessings to them in the most wise, and effectual way. Though he may make one vessel for honor, (i.e. a more honorable place or office), and another for dishonor, (a less honorable office), yet both are for the master's use - both are appointed and capacitated to show forth his glory.

II. The servants who improved their talents. These persons are termed δουλοι, slaves, such as were the property of the master, who might dispose of them as he pleased. Then he that had received the five talents went and traded, Mat 25:16.

1. The work was speedily begun - as soon as the master gave the talents and departed, so soon they began to labor. There is not a moment to be lost - every moment has its grace, and every grace has its employment, and every thing is to be done for eternity.

2. The work was perseveringly carried on; after a long time the lord of those servants cometh, Mat 25:19. The master was long before he returned, but they did not relax. The longer time, the greater improvement. God gives every man just time enough to live, in this world, to glorify his Maker, and to get his soul saved. Many begin well, and continue faithful for a time - but how few persevere to the end! Are there none who seem to have outlived their glory, their character, their usefulness?

3. Their work was crowned with success. They doubled the sum which they had received. Every grace of God is capable of great improvement. Jesus himself, the pure, immaculate Jesus, grew in wisdom and favor with God, Luk 2:52.

4. They were ready to give in a joyful account when their master came and called for them. 1st. They come without delay: they expected his coming; and it was with an eye to this that they continued their labor - they endured as seeing him who is invisible. 2dly. They come without fear; the master before whom they appear has always loved them, and given them the fullest proofs of his affection for them: his love to them has begotten in them love to him; and their obedience to his orders sprung from the love they bore to him. He that loveth me, says Jesus, will keep my words. 3d. They render up their accounts without confusion: he who received five brought five others; and he who had received two brought two more: nothing was to be done when their master called; all their business was fully prepared. 4th. They gave up every thing to their master, without attempting to appropriate any thing. Their ability was his, the talents his, and the continued power to improve them, his. All is of God, and all must be returned to him.

5. Their recompense from their gracious master. 1st. They receive praise. Well done, good and faithful servants, Mat 25:21. What a glorious thing to have the approbation of God, and the testimony of a good conscience! They were good, pure and upright within - faithful, using to God's glory the blessings he had given. 2d. They receive gracious promises. Ye have been faithful over a little, I will set you over much. These promises refer not only to a future glory, but to an increase of God's grace and mercy here; for the more faithfully a man improves what God has already given him, the more he shall have from his gracious Master: for he giveth more grace, till he fills the faithful soul with his own fullness. 3d. They receive Glory. Enter into the joy of your Lord. As ye were partakers of my nature on earth, be ye sharers of my glory in heaven. The joy, the happiness wherewith I am happy, shall be your eternal portion! O, what is all we can do, all we can suffer, even the most lingering and cruel martyrdom, in comparison of this unbounded, eternal joy!

III. Of the servant who buried his talent. He that had received one went and digged in the earth, and hid his Lord's money, Mat 25:18.

1. See the ingratitude of this servant. His master gave him a talent, capable of being improved to his own present and eternal advantage; but he slights the mercy of his lord.

2. See his idleness. Rather than exert himself to improve what he has received, he goes and hides it.

3. See his gross error. He Digs to hide it - puts himself to more trouble to render the mercy of God to him of none effect, than he would have had in combating and conquering the world, the devil, and the flesh.

4. See his injustice. He takes his master's money, and neither improves nor designs to improve it, even while he is living on and consuming that bounty which would have been sufficient for a faithful servant. How much of this useless lumber is to be found in the Church of Christ! But suppose the man be a preacher - what a terrible account will he have to give to God - consuming the provision made for a faithful pastor, and so burying, or misusing his talent, as to do no good, to immortal souls!

5. Hear the absurdity of his reasoning. Lord, I knew thee that thou art a hard (or avaricious) man, reaping where thou hast not sown, etc., Mat 25:24. See this meaning of σκληρος proved by Kypke. The wicked excuse of this faithless servant confuted itself and condemned him. Nevertheless it is on this very model that sinners in general seek to justify themselves; and the conclusion turns always against them. I knew thee to be a hard man. How awfully deceived and deeply depraved must that person be, who not only attempts to excuse his follies, but to charge his crimes on God himself! I was afraid - Why? Because thou wert an enemy to thy soul, and to thy God. - I was afraid - of what? that he would require more than he did give. How could this be? Did he not give thee the talent freely, to show thee his benevolence? And did he not suit it to thy ability, that he might show thee his wisdom, justice, and goodness, in not making thee responsible for more than thou couldst improve?

IV. Behold the awful punishment of this faithless servant.

1. He is reproached. Thou wicked and slothful servant! Wicked - in thy heart: slothful - in thy work. Thou knewest that I reap where I sowed not. Thou art condemned by thy own mouth - whose is the unemployed talent? Did I not give thee this? And did I require the improvement of two when I gave thee but one? - Thou knowest I did not.

2. He is stripped of what he possessed. Take - the talent from him. O terrible word! - Remove the candlestick from that slothful, worldly-minded Church: take away the inspirations of the Holy Spirit from that lukewarm, Christless Christian, who only lives to resist them and render them of none effect. Dispossess that base, man-pleasing minister of his ministerial gifts; let his silver become brass, and his fine gold, dross. He loved the present world more than the eternal world, and the praise of men more than the approbation of God. Take away the talent from him!

3. He is punished with an everlasting separation from God and the glory of his power. Cast forth the unprofitable servant, Mat 25:30. Let him have nothing but darkness, who refused to walk in the light: let him have nothing but misery - weeping and gnashing of teeth, who has refused the happiness which God provided for him.

Reader, if the careless virgin, and the unprofitable servant, against whom no flagrant iniquity is charged, be punished with an outer darkness, with a hell of fire: of what sorer punishment must he be judged worthy, who is a murderer, an adulterer, a fornicator, a blasphemer, a thief, a liar, or in any respect an open violater of the laws of God? The careless virgins, and the unprofitable servants, were saints in comparison of millions, who are, notwithstanding, dreaming of an endless heaven, when fitted only for an endless hell!

With usury - Συν τοκω, with its produce - not usury; for that is unlawful interest, more than the money can properly produce.

Unto every one that hath shall be given - See on Mat 13:12 (note).

Weeping and gnashing of teeth - See on Mat 8:12 (note), a note necessary for the illustration of this, and the foregoing parable.

When the Son of man shall come - This must be understood of Christ's coming at the last day, to judge mankind: though all the preceding part of the chapter may be applied also to the destruction of Jerusalem.

Holy angels - The word αγιοι is omitted by many excellent manuscripts, versions, and fathers. Mill and Bengel approve of the omission, and Griesbach has left it out of the text. It is supposed by some that our Lord will have other angels (messengers) with him in that day, besides the holy ones. The evil angels may be in attendance to take, as their prey, those who shall be found on his left hand.

The throne of his glory - That glorious throne on which his glorified human nature is seated, at the right hand of the Father.

All nations - Literally, all the nations - all the Gentile world; the Jews are necessarily included, but they were spoken of in a particular manner in the preceding chapter.

He shall separate them - Set each kind apart by themselves.

As a shepherd divideth, etc. - It does not appear that sheep and goats were ever penned or housed together, though they might feed in the same pasture; yet even this was not done but in separate flocks; so Virgil, Eclog. vii. v. 2.

Compulerantque greges Corydon et Thyrsis in unum;

Thyrsis Oves, Corydon distentas lacte

Capellas "Thyrsis and Corydon drove their flocks together:

Thyrsin his sheep; and Corydon his goats, their udders distended with milk."

These two shepherds had distinct flocks, which fed in the same pasture, but separately; and they are only now driven together, for the convenience of the two shepherds, during the time of their musical contest.

He shall set the sheep, etc. - The right hand signifies, among the rabbins, approbation and eminence: the left hand, rejection, and disapprobation. Hence in Sohar Chadash it is said, "The right hand is given, the left also is given - to the Israelites and the Gentiles are given paradise and hell - this world, and the world to come." The right and left were emblematical of endless beatitude and endless misery among the Romans. Hence Virgil: -

Hic locus est, partes ubi se via findit in ambas,

Dextera, quae Ditis magni sub moenia tendit:

Hac iter Elysium nobis; at laeva malorum

Exercet poenas, et ad impia Tartara mittit

Aen. vi. 540

Here in two ample roads the way divides,

The right direct, our destined journey guides,

By Pluto's palace, to the Elysian plains;

The left to Tartarus, where bound in chains

Loud howl the damn'd in everlasting pains.

Pitt

Of the good and faithful servants he approves, and therefore exalts them to his glory; of the slothful and wicked he disapproves, and casts them into hell.

Sheep, which have ever been considered as the emblems of mildness, simplicity, patience, and usefulness, represent here the genuine disciples of Christ.

Goats, which are naturally quarrelsome, lascivious, and excessively ill-scented, were considered as the symbols of riotous, profane, and impure men. They here represent all who have lived and died in their sins. See Eze 34:17, and Zac 10:3.

Ye blessed of my Father - This is the king's address to his followers; and contains the reason why they were found in the practice of all righteousness, and were now brought to this state of glory - they were blessed - came as children, and received the benediction of the Father, and became, and continued to be, members of the heavenly family.

Inherit - The inheritance is only for the children of the family - if sons, then heirs, Gal 4:7, but not otherwise. The sons only shall enjoy the father's estate.

Prepared for you - That is, the kingdom of glory is designed for such as you - you who have received the blessing of the Father, and were holy, harmless, undefiled, and separated from sinners.

From the foundation of the world - It was God's purpose and determination to admit none into his heaven but those who were made partakers of his holiness, Heb 12:14. The rabbins say, Seven things were created before the foundation of the world.

1. The law.

2. Repentance.

3. Paradise.

4. Hell.

5. The throne of God.

6. The temple; and

7. The name of the Messiah.

I was an hungered, and ye gave me meat - Every thing which is done to a follower of Christ, whether it be good or evil, he considers as done to himself, see Mat 25:40; Act 9:4, Act 9:5; Heb 6:10. Of all the fruits of the Spirit, none are mentioned here but those that spring from love, or mercy; because these give men the nearest conformity to God. Jesus had said, Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy; and he here shows how this promise shall be fulfilled. The rabbins say: "As often as a poor man presents himself at thy door, the holy blessed God stands at his right hand: if thou give him alms, know that he who stands at his right hand will give thee a reward. But if thou give him not alms, he who stands at his right hand will punish thee." Vaiyikra Rabba, s. 34, fol. 178.

A stranger, and ye took me in - Συνηγαγετε με, ye entertained me: Kypke has fully proved that this is the meaning of the original. Literally, συναγειν signifies to gather together. Strangers are sometimes so destitute as to be ready to perish for lack of food and raiment: a supply of these things keeps their souls and bodies together, which were about to be separated through lack of the necessaries of life. The word may also allude to a provision made for a poor family, which were scattered abroad, perhaps begging their bread, and who by the ministry of benevolent people are collected, relieved, and put in a way of getting their bread. O blessed work! to be the instruments of preserving human life, and bringing comfort and peace into the habitations of the wretched!

While writing this, (Nov. 13, 1798), I hear the bells loudly ringing in commemoration of the birth-day of E. Colson, Esq., a native of this city, (Bristol), who spent a long life and an immense fortune in relieving the miseries of the distressed. His works still praise him in the gates; his name is revered, and his birth-day held sacred, among the inhabitants. Who has heard the bells ring in commemoration of the birth of any deceased hero or king? Of so much more value, in the sight even of the multitude, is a life of public usefulness than one of worldly glory or secular state. But how high must such a person rank in the sight of God, who, when Christ in his representatives was hungry, gave him food; when thirsty, gave him drink; when naked clothed him; when sick and in prison, visited him! Thou blessed of my Father! come. Thou hast been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, and now thou shalt eternally enjoy the true riches.

The Supreme God is represented in the Bhagvat Geeta as addressing mankind, when he had just formed them, thus: "Those who dress their meat but for themselves, eat the bread of sin." Geeta, p. 46.

I was sick, and ye visited me - Relieving the strangers, and visiting the sick, were in high estimation among the Jews. One of their sayings on this head is worthy of notice: "He who neglects to visit the sick is like him who has shed blood." That is, as he has neglected, when it was in his power, to preserve life, he is as guilty in the sight of the Lord as he is who has committed murder. See Kypke in loco.

Lord, when saw we thee an hungered, etc. - This barbarous expression, an hungered, should be banished out of the text, wheresoever it occurs, and the simple word hungry substituted for it. Whatever is done for Christ's sake, is done through Christ's grace; and he who does the work attributes to Jesus both the will and the power by which the work was done, and seeks and expects the kingdom of heaven not as a reward, but as a gift of pure unmerited mercy. Yet, while workers together with his grace, God attributes to them that which they do through his influence, as if they had done it independently of him. God has a right to form what estimate he pleases of the works wrought through himself: but man is never safe except when he attributes all to his Maker.

Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren - The meanest follower of Christ is acknowledged by him as his brother! What infinite condescension! Those, whom many would scorn to set with the dogs of their flock, are brothers and sisters of the blessed Jesus, and shall soon be set among the princes of his people.

Depart from me, ye cursed - Or, Ye cursed! depart. - These words are the address of the king to the sinners; and contain the reason why they are to be separated from blessedness: Ye are cursed, because ye have sinned, and would not come unto me that ye might have life. - No work of piety has proceeded from your hand, because the carnal mind, which is enmity against me, reigned in your heart; and ye would not have me to reign over you. Depart! this includes what some have termed the punishment of loss or privation. Ye cannot, ye, shall not be united to me - Depart! O terrible word! and yet a worse is to come.

Into everlasting fire - This is the punishment of sense. Ye shall not only be separated from me, but ye shall be tormented, awfully, everlastingly tormented in that place of separation.

Prepared for the devil and his angels - The devil and his angels sinned before the creation of the world, and the place of torment was then prepared for them: it never was designed for human souls; but as the wicked are partakers with the devil and his angels in their iniquities, in their rebellion against God, so it is right that they should be sharers with them in their punishment. We see here, plainly, why sinners are destroyed, not because there was no salvation for them, but because they neglected to receive good, and do good. As they received not the Christ who was offered to them, so they could not do the work of righteousness which was required of them. They are cursed, because they refused to be blessed; and they are damned, because they refused to be saved.

I was an hungered, and ye gave me no meat - I put it in your power to do good, and ye would not. A variety of occasions offered themselves to you, but ye neglected them all, so that my blessings in your hands, not being improved, according to my order, became a curse to you.

I was a stranger - If men were sure that Jesus Christ was actually somewhere in the land, in great personal distress, hungry, thirsty, naked, and confined, they would doubtless run unto and relieve him. Now Christ assures us that a man who is hungry, thirsty, naked, etc., is his representative, and that whatever we do to such a one he will consider as done to himself; yet this testimony of Christ is not regarded! Well, he will be just when he judges, and righteous when he punishes.

Lord, when saw we thee an hungered, etc. - It is want of faith which in general produces hard-heartedness to the poor. The man who only sees with eyes of flesh is never likely to discover Christ in the person of a man destitute of the necessaries of life. Some pretend not to know the distressed; because they have no desire to relieve them; but we find that this ignorance will not avail them at the bar of God.

And these shall go away into everlasting punishment - No appeal, no remedy, to all eternity! No end to the punishment of those whose final impenitence manifests in them an eternal will and desire to sin. By dying in a settled opposition to God, they cast themselves into a necessity of continuing in an eternal aversion from him.

But some are of opinion that this punishment shall have an end: this is as likely as that the glory of the righteous shall have an end: for the same word is used to express the duration of the punishment, κολασιν αιωνιον, as is used to express the duration of the state of glory: ζωην αιωνιον. I have seen the best things that have been written in favor of the final redemption of damned spirits; but I never saw an answer to the argument against that doctrine, drawn from this verse, but what sound learning and criticism should be ashamed to acknowledge. The original word αιων is certainly to be taken here in its proper grammatical sense, continued being, αιειων, Never Ending. Some have gone a middle way, and think that the wicked shall be annihilated. This, I think, is contrary to the text; if they go into punishment, they continue to exist; for that which ceases to be, ceases to suffer. See the note on Gen 21:33, where the whole subject is explained.

A very good improvement of the parable of the wise and foolish virgins is made by Salvian, a very pious writer of the fifth century, (Epist. ad. Ecclus. Cath. lib. ii)., the substance of which, in Mr. Bulkley's translation, is as follows: -

Ego unum scio, etc. "One thing I know, that the lamps of the foolish virgins are said to have gone out for want of the oil of good works; but thou, whoever thou art, thinkest that thou hast oil in abundance, and so did they; for, if they had not believed themselves to have had it, they would have provided themselves with it; for since afterwards, as the Lord says, they would gladly have borrowed, and sought it so eagerly, no doubt they would have done so before, had they not been deceived by the confidence of having it. Thou thinkest thyself wise, and these did not imagine themselves to be foolish: thou thinkest that thy lamp has light, and they lost their light because they thought they should have it. For why did they prepare their lamps if they did not think they should be lighted? In a word, their lamps, I suppose, must have afforded some degree of light; for since we read of their being afraid that their lamps should go out, they certainly had something which they feared would be extinguished. Nor was it a groundless fear; their lamps did go out, and that pure light of virginity which appeared profited them nothing, for want of a supply of oil. From whence we understand that what is but a little, is in a manner nothing. You have therefore need of a lamp plentifully filled, that your light may be lasting. And if those which we light up here for a short time so soon fail, unless copiously supplied with oil, how much must thou stand in need of that thy lamp may shine to eternity?"

This writer was a priest of Marseilles, in 430. He bewailed the profligacy of his times so much, and so pathetically, that he has been styled the Jeremiah of the fifth century. Were he still upon earth, he would find equal reason to deplore the wickedness and carelessness of mankind.

From what our Lord has here said, we may see that God indispensably requires of every man to bring forth good fruit; and that a fruitless tree shall be inevitably cut down, and cast into the fire. Let it be also remarked that God does not here impute to his own children the good works which Jesus Christ did for them. No! Christ's feeding the multitudes in Judea will not be imputed to them, while persons in their own neighborhood are perishing through want, and they have wherewithal to relieve them. He gives them a power that they may glorify his name by it and have, in their own souls, the continued satisfaction which arises from succouring the distressed. Let it be farther remarked, that Christ does not say here that they have purchased the eternal life by these good deeds. No! for the power to work, and the means of working, came both from God. They first had redemption through his blood, and then his Spirit worked in them to will and to do. They were therefore only workers together with him, and could not be said, in any sense of the word, to purchase God's glory, with his own property. But though God works in them, and by them, he does not obey for them. The works of piety and mercy They perform, under the influence and by the aid of his grace. Thus God preserves the freedom of the human soul, and secures his own glory at the same time. Let it be remarked, farther, that the punishment inflicted on the foolish virgins, the slothful servant, and the cursed who are separated from God, was not because of their personal crimes; but because they were not good, and were not useful in the world. Their lives do not appear to have been stained with crimes, - but they were not adorned with virtues. They are sent to hell because they did no good. They were not renewed in the image of God; and hence did not bring forth fruit to his glory. If these harmless people are sent to perdition, what must the end be of the wicked and profligate!

Then shall the kingdom of heaven - That is, the candidates for it, be like ten virgins - The bridemaids on the wedding night were wont to go to the house where the bride was, with burning lamps or torches in their hands, to wait for the bride groom's coming. When he drew near, they went to meet him with their lamps, and to conduct him to the bride.

The foolish took no oil with them - No more than kept them burning just for the present. None to supply their future want, to recruit their lamp's decay. The lamp is faith. A lamp and oil with it, is faith working by love.

The wise took oil in their vessels - Love in their hearts. And they daily sought a fresh supply of spiritual strength, till their faith was made perfect.

While the bridegroom delayed - That is, before they were called to attend him, they all slumbered and slept - Were easy and quiet, the wise enjoying a true, the foolish a false peace.

At midnight - In an hour quite unthought of.

They trimmed their lamps - They examined themselves and prepared to meet their God.

Give us of your oil, for our lamps are gone out - Our faith is dead. What a time to discover this! Whether it mean the time of death, or of judgment. Unto which of the saints wilt thou then turn? Who can help thee at such a season?

But the wise answered, Lest there be not enough for us and you! - Beginning the sentence with a beautiful abruptness; such as showed their surprise at the state of those poor wretches, who had so long received them, as well as their own souls. Lest there be not enough - It is sure there is not; for no man has more than holiness enough for himself. Go ye rather to them that sell - Without money and without price: that is, to God, to Christ. And buy - If ye can. O no! The time is past and returns no more!

Watch therefore - He that watches has not only a burning lamp, but likewise oil in his vessel. And even when he sleepeth, his heart waketh. He is quiet; but not secure.

Our Lord proceeds by a parable still plainer (if that can be) to declare the final reward of a harmless man. May God give all such in this their day, ears to hear and hearts to understand it! The kingdom of heaven - That is, the King of heaven, Christ. Mark 13:34; Luke 19:12.

To one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one - And who knows whether (all circumstances considered) there be a greater disproportion than this, in the talents of those who have received the most, and those who have received the fewest? According to his own ability - The words may be translated more literally, according to his own mighty power. And immediately took his journey - To heaven.

He that had received one - Made his having fewer talents than others a pretence for not improving any. Went and hid his master's money - Reader, art thou doing the same? Art thou hiding the talent God hath lent thee?

I knew thou art a hard man - No. Thou knowest him not. He never knew God, who thinks him a hard master. Reaping where thou hast not sown - That is, requiring more of us than thou hast given us power to perform. So does every obstinate sinner, in one kind or other, lay the blame of his own sins on God.

And I was afraid - Lest if I had improved my talent, I should have had the more to answer for. So from this fear, one will not learn to read, another will not hear sermons!

Thou knewest - That I require impossibilities! This is not an allowing, but a strong denial of the charge.

Thou oughtest therefore - On that very account, on thy own supposition, to have improved my talent, as far as was possible.

To every one that hath shall he given - So close does God keep to this stated rule, from the beginning to the end of the world. Matt 13:12.

Cast ye the unprofitable servant into the outer darkness - For what? what had he done? It is true he had not done good. But neither is he charged with doing any harm. Why, for this reason, for barely doing no harm, he is consigned to outer darkness. He is pronounced a wicked, because he was a slothful, an unprofitable servant. So mere harmlessness, on which many build their hope of salvation, was the cause of his damnation! There shall be the weeping - Of the careless thoughtless sinner; and the gnashing of teeth - Of the proud and stubborn. The same great truth, that there is no such thing as negative goodness, is in this chapter shown three times: In the parable of the virgins; In the still plainer parable of the servants, who had received the talents; and In a direct unparabolical declaration of the manner wherein our Lord will proceed at the last day. The several parts of each of these exactly answers each other, only each rises above the preceding.

When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him - With what majesty and grandeur does our Lord here speak of himself Giving us one of the noblest instances of the true sublime. Indeed not many descriptions in the sacred writings themselves seem to equal this. Methinks we can hardly read it without imagining ourselves before the awful tribunal it describes.

Inherit the kingdom - Purchased by my blood, for all who have believed in me with the faith which wrought by love. Prepared for you - On purpose for you. May it not be probably inferred from hence, that man was not created merely to fill up the places of the fallen angels?

I was hungry, and ye gave me meat; I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink - All these works of outward mercy suppose faith and love, and must needs he accompanied with works of spiritual mercy. But works of this kind the Judge could not mention in the same manner. He could not say, I was in error, and ye recalled me to the truth; I was in sin, and ye brought me to repentance. In prison - Prisoners need to be visited above all others, as they are commonly solitary and forsaken by the rest of the world.

Then shall the righteous answer - It cannot be, that either the righteous or the wicked should answer in these very words. What we learn herefrom is, that neither of them have the same estimation of their own works as the Judge hath.

Inasmuch as ye did it to one of the least of these my brethren, ye did it to me - What encouragement is here to assist the household of faith? But let us likewise remember to do good to all men.

Depart into the everlasting fire, which was prepared for the devil and his angels - Not originally for you: you are intruders into everlasting fire.

Then will they answer - So the endeavour to justify themselves, will remain with the wicked even to that day!

And these shall go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into life everlasting - Either therefore the punishment is strictly eternal, or the reward is not: the very same expression being applied to the former as to the latter. The Judge will speak first to the righteous, in the audience of the wicked. The wicked shall then go away into everlasting fire, in the view of the righteous. Thus the damned shall see nothing of the everlasting life; but the just will see the punishment of the ungodly. It is not only particularly observable here, That the punishment lasts as long as the reward; but, That this punishment is so far from ceasing at the end of the world, that it does not begin till then.

13 Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day, nor the hour, wherein the Son of man cometh.

For the understanding of all Parables, I have formerly shewed, That Parables are Similitudes brought from some Earthly things, or Actions, to Illustrate some Heavenly Doctrine, or Spiritual Mysteries, and insinuate them into our Practice; for the right understanding of all Parables, the first and principal thing to be attended to, is the Scope and main end of the Parable. What Heavenly Doctrine it is, which our Saviour by that Earthly Similitude designeth to illustrate, or what practical thing it is which he designeth by that Parable to press, I have shewed▪ our Saviour sometimes more particularly sheweth this, Expressing what he meant by the several things, and Actions mentioned in the Parable. This he did, Ch. 13. in the Parable of the Sower, and of the Tares of the Field. But in most Parables he doth not so, but from something going before or coming after, gives us light enough to know what his main design was, and leaveth to us by that to interpret the several parts of the Parable. Here he hath left us a sufficient Light to know his meaning. 1. From his Discourse in the latter end of the foregoing Chapter, where he had been pressing the Duty, and Prudence of watchfulness, from the incertainty of the time of his coming. It is manifest that he is pursuing the same design still, by the [non-Latin text not transcribed] or, the saying with which he closeth this Parable, v. 13, Watch ye therefore, for you know neither the Day, nor the Hour wherein the Son of Man cometh. This Watchfulness we had interpreted, by an opposition to Sin, [illegible: 1 word] of Omission and Commission. Taking heed of having our Hearts over-charged with Surfeiting, and Drunkenness, and Cares of this Life. Luke 21.34.36. Taking heed of smiting our Fellow Servants, Eating and Drinking with the Drunken, discharging our Trusts faithfully, Ministers giving to the houshold of Christ their Portion in due Season. Ch. 24. v. 45.49. being ready for the coming of Christ, v. 43. Praying, Luke 21.36. This our Lord had pressed there particularly on Ministers, he is here in this Parable pressing the same Duty on all, and in this Parable further opens the Duty of Watchfulness, not only as opposed to Slumbring and Sleeping, but as comprehending a getting of our selves ready (as he had said, Ch. 24.44.) and this Readiness he also further openeth in this Parable, under the Notion, of having not only Lamps, but Oyl in our Lamps. To these purposes he takes up this Parable, which we shall not so well understand without understanding their usual Rites, and Customs at Weddings, which were these. 1. Their Marriages were ordinarily in the Night. 2. They usually had Young-men that attended the Bridegroom, and Young Virgins that attended the Bride at her Fathers House. The Young-men attended the Bridegroom. These were called the Children of the Bride-Chamber, or the Friends of the Bridegroom or Bride, Mar. 2.19. Iohn 3.29. The Wedding being in the Night, there was need of Lamps. When the Bridegroom came, the Bride-maids, who were attending the Bride, went forth to meet the Bridegroom, with Lamps lighted, to conduct him and his Companions into the House, and to Her who was to be the Bride, when they were entred the Door was shut, and the Marriage proceeded. Our Saviour now to quicken his Auditors to the Watchfulness, before spoken of, supposeth such a Marriage and Ten Virgins, (the usual number at such Solemnities) he supposeth these Ten Virgins, to have been, half of them Wise, and half Foolish, the Wisdom of the one, he makes to lye in getting their Lamps ready, and furnishing themselves in time, with Oyl to feed them, that they might go out, either while they waited for his coming, or in their Conduct of him. The Folly of the others he makes to lye in their want of this care, so as when the Bridegroom came, their Lamps were out, they would have borrowed Oyl of the others, but they had none to lend them, so as they were shut out of the Door, of the Bridal-House, and tho they Knocked could obtain no entrance. It is not hard now to apply the several parts of the Parable, to the end for which this Parable is brought, provided that we do not expect, that Similitudes should run on four Feet, or that every Minute Circumstance in a Parable, should be fitted in the Explication. The Kingdom of Heaven (which in Scripture always signifies that of Grace or Glory) here signifieth that of Grace, the State of the Church is likened to Ten Virgins, these Ten Virgins are Professors, their Lamps and their going forth to meet the Bridegroom, signifie their joynt profession of the Gospel, and their Expectation joyfully to meet Christ (who is the Bridegroom here meant, Psal. 45.14. Iohn 3.29. Five were Wise, five F[illegible: 3 letters]ish. T[illegible: 2 letters]s signifieth the di[illegible: 1 letter]ference o[illegible: 1 letter] Professors, some have Lamps, make a Profe[illegible: 1 letter]sio[illegible: 1 letter], but have no Truth of Grace, others have the root of the m[illegible: 1 letter]tter in them, a true Faith, and Love which feeds Me[illegible: 1 letter]s Profession. The Bridegrooms tarrying, signifies C[illegible: 1 letter]ri[illegible: 1 letter]ts delaying to come to Judgment, their Slumbring and Sleeping signifies the Infirmities of the best, who Sleep, tho their Hearts Wake; and the deeper se[illegible: 1 letter]urity of others in the[illegible: 1 letter]r sinful state. The coming of the Bridegroom at Mid-night. Signifieth Christ's coming, in a dark time of Troubles and Afflictions, or at a time not looked for. The Virgins trimming their Lamps upon the cry made, signifies the care of Pious Souls, more especially upon any notices of Christs coming, to prepare themselves for the meeting, and Reception of him. The foolish Virgins late discerning that their Lamps were out, and that they wanted Oyl, lets us know, that Hypocrites and formal Professors, will too late know that Profession without a Root of Faith, and true Regeneration will serve them in no stead. Their asking the wise Virgins to lend them some of their Oyl with their refusal, because then they should not have enough for themselves, lets us know the woful shifts that Hypocrites will at last be put to, and how vain their Hopes are, who hope to be relieved, from the Grace, and good Works of others. Their going to buy Oyl, and their being shut out before they returned, and Knocking in vain, and in vain crying, Lord open to us, lets us know, That as the Tree falls so it must lye, That after our buying time in this Life mentioned, Isaiah 55.1, 2. is expired: Our State will be determined, that we are concerned to take the Counsel of Solomon, Eccles. 9.10. whatsoever thy Hand findeth to do, especially for our Souls, to do it with thy might, for there is no Work nor Device, nor Knowledge, nor Wisdom in the Grave whither thou goest. Therefore we are all concern'd to Watch, that is, to look that we have not only Lamps, but Oyl to feed our Lamps, and to keep our Lamps burning, because we know that the Bridegroom Christ will come, and we do not know at what time he will come, to the General Judgment, or our particular Judgment; for when we dye, we can do no more to make our selves ready for the great coming of Christ to Judge the World, but must appear before him, as we go out of this World. No Oyl after the Determination of our Lives will be to be bought, no further Preparation of our selves is to be made, as our Life leaveth us Judgment will find us.

Marginal references: Mark 13. [illegible: 2 letters] 1 Cor. 1[illegible: 1 letter]. 1[illegible: 1 letter] ▪ 1 Thes. 5.[illegible: 1 letter] 1 Pet. 5.[illegible: 1 letter] Rev. 16.[illegible: 2 letters]

15 And unto one he gave five talents, and to another two, and to another one, to every man according to his several ability, and straitway took his journey.

There is much the same Parable, Luke 19.12. but the difference is so great in the Narration, and the time and Circumstances, and Scope, seem so different, that the best Expositors think it another, and spoken at another time, tho there be much of this in that: I shall therefore leave the consideration of that in Luke, until I meet with it in him, (tho some Interpreters do think this the same with that) and only consider this, as it is before us in this Evangelist. By the Kingdom of Heaven, is doubtless here to be understood the Oeconomy of God's Providence in his Gospel-Dispensations, the Man travelling into a far Country, is Christ ascending up to Heaven, who when he ascended up on High, gave Gifts unto Men, Eph. 4.8. By the Goods, which the Man is said to have delivered to his Servants, are to be understood the Gifts which God giveth to Men, being himself (as to his glorious presence, and his principal Residence which is in Heaven at a great distance from us) as a Man in a far Country, for I see no reason to restrain these Gifts to such as flow from Christ as Mediator, but rather chuse to interpret it generally of all the Gifts of God, whether of Providence or Grace, whereas v. 15. it is said that this Man divided his Goods to his Servants inequally, to one Five Talents, to another two, to another one, to every Man according to his several Ability. It signifieth only Gods inequal Distribution of his Gifts to the Sons of Men, according to his own good pleasure, which is true both concerning Natural Parts, as Wit, Vnderstanding, Iudgment, Memory, as concerning those which the Heathens call good things of Fortune, as Riches, Honours and Dignities, Christians call them the good things of Providence, under which Notion also come all acquired Habits, or indowments, such as Learning, Knowledge, Moral Habits, &c. which tho acquired are yet Gifts, because it is the same God who gives us Power to get Wealth, as Moses speaks, Deut. 8.18. who also gives Men Power to get Knowledge, and upon Study and Meditation to comprehend the Natures, and Causes of things, and also to Govern, and Bridle our Appetites. Or the Gifts of more special Providence, or Distinguishing Grace. I take all those Powers given to Men, by which they are inabled to do good, or to excell others, to come under the Notion of the Goods here mentioned, which God Distributeth inequally according to his own good Pleasure, and as seemeth best [illegible: 1 letter]o his Heavenly Wisdom, for the Government of the Worl[illegible: 1 letter], and the ordering of the affairs of his Church, of all which God wi[illegible: 1 letter]l have an account one Day, and reward Men according to the Improvement, or no Improvement, which they have made of them in their several Stations.

Marginal references: A Talent is 187 pound ten Shillings, see on Chap. 18.24

18 But he that had received one, went and digged in the earth, and hid his Lords money.

This part in the Parable only sheweth the different use, that Men and Women make of those Gifts, whether of Common Providence, or of Grace, especially Common Grace which the Lord bestowed on them. Some make a great use of them for the profit of their Ma[illegible: 1 letter]ter, for the end for which God betrusted them with them, to Wit, the Glory of his holy Name, and the Salvation of their Souls. Others make no use at all of them for those ends.

19 After a long time, the Lord of those servants comes and reckoneth with them.

God in the Day of Judgment, will call all Men to account for those Gifts which he hath given them, how they have use[illegible: 1 letter] the Days of Li[illegible: 1 letter]e, the Measures of Health, their Knowledge, Wit, Memory, Understanding, their Wealth, Estate, Honours, Dignities, Relations, all their Natural, or acquired Habits, all their Enjoyments, &c. for the Honour of his Name, and the advantage of their own Souls.

23 His Lord, said unto him, Well done good and faithful servant, Thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things, enter thou into the joy of thy Lord.

This part of the Parable teacheth us only these things. 1. That some Persons in this World, make a very good use, and Improvement of those Gifts, and good things, which God hath betrusted them with according to the measure with which God hath betrusted them. 2. That those who do so shall in the Day of Judgment have a Liberal reward in the Kingdom of Glory, called here the Ioy of their Lord. That God doth not expect an Equality of Service from all, but a Service proportionable to those Gifts which God hath given Men, and those shall go to Heaven, who have made a due Improvement of the Gifts, with which God hath blessed them, tho it be not proportionable to the Service which others, of greater parts, and who have had greater advantages and opportunities have made; if Men have but two Talents ▪ yet if they gain other two, they shall go to Heaven at last, as well as those who have had five, and improved them to the gaining of other five. We must take heed of concluding from this part of the Parable, that those who have most given them ordinarily, do make the best Improvement of them, for daily experience teacheth us the contrary, neither is the Parable brought to instruct us in any such thing.

27 Thou [illegible: 1 letter]oughtest therefore to have put my money to the exchangers, and then at my coming, I should have received my own with usury.

We must remember that we are in a Parable, which (as other Similitudes) cannot be expected in all things to agree with what it is brought to illustrate. This part of the Parable doth chiefly instruct us in these two things. 1. That it is the Genius of wicked Men, to lay the blame of their miscarriages upon others, oft times upon God himself. The unprofitable Servant here pretends that the dread of his Lord, as a severe Man, was that which kept him from Labouring, and making an Improvement of the Talent, with which his Master had intrusted him. Thus many think that if there be an Election [illegible: 1 letter]f Grace, or any thing of special, and distinguishing Grace, and Man hath not a perfect Power in his own Will; he shall have something to excuse himself by before God hereafter, for his not Repenting ▪ and believing God in such a Case, condemning Men for unbelief, and impenitency should reap where he did not sow, and gather where he did not straw. 2. Men in their excuses▪ which they Fancy in stead of excusing will but accuse▪ and Condemn themselves. The Lord of the unprofitable Servant tells him, that the Fault lay in his own sloth, and Wickedness, and his dread of his Lords Security, was but a meer frivolous Pretence, and unreasonable excuse; for if he had dreaded any such thing, he would have done what he could, he would have put out his Money to the Exchangers, and then he should have received his own with Increase. And shall not God as justly another day, reply upon those who think to excuse their leud and wicked Lives, their impenitency and unbelief, from their not being Elected, not having a Power of themselves to repent and believe, nor peceiving his Efficacious Grace. O you wicked and slothful Wretches! Did you suspect, or Fear you were not Elected? Why then did you not give all Diligence to make your Calling and Election sure? Do you plead the work of Power in your own Wills, to repent and believe, and that I did not give you a special effectual Grace? But had you not a Power to keep from the Taverns and Alehouses? To keep from Lying, and Cursing, and Swearing, and open Profanation of my Sabbaths? Had not you a Power, to Read, to Hear, to Pray, if you had to your utmost used the Talents I gave you, and I had been wanting in my further necessary Influences of Grace, ye might indeed have said something, but when you made no use of the Talents you had, why should I trust you with more? Faith comes by Reading, Hearing, Praying, you had a Power to these things, these Talents you had. Why did you not Read, Hear, Pray, that you might believe? If you took me to be so severe a Master, why did not you do what was in your Power to do, that you might find me otherwise? If you had done, what lay in your Power to do, in the use of those Talents, which I gave you for that end, you might then have blamed me if I had not given you more, but you never tryed my kindness in such a Case. So that you are not Ruined by any Severity of mine, but by your own sloth, neglect, and Wickedness: Thus much this Parable teacheth us, That God in the recompences at the last day of Judgment, will be found just, and sinners will all be found Lyers, and their Damnation will be of themselves.

30 And cast ye the unprofitable servant into outer darkness, there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

God often in this Life, depriveth Men and Women of those Gifts which he hath given them, and they do not make use of for the Glory of his Name, and the good of their and others Souls, the great ends for which he hath betrusted them with them: But this seems not to be here intended, this Text referring to the day of Judgment; all therefore that we are to understand by this, is, That no Mans Gifts, whether of Nature, or Providence, of what advantage soever they have been to him in this Life, will be of any Profit to him in the day of Judgment unless he hath in this Life used them, to the ends for which God gave them. In that day he will loose all, and the Glory of Heaven, shall not be the Port[illegible: 1 letter]on of them, that have had great Talents of Learning, Wit, Riches, Honours, spiritual Gifts, or any thing of that Nature, but of those only, who have used these things to the Honour and Glory of God, and to the advantage of their own and others Souls. For all those that have been unprofitable, Hell will be their Portion at last, where their Misery will be, as of those that Live in extreme darkness, continual Weeping, and Gnashing of Teeth. The substance of what is in v. 29. we met with, Ch. 13.12. To him that hath shall be given, &c. But I think, the Proverbial Speech here, is applied differently from the Application of it there. There, He that hath, seemeth to signifie, He that hath in actual Possession; for it is said before, Because it is given to you, to know the Mysteries of the Kingdom of God. So that I take that Text, to contain a Promise of the increase of Grace, to those that have the Seed of God: When as the appearances of it, in others shall not last, but vanish away. Here plainly, He that hath, signifieth, He that maketh a good and true use of what he hath, and thus the Parable expounds it. So as the Sense is: He that hath any Talents from God, and maketh use of them, and improveth them for the Honour and Glory of God, shall be rewarded, with further Gifts of Grace, or Glory. But if a Man hath not; that is, Hath, but is, as if he had not, making no use of what he hath for the Glory of God: those Gifts and Talents which he hath, shall be of no Profit and Advantage, but miserable disadvantage to him at last.

Marginal references: Chap. 8.12.

33 And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left.

Our Saviour having spoken much before of his spiritual Kingdom, which he exerciseth in his Church, cometh now more plainly to tell the[illegible: 1 letter], what kind of a Kingdom he should further set up, and exercise in the end of the World, far different from that which the Iews dreamt of, and his own Disciples seemed to have some Expectations of. When the Son of Man; he who now appeareth to you in the form of a Servant, and only as the Son of M[illegible: 1 letter]n, shall come in his Glory, a Glorious manifestation of himself; he now appeareth, clothed with Flesh, but he shall appear in his Glory, and all the Holy Angels with him: He shall come with ten thousand of his Saints, Iud. 14. with his mighty Angels, 2 Thessal. 4.7. Then shall he sit (after the manner of gerat Princes) upon the Throne of his Glory, he shall appear in great Splendor, And before him shall be gathered all Nations, that is, all Persons that ever were, or at that time shall be in the World; the Quick and the Dead, Acts 10.42. 2 Tim. 4.1. 1 Pet. 4.5. He shall send forth his Angels, and say to them, who are his Reapers, Ch. 13.30. Gather together first the Tares, and bind t[illegible: 1 letter]em in Bundles to burn them, but gather the W[illegible: 1 letter]eat into my Barn. He by his Angels, shall separate them one from another. as a Shepherd, who feedeth both Sheep and Goats together, at Night separateth them one from another: So the Saints of God, who are like Sheep for Whiteness, Gentleness, Innocency, and feed in this World together with Stinking and Lascivious Goats, the wicked of the World, compared to Goats for the filthy Qualities by which they resemble them, yet at the day of Judgment Christ shall separate them: And he shall set the Sheep a[illegible: 1 letter] his right Hand. The right Hand, is the place of Honour and Dignity, and the place for Favourites: Then Christ shall exalt his Saints to great Ho[illegible: 1 letter]our and Dignity, and shew them his Favour; and the Goats on the left Hand, Wicked men shall rise to Shame and Contempt. The right Hand men of the World, shall be at the left Hand of Christ. It shall be then seen, that because they are People of no understanding, he that formed them, will shew them no Favour.

34 Then shall the King say to them on his right hand, Come ye blessed of my Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.

The King, that is, he who was before called the Son of Man, who shall then sit on the Throne of his Glory. He shall say to his Saints, to those on his right Hand, those whom he designs to Honour, and to Favour, Come ye Blessed of my Father: You whom my Father hath Blessed with all spiritual Blessings in me, who were also Blessed in his Eternal Thoughts: For there was a Kingdom prepared for you, from the Foundation of the World, you have not purchased it by your Works; no it was prepared for you before ever you were, you were Blessed in my Fathers eternal Thoughts, so he prepared a Kingdom for you; and you have been Blessed since with all spiritual Blessings through me, so you are now prepared for it; Therefore, Come and now Inherit it, as that which you are fore-ordained, and born unto, as that which is freely given you, not purchased by you.

Marginal references: Chap. [illegible: 1 span] Mar. [illegible: 1 span].

40 And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.

The recompences of the last Judgment, are according to the tenour of our good Works, and the desert of evil Works. The King here gives the reason of his Gracious rewarding Sentence: For I was an Hungry, and ye fed me. This doth not imply any desert, much less any Worthiness of Equality, between the Work and the Reward; but that Evangelical Works, the Products of unfeigned Faith and Love, qualifie us by the Covenant of Grace to receive it. The Causes of the Reward are either, the Original Cause; the most free and rich Mercy of God, or the Meritorious, the most perfect Righteousness and Sacrifice of Christ, and the good Works here recited, are infallible signs that the Performers of them are the Objects of the Divine Favour in Predestination, and are truely united to Christ. Besides, in the Gospel, which is the Law of Grace, God has Establisht a necessary Connexion, between Faith, that works by Love, and the Blessed Reward, and acordingly Evangelical words are the Condition of our Title, that qualifies us to obtain the Kingdom of Glory, freely promised for Christ's sake to obedient Believers. And in this respect, the dispensing the Reward, may be said to be an Act of Justice, namely in the Faithful performance of the Promise, as in the forgiving sins, which is an Act of pure Mercy; God is said, to be Faithful and Iust, 1 Ioh. 1.9. Our Lord here reckons but one Species of good Works, instead of many, as is usual in Scripture, and he rather chuseth to instance in Works of Charity, than of Piety. 1. He knows the hardness of Mens Hearts, and 2. That the Poor, they should have always with them, especially, such as would live Godly, and so be more than others, out of Favour with the World. 3. He knew how acceptable these were to his Father, and had a mind the World should know it, Micah 6.8. Isa. 58.7. Ezech. 18.7. Mat. 9.13. 1 Ioh. 3.17. And hereby declares, that Acts of Charity to the Souls, makes us fit Subjects for the Divine Mercy in the day of Judgment, 2 Tim. 1.18. The Answer, v. 37. Then shall the Righteous answer him, saying, &c. only teacheth us this, That at the Great day, the best of Men shall blush and be ashamed, to h[illegible: 1 letter]ar God speak of any good Works they have done, and be swallowed up in the Admiration of Gods Free and infinite Grace, in rewarding any thing which they have done, at so liberal a Rate. And the King shall Answer, and say unto them, &c. This only confirmeth what we had, Ch. 10.42. That Christ looketh upon Acts of kindness done to the meanest Godly Persons, and will reward them, as if they had been done unto himself; so that tho our Charity must not be limited only there, yet it must be chiefly shewn to those of the Houshold of Faith, other Charity may be shewed in Obedience to the Command of God, and have its reward, but none can so Properly be said, to be done to Christ, as that which is done to those, who are his true Members.

Marginal references: Prov. 1[illegible: 3 letters] Heb. 6.1[illegible: 1 letter]

45 Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me.

The great King, and Judge of the whole Earth, had before given Sentence for those on his right Hand, who are now possessed of their Kingdom, and sit with him to Judge the World: He now comes to Sentence the Goats at the left Hand, whose Judgment is to Eternal Misery; lying in two things, in a departure from God, so as never more to have any Favour from him. 2. In a Sense of Pain and Misery, exceeding that which Fire causeth to a Body consuming with it. In this Life wicked Men are capable of some Presence of God with them, and receive several Favours from God, in Gifts of Common Providence, and Common Grace. Which might serve either, as Incouragements to allure them, or means to help them, in turning to God; but having abused these, The righteous God in that day will totally depart from them, and they shall receive no more Tokens of kindness and Favour from him; and whereas, by the advantages they had from such a Presence of Divine Providence, as God was pleased in this Life to allow them, they lived in some degrees of Pleasure and Liberty, which they were not thankful for, they shall at that day be adjudged to Eternal Torments. Nor shall the Justice of God be impeached, for disproportioning Eternal Torments to Temporary sinnings; for the infiniteness of the Majesty offended, to which Satisfaction is due, is to be considered, and is so amongst Men, who think it reasonable to recompence a Prince, or Noble Man, for an injury done to them with ten thousand Pounds, which they would not recompence to an Equal, with so many Shillings. Beside, that every Sinner hath sinned, in suo infinito, to the utmost Line of his time, and wanted nothing, but more time to have sinned more, for he had a Will to have sinned infinitely. This everlasting Fire, is said to be prepared for the Devil and his Angels. Not because it was not also prepared for Men, but the Evil Angels were adjudged to it before Man had sinned, so that Man comes but into a share with the Evil Angels; and by this, God also lets us know, that they are the Children of the Devil, by Evil Works, Ioh. 8.44. 1 Ioh. 3.8. Having determined their Punishments, and pronounced their Sentence, He comes to justifie himself in it. For I was an Hungry, and you gave me no Meat, &c. For here may be interpreted as a Causal, for tho none merits his own Salvation; yet every sinners Destruction is of himself, and he meriteth his Condemnation. The mentioning only of sins of Omission, and those only, as to Acts of Charity, doth not only teach us, that sins of Omission are enough to Damn us, but that Omissions of Acts of Charity, to the distressed Members of Christ, are such sins, as if not repented of, and washed off with the Blood of Christ, are enough to Condemn us to the Pit of Hell; and such things as God doth keep in mind, and will in a more special manner reckon with Men for. I cannot pass by a reflection, which I find almost all Interpreters make upon this Text. If those in the day of Judgment shall be sent to Hell, who do not feed the poor Members of Christ, and give them to drink, when they are Thirsty; what shall be done to them, who pluck the Bread out of their Mouths, which they have got in the Sweat of their Face, and spill the drink, which their own Labours or others Liberality hath given them to drink? If those shall have their Portion with the Devil and his Angels, who give not Entertainment to them when they are banished, and Strangers, what shall become of them who are Instruments of their Banishment, and to make them Strangers? If it shall go so hard with those, that cloth them not when they are Naked, what shall become of those, who any way help to strip them Naked? If those shall not escape the Vengeance of God, who do not visit them when they are Sick, and in Prison, where shall they appear, who cast them into Prisons, and are means of those Diseases that shorten their Lives, by their barbarous usages of them? Those that smite their fellow-Servants, had need be sure, that it be not for well-doing. Our Lord here tells us, that the Wicked in that day will say: When saw we thee an Hungry, &c. They did not deny, that they had refused to give Bread to the Hungry; but they deny that they ever saw Christ an Hungry, and did not feed him. Persecutors have always ill Names to give the Servants of God, pretending still a great Reverence for God, and Christ. But mark our Lords Answer, and that with an Oath. Verily I say unto you, inasmuch as you did it not to one of the least of these, you did it not to me. It is no matter what you thought of, or called those to whom you shewed no Mercy; you see they are here at my Right Hand; you might have known them to be my Sheep, you saw them Hear my Voyce, and following me; you in casting them into Prison, ca[illegible: 1 letter]t me, in starving them, you starved me, and in stripping them of their Goods, you stript me. Therefore, Go ye Cursed into Everlasting Fire, prepared for the Devil and his Angels.

Marginal references: Prov. 14.31. & 17.5. Zech. 2.8.

46 And these shall go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into life eternal.

So then it seems, they shall rise as well as the other, tho they live in the Lands of the Grand Seignior, or the great Mogul, they shall not (as some filthy Dreamers have thought) have such a quiet sleep in the Graves, but that the sound of the last Trump shall awaken them. Nor are they out of the Jurisdiction of him, that shall be the Judge both of the quick and the dead. Nor shall they escape a Judgment without the Law, because they have sinned without the Law: For the invisible things of God, from the Creation of the World are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his Eternal Power and God-head, Rom. 1.20. they shall perish (as they have sinned) without the Law, Rom. 2.12. They shall go into Everlasting punishment, not a Punishment for a time (as Origen thought.) But the Righteous, those who shall be so adjudged, being made so in this Life, by the imputed Righteousness of Christ, and Accepted as such, for their Holy and sincere Conversation, tho in many things imperfect, shall go into Life Eternal, which doth not signifie a meer Eternal Existence (for so the worst of Men shall live Eternally: Or else they could not be capable of Eternal punishment) but an Happy and Blessed Estate, which shall never have an end; and thus Eternal Life always signifieth in Scripture, being opposed to Eternal Death: Everlasting Fire, the Worm that never dieth, &c. Thus endeth Christ's▪ Kingdom of Grace: Or rather, thus shall begin his Kingdom of Glory: All his Enemies being put under his Feet, and none remaining but this Glorious King, and those who shall be his true Subjects. Of which Kingdom shall be no end.

Marginal references: Dan. 12.2. Joh. 5.29.

The Parable of the Ten Virgins.

1 Then shall the kingdom of heaven be likened unto ten virgins, which took their lamps, and went forth to meet the bridegroom. 2 And five of them were wise, and five were foolish. 3 They that were foolish took their lamps, and took no oil with them: 4 But the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps. 5 While the bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered and slept. 6 And at midnight there was a cry made, Behold, the bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet him. 7 Then all those virgins arose, and trimmed their lamps. 8 And the foolish said unto the wise, Give us of your oil; for our lamps are gone out. 9 But the wise answered, saying, Not so; lest there be not enough for us and you: but go ye rather to them that sell, and buy for yourselves. 10 And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came; and they that were ready went in with him to the marriage: and the door was shut. 11 Afterward came also the other virgins, saying, Lord, Lord, open to us. 12 But he answered and said, Verily I say unto you, I know you not. 13 Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh.

Here,

I. That in general which is to be illustrated is, the kingdom of heaven, the state of things under the gospel, the external kingdom of Christ, and the administration and success of it. Some of Christ's parables had shown us what it is like now in the present reception of it, as ch. xiii. This tells us what it shall be like, when the mystery of God shall be finished, and that kingdom delivered up to the Father. The administration of Christ's government, towards the ready and the unready in the great day, may be illustrated by this similitude; or the kingdom is put for the subjects of the kingdom. The professors of Christianity shall then be likened to these ten virgins, and shall be thus distinguished.

II. That by which it is illustrated, is, a marriage solemnity. It was a custom sometimes used among the Jews on that occasion, that the bridegroom came, attended with his friends, late in the night, to the house of the bride, where she expected him, attended with her bride-maids; who, upon notice given of the bridegrooms' approach, were to go out with lamps in their hands, to light him into the house with ceremony and formality, in order to the celebrating of the nuptials with great mirth. And some think that on these occasions they had usually ten virgins; for the Jews never held a synagogue, circumcised, kept the passover, or contracted marriage, but ten persons at least were present. Boaz, when he married Ruth, had ten witnesses, Ruth iv. 2. Now in this parable,

1. The Bridegroom is our Lord Jesus Christ; he is so represented in the 45th Psalm, 1, and often in the New Testament. It bespeaks his singular and superlative love to, and his faithful and inviolable covenant with, his spouse the church. Believers are now betrothed to Christ (Hos. ii. 19); but the solemnizing of the marriage is reserved for the great day, when the bride, the Lamb's wife, will have made herself completely ready, Rev. xix. 7, 9.

2. The virgins are the professors of religion, members of the church; but here represented as her companions (Ps. xlv. 14), as elsewhere her children (Isa. liv. 1), her ornaments, Isa. xlix. 18. They that follow the Lamb, are said to be virgins (Rev. xiv. 4); this denotes their beauty and purity; they are to be presented as chaste virgins to Christ, 2 Cor. xi. 2. The bridegroom is a king; so these virgins are maids of honour, virgins without number (Cant. vi. 8), yet here said to be ten.

3. The office of these virgins is to meet the bridegroom, which is as much their happiness as their duty. They come to wait upon the bridegroom when he appears, and in the mean time to wait for him. See here the nature of Christianity. As Christians, we profess ourselves to be, (1.) Attendants upon Christ, to do him honour, as the glorious Bridegroom, to be to him for a name and a praise, especially then when he shall come to be glorified in his saints. We must follow him as honorary servants do their masters, John xii. 26. Hold up the name, and hold forth the praise of the exalted Jesus; this is our business. (2.) Expectants of Christ, and of his second coming. As Christians, we profess, not only to believe and look for, but to love and long for, the appearing of Christ, and to act in our whole conversation with a regard to it. The second coming of Christ is the centre in which all the lines of our religion meet, and to which the whole of the divine life hath a constant reference and tendency.

4. Their chief concern is to have lights in their hands, when they attend the bridegroom, thus to do him honour and do him service. Note, Christians are children of light. The gospel is light, and they who receive it must not only be enlightened by it themselves, but must shine as lights, must hold it forth, Phil. ii. 15, 16. This in general.

Now concerning these ten virgins, we may observe,

(1.) Their different character, with the proof and evidence of it.

[1.] Their character was that five were wise, and five foolish (v. 2); and wisdom excelleth folly, as far as light excelleth darkness; so saith Solomon, a competent judge, Eccl. ii. 13. Note, Those of the same profession and denomination among men, may yet be of characters vastly different in the sight of God. Sincere Christians are the wise virgins, and hypocrites the foolish ones, as in another parable they are represented by wise and foolish builders. Note, Those are wise or foolish indeed, that are so in the affairs of their souls. True religion is true wisdom; sin is folly, but especially the sin of hypocrisy, for those are the greatest fools, that are wise in their own conceit, and those the worst of sinners, that feign themselves just men. Some observe from the equal number of the wise and foolish, what a charitable decorum (it is Archbishop Tillotson's expression) Christ observes, as if he would hope that the number of true believers was nearly equal to that of hypocrites, or, at least, would teach us to hope the best concerning those that profess religion, and to think of them with a bias to the charitable side. Though, in judging of ourselves, we ought to remember that the gate is strait, and few find it; yet, in judging of others, we ought to remember that the Captain of our salvation brings many sons to glory.

[2.] The evidence of this character was in the very thing which they were to attend to; by that they are judged of.

First, It was the folly of the foolish virgins, that they took their lamps, and took no oil with them, v. 3. They had just the oil enough to make their lamps burn for the present, to make a show with, as if they intended to meet the bridegroom; but no cruse or bottle of oil with them for a recruit if the bridegroom tarried; thus hypocrites,

1. They have no principle within. They have a lamp of profession in their hands, but have not in their hearts that stock of sound knowledge, rooted dispositions, and settled resolutions, which is necessary to carry them through the services and trials of the present state. They act under the influence of external inducements, but are void of spiritual life; like a tradesman, that sets up without a stock, or the seed on the stony ground, that wanted root.

2. They have no prospect of, nor make provision for, what is to come. They took lamps for a present show, but not oil for after use. This incogitancy is the ruin of many professors; all their care is to recommend themselves to their neighbours, whom they now converse with, not to approve themselves to Christ, whom they must hereafter appear before; as if any thing will serve, provide it will but serve for the present. Tell them of things not seen as yet, and you are like Lot to his sons-in-law, as one that mocked. They do not provide for hereafter, as the ant does, nor lay up for the time to come, 1 Tim. vi. 19.

Secondly, It was the wisdom of the wise virgins, that they took oil in their vessels with their lamps, v. 4. They had a good principle within, which would maintain and keep up their profession. 1. The heart is the vessel, which it is our wisdom to get furnished; for, out of a good treasure there, good things must be brought; but if that root be rottenness, the blossom will be dust. 2. Grace is the oil which we must have in this vessel; in the tabernacle there was constant provision made of oil for the light, Exod. xxxv. 14. Our light must shine before men in good works, but this cannot be, or not long, unless there be a fixed active principle in the heart, of faith in Christ, and love to God and our brethren, from which we must act in every thing we do in religion, with an eye to what is before us. They that took oil in their vessels, did it upon supposition that perhaps the bridegroom might tarry. Note, In looking forward it is good to prepare for the worst, to lay in for a long siege. But remember that this oil which keeps the lamps burning, is derived to the candlestick from Jesus Christ, the great and good Olive, by the golden pipes of the ordinances, as it is represented in that vision (Zech. iv. 2, 3, 12), which is explained John i. 16, Of his fulness have all we received, and grace for grace.

(2.) Their common fault, during the bridegroom's delay; They all slumbered and slept, v. 5. Observe here,

[1.] The bridegroom tarried, that is, he did not come out so soon as they expected. What we look for as certain, we are apt to think is very near; many in the apostles' times imagined that the day of the Lord was at hand, but it is not so. Christ, as to us, seems to tarry, and yet really does not, Hab. ii. 3. There is good reason for the Bridegroom's tarrying; there are many intermediate counsels and purposes to be accomplished, the elect must all be called in, God's patience must be manifested, and the saints' patience tried, the harvest of the earth must be ripened, and so must the harvest of heaven too. But though Christ tarry past our time, he will not tarry past the due time.

[2.] While he tarried, those that waited for him, grew careless, and forgot what they were attending; They all slumbered and slept; as if they had given over looking for him; for when the Son of man cometh, he will not find faith, Luke xviii. 8. Those that inferred the suddenness of it from its certainty, when that answered not their expectation, were apt from the delay to infer its uncertainty. The wise virgins slumbered, and the foolish slept; so some distinguish it; however, they were both faulty. The wise virgins kept their lamps burning, but did not keep themselves awake. Note, Too many good Christians, when they have been long in profession, grow remiss in their preparations for Christ's second coming; they intermit their care, abate their zeal, their graces are not lively, nor their works found perfect before God; and though all love be not lost, yet the first love is left. If it was hard to the disciples to watch with Christ an hour, much more to watch with him an age. I sleep, saith the spouse, but my heart wakes, Observe, First, They slumbered, and then they slept. Note, One degree of carelessness and remissness makes way for another. Those that allow themselves in slumbering, will scarcely keep themselves from sleeping; therefore dread the beginning of spiritual decays; Venienti occurrite morbo—Attend to the first symptoms of disease. The ancients generally understood the virgins' slumbering and sleeping of their dying; they all died, wise and foolish (Ps. xlix. 10), before judgment-day. So Ferus, Antequam veniat sponsus omnibus obdormiscendum est, hoc est, moriendum—Before the Bridegroom come, all must sleep, that is, die. So Calvin. But I think it is rather to be taken as we have opened it.

(3.) The surprising summons given them, to attend the bridegroom (v. 6); At midnight there was a cry made, Behold, the bridegroom cometh. Note, [1.] Though Christ tarry long, he will come at last; though he seem slow, he is sure. In his first coming, he was thought long by those that waited for the consolation of Israel; yet in the fulness of time he came; so his second coming, though long deferred, is not forgotten; his enemies shall find, to their cost, that forbearance is no acquittance; and his friends shall find, to their comfort, that the vision is for an appointed time, and at the end it shall speak, and not lie. The year of the redeemed is fixed, and it will come. [2.] Christ's coming will be at our midnight, when we least look for him, and are most disposed to take our rest. His coming for the relief and comfort of his people, often is when the good intended seems to be at the greatest distance; and his coming to reckon with his enemies, is when they put the evil day furthest from them. It was at midnight that the first-born of Egypt were destroyed, and Israel delivered, Exod. xii. 29. Death often comes when it is least expected; the soul is required this night, Luke xii. 20. Christ will come when he pleases, to show his sovereignty, and will not let us know when, to teach us our duty. [3.] When Christ comes, we must go forth to meet him. As Christians we are bound to attend all the motions of the Lord Jesus, and meet him in all his out-goings. When he comes to us at death, we must go forth out of the body, out of the world, to meet him with affections and workings of soul suitable to the discoveries we then expect him to make of himself. Go ye forth to meet him, is a call to those who are habitually prepared, to be actually ready. [4.] The notice given of Christ's approach, and the call to meet him, will be awakening; There was a cry made. His first coming was not with any observation at all, nor did they say, Lo, here is Christ, or Lo, he is there; he was in the world, and the world knew him not; but his second coming will be with the observation of all the world; Every eye shall see him. There will be a cry from heaven, for he shall descend with a shout, Arise, ye dead, and come to judgment; and a cry from the earth too, a cry to rocks and mountains, Rev. vi. 16.

(4.) The address they all made to answer this summons (v. 7); They all arose, and trimmed their lamps, snuffed them and supplied them with oil and went about with all expedition to put themselves in a posture to receive the bridegroom. Now, [1.] This, in the wise virgins, bespeaks an actual preparation for the Bridegroom's coming. Note, even those that are best prepared for death, have, upon the immediate arrests of it, work to do, to get themselves actually ready, that they may be found in peace (2 Pet. iii. 14), found doing (ch. xxiv. 46), and not found naked, 2 Cor. v. 3. It will be a day of search and enquiry; and it concerns us to think how we shall then be found. When we see the day approaching, we must address ourselves to our dying work with all seriousness, renewing our repentance for sin, our consent to the covenant, our farewells to the world; and our souls must be carried out toward God in suitable breathings. [2.] In the foolish virgins, it denotes a vain confidence, and conceit of the goodness of their state, and their readiness for another world. Note, Even counterfeit graces will serve a man to make a show of when he comes to die, as well as they have done all his life long; the hypocrite's hopes blaze when they are just expiring, like a lightening before death.

(5.) The distress which the foolish virgins were in, for want of oil, v. 8, 9. This bespeaks, [1.] The apprehensions which some hypocrites have of the misery of their state, even on this side death, when God opens their eyes to see their folly, and themselves perishing with a lie in their right hand. Or, however, [2.] The real misery of their state on the other side death, and in the judgment; how far their fair, but false, profession of religion will be from availing them any thing in the great day; see what comes of it.

First, Their lamps are gone out. The lamps of hypocrites often go out in this life; when they who have begun in the spirit, end in the flesh, and the hypocrisy breaks out in an open apostasy, 2 Pet. ii. 20. The profession withers, and the credit of it is lost; the hopes fail, and the comfort of them is gone; how often is the candle of the wicked thus put out? Job xxi. 17. Yet many a hypocrite keeps up his credit, and the comfort of his profession, such as it is, to the last; but what is it when God taketh away his soul? Job xxvii. 8. If his candle be not put out before him, it is put out with him, Job xviii. 5, 6. He shall lie down in sorrow, Isa. l. 11. The gains of a hypocritical profession will not follow a man to judgment, ch. vii. 22, 23. The lamps are gone out, when the hypocrite's hope proves like the spider's web (Job viii. 11, &c.), and like the giving up of the ghost (Job xi. 20), like Absalom's mule that left him in the oak.

Secondly, They wanted oil to supply them when they were going out. Note, Those that take up short of true grace, will certainly find the want of it one time or other. An external profession well humoured may carry a man far, but it will not carry him through; it may light him along this world, but the damps of the valley of the shadow of death will put it out.

Thirdly, They would gladly be beholden to the wise virgins for a supply out of their vessels; Give us of your oil. Note, The day is coming, when carnal hypocrites would gladly be found in the condition of true Christians. Those who now hate the strictness of religion, will, at death and judgment, wish for the solid comforts of it. Those who care not to live the life, yet would die the death, of the righteous. The day is coming when those who now look with contempt upon humble contrite saints, would gladly get an interest in them, and would value those as their best friends and benefactors, whom now they set with the dogs of their flock. Give us of your oil; that is, "Speak a good word for us;" so some; but there is no occasion for vouchers in the great day, the Judge knows what is every man's true character. But is it not well that they are brought to say, Give us of your oil? It is so; but, 1. This request was extorted by sensible necessity. Note, Those will see their need of grace hereafter, when it should save them, who will not see their need of grace now, when it should sanctify and rule them. (2.) It comes too late. God would have given them oil, had they asked in time; but there is no buying when the market is over, no bidding when the inch of candle is dropped.

Fourthly, They were denied a share in their companions' oil. It is a sad presage of a repulse with God, when they were thus repulsed by good people. The wise answered, Not so; that peremptory denial is not in the original, but supplied by the translators: these wise virgins would rather give a reason without a positive refusal, than (as many do) give a positive refusal without a reason. They were well inclined to help their neighbours in distress; but, We must not, we cannot, we dare not, do it, lest there be not enough for us and you; charity begins at home; but go, and buy for yourselves. Note, 1. Those that would be saved, must have grace of their own. Though we have benefit by the communion of saints, and the faith and prayers of others may now redound to our advantage, yet our own sanctification is indispensably necessary to our own salvation. The just shall live by his faith. Every man shall give account of himself, and therefore let every man prove his own work; for he cannot get another to muster for him in that day. 2. Those that have most grace, have none to spare; all we have, is little enough for ourselves to appear before God in. The best have need to borrow from Christ, but they have none to lend to any of their neighbours. The church of Rome, which dreams of works of supererogation and the imputation of the righteousness of saints, forgets that it was the wisdom of the wise virgins to understand that they had but oil enough for themselves, and none for others. But observe, These wise virgins do not upbraid the foolish with their neglect, nor boast of their own forecast, nor torment them with suggestions tending to despair, but give them the best advice the case will bear, Go ye rather to them that sell. Note, Those that deal foolishly in the affairs of their souls, are to be pitied, and not insulted over; for who made thee to differ? When ministers attend such as have been mindless of God and their souls all their days, but are under death-bed convictions; and, because true repentance is never too late, direct them to repent, and turn to God, and close with Christ; yet, because late repentance is seldom true, they do but as these wise virgins did by the foolish, even made the best of bad. They can but tell them what is to be done, if it be not too late, but whether the door may not be shut before it is done, is an unspeakable hazard. It is good advice now, if it be taken in time, Go to them that sell, and buy for yourselves. Note, Those that would have grace, must have recourse to, and attend upon, the means of grace. See Isa. lv. 1.

(6.) The coming of the bridegroom, and the issue of all this different character of the wise and foolish virgins. See what came of it.

[1.] While they went out to buy, the bridegroom came. Note, With regard to those that put off their great work to the last, it is a thousand to one, that they have not time to do it then. Getting grace is a work of time, and cannot be done in a hurry. While the poor awakened soul addresses itself, upon a sick bed, to repentance and prayer, in awful confusion, it scarcely knows which end to begin at, or what to do first; and presently death comes, judgment comes, and the work is undone, and the poor sinner undone for ever. This comes of having oil to buy when we should burn it, and grace to get when we should use it.

The bridegroom came. Note, Our Lord Jesus will come to his people, at the great day, as a Bridegroom; will come in pomp and rich attire, attended with his friends: now that the Bridegroom is taken away from us, we fast (ch. ix. 15), but then will be an everlasting feast. Then the Bridegroom will fetch home his bride, to be where he is (John xvii. 24), and will rejoice over his bride, Isa. lii. 5.

[2.] They that were ready, went in with him to the marriage. Note, First, To be eternally glorified is to go in with Christ to the marriage, to be in his immediate presence, and in the most intimate fellowship and communion with him in a state of eternal rest, joy, and plenty. Secondly, Those, and those only, shall go to heaven hereafter, that are made ready for heaven here, that are wrought to the self-same thing, 2 Cor. v. 5. Thirdly, The suddenness of death, and of Christ's coming to us then, will be no obstruction to our happiness, if we have been habitually prepared.

[3.] The door was shut, as is usual when all the company is come, that are to be admitted. The door was shut, First, To secure those that were within; that, being now made pillars in the house of our God, they may go no more out, Rev. iii. 12. Adam was put into paradise, but the door was left open and so he went out again; but when glorified saints are put into the heavenly paradise, they are shut in. Secondly, To exclude those that were out. The state of saints and sinners will then be unalterably fixed, and those that are shut out then, will be shut out for ever. Now the gate is strait, yet it is open; but then it will be shut and bolted, and a great gulf fixed. This was like the shutting of the door of the ark when Noah was in; as he was thereby preserved, so all the rest were finally abandoned.

[4.] The foolish virgins came when it was too late (v. 11); Afterward came also the other virgins. Note, First, There are many that will seek admission into heaven when it is too late; as profane Esau, who afterward would have inherited the blessing. God and religion will be glorified by those late solicitations, though sinners will not be saved by them; it is for the honour of Lord, Lord, that, of fervent and importunate prayer, that those who slight it now, will flee to it shortly, and it will not be called whining and canting then. Secondly, The vain confidence of hypocrites will carry them very far in their expectations of happiness. They go to heaven-gate, and demand entrance, and yet are shut out; lifted up to heaven in a fond conceit of the goodness of their state, and yet thrust down to hell.

[5.] They were rejected, as Esau was (v. 12); I know you not. Note, We are all concerned to seek the Lord while he may be found; for there is a time coming when he will not be found. Time was, when, Lord, Lord, open to us, would have sped well, by virtue of that promise, Knock, and it shall be opened to you; but now it comes too late. The sentence is solemnly bound on with, Verily I say unto you, which amounts to no less than swearing in his wrath, that they shall never enter into his rest. It bespeaks him resolved, and them silenced by it.

Lastly, Here is a practical inference drawn from this parable (v. 13); Watch therefore, We had it before (ch. xxiv. 42), and here it is repeated as the most needful caution. Note, 1. Our great duty is to watch, to attend to the business of our souls with the utmost diligence and circumspection. Be awake, and be wakeful. 2. It is a good reason for our watching, that the time of our Lord's coming is very uncertain; we know neither the day nor the hour. Therefore every day and every hour we must be ready, and not off our watch any day in the year, or any hour in the day. Be thou in the fear of the Lord every day and all the day long.

The Parable of the Talents.

14 For the kingdom of heaven is as a man travelling into a far country, who called his own servants, and delivered unto them his goods. 15 And unto one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one; to every man according to his several ability; and straightway took his journey. 16 Then he that had received the five talents went and traded with the same, and made them other five talents. 17 And likewise he that had received two, he also gained other two. 18 But he that had received one went and digged in the earth, and hid his lord's money. 19 After a long time the lord of those servants cometh, and reckoneth with them. 20 And so he that had received five talents came and brought other five talents, saying, Lord, thou deliveredst unto me five talents: behold, I have gained beside them five talents more. 21 His lord said unto him, Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord. 22 He also that had received two talents came and said, Lord, thou deliveredst unto me two talents: behold, I have gained two other talents beside them. 23 His lord said unto him, Well done, good and faithful servant; thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord. 24 Then he which had received the one talent came and said, Lord, I knew thee that thou art a hard man, reaping where thou hast not sown, and gathering where thou hast not strawed: 25 And I was afraid, and went and hid thy talent in the earth: lo, there thou hast that is thine. 26 His lord answered and said unto him, Thou wicked and slothful servant, thou knewest that I reap where I sowed not, and gather where I have not strawed: 27 Thou oughtest therefore to have put my money to the exchangers, and then at my coming I should have received mine own with usury. 28 Take therefore the talent from him, and give it unto him which hath ten talents. 29 For unto every one that hath shall be given, and he shall have abundance: but from him that hath not shall be taken away even that which he hath. 30 And cast ye the unprofitable servant into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

We have here the parable of the talents committed to three servants; this implies that we are in a state of work and business, as the former implies that we are in a state of expectancy. That showed the necessity of habitual preparation, this of actual diligence in our present work and service. In that we were stirred up to do well for our own souls; in this to lay out ourselves for the glory of God and the good of others.

In this parable, 1. The Master is Christ, who is the absolute Owner and Proprietor of all persons and things, and in a special manner of his church; into his hands all things are delivered. 2. The servants are Christians, his own servants, so they are called; born in his house, bought with his money, devoted to his praise, and employed in his work. It is probable that ministers are specially intended here, who are more immediately attending on him, and sent by him. St. Paul often calls himself a servant of Jesus Christ. See 2 Tim. ii. 24.

We have three things, in general, in this parable.

I. The trust committed to these servants; Their master delivered to them his goods: having appointed them to work (for Christ keeps no servants to be idle), he left them something to work upon. Note, 1. Christ's servants have and receive their all from him; for they are of themselves worth nothing, nor have any thing they can call their own but sin. 2. Our receiving from Christ is in order to our working for him. Our privileges are intended to find us with business. The manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal. 3. Whatever we receive to be made use of for Christ, still the property is vested in him; we are but tenants upon his land, stewards of his manifold grace, 1 Pet. iv. 10. Now observe here,

(1.) On what occasion this trust was committed to these servants: The master was travelling into a far country. This is explained, Eph. iv. 8. When he ascended on high, he gave gifts to men. Note, [1.] When Christ went to heaven, he was as a man travelling into a far country; that is, he went with a purpose to be away a great while. [2.] When he went, he took care to furnish his church with all things necessary for it during his personal absence. For, and in consideration of, his departure, he committed to his church truths, laws, promises and powers; these were the parakatatheke—the great depositum (as it is called, 1 Tim. vi. 20; 2 Tim. i. 14), the good thing that is committed to us; and he sent his Spirit to enable his servants to teach and profess those truths, to press and observe those laws, to improve and apply those promises, and to exercise and employ those powers, ordinary or extraordinary. Thus Christ, at his ascension, left his goods to his church.

(2.) In what proportion this trust was committed. [1.] He gave talents; a talent of silver is computed to be in our money three hundred and fifty-three pounds eleven shillings and ten pence halfpenny; so the learned Bishop Cumberland. Note, Christ's gifts are rich and valuable, the purchases of his blood inestimable, and none of them mean. [2.] He gave to some more, to others less; to one five talents, to another two, to another one; to every one according to his several ability. When Divine Providence has made a difference in men's ability, as to mind, body, estate, relation, and interest, divine grace dispenses spiritual gifts accordingly, but still the ability itself is from him. Observe, First, Every one had some one talent at least, and that is not a despicable stock for a poor servant to begin with. A soul of our own is the one talent we are every one of us entrusted with, and it will find us with work. Hoc nempe ab homine exigiture, ut prosit hominibus; si fieri potest, multis; si minus, paucis; si minus, proximis, si minus, sibi: nam cum se utilem cæteris efficit, commune agit negotium. Et si quis bene de se meretur, hoc ipso aliis prodest quod aliis profuturum parat—It is the duty of a man to render himself beneficial to those around him; to a great number if possible; but if this is denied him, to a few; to his intimate connections; or, at least, to himself. He that is useful to others, may be reckoned a common good. And whoever entitles himself to his own approbation, is serviceable to others, as forming himself to those habits which will result in their favour. Seneca de Otio Sapient. Secondly, All had not alike, for they had not all alike abilities and opportunities. God is a free Agent, dividing to every man severally as he will; some are cut out for service in one kind, others in another, as the members of the natural body. When the householder had thus settled his affairs, he straightway took his journey. Our Lord Jesus, when he had given commandments to his apostles, as one in haste to be gone, went to heaven.

II. The different management and improvement of this trust, which we have an account of, v. 16-18.

1. Two of the servants did well.

(1.) They were diligent and faithful; They went, and traded; they put the money they were entrusted with, to the use for which it was intended—laid it out in goods, and made returns of it; as soon as ever their master was gone, they immediately applied themselves to their business. Those that have so much work to do, as every Christian has, need to set about it quickly, and lose not time. They went, and traded. Note, A true Christian is a spiritual tradesman. Trades are called mysteries, and without controversy great is the mystery of godliness; it is a manufacture trade; there is something to be done by upon our own hearts, and for the good of others. It is a merchant-trade; things of less value to us are parted with for things of greater value; wisdom's merchandize, Prov. iii. 15; Matt. xiii. 45. A tradesman is one who, having made his trade his choice, and taken pains to learn it, makes it his business to follow it, lays out all he has for the advancement of it, makes all other affairs bend to it, and lives upon the gain of it. Thus does a true Christian act in the work of religion; we have no stock of our own to trade with, but trade as factors with our master's stock. The endowments of the mind—reason, wit, learning, must be used in subserviency to religion; the enjoyments of the world—estate, credit, interest, power, preferment, must be improved for the honour of Christ. The ordinances of the gospel, and our opportunities of attending them, bibles, ministers, sabbaths, sacraments, must be improved for the end for which they were instituted, and communion with God kept up by them, and the gifts and graces of the Spirit must be exercised; and this is trading with our talents.

(2.) They were successful; they doubled their stock, and in a little time made cent. per cent. of it: he that had five talents, soon made them other five. Trading with our talents is not alway successful with others, but, however, it shall be so to ourselves, Isa. xlix. 4. Note, The hand of the diligent makes rich in graces, and comforts, and treasures of good works. There is a great deal to be got by industry in religion.

Observe, The returns were in proportion to the receivings. [1.] From those to whom God hath given five talents, he expects the improvement of five, and to reap plentifully where he sows plentifully. The greater gifts any have, the more pains they ought to take, as those must that have a large stock to manage. [2.] From those to whom he has given but two talents, he expects only the improvement of two, which may encourage those who are placed in a lower and narrower sphere of usefulness; if they lay out themselves to do good according to the best of their capacity and opportunity, they shall be accepted, though they do not so much good as others.

2. The third did ill (v. 18); He that had received one talent, went, and hid his lord's money. Though the parable represents but one in three unfaithful, yet in a history that answers this parable, we find the disproportion quite the other way, when ten lepers were cleansed, nine of ten hid the talent, and only one returned to give thanks, Luke xvii. 17, 18. The unfaithful servant was he that had but one talent: doubtless there are many that have five talents, and bury them all; great abilities, great advantages, and yet do no good with them: but Christ would hint to us, (1.) That if he that had but one talent, be reckoned with thus for burying that one, much more will they be accounted offenders, that have more, that have many, and bury them. If he that was but of small capacity, was cast into utter darkness because he did not improve what he had as he might have done, of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, that tramples underfoot the greatest advantages? (2.) That those who have least to do for God, frequently do least of what they have to do. Some make it an excuse for their laziness, that they have not the opportunities of serving God that others have; and because they have not wherewithal to do what they say they would, they will not do what we are sure they can, and so sit down and do nothing; it is really an aggravation of their sloth, that when they have but one talent to take care about, they neglect that one.

He digged in the earth, and hid the talent, for fear it should be stolen; he did not misspend or misemploy it, did not embezzle it or squander it away, but he hid it. Money is like manure (so my Lord Bacon used to say,) good for nothing in the heap, but it must be spread; yet it is an evil which we have often seen under the sun, treasure heaped together (Jam. v. 3; Eccl. vi. 1, 2), which does good to nobody; and so it is in spiritual gifts; many have them, and make no use of them for the end for which they were given them. Those that have estates, and do not lay them out in works of piety and charity; that have power and interest, and do not with it promote religion in the places where they live; ministers that have capacities and opportunities of doing good, but do not stir up the gift that is in them, are those slothful servants that seek their own things more than Christ's.

He hid his lord's money; had it been his own, he might have done as he pleased; but, whatever abilities and advantages we have, they are not our own, we are but stewards of them, and must give account to our Lord, whose goods they are. It was an aggravation of his slothfulness, that his fellow-servants were busy and successful in trading, and their zeal should have provoked his. Are others active, and shall we be idle?

III. The account of this improvement, v. 19. 1. The account is deferred; it is not till after a long time that they are reckoned with; not that the master neglects his affairs, or that God is slack concerning his promise (2 Pet. iii. 9); no, he is ready to judge (1 Pet. iv. 5); but every thing must be done in its time and order. 2. Yet the day of account comes at last; The lord of those servants reckoneth with them. Note, The stewards of the manifold grace of God must shortly give account of their stewardship. We must all be reckoned with—what good we have got to our own souls, and what good we have done to others by the advantages we have enjoyed. See Rom. xiv. 10, 11. Now here is,

(1.) The good account of the faithful servants; and here observe,

[1.] The servants giving up the account (v. 20, 22); "Lord, thou deliveredst to me five talents, and to me two; behold, I have gained five talents, and I two talents more."

First, Christ's faithful servants acknowledge with thankfulness his vouchsafements to them; Lord, thou deliveredst to me such and such things. Note, 1. It is good to keep a particular account of our receivings from God, to remember what we have received, that we may know what is expected from us, and may render according to the benefit. 2. We must never look upon our improvements but with a general mention of God's favour to us, of the honour he has put upon us, in entrusting us with his goods, and of that grace which is the spring and fountain of all the good that is in us or is done by us. For the truth is, the more we do for God, the more we are indebted to him for making use of us, and enabling us, for his service.

Secondly, They produce, as an evidence of their faithfulness, what they have gained. Note, God's good stewards have something to show for their diligence; Show me thy faith by thy works. He that is a good man, let him show it, Jam. iii. 13. If we be careful in our spiritual trade, it will soon be seen by us, and our works will follow us, Rev. xiv. 13. Not that the saints will in the great day make mention of their own good deeds; no, Christ will do that for them (v. 35); but it intimates that they who faithfully improve their talents, shall have boldness in the day of Christ, 1 John ii. 28-iv. 17. And it is observable that he who had but two talents, gave up his account as cheerfully as he who had five; for our comfort, in the day of account, will be according to our faithfulness, not according to our usefulness; our sincerity, not our success; according to the uprightness of our hearts, not according to the degree of our opportunities.

[2.] The master's acceptance and approbation of their account, v. 21, 23.

First, He commended them; Well done, good and faithful servant. Note, The diligence and integrity of those who approve themselves the good and faithful servants of Jesus Christ, will certainly be found to praise, and honour, and glory, at his appearing, 1 Pet. i. 7. Those that own and honour God now, he will own and honour shortly. 1. Their persons will be accepted; Thou good and faithful servant. He that knows the integrity of his servants now, will witness to it in the great day; and they that are found faithful, shall be called so. Perhaps they were censured by men, as righteous overmuch; but Christ will give them their just characters, of good and faithful. 2. Their performances will be accepted; Well done. Christ will call those, and those only, good servants, that have done well; for it is by patient continuance in well-doing that we seek for this glory and honour; and if we seek, we shall find; if we do that which is good, and do it well, we shall have praise of the same. Some masters are so morose, that they will not commend their servants, though they do their work ever so well; it is thought enough not to chide: but Christ will commend his servants that do well; whether their praise be of men or not, it is of him; and if we have the good word of our Master, the matter is not great what our fellow-servants say of us; if he saith, Well done, we are happy, and it should then be a small thing to us to be judged of men's judgment; as, on the contrary, not he who commendeth himself, or whom his neighbours commend, is approved, but whom the Lord commends.

Secondly, He rewards them. The faithful servants of Christ shall not be put off with bare commendation; no, all their work and labour of love shall be rewarded.

Now this reward is here expressed two ways.

1. In one expression agreeable to the parable; Thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things. It is usual in the courts of princes, and families of great men, to advance those to higher offices, that have been faithful in lower. Note, Christ is a master that will prefer his servants who acquit themselves well. Christ has honour in store for those that honour him—a crown (2 Tim. iv. 8), a throne (Rev. iii. 21), a kingdom, ch. xxv. 34. Here they are beggars; in heaven they shall be rulers. The upright shall have dominion: Christ's servants are all princes.

Observe the disproportion between the work and the reward; there are but few things in which the saints are serviceable to the glory of God, but there are many things wherein they shall be glorified with God. What charge we receive from God, what work we do for God in this world, is but little, very little, compared with the joy set before us. Put together all our service, all our sufferings, all our improvements, all the good we do to others, all we get to ourselves, and they are but a few things, next to nothing, not worthy to be compared, not fit to be named the same day with the glory to be revealed.

2. In another expression, which slips out of the parable into the thing signified by it; Enter thou into the joy of thy Lord. Note, (1.) The state of the blessed is a state of joy, not only because all tears shall then be wiped away, but all the springs of comfort shall be opened to them, and the fountains of joy broken up. Where there are the vision and fruition of God, a perfection of holiness, and the society of the blessed, there cannot but be a fulness of joy. (2.) This joy is the joy of their Lord; the joy which he himself has purchased and provided for them; the joy of the redeemed, bought with the sorrow of the Redeemer. It is the joy which he himself is in the possession of, and which he had his eye upon when he endured the cross, and despised the shame, Heb. xii. 2. It is the joy of which he himself is the fountain and centre. It is the joy of our Lord, for it is joy in the Lord, who is our exceeding joy. Abraham was not willing that the steward of his house, though faithful, should be his heir (Gen. xv. 3); but Christ admits his faithful stewards into his own joy, to be joint-heirs with him. (3.) Glorified saints shall enter into this joy, shall have a full and complete possession of it, as the heir when he comes of age enters upon his estate, or as they that were ready, went in to the marriage feast. Here the joy of our Lord enters into the saints, in the earnest of the Spirit; shortly they shall enter into it, shall be in it to eternity, as in their element.

(2.) The bad account of the slothful servant. Observe,

[1.] His apology for himself, v. 24, 25. Though he had received but one talent, for that one he is called to account. The smallness of our receiving will not excuse us from a reckoning. None shall be called to an account for more than they have received; but for what we have, we must all account.

Observe, First, What he confides in. He comes to the account with a deal of assurance, relying on the plea he had to put in, that he was able to say, "Lo, there thou hast that is thine; if I have not made it more, as the others have done, yet this I can say, I have not made it less." This, he thinks, may serve to bring him off, if not with praise, yet with safety.

Note, Many a one goes very securely to judgment, presuming upon the validity of a plea that will be overruled as vain and frivolous. Slothful professors, that are afraid of doing too much for God, yet hope to come off as well as those that take so much pains in religion. Thus the sluggard is wiser in his own conceit than seven men that can render a reason, Prov. xxvi. 16. This servant thought that his account would pass well enough, because he could say, There thou hast that is thine. "Lord, I was no spendthrift of my estate, no prodigal of my time, no profaner of my sabbaths, no opposer of good ministers and good preaching; Lord, I never ridiculed my bible, nor set my wits to work to banter religion, nor abused my power to persecute any good man; I never drowned my parts, nor wasted God's good creatures in drunkenness and gluttony, nor ever to my knowledge did I injury to any body." Many that are called Christians, build great hopes for heaven upon their being able to make such an account; yet all this amounts to no more than there thou hast that is thine; as if no more were required, or could be expected.

Secondly, What he confesses. He owns the burying of his talent; I hid thy talent in the earth. He speaks as if that were no great fault; nay, as if he deserved praise for his prudence in putting it in a safe place, and running no hazards with it. Note, It is common for people to make a very light matter of that which will be their condemnation in the great day. Or, if he was conscious to himself that it was his fault, it intimates how easily slothful servants will be convicted in the judgment; there will need no great search for proof, for their own tongues shall fall upon them.

Thirdly, What he makes his excuse; I knew that thou were a hard man, and I was afraid. Good thought of God would beget love, and that love would make us diligent and faithful; but hard thoughts of God beget fear, and that fear makes us slothful and unfaithful. His excuse bespeaks,

1. The sentiments of an enemy; I knew thee, that thou art a hard man. This was like that wicked saying of the house of Israel, The way of the Lord is not equal, Ezek. xviii. 25. Thus his defence is his offence. The foolishness of man perverteth his way, and then, as if that would mend the matter, his heart fretteth against the Lord. This is covering the transgression, as Adam, who implicitly laid the fault on God himself; The woman which thou gavest me. Note, Carnal hearts are apt to conceive false and wicked opinions concerning God, and with them to harden themselves in their evil ways. Observe how confidently he speaks; I knew thee to be so. How could he know him to be so? What iniquity have we or our fathers found in him? Jer. ii. 5. Wherein has he wearied us with his work, or deceived us in his wages? Mic. vi. 3. Has he been a wilderness to us, or a land of darkness? Thus long God has governed the world, and may ask with more reason than Samuel himself could, Whom have I defrauded? or whom have I oppressed? Does not all the world know the contrary, that he is so far from being a hard master, that the earth is full of his goodness, so far from reaping where he sowed not, that he sows a great deal where he reaps nothing? For he causes the sun to shine, and his rain to fall, upon the evil and unthankful, and fills their hearts with food and gladness who say to the Almighty, Depart from us. This suggestion bespeaks the common reproach which wicked people cast upon God, as if all the blame of their sin and ruin lay at his door, for denying them his grace; whereas it is certain that never any who faithfully improved the common grace they had, perished for want of special grace; nor can any show what could in reason have been done more for an unfruitful vineyard than God has done in it. God does not demand brick, and deny straw; no, whatever is required in the covenant, is promised in the covenant; so that if we perish, it is owing to ourselves.

2. The spirit of a slave; I was afraid, This ill affection toward God arose from his false notions of him; and nothing is more unworthy of God, nor more hinders our duty to him, than slavish fear. This has bondage and torment, and is directly opposite to that entire love which the great commandment requires. Note, Hard thoughts of God drive us from, and cramp us in his service. Those who think it impossible to please him, and in vain to serve him, will do nothing to purpose in religion.

[2.] His Lord's answer to this apology. His plea will stand him in no stead, it is overruled, nay, it is made to turn against him, and he is struck speechless with it; for here we have his conviction and his condemnation.

First, His conviction, v. 26, 27. Two things he is convicted of.

1. Slothfulness; Thou wicked and slothful servant. Note, Slothful servants are wicked servants, and will be reckoned with as such by their master, for he that is slothful in his work, and neglects the good that God has commanded, is brother to him that is a great waster, by doing the evil that God has forbidden, Prov. xviii. 9. He that is careless in God's work, is near akin to him that is busy in the devil's work. Satis est mali nihil fecisse boni—To do no good is to incur very serious blame. Omissions are sins, and must come into judgment; slothfulness makes way for wickedness; all become filthy, for there is none that doeth good, Ps. xiv. 3. When the house is empty, the unclean spirit takes possession. Those that are idle in the affairs of their souls, are not only idle, but something worse, 1 Tim. v. 13. When men sleep, the enemy sows tares.

2. Self-contradiction (v. 26, 27); Thou knewest that I reap where I sowed not: thou oughtest therefore to have put my money to the exchangers. Note, The hard thoughts which sinners have of God, though false and unjust, will be so far from justifying their wickedness and slothfulness, that they will rather aggravate and add to their guilt. Three ways this may be taken; (1.) "Suppose I had been so hard a master, shouldest not thou therefore have been the more diligent and careful to please me, if not for love, yet for fear, and for that reason oughtest not thou to have minded thy work?" If our God is a consuming fire, in consideration of that let us study how to serve him. Or thus, (2.) "If thou didst think me to be a hard master, and therefore durst not trade with the money thyself, for fear of losing by it, and being made to stand to the loss, yet thou mightest have put it into the hands of the exchangers, or goldsmith, mightest have brought it into the bank, and then at my coming, if I could not have had the greater improvement, by trade and merchandize (as of the other talents), yet I might have had the less improvement, of bare interest, and should have received my own with usury;" which, it seems, was a common practice at that time, and not disallowed by our Saviour. Note, If we could not, or durst not, do what we would, yet that excuse will not serve, when it will be made to appear that we did not do what we could and durst. If we could not find in our hearts to venture upon more difficult and hazardous services, yet will that justify us in shrinking from those that were more safe and easy? Something is better than nothing; if we fail of showing our courage in bold enterprises, yet we must not fail to testify our good will in honest endeavours; and our Master will not despise the day of small things. Or thus, (3.) "Suppose I did reap where I sowed not, yet that is nothing to thee, for I had sowed upon thee, and the talent was my money which thou wast entrusted with, not only to keep, but to improve." Note, In the day of account, wicked and slothful servants will be left quite without excuse; frivolous pleas will be overruled, and every mouth will be stopped; and those who now stand so much upon their own justification will not have one word to say for themselves.

Secondly, His condemnation. The slothful servant is sentenced,

1. To be deprived of his talent (v. 28, 29); Take therefore the talent from him. The talents were first disposed of by the Master, as an absolute Owner, but this was now disposed of by him as a Judge; he takes it from the unfaithful servant, to punish him, and gives it to him that was eminently faithful, to reward him. And the meaning of this part of the parable we have in the reason of the sentence (v. 29), To every one that hath shall be given. This may be applied, (1.) To the blessings of this life—worldly wealth and possessions. These we are entrusted with, to be used for the glory of God, and the good of those about us. Now he that hath these things, and useth them for these ends, he shall have abundance; perhaps abundance of the things themselves, at least, abundance of comfort in them, and of better things; but from him that hath not, that is, that hath these things as if he had them not, had not power to eat of them, or to do good with (Avaro deest, tam quod habet, quam quod non habet—The miser may be considered as destitute of what he has, as well as of what he has not), they shall be taken away. Solomon explains this, Prov. xi. 24. There is that scattereth, and yet increaseth; and there is that withholdeth more than is meet, and it tendeth to poverty. Giving to the poor is trading with what we have, and the returns will be rich; it will multiply the meal in the barrel, and the oil in the cruse: but those that are sordid, and niggardly, and uncharitable, will find that those riches which are so got, perish by evil travail, Eccl. v. 13, 14. Sometimes Providence strangely transfers estates from those that do no good with them to those that do; they are gathered for him that will pity the poor, Prov. xxviii. 8. See Prov. xiii. 22; Job xxvii. 16, 17; Eccl. ii. 26. (2.) We may apply it to the means of grace. They who are diligent in improving the opportunities they have, God will enlarge them, will set before them an open door (Rev. iii. 8); but they who know not the day of their visitation, shall have the things that belong to their peace hid from their eyes. For proof of this, go see what God did to Shiloh, Jer. vii. 12. (3.) We may apply it to the common gifts of the Spirit. He that hath these, and doeth good with them, shall have abundance; these gifts improve by exercise, and brighten by being used; the more we do, the more we may do, in religion; but those who stir not up the gift that is in them, who do not exert themselves according to their capacity, their gifts rust, and decay, and go out like a neglected fire. From his that hath not a living principle of grace in his soul, shall be taken away the common gifts which he hath, as the lamps of the foolish virgins went out for want of oil, v. 8. Thus the arm of the idle shepherd, which he had sluggishly folded up in his bosom, comes to be dried up, and his right eye, which he had carelessly or wilfully shut, becomes utterly darkened, as it is threatened, Zech. xi. 17.

2. He is sentenced to be cast into outer darkness, v. 30. Here,

(1.) His character is that of an unprofitable servant. Note, Slothful servants will be reckoned with as unprofitable servants, who do nothing to the purpose of their coming into the world, nothing to answer the end of their birth or baptism, who are no way serviceable to the glory of God, the good of others, or the salvation of their own souls. A slothful servant is a withered member in the body, a barren tree in the vineyard, an idle drone in the hive, he is good for nothing. In one sense, we are all unprofitable servants (Luke xvii. 10); we cannot profit God, Job xxii. 2. But to others, and to ourselves, it is required that we be profitable; if we be not, Christ will not own us as his servants: it is not enough not to do hurt, but we must do good, must bring forth fruit, and though thereby God is not profited, yet he is glorified, John xv. 8.

(2.) His doom is, to be cast into outer darkness. Here, as in what was said to the faithful servants, our Saviour slides insensibly out of the parable into the thing intended by it, and it serves as a key to the whole; for, outer darkness, where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth, is, in Christ's discourses, the common periphrasis of the miseries of the damned in hell. Their state is, [1.] Very dismal; it is outer darkness. Darkness is uncomfortable and frightful: it was one of the plagues of Egypt. In hell there are chains of darkness, 2 Pet. ii. 4. In the dark no man can work, a fit punishment for a slothful servant. It is outer darkness, out from the light of heaven, out from the joy of their Lord, into which the faithful servants were admitted; out from the feast. Compare ch. viii. 12; xxii. 13. [2.] Very doleful; there is weeping, which bespeaks great sorrow, and gnashing of teeth, which bespeaks great vexation and indignation. This will be the portion of the slothful servant.

The Process of the Last Judgment.

31 When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory: 32 And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats: 33 And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left. 34 Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: 35 For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in: 36 Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me. 37 Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink? 38 When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee? 39 Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee? 40 And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me. 41 Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels: 42 For I was an hungred, and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink: 43 I was a stranger, and ye took me not in: naked, and ye clothed me not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not. 44 Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee? 45 Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me. 46 And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.

We have here a description of the process of the last judgment in the great day. There are some passages in it that are parabolical; as the separating between the sheep and the goats, and the dialogues between the judge and the persons judged: but there is no thread of similitude carried through the discourse, and therefore it is rather to be called a draught or delineation of the final judgment, than a parable; it is, as it were, the explanation of the former parables. And here we have,

I. The placing of the judge upon the judgment-seat (v. 31); When the Son of man shall come. Observe here,

1. That there is a judgment to come, in which every man shall be sentenced to a state of everlasting happiness, or misery, in the world of recompence or retribution, according to what he did in this world of trial and probation, which is to be judged of by the rule of the everlasting gospel.

2. The administration of the judgment of the great day is committed to the Son of man; for by him God will judge the world (Acts xvii. 31), and to him all judgment is committed, and therefore the judgment of that day, which is the centre of all. Here, as elsewhere, when the last judgment is spoken of, Christ is called the son of man, because he is to judge the sons of men (and, being himself of the same nature, he is the more unexceptionable); and because his wonderful condescension to take upon him our nature, and to become the son of man, will be recompensed by this exaltation in that day, and an honour put upon the human nature.

3. Christ's appearing to judge the world will be splendid and glorious. Agrippa and Bernice came to the judgment-seat with great pomp (Acts xxv. 23); but that was (as the original word is) great fancy. Christ will come to the judgment-seat in real glory: the Sun of righteousness shall then shine in his meridian lustre, and the Prince of the kings of the earth shall show the riches of his glorious kingdom, and the honours of his excellent majesty; and all the world shall see what the saints only do now believe—that he is the brightness of his Father's glory. He shall come not only in the glory of his Father, but in his own glory, as mediator: his first coming was under a black cloud of obscurity; his second will be in a bright cloud of glory. The assurance Christ gave his disciples of his future glory, might help to take off the offence of the cross, and his approaching disgrace and suffering.

4. When Christ comes in his glory to judge the world, he will bring all his holy angels with him. This glorious person will have a glorious retinue, his holy myriads, who will be not only his attendants, but ministers of his justice; they shall come with him both for state and service. They must come to call the court (1 Thess. iv. 16), to gather the elect (ch. xxiv. 31), to bundle the tares (ch. xiii. 40), to be witnesses of the saints' glory (Luke xii. 8), and of sinners' misery, Rev. xiv. 10.

5. He will then sit upon the throne of his glory. He is now set down with the Father upon his throne; and it is a throne of grace, to which we may come boldly; it is a throne of government, the throne of his father David; he is a priest upon that throne: but then he will sit upon the throne of glory, the throne of judgment. See Dan. vii. 9, 10. Solomon's throne, though there was not its like in any kingdom, was but a dunghill to it. Christ, in the days of his flesh, was arraigned as a prisoner at the bar; but at his second coming, he will sit as a judge upon the bench.

II. The appearing of all the children of men before him (v. 32); Before him shall be gathered all nations. Note, The judgment of the great day will be a general judgment. All must be summoned before Christ's tribunal; all of every age of the world, from the beginning to the end of time; all of every place on earth, even from the remotest corners of the world, most obscure, and distant from each other; all nations, all those nations of men that are made of one blood, to dwell on all the face of the earth.

III. The distinction that will then be made between the precious and the vile; He shall separate them one from another, as the tares and wheat are separated at the harvest, the good fish and the bad at the shore, the corn and chaff in the floor. Wicked and godly here dwell together in the same kingdoms, cities, churches, families, and are not certainly distinguishable one from another; such are the infirmities of saints, such the hypocrisies of sinners, and one event to both: but in that day they will be separated, and parted for ever; Then shall ye return, and discern between the righteous and the wicked, Mal. iii. 18. They cannot separate themselves one from another in this world (1 Cor. v. 10), nor can any one else separate them (ch. xiii. 29); but the Lord knows them that are his, and he can separate them. This separation will be so exact, that the most inconsiderable saints shall not be lost in the crowd of sinners, nor the most plausible sinner hid in the crowd of saints (Ps. i. 5), but every one shall go to his own place. This is compared to a shepherd's dividing between the sheep and the goats; it is taken from Ezek. xxxiv. 17, Behold, I judge between cattle and cattle. Note, 1. Jesus Christ is the great Shepherd; he now feeds his flock like a shepherd, and will shortly distinguish between those that are his, and those that are not, as Laban divided his sheep from Jacob's, and set three days' journey between them, Gen. xxx. 35, 36. 2. The godly are like sheep—innocent, mild, patient, useful: the wicked are like goats, a baser kind of animal, unsavoury and unruly. The sheep and goats are here feeding all day in the same pasture, but will be coted at night in different folds. Being thus divided, he will set the sheep on his right hand, and the goats on his left, v. 33. Christ puts honour upon the godly, as we show respect to those we set on our right hand; but the wicked shall rise to everlasting shame, Dan. xii. 2. It is not said that he shall put the rich on his right hand, and the poor on his left; the learned and noble on his right hand, and unlearned and despised on his left; but the godly on his right hand, and the wicked on his left. All other divisions and subdivisions will then be abolished; but the great distinction of men into saints and sinners, sanctified and unsanctified, will remain for ever, and men's eternal state will be determined by it. The wicked took up with left-handed blessings, riches and honour, and so shall their doom be.

IV. The process of the judgement concerning each of these.

1. Concerning the godly, on the right hand. Their cause must be first despatched, that they may be assessors with Christ in the judgement of the wicked, whose misery will be aggravated by their seeing Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, admitted into the kingdom of heaven, Luke xiii. 28. Observe here,

(1.) The glory conferred upon them; the sentence by which they shall be not only acquitted, but preferred and rewarded (v. 34); The king shall say unto them. He that was the Shepherd (which bespeaks the care and tenderness wherewith he will make this disquisition), is here the King, which bespeaks the authority wherewith he will then pronounce the sentence: where the word of this King is, there is power. Here are two things in this sentence:

[1.] The acknowledging of the saints to be the blessed of the Lord; Come, ye blessed of my Father. First, He pronounces them blessed; and his saying they are blessed, makes them so. The law curses them for their many discontinuances; but Christ having redeemed them from the curse of the law, and purchased a blessing for them, commands a blessing on them. Secondly, Blessed of his Father; reproached and cursed by the world, but blessed of God. As the Spirit glorifies the Son (John xvi. 14), so the Son glorifies the Father by referring the salvation of the saints to him as the First Cause; all our blessings in heavenly things flow to us from God, as the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, Eph. i. 3. Thirdly, He calls them to come: this come is, in effect, "Welcome, ten thousand welcomes, to the blessings of my father; come to me, come to be for ever with me; you that followed me bearing the cross, now come along with me wearing the crown. The blessed of my Father are the beloved of my soul, that have been too long at a distance from me; come, now, come into my bosom, come into my arms, come into my dearest embraces!" O with what joy will this fill the hearts of the saints in that day! We now come boldly to the throne of grace, but we shall then come boldly to the throne of glory; and this word holds out the golden sceptre, with an assurance that our requests shall be granted to more than the half of the kingdom. Now the Spirit saith, Come, in the word; and the bride saith, Come, in prayer; and the result hereof is a sweet communion: but the perfection of bliss will be, when the King shall say, Come.

[2.] The admission of the saints into the blessedness and kingdom of the Father; Inherit the kingdom prepared for you.

First, the happiness they shall be possessed of is very rich; we are told what it is by him who had reason to know it, having purchased it for them, and possessed it himself.

1. It is a kingdom; which is reckoned the most valuable possession on earth, and includes the greatest wealth and honour. Those that inherit kingdoms, wear all the glories of the crown, enjoy all the pleasures of the court, and command the peculiar treasures of the provinces; yet this is but a faint resemblance of the felicities of the saints in heaven. They that here are beggars, prisoners, accounted as the off-scouring of all things, shall then inherit a kingdom, Ps. cxiii. 7; Rev. ii. 26, 27.

2. It is a kingdom prepared: the happiness must needs be great, for it is the product of the divine counsels. Note, There is great preparation made for the entertainment of the saints in the kingdom of glory. The Father designed it for them in his thoughts of love, and provided it for them in the greatness of his wisdom and power. The Son purchased it for them, and is entered as the fore-runner to prepare a place, John xiv. 2. And the blessed Spirit, in preparing them for the kingdom, in effect, is preparing it for them.

3. It is prepared for them. This bespeaks, (1.) The suitableness of this happiness; it is in all points adapted to the nature of a soul, and to the new nature of a sanctified soul. (2.) Their property and interest in it. It is prepared on purpose for them; not only for such as you, but for you, you by name, you personally and particularly, who were chosen to salvation through sanctification.

4. It is prepared from the foundation of the world. This happiness was designed for the saints, and they for it, before time began, from all eternity, Eph. i. 4. The end, which is last in execution, is first in intention. Infinite Wisdom had an eye to the eternal glorification of the saints, from the first founding of the creation: All things are for your sakes, 2 Cor. iv. 15. Or, it denotes the preparation of the place of this happiness, which is to be the seat and habitation of the blessed, in the very beginning of the work of creation, Gen. i. 1. There in the heaven of heavens the morning stars were singing together, when the foundations of the earth were fastened, Job xxxviii. 4-7.

Secondly, The tenure by which they shall hold and possess it is very good, they shall come and inherit it. What we come to by inheritance, is not got by any procurement of our own, but purely, as the lawyers express it, by the act of God. It is God that makes heirs, heirs of heaven. We come to an inheritance by virtue of our sonship, our adoption; if children, then heirs. A title by inheritance is the sweetest and surest title; it alludes to possessions in the land of Canaan, which passed by inheritance, and would not be alienated longer than to the year of Jubilee. Thus is the heavenly inheritance indefeasible, and unalienable. Saints, in this world, are as heirs under age, tutored and governed till the time appointed of the Father (Gal. iv. 1, 2); and then they shall be put in full possession of that which now through grace they have a title to; Come, and inherit it.

(2.) The ground of this (v. 35, 36), For I was an hungered, and ye gave me meat. We cannot hence infer that any good words of ours merit the happiness of heaven, by any intrinsic worth or excellency in them: our goodness extends not unto God; but it is plain that Jesus Christ will judge the world by the same rule by which he governs it, and therefore will reward those that have been obedient to that law; and mention will be made of their obedience, not as their title, but as their evidence of an interest in Christ, and his purchase. This happiness will be adjudged to obedient believers, not upon a quantum meruit—an estimate of merit, which supposes a proportion between the work and the reward, but upon the promise of God purchased by Jesus Christ, and the benefit of it secured under certain provisos and limitations; and it is the purchase and promise that give the title, the obedience is only the qualification of the person designed. An estate made by deed or will upon condition, when the condition is performed according to the true intent of the donor or testator, becomes absolute; and then, though the title be built purely upon the deed or will, yet the performing of the condition must be given in evidence: and so it comes in here; for Christ is the Author of eternal salvation to those only that obey him, and who patiently continue in well doing.

Now the good works here mentioned are such as we commonly call works of charity to the poor: not but that many will be found on the right hand who never were in a capacity to feed the hungry, or clothe the naked, but were themselves fed and clothed by the charity of others; but one instance of sincere obedience is put for all the rest, and it teaches us this in general, that faith working by love is all in all in Christianity; Show me thy faith by thy works; and nothing will abound to a good account hereafter, but the fruits of righteousness in a good conversation now. The good works here described imply three things, which must be found in all that are saved.

[1.] Self-denial, and contempt of the world; reckoning the things of the world no further good things, than as we are enabled to do good with them: and those who have not wherewithal to do good, must show the same disposition, by being contentedly and cheerfully poor. Those are fit for heaven that are mortified to the earth.

[2.] Love to our brethren; which is the second great commandment, the fulfilling of the law, and an excellent preparative for the world of everlasting love. We must give proof of this love by our readiness to do good, and to communicate; good wishes are but mockeries without good works, Jam. ii. 15, 16; 1 John iii. 17. Those that have not to give, must show the same disposition some other way.

[3.] A believing regard to Jesus Christ. That which is here rewarded is the relieving of the poor for Christ's sake, out of love to him, and with an eye to him. This puts an excellency upon the good work, when in it we serve the Lord Christ, which those may do that work for their own living, as well as those that help to keep others alive. See Eph. vi. 5-7. Those good works shall then be accepted which are done in the name of the Lord Jesus, Col. iii. 17.

I was hungry, that is, my disciples and followers were so, either by the persecutions of enemies for well-doing, or by the common dispensations of Providence; for in these things there is one event to the righteous and wicked: and you gave them meat. Note, First, Providence so variously orders and disposes of the circumstances of his people in this world, as that while some are in a condition to give relief, others need it. It is no new thing for those that are feasted with the dainties of heaven to be hungry and thirsty, and to want daily food; for those that are at home in God, to be strangers in a strange land; for those that have put on Christ, to want clothes to keep them warm; for those that have healthful souls, to have sickly bodies; and for those to be in prison, that Christ has made free. Secondly, Works of charity and beneficence, according as our ability is, are necessary to salvation; and there will be more stress laid upon them in the judgment of the great day, than is commonly imagined; these must be the proofs of our love, and of our professed subjection to the gospel of Christ, 2 Cor. ix. 13. But they that show no mercy, shall have judgment without mercy.

Now this reason is modestly excepted against by the righteous, but is explained by the Judge himself.

1. It is questioned by the righteous, v. 37-39. Not as if they were loth to inherit the kingdom, or were ashamed of their good deeds, or had not the testimony of their own consciences concerning them: but, (1.) The expressions are parabolical, designed to introduce and impress these great truths, that Christ has a mighty regard to works of charity, and is especially pleased with kindnesses done to his people for his sake. Or, (2.) They bespeak the humble admiration which glorified saints will be filled with, to find such poor and worthless services, as theirs are, so highly celebrated, and richly rewarded: Lord, when saw we thee an hungered, and fed thee? Note, Gracious souls are apt to think meanly of their own good deeds; especially as unworthy to be compared with the glory that shall be revealed. Far from this is the temper of those who said, Wherefore have we fasted, and thou seest not? Isa. lviii. 3. Saints in heaven will wonder what brought them thither, and that God should so regard them and their services. It even put Nathanael to the blush, to hear Christ's encomium of him: Whence knowest thou me? John i. 47, 48. See Eph. iii. 20. "When saw we thee an hungered? We have seen the poor in distress many a time; but when saw we thee?" Note, Christ is more among us than we think he is; surely the Lord is in this place, by his word, his ordinances, his ministers, his Spirit, yea, and his poor, and we know it not: When thou wert under the fig-tree, I saw thee, John i. 48.

2. It is explained by the Judge himself (v. 40); Inasmuch as ye have done it to these my brethren, to the least, to one of the least of them, ye have done it unto me. The good works of the saints, when they are produced in the great day, (1.) Shall all be remembered; and not the least, not one of the least, overlooked, no not a cup of cold water. (2.) They shall be interpreted most to their advantage, and the best construction that can be put upon them. As Christ makes the best of their infirmities, so he makes the most of their services.

We see what recompences Christ has for those that feed the hungry, and clothe the naked; but what will become of the godly poor, that had not wherewithal to do so? Must they be shut out? No, [1.] Christ will own them, even the least of them, as his brethren; he will not be ashamed, nor think it any disparagement to him, to call them brethren, Heb. ii. 11. In the height of his glory, he will not disown his poor relations; Lazarus is there laid in his bosom, as a friend, as a brother. Thus he will confess them, ch. x. 32. [2.] He will take the kindness done to them, as done to himself; Ye have done it unto me; which shows a respect to the poor that were relieved, as well as to the rich that did relieve them. Note, Christ espouses his people's cause, and interests himself in their interests, and reckons himself received, and loved, and owned in them. If Christ himself were among us in poverty, how readily would we relieve him? In prison, how frequently would we visit him? We are ready to envy the honour they had, who ministered to him of their substance, Luke viii. 3. Wherever poor saints and poor ministers are, there Christ is ready to receive our kindnesses in them, and they shall be put to his account.

2. Here is the process concerning the wicked, those on the left hand. And in that we have,

(1.) The sentence passed upon them, v. 41. It was a disgrace to be set on the left hand; but that is not the worst of it, he shall say to them, Depart from me, ye cursed. Every word has terror in it, like that of the trumpet at mount Sinai, waxing louder and louder, every accent more and more doleful, and exclusive of comfort.

[1.] To be so near to Christ was some satisfaction, though under his frowns; but that will not be allowed, Depart from me. In this world they were often called to come to Christ, to come for life and rest, but they turned a deaf ear to his calls; justly therefore are they bid to depart from Christ, that would not come to him. "Depart from me the Fountain of all good, from me the Saviour, and therefore from all hope of salvation; I will never have any thing more to say to you, or do with you." Here they said to the Almighty, Depart from us; then he will choose their delusions, and say to them, Depart from me. Note, It is the hell of hell to depart from Christ.

[2.] If they must depart, and depart from Christ, might they not be dismissed with a blessing, with one kind and compassionate word at least? No, Depart, ye cursed, They that would not come to Christ, to inherit a blessing, must depart from him under the burthen of a curse, that curse of the law on every one that breaks it, Gal. iii. 10. As they loved cursing, so it shall come unto them. But observe, The righteous are called the blessed of my Father; for their blessedness is owing purely to the grace of God and his blessing, but the wicked are called only ye cursed, for their damnation is of themselves. Hath God sold them? No, they have sold themselves, have laid themselves under the curse, Isa. l. 1.

[3.] If they must depart, and depart with a curse, may they not go into some place of ease and rest? Will it not be misery enough for them to bewail their loss? No, there is a punishment of sense as well as loss; they must depart into fire, into torment as grievous as that of fire is to the body, and much more. This fire is the wrath of the eternal God fastening upon the guilty souls and consciences of sinners that have made themselves fuel for it. Our God is a consuming fire, and sinners fall immediately into his hands, Heb. x. 31; Rom. ii. 8, 9.

[4.] If into fire, may it not be some light or gentle fire? No, it is prepared fire; it is a torment ordained of old, Isa. xxx. 33. The damnation of sinners is often spoken of as an act of the divine power; he is able to cast into hell. In the vessels of wrath he makes his power known; it is a destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power. In it shall be seen what a provoked God can do to make a provoking creature miserable.

[5.] If into fire, prepared fire, O let it be but of short continuance, let them but pass through fire; no, the fire of God's wrath will be an everlasting fire; a fire, that, fastening and preying upon immortal souls, can never go out for want of fuel; and, being kindled and kept burning by the wrath of an immortal God, can never go out for want of being blown and stirred up; and, the streams of mercy and grace being for ever excluded, there is nothing to extinguish it. If a drop of water be denied to cool the tongue, buckets of water will never be granted to quench this flame.

[6.] If they must be doomed to such a state of endless misery, yet may they not have some good company there? No, none but the devil and his angels, their sworn enemies, that helped to bring them to this misery, and will triumph over them in it. They served the devil while they lived, and therefore are justly sentenced to be where he is, as those that served Christ, are taken to be with him where he is. It is terrible to lie in a house haunted with devils; what will it be then to be companions with them for ever? Observe here, First, Christ intimates that there is one that is the prince of the devils, the ring-leader of the rebellion, and that the rest are his angels, his messengers, by whose agency he supports his kingdom. Christ and his angels will in that day triumph over the dragon and his, Rev. xii. 7, 8. Secondly, The fire is said to be prepared, not primarily for the wicked, as the kingdom is prepared for the righteous; but it was originally intended for the devil and his angels. If sinners make themselves associates with Satan by indulging their lusts, they may thank themselves if they become sharers in that misery which was prepared for him and his associates. Calvin notes upon this, that therefore the torment of the damned is said to be prepared for the devil and his angels, to cut off all hope of escaping it; the devil and his angels are already made prisoners in the pit, and can worms of the earth think to escape?

(2.) The reason of this sentence assigned. God's judgments are all just, and he will be justified in them. He is Judge himself, and therefore the heavens shall declare his righteousness.

Now, [1.] All that is charged upon them, on which the sentence is grounded, is, omission; as, before, the servant was condemned, not for wasting his talent, but for burying it; so here, he doth not say, "I was hungry and thirsty, for you took my meat and drink from me; I was a stranger, for you banished me; naked, for you stripped me; in prison, for you laid me there:" but, "When I was in these distresses, you were so selfish, so taken up with your own ease and pleasure, made so much of your labour, and were so loth to part with your money, that you did not minister as you might have done to my relief and succour. You were like those epicures that were at ease in Zion, and were not grieved for the affliction of Joseph," Amos vi. 4-6. Note, Omissions are the ruin of thousands.

[2.] It is the omission of works of charity to the poor. They are not sentenced for omitting their sacrifices and burnt-offerings (they abounded in these, Ps. l. 8), but for omitting the weightier matter of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith. The Ammonites and Moabites were excluded the sanctuary, because they met not Israel with bread and water, Deut. xxiii. 3, 4. Note, Uncharitableness to the poor is a damning sin. If we will not be brought to works of charity by the hope of reward, let us be influenced by fear of punishment; for they shall have judgment without mercy, that have showed no mercy. Observe, He doth not say, "I was sick, and you did not cure me; in prison, and you did not release me" (perhaps that was more than they could do); but, "You visited me not, which you might have done." Note, Sinners will be condemned, at the great day, for the omission of that good which it was in the power of their hand to do. But if the doom of the uncharitable be so dreadful, how much more intolerable will the doom of the cruel be, the doom of persecutors! Now this reason of the sentence is.

First, Objected against by the prisoners (v. 44); Lord, when saw we thee an hungered, or athirst? Condemned sinners, though they have no plea that will bear them out, will yet in vain offer at excuses. Now. 1. The manner of their pleading bespeaks their present precipitation. They cut it short, as men in haste; when saw we thee hungry, or thirsty, or naked? They care not to repeat the charge, as conscious to themselves of their own guilt, and unable to bear the terrors of the judgment. Nor will they have time allowed them to insist upon such frivolous pleas; for it is all (as we say) but "trifling with the court." 2. The matter of their plea bespeaks their former inconsideration of that which they might have known, but would not till now that it was too late. They that had slighted and persecuted poor Christians, would not own that they had slighted and persecuted Christ: no, they never intended any affront to him, nor expected that so great a matter would have been made of it. They imagined it was only a company of poor, weak, silly, and contemptible people, who made more ado than needed about religion, that they put those slights upon; but they who do so, will be made to know, either in the day of their conversion, as Paul, or of their condemnation, as these here, that it was Jesus whom they persecuted. And, if they say, Behold, we knew it not: doth not he that pondereth the heart consider it? Prov. xxiv. 11, 12.

Secondly, Justified by the Judge, who will convince all the ungodly of the hard speeches spoken against him in those that are his, Jude 15. He goes by this rule (v. 45); Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me. Note, What is done against the faithful disciples and followers of Christ, even the least of them, he takes as done against himself. He is reproached and persecuted in them, for they are reproached and persecuted for his sake, and in all their afflictions he is afflicted. He that touches them, touches him in a part no less tender than the apple of his eye.

Lastly, Here is the execution of both these sentences, v. 46. Execution is the life of the law, and Christ will take care that that be done according to the sentence.

1. The wicked shall go away into everlasting punishment. Sentence will then be executed speedily, and no reprieve granted, nor any time allowed to move in arrest of judgment. The execution of the wicked is first mentioned; for first the tares are gathered and burned. Note, (1.) The punishment of the wicked in the future state will be an everlasting punishment, for that state is an unalterable state. It can neither be thought that sinners should change their own natures, nor that God should give his grace to change them, when in this world the day of grace was misspent, the Spirit of grace resisted, and the means of grace abused and baffled. (2.) The wicked shall be made to go away into that punishment; not that they will go voluntarily, no, they are driven from light into darkness; but it bespeaks an irresistible conviction of guilt, and a final despair of mercy.

2. The righteous shall go away into life eternal; that is, they shall inherit the kingdom, v. 34. Note, (1.) Heaven is life, it is all happiness. The life of the soul results from its union with God by the mediation of Jesus Christ, as that of the body from its union with the soul by the animal spirits. The heavenly life consists in the vision and fruition of God, in a perfect conformity to him, and an immediate uninterrupted communion with him. (2.) It is eternal life. There is no death to put a period to the life itself, nor old age to put a period to the comfort of it, or any sorrow to embitter it. Thus life and death, good and evil, the blessing and the curse, are set before us, that we may choose our way; and so shall our end be. Even the heathen had some notion of these different states of good and bad in the other world. Cicero in his Tusculan Questions, lib. 1, brings in Socrates thus speaking, Duæ sunt viæ, duplicesque cursus è corpore exeuntium: nam qui se vitiis humanis contaminarunt, et libidinibus se tradiderunt, iis devium quoddam iter est, seclusum à consilio deorum; qui autem se integros castosque servarunt, quibusque fuerit minima cum corporibus contagio, suntque in corporibus humanis vitam imitati deorum, iis ad illos a quibus sunt profecti facile patet reditus—Two paths open before those who depart out of the body. Such as have contaminated themselves with human vices, and yielded to their lusts, occupy a path that conducts them far from the assembly and council of the gods; but the upright and chaste, such as have been least defiled by the flesh, and have imitated, while in the body, the gods, these find it easy to return to the sublime beings from whom they came.

CHAP. XXV.

Verse 1. Then shall the kingdom of heaven] OUr Saviour here continueth his former discourse, and sets it on by a second parable to the same [illegible: 1 word]: not so much for the difficulty of the matter, [illegible: 1 word] for our [illegible: 1 word] and backwardnesse to beleeve and improve it. Moses would have men whet good Deut. [illegible: 1 word]. 7. things upon their childrens mindes and memories, by going often [illegible: 1 word] si ut in [illegible: 1 word]. over them, as the knife doth over the whetstone. Solomon saith good counsell should be fastened as [illegible: 1 word] driven home to [illegible: 1 word] & [illegible: 3 words]. the head, Eccles. 12. 11. Paul holds it profitable to write the same things, though not in the same words, to his Philipians, [non-Latin text not transcribed]. chap. 4. 1. Peter slacks not to rouse up those to whom he writes, by remembring them of those points, wherein they were readyAug de [illegible: 2 words]. [illegible: 1 word]. and well-rooted, 2 Epist. 1. 12, 13. And Austin adviseth preachers so long to presse the same truths, till they read in their hearers very visage that they resent and relish them. Unto ten virgins] Virgins without number, Cant. 6. 8. Professours at large, good and bad, one with another. Which took their lamps] The solemnities of Marriage were anciently, performed and celebrated by night, Luk. 12. 35. [illegible: 1 word]. Problem. and the bridegrom brought to his lodging by the virgins, bearing burning lamps before him.

Verse 2. Five were foolish] That is, some were wise, and some [non-Latin text not transcribed] quasi [non-Latin text not transcribed]. others foolish, and these last usually the most, imprudent, improvident, afterwitted, oculos habentes in occipitio, that foresee not a following mischief, but come in with their fools, Had I wist, with their Si praescivissem as the Lion in the fable. The Spaniards say of the Portugals that they are pocos y focos, Few and foolish. But of foolish virgins, that is of [illegible: 1 word] professours, that have no more then an outside, there are not a few, but more then a good many in all places, Cant. 6. 8, 9.

Verse 3. Took their lamps, and took no oyle] Empty casks, [illegible: 1 word] figtrees, pretenders only to the power of godlinesse: of whom it may be said, as Livy saith of the Athenians, that they waged warre against Philip the father of Persius King of Macedonia [illegible: 1 word] 4. (so these against the devill the world and the flesh,) literis verbis que , quibus solis valent. These carry Uriah's letters about them destructory to themselves. For if Religion be not good, why do they professe it? If it be, why do they not practise it? To such it may fitly be said, as Archidamus to his son, rashly conflicting with the enemy without sufficient strength, Aut viribus adde, aut animis adime, so either adde practise, or leave profession: And as Alexander, having a souldier of his own name, and this souldier being a coward, he came to him and said, either leave off the name of Alexander, or be valiant: so let these Nominals, either lay by their lamps or take oile with them.

Verse 4. But the wise took [illegible: 1 word] ] That is, true faith in their [illegible: 1 word], which as oile, is spredding, softning, suppling, soaking. Christ putteth not upon his a washy colour of profession (a blockwood blew) but he dyeth them in grain, with true grace and holinesse.

Verse 5. While the bridegrom tarried] Tarry he doth. 1. To exercise our patience. 2. To eneager our desires. 3. That his elect may be all gathered. 4. That the mystery of iniquity may be fullfilled. 5. That the prophecies may be accomplished, &c. They all slumbred] The wise ones also slept, but their heartsCant. 5. 2. waked, they slept but half-sleep, they napped and nodded, they [illegible: 1 word] with open eyes, as the lion doth, the spirit was willing to wake, but the flesh was weak, and over-wayed it: They slumbred [non-Latin text not transcribed]. but it was by candle-light, they had their lamps burning by them, which the foolish had not.

Verse 6. There was a cry made] By the trumpet of the Archangell, [illegible: 1 word] Archangeli [illegible: 2 words]. Arct. in loc. and the voice of God, say some Interpreters: and Hierom reports it for an Apostalicall tradition, that Christ shall come at midnight. But of that houre no man knoweth, saith the Judge himself. Others there are that expound this cry, of the Preaching of the Gospel, according to that voice of the cryer, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, &c. Matth. 3. And here—clames ut Stentora vincas, Cry aloud, spare not, &c.

Verse 7. And trimmed their lamps] The [illegible: 1 word] also made a fair flourish, and held themselves, haply, in case good enough for heaven; deceiving their own hearts, or rather deceived by them, whiles they use fallacious and specious [illegible: 1 word], Jam. 1. 26. to make themselves beleeve their peny to be good silver, when asit is nothing better then a slip.

Verse 8. Our lamps are gon out] They were not lighted lamps, [illegible: 1 word] sparks of their own [illegible: 1 word]; phantasticall fire, an ignis fatuus, a painted flame, which neither heats nor lights. The glowworm seems to have both heat and light, but touch it, and it hath neither. Alchymy gold may seem brighter and [illegible: 1 word] then true gold, but it can neither passe the seventh fire, nor comfort the heart as a cordiall. so here. A man may live by a form, but he cannot dye by it. They that kindle a fire, but not of Gods sanctuary, and compasse themselves about with specious [illegible: 1 word], [illegible: 1 word] may walk here for a while in the light of their [illegible: 1 word], and in the sparks that they have kindled. But when [illegible: 1 word] done, this is all they shall have of Gods hand, they shall lye [illegible: 1 word] in sorrow, Isa. 50. 11.

Verse 9. Lest there be not enough, &c.] The best have nought to spare, what ever Papists fancy of the Church-treasury. The righteous is scarcely saved; at death he findes all he could do little enough: though he began betime, and [illegible: 1 word] himself to his [non-Latin text not transcribed] utmost, hard and [illegible: 1 word] gets he to heaven, though he hath instantly served God day and night (Act. 26. 7.) with a kinde of [illegible: 1 word] and vehemency. But go ye rather to them that sell] Salsa est derisio non cohortatio, like that, Isa. 47. 13. As if God should say to Papists, Go to your Indulgencers, pardon-mongers, Aneylers: or to carnall Gospellers, Go to your parasiticall-preachers, that have soothed you up in your sinnes (and ye loved to have it so) or at the best, have shot off a few potguns only against grosse sinnes, and licked you whole again presently with, I hope better things of you, &c.

Verse 10. And they that were ready, went in, &c.] The bridegroom waits no mans leisure: Love is [illegible: 1 word] of delaies, leaps [illegible: 1 word]. 1. 17. over all impediments, those mountains of Bether or division, that it may have not a union only, but a unity with the beloved. And the door was shut] Opportunity is headlong, and once lost, irrecoverable. It behooves us therefore to be abrupt in the work of repentance, Dan. 4. 27. as a work of greatest haste: lest we cry out, as he once, All too late, all too late: or as a great Lady of this land did lately upon her death-bed, Time, time, a world of wealth for an inch of time. We want not time so much, as waste it. Remember that upon this moment depends eternity. God hath hang'd the heaviest weights upon the weakest wiers.

Verse 11. Afterward came also the other Virgins] The greater number by ods, that stand trifling and bafling with Christ, and their souls, futuring their repentance, Epimetheus Postmasters, semper victuri in Seneca's sense. Ioho saphat in temporalls, was [illegible: 1 word] wise too late, 2 Chron. 18 31. & 20. 36, 37. and paid for his after-wit: howbeit in spiritualls he was a wise virgin, made sure work for his soul, which was an high point of heavenly prudence.

Verse 12. Verily I say unto you, I know you not] i.e. With a knowledge of approbation or delight. Verbanotitiae, apud Hebraeos secum trahunt affectum. See more above in the Note upon, chap. 7. v. 23.

Verse 13. Watch therefore] Left ye smart for it, when God [illegible: 1 word] send out summons for sleepers. This is an exhortation answerable to that chap. 24. 42. and the upshot of that, this, and the [illegible: 1 word] parable. See the Notes there.

Verse 14. And delivered unto them his goods] There is scarce any man but hath some one thing or other in him, that is excellent and extraordinary: some speciall talent to trade with, some hony to bring to the common hive, have he but an heart to it. Suacui que dos est. Let every man according to his severall ability, improve what he hath to the common benefit. Freely he hath received, freely let him give: ability he hath none but from God; who yet, for our encouragement, is pleased to call that ours, that is his own work in us.

Verse 15. According to his severall ability] Usurers use not to lend to those that cannot give pledge or security. Howbeit we have nothing of our own, but according to the measure of our gifts and faith, Ephes. 4. the measure of the rule distributed to [illegible: 1 word], 2 Cor. 10. 13. the measure of grace concredited, Rom. 12.

Verse 16. Went and traded] Grace grows by exercise, and decaies by disuse: as that side of the teeth which is least used in chewing, is apt to have more rheum to settle upon it. Though both arms grow, yet that which a man useth, is the stronger and bigger: so is it in both gifts and graces. In birds their wings, which have been used most, are sweetest. Among trees, that which is planted and plashed against a wall, the more it is spread and laid forth in the branches, even to the least twigge, the more warmth and vigour it gets from the Sun-beams, and the more [illegible: 1 word] it beareth. So here.

Verse 17. He also gained other two] The Lord, as he hath a fatherly [illegible: 1 word] to our weaknesse, so as not to overlay us, so he takes well a worth what we are able, and exacts no more Honestum est ei qui in primis nequit, in secundis tertijsve consistere. Cic. then he gives. Despise not therefore the day of small things, sith God doth not, Zech. 4. 10. Neither cast away your confidence, because not good to such a degree: but be faithfull in weaknesse, though weak in faith. A palsey-hand may receive an alms: he that had but half an eye might look upon the brasen serpent, and be healed.

Verse 18. Digged it in the earth] Through sloth and pride: as many now-adaies, will do no more service to God then may breed admiration amongst men. Some preachers (saith one) to win applause, set forth at first with such a strife to seem eloquent and learned, that they quickly spend their store: and then, rather Bifield on Col. 4. fol. 200. then they would be observed to want, they will give over preaching, or else preach once a quarter, to air their learning, and keep it from moulding.

Verse 19. And reckoneth with them] This is that we must also come to. Christ will one day say, Redde rationem, [illegible: 1 word] an account of thy Stewardship. Cicero could say, Let us so frame our2 Cor. 5. 10. course, as that we reckon upon our last reckoning, & make accountIta vivamus ut rationem nobis reddendam arbitre[illegible: 1 letter]ur. Cic. in Verr. we must all come to an account. And, because often-reckonings keep long-friends, Villicus rationem cum Domino crebrò putet, saith Cato, Let us be oft dealing with our selves, and setting things to rights, betwixt God and our own souls: so shall we have the lesse to do at last cast. Sparing a little pains at first, doubleth it in the end: as he who will not cast up his books, his books will cast up him at length.

Verse 20. He that had received five] He was first called [illegible: 1 letter]o an account, and if four, or but one of his five talents had [illegible: 2 letters]in dead and unoccupied, he had been doomed for his ill-husbandry. See that ye receive not any grace of God in vain: neither envy those that have much: a proportion is expected, Non tantùm otiosi, sed cunctatores plectentur. Thou idle, and therefore evil servant, vers. 26.

Verse 21. Thou hast been faithfull over a few things] So the Lord calleth the greatest measure of grace here attainable, in comparison of heavens holinesse and happinesse, Ne donis vel bonis nostris effer amur. What's a spark to the Sunne, a drop to the Ocean? Enter thou into the joy of thy Lord] A joy too big to enter into us, we must enter into it. A joy more meet for the Lord then the servant. Yet such a Lord do we serve, as will honour his servants with such a joy. Amongst men it is otherwise, Luk 17. 7. Gen. 15. 2, 3. 1 King. 11. 28, 40.

Verse 22. Lord, thou deliveredst unto me two talents] It is with Christians as with planets. The Moon goes her course in a moneth, the Sun in a year, the rest not but in many years, yet at length they finish. Let us be doing as we can, and our reward is sure with God. Covet rather graces then gifts; as to pray more fervently, though lesse notionally or elequently. Stammering Moses must pray, rather then well-spoken Aaron. The Corinthians came behinde in no gift, 1 Cor. 1. 7. yet were babes and carnall, Chap. 3. 2, 3.

Verse 23. Well done good and faithfull servant] Though this second had the same good acceptance as the former, yet it follows not that they were both alike rewarded; but had a different degree, as of grace, so of glory.

Verse 24. Lord I know that thou wert, &c.] Invalidum omn[illegible: 1 letter] Seneca. naturâ querulum. A sorry senslesse excuse it is that this man makes for himself: and such as is both false and frivolous. It shews [illegible: 1 word] utter emptinesse of the oil of Gods grace, when mens lips, like doors on rusty hinges, move not without murmuring and malecontentednesse.

Verse 25. I was afraid and went and hid, &c.] So God must bear the blame of his unfaithfulnesse. The foolishnesse of man perverteth Prov. 19 3. his way, and (then to mend the matter) his heart fre[illegible: 1 letter]ter[illegible: 1 letter] against the Lord, or at least he digests his choler, as horses do, by champing on the bridle-bit.

Verse 26. Thou wicked and slothfull servant] God puts no difference between betwixt Nequaquum & nequum, an idle and an evil servant. Had idlenesse been a calling, this servant had been both a good husband, and a good fellow too. But what saith the Heathen?Salust, in Iug. Nae illi falsi sunt, qui diversissimas res expectant, ignaviae voluptatem, & praemia virtutis,

Verse 27. Received the same with usury] Our Saviour doth no more patronize Usury here, then he doth injustice, Luk. 16. 1. The[illegible: 2 letters], 1 Thess. 5. 2. Dancing, Matth. 11. 17. Olympick games, 1 Cor. 9. 24.

Verse 28. Take therefore the talent from him] God will takeHos[illegible: 2 letters]. 9. his own, and be gone from an unworthy people or person. The Idol-shepherds arm shall be clean dried up, and his right eye utterly darkned, Zech. 11. 17. It is no hard matter to observe a wain and decay of Gods gifts in them that use them not; till at last, Zedekiah like, they may say, When did the Spirit depart from 1 King. 22. 24. me? And, as many of Ishbosheths friends shrank together with Abner, so do mens abilities fail amain, when once they begin to fail, till at last God laies them aside, as so many broken vessels, and cause them to be forgotten, as dead men out of minde, Psal. 31. 21.

Verse 29. But from him that hath not, shall be, &c.] See the Notes on Chap. 13. 12. Where the like is spoken, but with this difference. There our Saviour speaketh of proud men, such as arrogate to themselves that they have not: Here of idle and evil persons, such as improve and imploy not that they have: the rust of whose worth shall rise up against them, Jam. 5. 3.

Verse 30. And cast ye the unprofitable servant] That had his soul for salt only, to keep his body from putrifying, that worthlesse, [non-Latin text not transcribed], uselesse. saplesse, uselesse man, that is no more missed, when gone, then the parings of ones nails, that never did good among his people, [non-Latin text not transcribed]. [illegible: 1 word]. Ezek. 18. 18. but lived wickedly, and therefore died wishedly. A way with such a fellow, saith Christ, from off the earth, which he hath burdened, &c.

Verse 31. And all the holy Angels with him] He shall not leave one behinde him in heaven. [illegible: 1 word], what a brave bright day must that needs be, when so many glorious Sunnes shall shine in the firmament, and among, and above them all the Sun of righteousnesse, in whom our nature is advanced above the brightest Cherub? Upon the throne of his glory] Perhaps upon his Angels, who are called Thrones, Col. 1. 16. and possibly may bear him aloft by their naturall strength, as on their shoulders.

Verse 32. And before him shall be gathered all] Then shall Adam see all his Nephews at once: none shall be excused for absence at this generall Assizes, none shall appear by a proxy, all shall be compelled to come in and hear their sentence; which may be, as some conceive, a long while a doing. It may be made evident (saith one) from Scripture and reason, That this day of Christs kingly office in judging all men, shall last haply longer then his private administration now (wherein he is lesse glorious) in governingM. [illegible: 1 word], Sincere convert, [illegible: 1 word] 87. the world. Things shall not be suddenly shuffled up at last day as some imagine. And he shall separate them] Before he hears their causes: which is an argument of singular skill in the Judge: it being the course of other Judges to proceed, Secundum allegata & probata. But he shall set mens sins in order before their eyes, Psal. 50 21. with [illegible: 1 word] of the particulars.

Verse 33. The sheep on the right hand, &c.] A place of dignity and safety. Our Saviour seems here to allude to that of Moses his dividing the Tribes on Gerizzim and Ebal. Those six Tribes that came of the free-women are set to blesse the people: as the other five, that came of the bond-women (whereunto is adjoyned Reuben for his incest) are set to say Amen to the curses, Deut. 27. 11, 12, 13.

Verse 34. Come ye blessed of my Father,] Pateruè alloquitur. As who should say, Where have ye been, my darlings, all this while of my long absence? Come, Come now into my bosom, which is now wide open to receive you, as the welcomest guesse that ever accoasted me, &c. And surely, if Jacobs and Josephs meeting were so unspeakably comfortable: If Mary and Elizabeth did so greet and congratulate, O what shall be the joy of that [illegible: 1 word] day! Inherit the Kingdom prepared] Here (as in the Turks Court) every man is aut Caesar aut nullus, as he said, either a King or aTurk hist. [illegible: 1 word]; as the Sultans children, if they raign not, they die without mercy, either by the sword or halter. From the foundation of the world] Their heads were destinated long since to the diadem, as Tertullian hath it. K. James was crowned in his cradle. Sapores King of Persia, before he was born (for his father dying, the Nobles set the crown on his mothers belly) but the Saints were crowned, in Gods eternall counsell, before the world was founded.

Verse 35. For I was an hungred] For in this place, denoteth not the cause, but the evidence. It is all one as if I should say, This man liveth, for behold he moveth. Where it will easily be yeelded, That motion is not the cause of life, but the evidence and effect of it. So here. Merit is a meer fiction, sith [illegible: 1 word] can be no proportion betwixt the worke and the [illegible: 1 word].

Verse 36. Naked, and [illegible: 1 word] clothed me] Darius, before he came to the Kingdom, received a garment for a gift of one Syloson. And, when he became King, he rewarded him with the command of his countrey Samus. Who now will say that Syloson meritedAElian. such a boon for so small a curtesie? A Gardiner, offering a rape-root (being the best present the poor man had) to the Duke of [illegible: 1 word] was bountifully rewarded by the Duke: Which his Steward observing thought to make use of his bounty, presenting him with a very fair horse. The Duke (ut perspicaci erat ingenio, saith mine authour) being a very wise man, perceived the project, received the horse, and gave him nothing for it. Right so will God deal with our merit-mongers, that by building monasteries, &c. think to purchase heaven. I was in prison, and ye came to me] Many Papists have hence concluded, that there are only six works of mercy, Visito, poto, cibo, &c. whereas indeed there are many more. But it is remarkable out of this text, that the last definitive sentence shall passe upon men, according to their forwardnesse and freenesse in shewing mercy to the family of faith. And that the sentence of absoution shall contain a manifestation of all their good works, and that with such fervency of affection in Christ, that he will see and remember nothing in them, but the good they have done. See my Common-place of Alms.

Verse 37, 38, 39. Then shall the righteous, &c.] Not that there shall be then any such dialogisme, (say Divines) at the last day: but Christ would hereby give us to understand, That the Saints rising again and returning to themselves, can never sufficiently set forth such a bounty in Christ, whereby he taketh all they do to their poor necessitous brethren, in as good part, as done to his sacred self.

Verse 40. One of the least of these my [illegible: 1 word] ] What a comfort is this, that our own brother shall judge us, who is much more compassionate then any Joseph? What an honour that Christ calls us his brethren? What an obligation is such a dignity to all possible duty? that we stain not our kindred. [illegible: 1 word] being invited to a place, where a notable harlot was to be present, asked counsell of [illegible: 1 word], what he should do; He bad him only remember, that he was a Kings sonne. Remember we that we that we are Christ the Kings brethren, and it may prove a singular preservative. Vellem si non essem Imperator, said [illegible: 1 word], when an harlot was [illegible: 1 word] unto him, I would, if I were hot [non-Latin text not transcribed]. Generall. Take thou the pillage of the field, said Themistocles: to his friend: for thou art not Themistocles. Ye have done it unto me] Christ, saith Salvian, is, [illegible: 1 word] maximus, as one that shareth in all the Saints necessities; and who would but relieve [illegible: 1 word] Christ? Look out some [illegible: 1 word], in whom we may seal up love to deceased [illegible: 1 word]. My goodnesse extendeth not to thee, saith David, but to the Saints, Psal. 16. 2. [illegible: 1 word]. Christs receivers. M. Fox never denied beggar that asked in Iesus M. Wards [illegible: 1 word]. name. And being once asked, Whether he knew a certain poor man who had received [illegible: 1 word] from him in time of trouble, he answered, I remember him well: I tell you, I forget Lords and Ladies Davids desire by Rob. Abbots. to remember such.

Verse 41. Then shall he say also, &c.] Then: Judgement as it begins here at Gods [illegible: 1 word], so shall it at the last day. The elect shall be crowned, and then the reprobates doomed and damned. Depart from [illegible: 1 word] ye cursed, &c.] A sentence that breaths out nothing but fire and brimstone, stings and horrours, woe and alas, [illegible: 1 word] without end, and past imagination. Mercy, Lord, saith the [illegible: 1 word] miser. No, saith Christ, [illegible: 1 word], be packing. Yet blesse me before I go.Ob. Depart ye cursed. Sol. To some good place then.Ob. To hell-fire, not materiall fire, but worse in many respects.Sol. But let me then come out again.Ob. It is everlasting fire, eternity of extremity. This is the hell ofSol. hell: this puts the damned to their [non-Latin text not transcribed], as much as if they should say, [non-Latin text not transcribed], Not ever, Lord, torment us thus. But they have a will to sin ever; and, being worthlesse, they cannot satisfie Gods justice in any time: therefore is their [illegible: 1 word] everlasting. But let me have some good company in my [illegible: 1 word].Ob. The devil and his Angels. Sol. But who appointed me this hard condition?Ob. It was prepared of old. The all-powerfull wisdom did, as itSol. [illegible: 1 word], set down and devise most [illegible: 4 words] that most formidable fire. And here it is hard to say, whether [illegible: 3 words], Depart from me ye cursed, or that which followeth, Into [illegible: 1 word] fire; Pain of losse, or pain of sense. Sure it is, that the [illegible: 1 word] of hell are not sufficient to be wail the losse of heaven; the [illegible: 1 word] of grief gna [illegible: 2 words] painfull, as the [illegible: 1 word] burns. If those good souls, Act. 20. wept because they should see [illegible: 1 word] [illegible: 1 word] no more, how deplorable is the eternall deprivation of the beatificall vision?

Verse 42. For I was an hungred, &c.] Ill works are the just causes of damnation, as being perfectly evil. But good works can be no such causes of salvation, because due debts to God, and, at the [illegible: 1 word], imperfect.

Verse 43. I was a stranger, &c.] These fools of the peopleProv. 17. 16. [illegible: 1 word] a price in their hands to get [illegible: 1 word] (as Joseph by his [illegible: 1 word] bought the Land of AEgypt) but they had no [illegible: 2 words] it. [illegible: 1 word] son to Henry the third of England, was elected King of [illegible: 1 word] being [illegible: 1 word] therein before [illegible: 1 word] [illegible: 1 word] of [illegible: 1 word] [illegible: 2 words]. The Spaniard pretended and [illegible: 2 words] have been first elected. But, being it seems a [illegible: 3 words], [illegible: 2 words] Daniels Hist. of Engl. 174. drawing lines, when he should have [illegible: 2 words] his [illegible: 1 word], and so came prevented of his hopes. And is not this many [illegible: 3 words] fault and folly?

Verse 44. Lord, When saw [illegible: 1 word], &c.] They were [illegible: 1 word], [non-Latin text not transcribed]. and could not see Christ in poor Christians, whom they2 Pet. 1. 9. should have looked upon, as the only earthly Angels, the dearly beloved of Christs soul, Jer. 12. 7. The house of his glory, Isa. 60. 7. An ornament of God, Ezek. 7. 20. A royall diadem in the hand of Jehovah, Isa. 62. 3.

Verse 45. Inasmuch as ye did it not to one, &c.] Omissions then are damnable [illegible: 1 word]. Ammonites and Moabites were bastardizedDeut. 23 3, 4. and banished the beauty of holinesse, the Tabernacle of God, to the tenth generation, because they met not Gods Israel with bread and water in the wildernesse. Not to do justice is injustice: not to shew mercy is cruelty. Where then will oppressours appear, that grinde the faces of the poor, that quaff their tears, and make musick of their shreeks? Go to now ye rich men, weep and howl, &c. Iam. 5. 1, 2, 3. If not relieving of the poor damns men, What shall robbing do, but double damn?

Verse 46. And these shall go away, &c.] The sentence began with the godly, the execution with the wicked: [illegible: 1 word] that the godly may see their desire upon their enemies, Psal. 58. 10. and 79. 10. And also, that in the others misery, they may behold, by the difference, their own felicity: and thereby be moved to lift up many an humble, joyfull and thankfull [illegible: 1 word] to God.

Then shall the kingdom of heaven. Mt 3:2. The phrase here refers to his coming in the day of judgment.

Shall be likened. Or shall resemble. The meaning is, when the Son of man returns to judgment, it shall be as it was in the case of ten virgins in a marriage ceremony. The coming of Christ to receive his people to himself is often represented under the similitude of a marriage--the church being represented as his spouse or bride. The marriage relation is the most tender, firm, and endearing of any known on earth, and on this account it fitly represents the union of believers to Christ. See Mt 9:15, Jn 3:29, Rev 19:7, 21:9, Eph 5:25-32.

Ten virgins. These virgins, doubtless, represent the church--a name given to it because it is pure and holy. See 2Cor 11:2, Lam 1:15, 2:13.

Which took their lamps, and went forth to meet the bridegroom. The lamps used on such occasions were rather torches or flamebeaux. They were made by winding rags around pieces of iron or earthenware, sometimes hollowed so as to contain oil, and fastened to handles of wood. These torches were dipped in oil, and gave a large light. Marriage ceremonies in the East were conducted with great pomp and Solemnity. The ceremony of marriage was performed commonly in the open air, on the banks of a stream. Both the bridegroom and bride were attended by friends; they were escorted in a palanquin, carried by four or more persons. After the ceremony of marriage succeeded a feast of seven days if the bride was a virgin, or three days if she was a widow. This feast was celebrated in her father's house. At the end of that time the bridegroom conducted the bride, with great pomp and splendour, to his own home. This was done in the evening, or at night, Jer 7:34, 25:10, 33:11. Many friends and relations attended them; and besides those who went with them from the house of the bride, there was another company that came out from the house of the bridegroom to meet them, and welcome them. These were probably female friends and relatives of the bridegroom, who went out to welcome him and his new companion to their home. These are the virgins mentioned in this parable. Not knowing precisely the time when the procession would come, they probably went out early, and waited by the way till they should see indications of its approach. In the celebration of marriages in the East at the present day, many of the peculiar customs of ancient times are observed. At a Hindoo marriage, says a modern missionary, "the procession of which I saw some years ago, the bridegroom came from a distance, and the bride lived at Serampore, to which place the bridegroom was to come by water. After waiting two or three hours, at length, near midnight, it was announced, in the very words of Scripture, 'Behold, the bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet him.' All the persons employed now lighted their lamps, and ran with them in their hands to fill up their stations in the procession; some of them had lost their lights, and were unprepared, but it was then too late to seek them, and the cavalcade moved forward to the house of the bride; at which place the company entered a large and splendidly illuminated area, before the house, covered with an awning, where a great multitude of friends, dressed in their best apparel, were seated upon mats. The bridegroom was carried in the arms of a friend, and placed in a superb seat in the midst of the company, where he sat a short time, and then went into the house, the door of which was immediately shut, and guarded by sepoys. I and others expostulated with the door-keepers, but in vain. Never was I so struck with our Lord's beautiful parable as at this moment--'And the door was shut.'"

The journal of one of the American missionaries in Greece contains an account of an Armenian wedding which she attended; and, after describing the dresses and previous ceremonies, she says, that at twelve o'clock at night, precisely, the cry was made by some of the attendants, Behold, the bridegroom cometh; and immediately five or six men set off to meet him.

Bridegroom. A man newly married.

(s) "virgins" Ps 45:14, Song 6:8,9, 2Cor 11:2 (t) "bridegroom" Jn 3:29

And five of them were wise. The words wise and foolish, here, refer only to their conduct in regard to the oil. The one part was wise in taking oil, the other foolish in neglecting it. The conduct of those who were wise refers to those who are prepared for the coming of Christ--prepared by possessing real piety, and not merely profession. The conduct of those without oil expresses the conduct of those who profess to love him, but are destitute of true grace, and are unprepared to meet him. Nothing can be argued from the number here, in regard to the proportion of sincere Christians among professors. Circumstances in parables are not to be pressed literally. They are necessary to keep up the story, and we must look chiefly or entirely to the scope or design of the parable to understand its meaning. In this parable the scope is to teach us to watch or be ready, Mt 25:13. It is not to teach us the number of those who shall be saved, and those who shall not. In teaching us to watch and be ready, our Lord gives great additional interest by the circumstances of this narrative; but there is no authority for saying that he meant to teach that just half of professing Christians would be deceived. The probability is, that nothing like that number will be found to have been hypocrites.

Oil in their vessels. The five foolish virgins probably expected that the bridegroom would come immediately. They therefore provided for no delay, and no uncertainty. The wise virgins knew that the time of his coming was uncertain, and they therefore furnished themselves with oil. This was carried in vessels, so that it could be poured on the torch or flambeaux when it was necessary.

Vessels. Cups, cans, or anything to hold oil.

(u) "And five" Jer 24:2-9, Mt 22:10

Mt 25:2

(v) "no oil" Isa 48:1

Mt 25:2

(w) "oil in their vessels" 1Jn 2:20

The bridegroom tarried. That is, while they waited for him. It was uncertain at what time he would come. He delayed longer than they expected.

All slumbered and slept. Waiting till near midnight, they fell into repose. This circumstance is not to be pressed to prove that all Christians will be asleep, or cold and careless, when the Lord Jesus will come. It will not be true. Many may be so; but many also will be looking for his coming. This circumstance is designed simply to show more clearly the duty of being ready, Mt 25:13. It does not mean to affirm it as a fact that none will be ready.

(x) "slumbered" 1Thes 5:6

At midnight. Later than was the usual custom, and hence they had fallen asleep.

A cry made. Of those who were coming with the bridegroom.

(y) "midnight" Rev 16:15 (z) "a cry made" 1Thes 4:16

Trimmed their lamps. Burning till midnight, the oil was exhausted. They gave a dim and obscure light. They trimmed them by removing the burnt parts of the linen or the torch, so that they would burn clear. It was proper also to dip them again in oil, or to pour oil upon them. This strikingly represents the conduct of most men at the approach of death. They then begin to make ready. they are alarmed, anxious, trembling, and asking the aid of others; and often when it is for ever too late.

(1) "gone" or, "are going" (b) "out" Lk 12:35

Went in with him to the marriage. The marriage feast. The marriage ceremony took place before the bride left her father's house; but a feast was given at the house of her husband, and which was also called the marriage, or a part of the marriage solemnities. This part of the parable doubtless represents the entrance of those who are ready, or prepared, into the kingdom of God, when the Son of man shall come. They will be ready who repent of their sins; who believe on the Lord Jesus; who live a holy life; and who wait for his coming. See Mk 16:16, Jn 5:24, Acts 3:19, Rev 22:11, 2Pet 3:11,12; 1Timm 6:17-19, 2Ti 4:6-8.

The door was shut. No more could be admitted to the marriage feast. So, when the truly righteous shall all be received into heaven, it will be closed against all others. There will be no room for preparation afterwards, Rev 22:11, Eccl 11:3, 9:10, Mt 25:46.

(d) "while they went" Amos 8:12,13 (e) "was shut" Heb 3:18,19, Rev 22:11

Open to us. This is not to be understood as implying that any will come after the righteous shall be admitted into the kingdom, and claim admission then. It is a part of the parable to illustrate the general truth inculcated, or to prepare the way for what is afterwards said, and keep up the narrative, and make it consistent.

(f) "saying, Lord" Mt 7:21-23, Heb 12:17

I know you not. You were not in the company of those who attended me to the marriage feast, and are unknown to me. Applied to professing Christians, having only a profession of religion, but no real piety, it means I know, or acknowledge you not as Christians. I do not approve of you, or delight in you, or admit you to be my friends. The word know is often used in the sense of approving, loving, acknowledging as real friends and followers. See Mt 7:23 Psa 1:6, 2Ti 2:19, 1Thes 5:12.

(g) "I know you not" Hab 1:13

Watch therefore, etc. This is the scope or design of the whole parable. This is the great truth he wished to inculcate, and all parts of the parable are to be interpreted in reference to this admonition. Like the virgins, many are professedly going to meet the Bridegroom--the Lord Jesus Christ. Like the coming of the bridegroom, his advent will be sudden. It will be to many at an unexpected time. Many, even professing Christians, will be engaged the business of the world; thoughtless about eternity; not expecting his approach, and not prepared. They will only profess to know him, but in works they will deny him. So death will come. All approaches of the Son of God to judge men are sudden, and to many unexpected. So many, when they shall see him coming, at death or the judgment, will begin, like the foolish virgins, to be active, and to prepare to die. But it will be too late. They that are ready will enter-in, and heaven will be closed for ever against all others. The coming of the Saviour is certain. The precise time when he will come is not certain. As the virgins should all have watched and been ready, so should we. They who are Christians should be ever watchful; and they who are not should lose no time to be ready; for in such an hour as they think not the Son of man shall come.

The Son of man cometh. This refers, doubtless, to his coming in the day of judgment. The circumstances of the parable do not seem at all to apply to his coming to destroy Jerusalem, but are aptly expressive of his advent to judge the world.

(h) "therefore" Mt 24:42,44, Mk 13:33,35, Lk 21:36

For the kingdom of heaven, etc. This parable of the talents was spoken still farther to illustrate the manner in which he would deal with men at his return to judgment, The words, the kingdom of heaven, are not in the original, but are very properly inserted by the translators. The design of the parable is to teach that those who improve their talents or faculties in the cause of religion-- who improve them to their own salvation, and in doing good to others --shall be proportionally rewarded. But they who neglect their talents, and neither secure their own salvation nor do good to others, will be punished. The kingdom of heaven is like such a man; that is, God deals with men, in his government, as such a man did.

His own servants. That is, such of them as he judged worthy [of] such a trust. These represent the apostles, Christian ministers, professing Christians, and perhaps all men. The going into a far country may represent the Lord Jesus going into heaven. He has given to all talents to improve, Eph 4:8.

His goods. His property-representing the offices, abilities, and opportunities for doing good, which he has given to his professed followers.

(i) "For the kingdom of heaven" Lk 19:12

Five talents. Mt 18:24. A talent of silver was worth about 1519 dollars, 23 cents, [or 342 3s. 9d.] It here denotes the highest abilities given to men; perhaps the highest offices in the church, and the greatest opportunity of doing good.

According to his several ability. According to the ability of each one. According as he saw each one was adapted to improve it. So in the church and the world. God gives men stations which he judges them adapted to fill, and requires them to fill them. So he makes distinctions among men in regard to abilities, and in the powers and opportunities of usefulness; requiring them only to occupy those stations, and discharge their duties there, 1Cor 4:7.

(1) "talent" "A talent is 187l 10s." Mt 18:24 (k) "ability" Rom 12:6, 1Cor 12:4, Ep 4:11

The two who had received most employed their money in trade, and by honest industry doubled it before their master returned; representing the conduct of those who make a good improvement of their abilities, and employ them in doing good.

Digged in the earth, etc. This represents the conduct of those who neglect the abilities that God has given, and fail to do what he has required. This is done often:

1st. On the plea that they do not occupy a high station.

2nd. That they have slender abilities, and can do little good.

3rd. As it was in this case, that God had not given them as much, as he did others, and they will therefore do nothing. These pleas are without foundation; for, first, God does not require us to do as much as those who have greater abilities; but this is not a reason why we should do nothing, 2Cor 8:12. Second. That situation is honourable, and may be useful, where God has placed us; and though humble, yet in that we may do much good, 1Cor 12:11-31. Third. Men of slender abilities may often do more good in the world than men of much greater talents. It is rather a warm heart than a strong head which is required to do good. A humble Christian, by his life, example, and conversation, may often do much more good than is done by those in more elevated stations, and with far greater gifts.

We are not to suppose by this, however, that our Saviour meant to teach that only those of feeble talents neglected their duty. The parable does not require us to do this; and the fact is, perhaps, that those most highly endowed are the farthest from properly improving their talents.

After a long time, etc. By the return of the lord of those servants to reckon with them, is denoted the return of Christ to call men to an account for the manner in which they have improved their talents. See Rom 14:12, 2Cor 5:10, 1Thes 4:16, Acts 1:11, 17:31

Reckoneth with them. To reckon is to settle accounts. Here it means to inquire into their faithfulness, and to reward or punish them accordingly.

(l) "long time" Mt 24:48 (m) "reckoneth" Mt 18:23,24

I have gained. Gained by trading, Mt 25:16. By honest industry.

Ruler over many things. I will promote thee to greater honours and more important trusts.

Joy of thy lord. In the mean time, share the pleasures and enjoyments of his palace; be his companion; and receive the rewards which he has promised thee. The joy of his lord may mean either the festivals and rejoicing at his return, or the rewards which his lord had prepared for his faithful servants. Applied to Christians, it means that they who rightly improve their talents shall, at the return of Christ, be promoted to great honours in heaven, and be partakers of the joys of their Lord in the world of glory. See Mt 25:34, 1Jn 2:28.

(n) "ruler" Lk 12:44, 22:29, Rev 3:21

The one talent. The design of this part of the parable is to show that no one is excused in indolence because he has few talents. God will require of him only according to his ability, 1Cor 4:2; Lk 12:48, 2Cor 8:12.

An hard man. Of a sordid, griping disposition; taking advantage of the poor, and oppressing them.

Reaping, etc. This is indicative of an avaricious and overbearing disposition. Compelling the poor to sow for him, and reaping all the benefit himself.

Hast not strawed. The word strew means to scatter--as men scatter seed in sowing it. It may mean also to ventilate, or to fan by ventilating, or winnowing. As sowing the seed is mentioned just before, it may be that this refers to gathering grain fanned or winnowed by others, while he did nothing--indicating also a hard or sordid disposition.

(o) "hard man" Job 21:15 (p) "sown" Jer 2:31

I was afraid. I feared, lest by some accident thy talent would be lost if I put it out to trade, and that I should be severely punished by a hard master. I therefore kept it laid up safely, and hid it where it could not be lost.

That is thine. There is what properly belongs to thee. There is the original talent that thou gavest me, and that is all that can be reasonably required. Observe here,

(1.) that this expresses exactly the feelings of all sinners. God, in their view, is hard, cruel, unjust.

(2.) All the excuses of sinners are excuses for indolence and sin, and to cheat themselves out of heaven. The effect of this excuse was to lose the reward; so of the excuses of sinners for not doing their duty.

(3.) Sinners grudge everything to God. They are never willing to be liberal towards him, but are stinted and close; and if they give, they do it with hard feelings, and say that that is all he can claim.

(q) "afraid" @Pr 26:13 Re 21:8

Slothful. Indolent, lazy, who had done nothing. God will judge men, not merely for doing wrong, but for not doing right. See Mt 25:45. That servant was wicked, because he had such an opinion of his master; he had shown that he was slothful, by not making good use of the talent, Mt 25:27.

Thou knewest, etc. This should be understood, and might have been translated, as a question. If you knew he was such a man, you ought to have acted accordingly, so as to have escaped punishment. "Didst thou know that I reap, etc? Then thou shouldst have given my money to the exchangers," etc. This is not intended to admit that he was such a man, but to convict the slothful servant of guilt and folly in not having been prepared to meet him.

(r) "wicked and slothful" Job 15:5,6, Mt 18:32, Lk 19:22, Jude 1:15

The exchangers. The exchangers were persons who were in the habit of borrowing money, Or receiving it on deposit at a low rate of interest, to be loaned to others at higher interest. They commonly sat by tables in the temple, with money ready to exchange or loan. See Mt 21:12. This money was left with the servant, not to exchange, nor to increase it by any such idle means, but by honest industry and merchandise; but since he was too indolent for that, he ought at least to have loaned it to the exchangers, that his master might have received some benefit from it.

With usury. With interest, increase, or gain. The word usury, in our language, has a bad signification, meaning unlawful or exorbitant interest. This was contrary to the law, Ex 22:25, Lev 25:36. The original means gain, increase, or lawful interest.

For unto every one that hath shall be given. Mt 13:12. This seems to be a proverbial expression. It means, whosoever rightly improves what is committed to him shall receive more, or shall be rewarded; but he that misimproves what is committed to him shall not be rewarded. In pecuniary matters--in the literal sense of this parable--they who improve their money by industry or merchandise, increase it; they who do not--who are indolent or vicious--lose what they did possess, and it goes into the hands of the faithful and industrious. In the spiritual sense of the parable, it means only that they who are faithful shall be rewarded --not, however, that anything shall be taken from the unfaithful and given to them; and that the unfaithful and indolent shall be taken away from their privileges and punished.

(s) "For unto" Mt 13:12, Mk 4:25, Lk 8:18, 19:26 (t) "taken away" Lk 10:42

And cast, etc. Mt 8:12. The spiritual meaning of the parable may be thus summed up:

(1.) The servants of God are not all endowed with equal gifts and talents.

(2.) They are bound to employ their talents in promoting his honour, and in a proper improvement of them.

(3.) By employing their talents in a proper manner, they improve and strengthen them.

(4.) They will be judged according to the improvements they have made

(5.) All sinners look on God as a hard master, and as unreasonable and tyrannical.

(6.) They will be judged, not merely for doing wrong, but for neglecting to do right.

(7.) If the servant who kept the talent entire without injuring it, and who returned it to his master as he received it, was nevertheless judged, condemned, and cast away, what must they expect who abuse their talents, destroy by drunkenness and lust the noble faculties conferred on them, and squander the property that might be employed in advancing the interests of morals and religion!

(u) "there shall be" Mt 8:12

When the Son of man, etc. This is in answer to the question which the disciples proposed to him respecting the end of the world, Mt 24:3. That this refers to the last judgment, and not, as some have supposed, to the destruction of Jerusalem, appears

(1.) from the fact that it was in answer to an express inquiry respecting the end of the world.

(2.) All nations were to be assembled--which did not take place at Jerusalem.

(3.) A separation was to take place between the righteous and the wicked --which was not done at Jerusalem.

(4.) The rewards and punishments are declared to be eternal. None of these things took place at the destruction of Jerusalem.

In his glory. In his own proper honour. With his glorified body, and as the Head and King of the universe, Acts 1:11, Ep 1:20-22, 1Thes 4:16 1Cor 15:24,25.

The throne of his glory. This means, in the language of the Hebrews, his glorious or splendid throne. It is not to be taken literally, as if there would be a material throne or seat of the King of Zion. It expresses the idea that he will come as a King and Judge to assemble his subjects before him, and to appoint them their rewards.

(v) "When" Dan 7:13, Zech 14:5, Mt 16:27, 19:28, Mk 8:38, Acts 1:11, 1Thes 4:16 2Thes 1:7, Jude 1:14, Rev 1:7

And before him, etc. At his coming to judgment, the world will be burned up and destroyed, 2Pet 3:10,12, Rev 20:11. The dead in Christ, i.e., all true Christians--shall be first raised up from their graves, 1Thes 4:16. The living shall be changed --i.e., shall be made like the glorified bodies of those that are raised from the dead, 1Cor 15:52-54, 1Thes 4:17. All the wicked shall rise and come forth to judgment, Jn 5:28,29, Dan 12:2; Mt 13:41,42, Rev 20:13. Then shall the world be judged, the righteous saved, and the wicked punished.

And he shall separate, etc. Shall determine respecting their character, and shall appoint them their doom accordingly.

(w) "And before him" Rom 14:10, 2Cor 5:10, Rev 20:12 (x) "separate them" Eze 20:38, Mt 13:49 (y) "shepherd divideth" Ps 78:52, Jn 10:14,27

Shall set the sheep, etc. By the sheep are denoted, here, the righteous. The name is given to them because the sheep is an emblem of innocence and harmlessness. See Jn 10:7, 14-16, 27; Ps 100:3, 74:1, 23:1

On his right hand. The right hand is the place of honour, and denotes the situation of those who are honoured, or those who are virtuous. See Eccl 10:2, Eph 1:20, Ps 110:1, Acts 2:25,33.

The goats. The wicked. See Eze 34:17.

The left. That is, the left hand. This was the place of dishonour, denoting condemnation. See Eccl 10:2.

(z) "right hand" Heb 1:3

The King. That is, the Lord Jesus, the King of Zion and of the universe, now acting as Judge, Lk 19:38, Jn 18:37, Rev 17:14, 19:16.

Blessed of my Father. Made happy, or raised to felicity by my Father. Mt 5:3.

Inherit the kingdom. Receive as heirs the kingdom, or be received there as the sons of God. Christians are often called heirs of God, Rom 8:17, Gal 4:6,7, Heb 1:14, 1Jn 3:2.

Prepared for you, etc. That is, designed for you, or appointed for you. The phrase, from the foundation of the world, is used to denote that this was appointed for them in the beginning; that God has no new plan; that the rewards which he will now confer on them he always intended to confer. Christ says to the righteous that the kingdom was prepared for them. Of course God meant to confer it on them. They were individuals; and it follows that he intended to bestow his salvation on them as individuals. Accordingly, the salvation of his people is uniformly represented as the result of the free gift of God, according to his own pleasure, bestowed on individuals, and by a plan which is eternal, Rom 8:29,30, Eph 1:4, 5, 11, 12, 2Thes 2:13; 1Pet 1:2, Jn 6:37. This is right and consistent with justice; for,

(1.) all men are by nature equally undeserving.

(2.) Bestowing favours on one does not do injustice to another, where neither deserves favour. Pardoning one criminal is not injuring another. Bestowing great talents on Locke, Newton, or Paul, did not injure me.

(3.) If it is right for God to give eternal life to his people, or to admit them to heaven, it was right to determine to do it, which is but another way of saying that God resolved from all eternity to do right. Those who perish choose the paths which lead to death, and will not be saved by the merits of Jesus. No blame can be charged on God if he does not save them against their will, Jn 5:40, Mk 16:15, 16.

(a) "blessed of" Ps 115:15 (b) "inherit" Rom 8:17, 1Pet 1:4 (c) "the kingdom" 1Thes 2:12, Rev 5:10 (d) "prepared" 1Cor 2:9, Heb 11:16

I was an hungred. The union between Christ and his people is the most tender and endearing of all connexions. It is represented by the closest unions of which we have knowledge, Jn 15:4-6; Eph 5:23-32, 1Cor 6:15. This is a union not physical, but moral; a union of feelings, interests, plans, destiny; or, in other words, he and his people have similar feelings, love the same objects, share the same trials, and inherit the same blessedness, Jn 14:19, Rev 3:5, 21, Rom 8:17. Hence he considers favours shown to his people as shown to himself, and will reward them accordingly, Mt 10:40, 42. They show attachment to him, and love to his cause. By showing kindness to the poor, and needy, and sick, they show that they possess his spirit--for he did it when on earth; they evince attachment to him, for he was poor and needy; and they show that they have the proper spirit to fit them for heaven, 1Jn 3:14,17, Jas 2:1-5, Mk 9:41.

Was a stranger. The word stranger means a foreigner, or traveller; in our language, one unknown to us. To receive such to the rites of hospitality was, in eastern countries, where there were few or no public houses, a great virtue. See Gen 18:1-8, Heb 13:2.

Took me in. Into your house. Received me kindly.

Naked. Poorly clothed. Among the Jews they were called naked who were clad in poor raiment, or they who had on only the tunic or inner garment, without any outer garment. Mt 5:40, Acts 19:16; Mk 14:51,52, Job 22:6, Isa 58:7.

(e) "For I was" Is 58:7, Eze 18:7 (f) "stranger" 1Pet 4:9, 3Jn 1:5

Mt 25:35

(g) "naked" Jas 2:15,16 (h) "ye visited" Jas 1:27 (i) "in prison" 2Ti 1:16, Heb 13:2

Then shall the righteous, etc. This answer is indicative of humility--a deep sense of their being unworthy such commendation. They will feel that their poor acts of kindness have come so far short of what they should have been, that they have no claim to praise or reward. It is not, however, to be supposed that in the day of judgment this will be actually said by the righteous, but that this would be a proper expression of their feelings.

One of the least of these. One of the obscurest, least known, poorest, and most despised and afflicted.

My brethren. Either those who are Christians, whom he condescends to call brethren, or those who are afflicted, poor, and persecuted, who are his brethren and companions in suffering, and who suffer as he did on earth. See Heb 2:11, Mt 12:50. How great is the condescension and kindness of the Judge of the world, thus to reward our actions, and to consider what we have done to the poor as done to him!

(l) "Inasmuch" Prov 19:17, Mk 9:41, Heb 6:10

On the left hand. The wicked.

Ye cursed. That is, ye who are devoted to destruction, whose characters deserve everlasting punishment, and who are about to enter into it. To curse, is the opposite of to bless. It implies a negation of all the blessings of heaven, and a positive infliction of eternal sufferings.

Everlasting fire. Fire, here, is used to denote punishment. The image is employed to express extreme suffering, as a death by burning is one of the most horrible that call be conceived. The image was taken probably from the fires burning in the valley of Hinnom. Mt 5:22. It has been asked, whether the wicked will be burned in literal fire-- and the common impression has been that they will be. Respecting that, however, it is to be observed,

(1.) that the main truth intended to be taught refers not to the manner of suffering, but to the certainty and intensity of it.

(2.) That the design, therefore, was to present an image of terrific and appalling suffering--an image well represented by fire.

(3.) That this image was well known to the Jews, Isa 66:24 and therefore expressed the idea in a very strong manner.

(4.) That all the truth that Christ intended to convey appears to be expressed in the certainty, intensity, and eternity of future torment.

(5.) That there is no distinct affirmation respecting the mode of that punishment, where the mode was the subject of discourse.

(6.) That to us it is a subject of comparatively little consequence what will be the mode of punishment. The fact that the wicked will be eternally punished, cursed of God, should awe every spirit, and lead every man to secure his salvation. As, however, the body will be raised, it is not unreasonable to suppose that a mode of punishment will be adopted suited to the body, perhaps bearing some analogy to suffering here, in its various forms of flames, and racks, and cold, and heat, and war, and disease, and ungratified desire, and remorse--perhaps the concentration of all earthly woes, all that makes man miserable here, poured upon the naked body and spirit of the wicked in hell, for ever and ever.

Prepared for the devil. The devil is the prince of evil spirits. This place of punishment was fitted for him when he rebelled against God, Jude 1:6, Rev 12:8,9.

His angels. His messengers, his servants, or those angels that he drew off from heaven by his rebellion and whom he has employed as his messengers to do evil. The word may extend also to all his followers --fallen angels or men. There is a remarkable difference between the manner in which the righteous shall be addressed, and the wicked. Christ will say to the one that the kingdom was prepared for them; to the other, that the fire was not prepared for them, but for another race of beings. They will inherit it because they have the same character as the devil, and therefore are fitted to the same place--not because it was originally fitted for them.

(m) "Depart" Lk 13:27 (n) "into everlasting fire" Mt 13:40,42, Rev 14:11 (o) "prepared for the devil" Jude 1:6, Rev 20:10

Inasmuch as ye did it not, etc. By not doing good to the followers of Christ, they showed that they had no real love to him. By not doing good to the poor and needy, to the stranger and the prisoner, they show that they have not his Spirit, and are not like him, and are unfit for his kingdom. Let it be observed here, that the public ground of their condemnation is the neglect of duty, or because they did it not. We are not to suppose that they will not also be condemned for their open and positive sins. See Rom 2:9, Ep 5:5, Co 3:5, 6, 1Cor 6:9, 10, Rev 21:8, Ps 9:17, but their neglect of charity, or of doing good to him and his people, may be the public reason of condemning them:

(1.) Because he wished to give pre-eminence to those virtues, to excite his followers to do them.

(2.) Men should be punished for neglect as well as positive sin. Sin is a violation of the law, or refusing to do what God commands.

(3.) Nothing better shows the true state of the heart than those duties, and the true character can be as well tested by them as by open crimes.

If it be asked how the heathen, who never heard of the name of Christ, can be justly condemned in this manner, it may be answered:

1st. That Christ acknowledges all the poor, and needy, and strangers of every land, as his brethren. See Mt 25:40.

2nd. That by neglecting the duties of charity they show that they have not his Spirit--are not like him.

3rd. That these duties are clearly made known by conscience, and the light of nature, as well as by revelation; and men may therefore be condemned for the neglect of them.

4th. That they are not condemned for not believing in Christ, of whom they have not heard, but for a wrong spirit, neglect of duty, open crime; for being unlike Christ, and therefore unfit for heaven.

One of the least of these. These on my right hand. My brethren. Those who are saved.

(p) "Inasmuch" Zech 2:8, Acts 9:5

And these, etc. These persons. Many, holding the doctrine of universal salvation, have contended that God would punish sin only. Christ says that those on his left hand shall go away-not sins, but sinners. Besides, sin, as an abstract thing, cannot be punished. It is nothing but the acts of transgressors; and to be reached at all, must be reached by punishing the offenders.

Into everlasting punishment.The original word, here translated punishment, means torment, or suffering inflicted for crime. The noun is used but in one other place in the New Testament, 1Jn 4:18, "Fear hath torment." The verb from which the noun is derived is twice used, Acts 4:21, 2Pet 2:9. In all these places it denotes anguish, suffering, punishment. It does not mean simply a state or condition, but absolute, positive suffering; and if this word does not teach it, no word could express the idea that the wicked would suffer. It has been contended that the sufferings of the wicked would not be eternal, or without end. It is not the purpose of these Notes to enter into debates of that kind farther than to fix the meaning of words. In regard to the meaning of the word everlasting in this place, it is to be observed:

1st. That the literal meaning of the word expresses absolute eternity-- always being, Mt 18:8, 19:16, Mk 3:29, Rom 2:7, Heb 5:9.

2nd. That the obvious, plain interpretation of the word demands this signification.

3rd. That admitting that it was the Saviour's design ever to teach his doctrine, this would be the very word to express it; and if this does not teach it, it could not be taught.

4th. That it is not taught in any plainer manner in any confession of faith on the globe; and if this may be explained away, all those may be

5th. That our Saviour knew that this would be so understood by nine-tenths of the world; and if he did not mean to teach it, he has knowingly led them into error, and his honesty cannot be vindicated.

6th. That he knew that the doctrine was calculated to produce fear and terror; and if he was benevolent, his conduct cannot be vindicated in exciting unnecessary fears.

7th. That the word used here is the same in the original as that used to express the eternal life of the righteous; if one can be proved to be limited in duration, the other can by the same arguments. The proof that the righteous will be happy for ever is precisely the same, and no other than that the wicked will be miserable for ever.

8th. That it is confirmed by many other passages of Scripture, 2Thes 1:7,8,9, Lk 16:26, Rev 14:11, Ps 9:17, Is 33:14, Mk 16:16; Jn 3:36.

Life eternal. Man by sin has plunged himself into death--temporal, spiritual, eternal. Christ, by coming and dying, has abolished death, and brought life and immortality to light, 2Ti 1:10. Life is the opposite of death. It denotes, here, freedom from death, and positive holiness and happiness for ever.

(q) "And these" Dan 12:2, Jn 5:29

[Ten virgins.] The nation of the Jews delighted mightily in the number ten, both in sacred and civil matters: A synagogue consisted not but of ten at the least: which we have observed before, when we spoke about synagogues. This also was current among them, An order or ring of men consisted not but of ten at the least. The text is speaking of a company to comfort mourners: which the Gloss thus describes, "When the company was returned from burying a dead body, they set themselves in order about the mourners, and comforted them: but now such an order or ring consisted of ten at the least." To this commonly received number there seems to be an alluding in this place: not but that they very frequently exceeded that number of virgins in weddings of greater note, but rarely came short of it.

[To meet the bridegroom.] To go to a wedding was reckoned among the works of mercy.

"The shewing of mercy implies two things: 1. That one should assist an Israelite with one's wealth, namely, by alms and redeeming of captives. 2. That one should assist him in one's own person; to wit, by comforting the mourners, by attending the dead to burial, and by being present at the chambers of bridegrooms." The presence of virgins also adorned the pomp and festivity of the thing. Marriages are called by the Rabbins receivings, &c. The introducing of the bride, namely, into the house of her husband. There were no marriages but of such as had been before betrothed; and, after the betrothing, the bridegroom might not lie with the bride in his father-in-law's house before he had brought her to his own. That 'bringing' of her was the consummation of the marriage. This parable supposeth that the bride was thus fetched to the house of her husband, and that the virgins were ready against her coming; who yet, being either fetched a great way, or some accident happening to delay her, did not come till midnight.

[Took lamps.] The form of lamps is described by Rambam and R. Solomon, whom see. These things are also mentioned by R. Solomon: "It is the fashion in the country of the Ismaelites to carry the bride from the house of her father to the house of the bridegroom before she is put to bed; and to carry before her about ten wooden staves, having each of them on the top a vessel like a dish, in which there is a piece of cloth with oil and pitch: these, being lighted, they carry before her for torches."

[Five wise; Five foolish.] A parable, not unlike this, is produced by Kimchi: "Rabban Jochanan Ben Zaccai saith (as he hath it), This thing is like a king, who invited his servants, but did not appoint them any set time. Those of them that were wise adorned themselves, and sat at the gate of the palace; those that were foolish were about their own business. The king on a sudden called for his servants: those went in adorned; these, undressed. The king was pleased with the wise, and angry at the foolish."

[They all slumbered and slept.] "If some sleep" [while they celebrate the paschal supper], "let them eat; if all, let them not eat. R. Josi saith, Do they slumber? let them eat. Do they sleep? let them not eat." The Gemarists inquire, "Whence a man is to be reputed as a slumberer? R. Ishi saith, He sleeps and doth not sleep, he wakes and is not awake. If you call him, he answers; but he cannot answer to the purpose." The Gloss, "If you speak to him, he will answer yes, or no; but if you ask any thing that hath need of thinking; as, for instance, where such a vessel is laid up? he cannot answer you."

[And unto one he gave five talents, &c.] You have a like and almost the same parable, Luke 19; yet, indeed, not the very same; for, besides that there is mention there of pounds being given, here of talents,--that parable was spoken by Christ, going up from Jericho to Jerusalem, before the raising up of Lazarus; this, as he was sitting on Mount Olivet, three days before the Passover. That, upon this account, "because he was nigh to Jerusalem, and because they thought that the kingdom of God should immediately appear," Luke 19:11, and that he might shew that it would not be long before Jerusalem should be called to an account for all the privileges and benefits conferred upon it by God (see verses the fourteenth and seventeenth); but this, that he might warn all to be watchful, and provide with their utmost care concerning giving up their accounts at the last judgment.

[Thou oughtest therefore to have put my money to the exchangers, &c.] The lord did not deliver the talents to his servants with that intent, that they should receive the increase and profit of them by usury; but that, by merchandise and some honest way of trade, they should increase them. He only returns this answer to the slothful servant, as fitted to what he had alleged; "You take me for a covetous, griping, and sordid man: why then did you not make use of a manner of gain agreeable to these qualities, namely, interest or usury (since you would not apply yourself to any honest traffic), that you might have returned me some increase of my money, rather than nothing at all?" So that our Lord, in these words, doth not so much approve of usury, as upbraid the folly and sloth of his servant.

Exchangers, answering to the word trapezita very usual among the Talmudists: "An exchanger (trapezita) sells money; and because a table is always before him, upon which he buys and sells, therefore he is called mensarius," one that stands at a table.

Of the same employment was the shopkeeper of whom is as frequent mention among them. He exercised the employment of a usurer in buying and changing of fruits, as the other in money: for in these two especially consisted usury: of which you may see, if you please, the tract Bava Mezia.

By the kingdom of heaven here, is meant the state of the visible church on earth; it cannot be understood of the kingdom of glory, for there are no foolish virgins in that kingdom; nor yet of the invisible kingdom of grace, for therein are no foolish virgins neither. But in the visible church here on earth, there ever has been a mixture of wise and unwise, of saints and hypocrites: Five of these virgins were wise, and five were foolish.

Where observe, Our Lord's great charity, in supposing and hoping that amongst the professors of the gospel the number of sincere Christians is equal with hypocritical professors.

Five were wise and five foolish. Teaching us, that we should not confine the church of Christ within a narrow compass, nor confine our charity to a few, and think none shall go to heaven but those of our own party and persuasion, but to extend our charity to all Christians that hold the foundation with us, and to hope well of them.

Lord! let me rather err on the charitable hand, than be found on the censorious and damning side! This is to imitate my Saviour, whose charity supposed as many wise as foolish virgins, as many saints as hypocrites in the church. All these virgins are said to take their lamps and go forth to meet the bridegroom. For understanding which we must know that our Saviour alludes to the ancient custom of marriages, which were celebrated in the night; when usually ten young men attended the bridegroom, and as many virgins attended the bride, with lamps in their hands; the bridegroom leading home his bride by the light of those lamps. By these virgins are shadowed forth the professors of Christianity.

The foolish virgins are such as satisfy themselves with a bare profession, without bringing forth fruits answerable thereunto. The wise virgins are such as walked answerably to their profession, persevered and continued steadfast therein, and abounded in the graces and virtues of a good life. They are called wise virgins for the purity of their faith, for the purity of their worship, and for the purity of their conversations.

By the lamps are meant an outward profession of faith and holiness.

By the oil in the lamps, is to be understood that solemn profession of repentance and faith, which all Christians make in baptism.

By oil in their vessels is meant the sanctifying and saving graces of the Holy Spirit; the growth and improvement of them, with constancy and perseverance in them.

Observe here, wherein the wise and foolish virgins agreed, and wherein they differed: they agreed thus far, that both took their lamps, both lighted them, they both had oil in their lamps; the difference was not that the wise had oil, and the foolish had none; but in this, that the wise took care for a future supply of oil to feed their lamps when the first oil was spent.

Some professors, like foolish virgins, content themselves with a blazing lamp of an outward profession, without concerning themselves to secure an inward principle of grace and love, which should maintain that profession, as the oil maintains the lamp. As the lamp will not long hold burning without a stock of oil to feed it; so a profession of religion, though never so glorious, will not be lasting nor persevering, wihtout a principle of faith and love in the heart to support and maintain it.

Learn hence, That the true wisdom of a Christian consists in this, to take care, that not only the lamp of his life may shine by outward profession, but that the vessel of his heart may be furnished with the graces of the Holy Spirit, as a prevailing and abiding principle.

That is, whilst Christ delays his coming to persons by death and judgment, they are not so diligent as they ought, to prepare themselves for death and judgment. Instead of being upon their watch and guard, they slumbered and slept.

Note, That not only visible professors, but the holiest and best of Christians, are very prone to spiritual slumber. While the bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered and slept. Spiritual slumber consists in this: when graces are not lively and kept in exercise, particularly faith, hope, and love; when there is an abatement of our love and zeal, an intermission of our care and watchfulness; this is a degree of spiritual slumber: yet the saints' slumber is not a prevailing slumber; it is not an universal slumber, it is not in all the faculties of the soul; if there be deadness in the affections, yet there is no searedness in the conscience.

I sleep, says the church, but my heart awaketh, Ca 5.2. Still there is a principle in the soul which takes God's part, and the Christian groans under the burden to his dull and drowsy state. But the greatest wisdom is to maintain a constant watch, that we may at no time be surprised by the bridegroom's coming, or be in a confusion when death and judgment shall overtake us. Blessed are those virgins whose lamps always burn bright!

At midnight, that is, at the most dismal and unseasonable time, when all the virgins were fast asleep; and, when awakened in great affrightment, could not on a sudden consider what to do. Such is the case of those who put off their repentance and preparation for another world, till they are surprised by death and judgment.

Lord, how will the midnight cry of the Bridegroom's coming terrify and amaze the unprepared soul! What a surprising word will this be, Behold, the Bridegroom cometh!

Learn hence, That the Bridegroom will certainly come, though at his own time; and then all shall be called upon, both prepared and unprepared, to go forth to meet him. Reason says he may come, because there is a just God, that will render to every one according to his deeds, and reward both body and soul for all the services they have done for God. The body shall not always remain like a solitary widow in the dust, but shall meet its old companion, the soul, again.

And as reason says he may come, faith says he will come, and argues from the promise of Christ, Joh 14:3, and from the purchase of Christ, from Christ's affection to us, and from our affection to him: faith has seen him upon the cross, and determines she shall see him in the clouds. The Bridegroom will certainly come at his own time: happy they that are ready to go forth to meet him.

The virgins' arising and trimming their lamps, doth denote, their actual preparation for Christ's coming and appearance, and their putting themselves into a posture of readiness to receive him.

Thence learn, That a believing apprehension of the certainty and suddenness of our Lord's coming and approach will rouse us out of our spiritual slumber, and prepare us to meet him with joy and assurance. Then they arose, and trimmed their lamps. And the foolish said to the wise, Give us of your oil, for our lamps are gone out.

Observe here, 1. A request made, Give us of your oil. There is a time when the neglecters of grace will be made sensible of the worth of grace by the want of it. Such as now undervalue, yea, vilify the grace of God, will be heard to say, O give us of your oil.

Observe, 2. The reason of the request, For our lamps are gone out.

Thence learn, That the lamp of profession will certainly go out, which has not a stock of grace to feed and maintain it.

Observe here, 1. The wise virgin's denial, Not so; they will part with no oil.

Learn hence, That it must be the care of every one to get grace of his own, otherwise the grace of others will do him no good. It is not what others have done, that will save us, without our own endeavours.

Observe, 2. The reason of their denial, Lest there be not enough for us and you.

Thence note, That such Christians as have most grace, or the largest stock of grace, have none to spare; none to spare in regard of their occasions for grace on earth, and in regard of their expectations of glory in heaven.

Observe, 3. The advice and counsel given; Go to them that sell, and buy for yourselves. Some take this for an exhortation, others for a mocking derision. Go to them that sell: That is, say some, to the shop of the ordinances where it may be had.

Thence note, That such as would have grace, must have timely recourse to the ordinances and means of grace: Go to them, and buy. Others understand the words ironically, and as spoken by way of derision, Go to them that sell, if you know where to find them, and either buy or borrow for yourselves.

Learn thence, That it is the greatest folly in the world to have oil to buy, when we should have oil to burn; to have our grace to seek, when we should have it to exert and exercise. It is no time to get grace when the Bridegroom is come, and the day of grace is past and over.

Observe here, 1. Christ will come at the great day to his people as a Bridegroom, and to the wicked as a Judge. The relation now begun betwixt Christ and his church shall then be publicly solemnized.

Observe, 2. The qualifications of the persons who shall enter with the Bridegroom into heaven: Such as were ready went in with him. The readiness is two-fold, habitual and actual; habitual readiness consists in the state of the persons, justified and pardoned; in the frame of the heart, sanctified and renewed; and in the course of life, universally and perseveringly holy and righteous, consists our actual preparation.

Observe, 3. The doleful condition of such as were unready: the door is shut against them: the door of repentance, the door of hope, the door of salvation, all shut, eternally shut, and by him that shutteth and none can open.

Learn hence, The utter impossibility of ever getting our condition altered by us, when the day of grace and salvation is once over with us. Woe to such souls, who, by the folly of their own delays, have caused the door of conversion and remission to be everlastingly shut against their own souls.

Observe here, The virgins' petition, and the Bridegroom's reply: the petition, Lord, Lord, open to us.

Learn hence, That how negligent soever men are of heaven and salvation here, there are none but will desire it earnestly and importunately hereafter; Afterward; that is, when too late.

Observe farther, the Bridegroom's reply, I know you not; that is, I own and approve you not. There is a two-fold knowledge that Christ has, a knowledge of simple intuition, and a knowledge of special approbation; the former knowledge Christ has of all men, the latter only of good men.

Learn hence, That it will be a dreadful misery for any persons, but especially for such as have been eminent professors, to be disowned by Christ at his coming, to hear that dreadful word from the mouth of Christ, Verily, I know you not.

Here we have our Lord's application of the foregoing parable, to be always upon our watch, continually upon our guard, to meet the Bridegroom in death and judgment, because we know not the time of his coming and approach.

Learn hence, That watchfulness and prepared readiness is a great duty that lies upon all those who believe and look for Christ's coming and appearance.

Happy souls! who are found in a posture of readiness at the Bridegroom's approach, standing, with lamps trimmed, loins girded, lights burning! that is, improving and exercising their graces, abounding in all the fruits of the Spirit, and in all the substantial virtues of a good life: such, and only such, shall have an entrance abundantly administered unto them into the everlasting kingdom.

Observe here, the person intrusting, Christ; the persons intrusted, all Christians; the talents they are intrusted with, goods; that is, goods of providence, riches and honours; gifts of mind, wisdom, parts and learning; gifts of grace: all these goods Christ dispenses variously; more to some, fewer to others, but with expectation of improvement from all.

Learn, 1. That Christ is the great Lord of the universe, and Owner of all his servants' goods and talents.

2. That every talent is given us by our Lord to improve and employ for our Master's use and service.

3. That it pleases the Lord to dispense his gifts variously among his servants; to some he commits more, to others fewer talents.

4. That to this Lord of ours every one of us must be accountable and responsible for every talent committed to us, and intrusted with us.

The former verses gave an account of the Lord's distribution; these acquaint us with the servants' negociation. Some traded with, and made improvement of, their talents, others traded not at all; yet it is not said they did embezzle their talent, but no improve it.

Learn, It is not sufficient to justify us, that we do not abuse our talents; it is fault enough to hide them, and not improve them; the slothful servant shall no more escape punishment than the wasteful servant.

Note here, 1. That the wisdom of God dispenses his gifts and graces variously, as so many talents to his servants, to be employed and improved for his own glory, and his church's good.

2. That all such servants as have received any talents, must look to reckon and account for them: that this account must be particular, personal, exact, and impartial.

3. That all such servants as have been faithful in improving their talents, at Christ's coming shall be both commended and rewarded also. Well done, good and faithful servant; enter thou into the joy of thy Lord.

Where observe, 1. That the state of the blessed is a state of joy.

2. That the joy which the blessed partake of, is the joy of their Lord; that is, the joy which he provides, and which he possesses.

3. That the way after which the saints partake of this joy, is by entering into it, which denotes the highest and the fullest participation of it. The joy is too great to enter into them, they must enter into that: Enter thou into the joy of thy Lord.

Observe here, 1. That he that received but one talent is called to an account as well as he that received five. Heathens that have but one talent, namely, the light of nature, must give an account for that one talent, as well as Christians that have five must account for five.

Observe, 2. The slothful servant's allegation: I knew thee to be an hard man, and I was afraid.

Where note, His prejudice against his master, and the effect of that prejudice, he was afraid; and the fruit of his fear, he hid his talent in the earth.

Learn hence, That sinners entertain in their minds very hard and unkind thoughts of God; they look upon him as a hard Master, rigorous in his commands, and difficult to be pleased.

Learn, 2. That such hard thoughts of God do naturally occasion slavish fear, which is a great hindrance to the faithful discharge of our duty to God.

Observe, 3. The master's reply to the slothful servant's allegation, which contains an exprobation, or unbraiding of him for his sloth and negligence; Thou wicked and slothful servant.

Where note, 1. That the slothful servant is a wicked servant, as well as the unfaithful servant.

2. The wicked and slothful servants, to excuse themselves, will not stick to charge their miscarriages upon God themselves: Thou wert an hard man.

3. That no excuses whatsoever shall serve either the slothful or unfaithful servant at the bar of Christ.

These words contain the sentence denounced by Christ upon the slothful servant: his punishment is first a punishment of loss: Take ye the talent from him.

Learn hence, That not improving the gifts of God given as talents to us, provokes God to take them from us, as well as misimproving. From him that hath not; that is, from him that improveth not, shall be taken that which he hath.

2. Follows the punishment of sense: Cast him into outer darkness, where is weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Learn thence, That hell is a place and state of inexpressible misery and torment; a dismal place, as being deprived of the sight and enjoyment of God, of Christ, of saints, and of angels; a doleful place, full of over-whelming sorrow and despairing grief. The gnashing of their teeth, signifies their being full of rage and indignation against God, against the saints, and against themselves.

From hence to the end of the chapter, we have a draught and scheme of the general judgment.

Where observe, the person judging, the Son of man; the persons judged, good and bad; the one called sheep, for their innocency and meekness; the other goats, for their unruliness and uncleanness.

Observe also, The manner of his coming to judgment, most august and glorious: glorious in his person, glorious in his attendance.

Learn, That Christ's appearance at the great day to the judging of the world, will be a splendid and a glorious appearance: He will come with power, and in great glory, in regard of the dignity of his person, and the quality of his office, and the greatness of his work. He will appear as a king in the midst of his nobles, to take off the scandal and ignominy of the cross, and as a recompense for his abasement and humiliation, to strike the hearts of his enemies with dread and fear, and to fill the souls of his people with joy and confidence.

Let us therefore propound it to our faith, to believe it; to our fear, to tremble at the thoughts of it; to our hope and love, that we may expect and wait, look and long for it.

Observe farther, The work of this Judge: he shall first gather all nations.

Learn, That at the general judgment all that have lived shall be summoned to the bar of Christ: persons of all sects, of all ages, of all nations, of all conditions; having gathered them together; he shall next separate them, as a shepherd his sheep.

Thence learn, That though there be a mixture and confusion of the godly and the wicked here, yet at the day of judgment there will be a separation made betwixt them, and they shall never come together more.

Here follows the sentence which Christ will pronounce upon the righteous and the wicked at the great day: first the sentence of absolution upon the righteous; then the sentence of condemnation upon the wicked.

Learn thence, That at the day of judgment the godly shall be absolved before the wicked are condemned. The reasons are, because it is more delightful to God to reward than to punish, to save than to destroy; because it is suitable to Christ's love to begin with his saints, and to be admired by them upon the throne with himself, as assessors and judges of the wicked world, Know ye not that the saints shall judge the world? 1Cor 6:3.

Lastly, With respect to the wicked, that they may be the more affected with their loss, and have a vexatious and tormenting sense of that happiness which they have refused.

Observe next, The joyful sentence pronounced, Come ye blessed of my Father.

Where note, 1. The joyful compellation, Ye blessed. Which term is opposed to these two things:

1. To the world's judgment of them, which accounts them vile and accursed. Here is an absolution from their unjust censures.

2. To the sentence of the law, which pronounces all its transgressors accursed, Gal 3:19. But, says Christ; I, that have redeemed you from the curse of the law, pronounced you blessed.

But why blessed of my Father?

1. To point out the fontal cause of all our happiness, the love of the Father; this prepared the kingdom.

2. This expression shows how the divine Persons glorify one another. As the Spirit glorifies the Son, so the Son glorifies the Father, and refers all to him.

Therefore Christ says not, Come, my redeemed ones; but, Come, ye blessed ones: not, Come, you that were redeemed by me; but Come, ye blessed of my Father: it is his good pleasure to give you the kingdom.

Learn hence, That the Lord Jesus Christ at his second coming will adjudge all his people into a state of glorious and everlasting happiness, which his Father has prepared, and himself has purchased, for them. Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you.

Here our Saviour sets forth, not the meritorious cause of his saints' happiness, but the infallible signs of such as should inherit that happiness, the character of the persons that might expect it. Such as fed him, clothed and visited him, in his members.

Where note, 1. That the godly having their sins forgiven in this world, some would gather that there should no mention be made of them in the day of judgment.

For they observe, that Christ here only mentions the good works of his saints: ye fed me, ye clothed me, not a word of their failings.

Observe, 2. That they are not the duties of the first, but of the second table, which here Christ mentions, because works of charity are more visible to the world than works of piety.

Learn hence, 1. That at the great day every man's sentence shall be pronounced according to his works.

2. That works of charity done out of love to Christ, shall be particularly observed, and bountifully rewarded, by Christ at the great day. The question will be, not only how have you heard, prayed, or preached, but whom have you fed, clothed, and visited.

3. That whatever good or evil is done to the poor members of Christ, Christ reckons it as done unto himself, I was an hungered, and ye gave me meat. Christ personal is not the object of our pity and charity, but Christ mystical is exposed to want and necessity; he feels hunger and thirst, cold and nakedness, in his members, and is refreshed and comforted in their refreshments and comforts. He takes it as a courtesy, who might demand it by authority.

How can we be close-handed or hard-hearted to the necessitous Christians, did we steadily believe that in administering to them, we minister refreshments to Christ himself, who parted with the glory of heaven, yea, with his heart's blood, for us?

Here we have a dialogue or interchangeable discourse betwixt Christ and his faithful servants at the great day.

Where observe, Their question and his reply. Their question, Lord, when did we feed thee, clothe, or visit thee? We have forgot the time, though such is thy goodness to remember it.

Learn thence, That Christ keeps a faithful record of all our acts of pious charity, when we have forgotten them. If we remember to do good, Christ will be sure to remember the good we have done; aye, and reward it as well as remember it.

Again, this question of theirs may proceed from admiration and wonder, and from an humble sense of their own nothingness, and from the greatness of Christ's condescension, in taking notice of such mean services, and requiting them with such a transcendent reward.

Learn hence, That when Christ comes to reward his children and people, they will wonder and be astonished at the poverty and meanness of their own services, and at the transcendency and greatness of his rewards.

Observe next, Our Lord's reply, In as much as ye did it to the least of these my brethren, ye did it unto me.

Where observe, 1. The title put by Jesus Christ upon his poorest and meanest members, My brethren.

2. The resentment of the kindness showed to his brethren, as shown unto himself: In as much as ye did it to them, ye have done it to me.

Learn thence, That such is the endearing intimacy between Christ and his members, that whatsoever is done to any of them, is esteemed by him as done unto himself.

Here we have the sentence of condemnation denounced against the wicked.

Where observe, 1. The posture in which they are found; at Christ's left hand. this doth not so much denote the ignominy of the place (though placing at the left hand is less honourable) as the impiety of their choice; they took up with left-handed mercies, the mercies of the footstool, wealth and riches, dignity and honour. As for the good things which are at God's right hand for evermore, they never sought after these. Verily a man may know his future state by his present choice.

Observe, 2. The title given to wicked men, Ye cursed. Not cursed of my Father, because cursing is God's strange work; we force him to it, he delights not in it.

Observe, 3. The sentence itself.

Where note, 1. The punishment of loss, Depart from me.

Learn thence, 1. That it is the hell of hell to the damned, that they must everlastingly depart from, and lose the comfortable fruition and enjoyment of, God in Christ: it is to be deprived of an infinite good. Hell is a deep dungeon, where the sunshine of God's presence never cometh.

2. The punishment of sense, Depart into everlasting fire.

Where note, Its severity it is fire: its eternity, it is everlasting fire.

Learn thence, That there are everlasting torments in hell prepared for the wicked; there is a state of torment, and a place of torment, provided by God. All princes have not only their palace, but their prison. God has the palace of heaven, for the enjoyment of himself and his friends; and the prison of hell, for punishing his enemies. The nature of the damned's misery is set out by fire; the whole man, body and soul, shall be tormented in it.

1. The body in all its members, their eyes with affrighted spectacles, the devil and his angels, and their old companions in sin: every time they behold these, it revives their guilt, and enrages their despair. Their ears are filled with yellings and howlings, and hideous outcries.

2. The soul shall suffer in hell, by reflecting upon its own choice, by remembering time sinfully wasted, seasons of grace sadly slighted, the mercies of God unworthily abused.

Lord! how will the rememberance of past mercies aggravate present miseries!

Note farther, 1. That Christ saith not of the punishment, as he doth of the blessing, that it was prepared from the beginning of the world, lest it should be thought that God designed men's punishment before they sinned.

Note, 2. That although Christ saith, Come, ye blessed of my Father, he saith not, Go, ye cursed of my Father, because God is the Author and Procurer of men's happiness, but man only is the author of his own misery.

Note, 3. That Christ speaks of this eternal misery by fire, as designed originally not for man, but for the devil and his angels; but man, by giving up himself to the power and thraldom of sin and Satan, and working himself down to the infernal regions, becomes like unto him in torments, whom he so much resembled in manners and qualities.

Observe here, 1. How Christ lays the charge of the wicked's damnation upon themselves alone, Ye gave me no meat, ye took me not in: man, and man alone, is the cause of his own destruction and damnation.

Observe, 2. The kind of sin charged on the wicked at the great day.

Consider it, 1. In general, it is a sin of omission.

Whence learn, That sins of omission are certainly damning as well as sins of commission, or want of love to Christ and his members.

Learn thence, That one reigning sin, one prevailing corruption, is enough to damn a person, because it deprives a man of the grace of the gospel, and excludes him from all the benefit of the promises.

Note lastly, If such as do not give to Christ in his members shall be miserable at the great day, what will the condition of them be that take from them, who strip and starve them, who persecute and hate them, who imprison or banish them? If the uncharitable shall scarcely be saved, yea, shall certainly be damned, where shall the unmerciful and cruel appear?

Observe here, 1. That though the righteous are first judged, yet the sentence is first executed on the wicked. They shall go into everlasting punishment.

Observe, 2. That men's states and conditions in another world will be different, as their ways and doings have been in this world.

3. That everlasting life shall be the portion of the godly, and everlasting punishment the portion of the wicked.

God grant that the horrors of eternal darkness,and the dismal thoughts of a miserable eternity, may effectually discourage every one of us from a wicked and impenitent course of life! For who can dwell with devouring fire? Who can dwell with everlasting burnings?

The chapter we have now begun is a continuation of our Lord’s prophetic discourse on the Mount of Olives. The time to which it refers is plain and unmistakable: from first to last, there is a continual reference to the second advent of Christ and the end of the world. The whole chapter contains three great divisions. In the first, our Lord uses his own second coming as an argument for watchfulness and heart-religion: this he does by the parable of the ten virgins. In the second, he uses his own second coming as an argument for diligence and faithfulness: this he does by the parable of the talents. In the third, he winds up all by a description of the great day of judgment: a passage which for majesty and beauty stands unequalled in the New Testament.

The parable of the ten virgins which we have now read contains lessons peculiarly solemn and awakening.

We see for one thing that the second coming of Christ will find his church a mixed body, containing evil as well as good.

The professing church is compared to “ten virgins who took their lamps and went forth to meet the bridegroom.”

All of them had lamps, but only five had oil in their vessels to feed the flame; all of them professed to have one object in view, but five only were truly “wise,” and the rest were foolish. The visible church of Christ is just in the same condition: all its members are baptized in the name of Christ, but not all really hear his voice and follow him; all are called Christians, and profess to be of the Christian religion, but not all have the grace of the Spirit in their hearts, and really are what they profess to be. Our own eyes tell us that it is so now: the Lord Jesus tells us that it will be so when he comes again. Let us mark well this description. It is a humbling picture. After all our preaching and praying, after all our visiting and teaching, after all our missionary exertions abroad, and means of grace at home, many will be found at last dead in trespasses and sins! The wickedness and unbelief of human nature is a subject about which we all have much to learn.

We see for another thing that Christ’s second coming, whenever it may be, will take men by surprise.

This is a truth which is set before us in the parable in a very striking manner. “At midnight,” when the virgins were slumbering and sleeping, there was a cry, “The bridegroom cometh go ye forth to meet him!”  It will be just the same when Jesus returns to the world. He will find the vast majority of mankind utterly unbelieving and unprepared; he will find the bulk of his believing people in a sleepy and indolent state of soul. Business will be going on in town and country just as it does now; politics, trade, farming, buying, selling, pleasure-seeking will be taking up men’s atttention just as they do now; rich men will still be faring sumptuously, and poor men murmuring and complaining; churches will still be full of divisions, or wrangling about trifles; theological controversies will be still raging; ministers will still be calling men to repent, and the vast majority in all congregations will still be putting off the day of decision. In the midst of all this, the Lord Jesus himself shall suddenly appear. In an hour when no man thinketh, the startled world shall be summoned to break off all its employments and to stand before its lawful King. There is something unspeakably awful in the idea: but thus it is written, and thus it shall be. Well might a dying minister say, “We are none of us more than half-awake.”

We see in the next place that when the Lord comes again many will find out the value of saving religion too late.

The parable tells us that when the bridegroom came, the foolish virgins said unto the wise, “Give us of your oil; for our lamps are gone out.” It tells us, further, that as the wise had no oil to spare, the foolish went to “buy for themselves.” It tells us, finally, that they came when the door was shut, and asked in vain for admission: ”Lord Lord!” theycried, “Open unto us!” All these expressions are striking emblems of things to come. Let us take heed that we do not find them true by experience, to our own eternal ruin.

We may settle it in our minds that there will be an entire change of opinion one day as to the necessity of decided christianity. At present, we must all be aware that the vast majority of professing Christians care nothing at all about it: they have no sense of sin; they have no love towards Christ; they know nothing of being born again. Repentance, faith, grace and holiness are mere words to them; they are subjects which they either dislike, or about which they feel no concern. But this state of things shall one day come to an end. Knowledge, conviction, the value of the soul, the need of a Saviour, shall all burst on men’s minds one day like a flash of lightning. But it will be too late! It will be too late to be buying oil when the Lord returns. The mistakes that are not found out till that day are irretrievable.

Are we ever mocked, and persecuted, and thought foolish because of our religion? Let us bear it patiently and pray for those who persecute us: they know not what they are doing; they will certainly alter their minds one day. We may yet hear them confessing that we were “wise” and they were “foolish.” One day the whole world will acknowledge that the saints of God made a wise choice.

We see lastly in this parable that when Christ returns, true Christians shall receive a rich reward for all they have suffered for their Master’s sake. We are told that when the bridegroom came, “they that were ready went in with him to the marriage. And the door was shut.”

True Christians shall alone be found ready at the second advent. Washed in the blood of atonement, clothed in Christ’s righteousness, renewed by the Spirit, they shall meet their Lord with boldness and sit down at the marriage supper of the lamb, to go out no more. Surely this is a blessed prospect.

They shall be with their Lord: with him who loved them and gave himself for them; with him who bore with them and carried them through their earthly pilgrimage: with whom they loved truly and followed faithfully on earth, though with much weakness, and many a tear. Surely this is also a blessed prospect.

The door will be shut at last, shut on all pain and sorrow; shut on an ill-natured and wicked world; shut on a tempting devil; shut on all doubts and fears; shut to be opened again no more. Surely we may again say, this is a blessed prospect.

Let us remember these things: they will bear meditation; they are all true. The believer may have much tribulation, but he has before him abounding consolations. “Weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh es in the morning” ( Psalm 30:5 ). The day of Christ’s return shall surely make amends for all.

Let us leave this parable with a settled determined never to be content with anything short of indwelling grace in our hearts. The lamp and the name of Christian, the profession and the ordinances of Christianity, are all well in their way, but they are not the “one thing needful.” Let us never rest till we know that we have the oil of the Spirit in our hearts.

The parable of the talents which we have now read is near akin to that of the ten virgins. Both direct our minds to the same important event: the second advent of Jesus Christ. Both bring before us the same persons: the members of the professing church of Christ. The virgins and the servants are one and the same people—but the same people regarded from a different point, and viewed on different sides. The practical lesson of each parable is the main point of difference: vigilance is the keynote of the first parable, diligence that of the second. The story of the virgins calls on the church to watch; the story of the talents calls on the church to work.

We learn in the first place from this parable that all professing Christians have received something from God. We are all God’s “servants”: we have all “talents” entrusted to our charge.

The word “talents” is an expression that has been curiously turned aside from its original meaning. It is generally applied to none but people of remarkable ability or gifts: they are called “talented” people. Such a use of the expression is a mere modern invention. In the sense in which our Lord used the word in this parable, it applies to all baptized persons without distinction. We have all “talents” in God’s sight: we are all talented people.

Anything whereby we may glorify God is a “talent.” Our gifts, our influence, our money, our knowledge, our health, our strength, our time, our senses, our reason, our intellect, our memory, our affections, our privileges as members of Christ’s church, our advantages as possessors of the Bible—all, all are talents. Whence came these things? What hand bestowed them? Why are we what we are? Why are we not the worms that crawl on the earth? There is only one answer to these questions: all that we have is a loan from God: we are God’s stewards; we are God’s debtors. Let this thought sink deeply into our hearts.

We learn in the second place that many make a bad use of the privileges and mercies they receive from God. We are told in the parable of one who “digged in the earth and hid his Lord’s money” That man represents a large class of mankind.

To hide our talent is to neglect opportunities of glorifying God, when we have them. The baptized Bible-despiser, the prayer-neglecter and the Sabbath-breaker; the unbelieving, the sensual and the earthly-minded; the trifler, the thoughtless and the pleasure-seeker; the money-lover, the covetous and the self-indulgent—all, all are alike burying their Lord’s money in the ground. They all have light that they do not use: they might all be better than they are. But they are all daily robbing God: he has lent them much, and they make him no return. The words of Daniel to Belshazzar are strictly applicable to every unconverted person: “The God in whose hand they breath is and whose are all thy ways hast thou not glorified.” ( Daniel 5:23 ).

We learn in the third place that all professing Christians must one day have a reckoning with God. The parable tells us that “after a long time the Lord of those servants came and reckoned with there is not, them.”

There is a judgment before us all. Words have no meaning in the Bible: if there is none it is mere trifling with Scripture to deny it. There is a judgment before us according to our works—certain, strict and unavoidable. High or low, rich or poor, learned or unlearned, we shall all have to stand at the bar of God and receive our eternal sentence. There will be no escape: concealment will be impossible. We and God must at last meet face to face. We shall have to render an account of every privilege that was granted to us, and of every ray of light that we enjoyed; we shall find that we are dealt with as accountable and responsible creatures, and that to much is given, of them much will be required. Let us remember this every day we live: let us judge ourselves that we be not condemned of the Lord.( 1 Corinthians 2:31 ).

We learn in the fourth place that true Christians will receive an abundant reward in the great day of reckoning. The parable tells us that the servants who had used their Lord’s money well were commended as “good and faithful,” and told to “enter into the joy of their Lord!”

These words are full of comfort to all believers, and may well fill us with wonder and surprise. The best of Christians is a poor frail creature, and needs the blood of atonement every day that he lives; but the least and lowest of believers will find that he is counted among Christ’s servants, and that his labor has not been in vain in the Lord. He will discover to his amazement that his Master’s eye saw more beauty in his efforts to please him, than he ever saw himself; he will find that every hour spent in Christ’s service, and every word spoken on Christ’s behalf, has been written in a book of remembrance. Let believers remember these things and take courage. The cross may be heavy now, but the glorious reward will make up for all. Well says Leighton, “Here some drops of joy enter into us, but there we shall enter into joy.”

We learn in the last place that all unfruitful members of Christ’s church will be condemned and cast away in the day of judgment. The parable tells us that the servant who buried his master’s money was reminded that he “knew” his master’s character and requirements, and was therefore without excuse. It tells us that he was condemned as “wicked,” “slothful” and “unprofitable” , and “cast, into outer darkness.” Our Lord adds the solemn words, “There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

There will be no excuse for an unconverted Christian at the last day. The reasons with which he now pretends to satisfy himself will prove useless and vain: the judge of all the earth will be found to have done right; the ruin of the lost soul will be found to be his own fault. Those words of our Lord, “thou knewest,” are words that ought to ring loudly in many a man’s ears, and prick him to the heart. Thousands are living at this day “without Christ” and without conversion, and yet pretending that they cannot help it! And all this time they “know,” in their own conscience, that they are guilty. They are burying their talent: they are not doing what they can. Happy are they who find this out betimes! It will all come out at the last day.

Let us leave this parable with a solemn determination, by God’s grace, never to be content with a profession of Christianity without practice. Let us not only talk about religion, but act; let us not only feel the importance of religion, but do something too. We are not told that the unprofitable servant was a murderer, or a thief, or even a waster of his Lord’s money: but he did nothing—and this was his ruin! Let us beware of a do-nothing Christianity: such Christianity does not come from the Spirit of God. “To do no harm,” says Baxter, “is the praise of a stone, not of a man.”

In these verses our Lord Jesus Christ describes the judgment day, and some of its leading circumstances. There are few passages in the whole Bible more solemn and heart-seaching than this. May we read it with the deep and serious attention which it deserves.

Let us mark in the first place who will be the judge in the last day. We read that it will be “the Son of Man” Jesus Christ himself.

That same Jesus who was born in the manger of Bethlehem and took upon him the very form of a servant; who was despised and rejected of men and often had not where to lay his head; who was condemned by the princes of this world, beaten, scourged and nailed to the cross—that same Jesus shall himself judge the world when he comes in his glory. To him The Father hath commited all judgment. ( John 5:22 ). To him at last every knee shall bow, and every tongue confess that he is Lord ( Philippians 2:10–11 ).

Let believers think of this and take comfort. He that sits upon the throne in that great and dreadful day will be their Saviour, their Shepherd, their High Priest, their elder Brother, their Friend. When they see him they will have no cause to be alarmed.

Let unconverted people think of this and be afraid. Their judge will be that very Christ whose Gospel they now despise, and whose gracious invitations they refuse to hear. How great will be their confusion at last if they go on in unbelief and die in their sins! To be condemned in the day of judgment by anyone would be awful; but to be condemned by him who would have saved them will be awful indeed. Well may the psalmist say, “Kiss the Son, lest he be angry” ( Psalm 2:12 ).

Let us mark in the second place who will be judged on the last day. We read that before Christ “shall be gathered all the nations.”

All that have ever lived shall one day give account of themselves at the bar of Christ: all must obey the summons of the great King and come forward to receive their sentence. Those who would not come to worship Christ on earth will find they must come to his great assize when he returns to judge the world.

All that are judged will be divided into two great classes. There will no longer be any distinction between kings and subjects, or masters and servants, or dissenters and churchmen; there will be no mention of ranks and denominations, for the former things will have passed away. Grace or no grace, conversion or unconversion, faith or no faith will be the only distinction at the last day. All that are found in Christ will be placed among the sheep “on his right hand;” all that are not found in Christ will be placed among the goats “on theleft” Well says Sherlock : “Our separations will avail us nothing, unless we take care to be found in the number of Christ’s sheep, when he comes to judgment.”

Let us mark in the third place in what manner the judgment will be conducted on the last day. We read of several striking particulars on this point: let us see what they are.

The last judgment will be a judgment according to evidence . The works of men are the witnesses which will be brought forward, and above all their works of charity. The question to be ascertained will not merely be what we said, but what we did: not merely what we professed, but what we practiced. Our works unquestionably will not justify us: we are justified by faith without the deeds of the law; but the truth of our faith will be tested by our lives. “Faith which hath not works is dead being alone.” ( James 2:17 ).

The last judgment will be a judgment that will bring joy to all true believers. They will hear those precious words, “Come, ye blessed of my Father; inherit the kingdom” they will be owned and confessed by their Master before his Father and the holy angels; they shall find that the wages he gives to his faithful servants are nothing less than a “kingdom.” The least, lowest and poorest of the family of God shall have a crown of glory and be a king!

The last judgment will be a judgment that will bring confusion on all unconverted people. They will hear those awful words, “Depart ye cursed into everlasting fire.” They will be disowned by the great head of the church before the assembled world: they will find that as they “sow to the flesh so of the flesh they must reap corruption.” ( Galatians 6:8 ). They would not hear Christ when he said, “Come unto me ˆ and I will give you rest” and now they must hear him say, “Depart into everlasting fire:” they would not carry his cross, and so they can have no place in his kingdom.

The last judgment will be a judgment that will strikingly bring out the characters both of the lost and saved. They on the right hand, who are Christ’s sheep, will still be “clothed with humility.” ( 1 Peter 5:5 ): they will marvel to hear any work of theirs brought forward and commended. They on the left hand, who are not Christ’s, will still be blind and self-righteous. They will not be sensible of any neglect of Christ: “Lord,” they say, “when saw we thee and did not minister unto thee?” Let this thought sink down into our hearts. Characters on earth will prove an everlasting possession in the world to come: with the same heart that men die, with that heart they will rise again.

Let us mark in the last place what will be the final results of the judgment day. We are told this in words that ought never to be forgotten: “ the wicked shall go away to everlasting punishment, but the righteous into life eternal.”

The state of things after the judgment is changeless and without end. The misery of the lost and the blessedness of the saved are both alike forever: let no man deceive us on this point. It is clearly revealed in Scripture: the eternity of God, and heaven and hell all stand on the same foundation. As surely as God is eternal, so surely is heaven an endless day without night, and hell an endless night without day.

Who shall describe the blessedness of eternal life? It passes the power of man to conceive: it can only be measured by contrast and comparison. An eternal rest, after warfare and conflict; the eternal company of saints, after buffeting with an evil world; an eternally glorious and painless body, after struggling with weakness and infirmity; an eternal sight of Jesus face to face, after only hearing and believing—all this is blessedness indeed. And yet the half of it remains untold.

Who shall describe the misery of eternal punishment? It is something utterly indescribable and inconceivable. The eternal pain of body; the eternal sting of an accusing conscience; the eternal society of none but the wicked, the devil and his angels; the eternal remembrance of opportunities neglected and Christ despised; the eternal prospect of a weary hopel;ess future all this is misery indeed. It is enough to make our ears tingle, and our blood run cold. And yet this picture is nothing compared to the reality.

Let us close these verses with serious self-inquiry. Let us ask ourselves on which side of Christ we are likely to be at the last day. Shall we be on the right hand , or shall we be on the left? Happy is he who never rests till he can give a satisfactory answer to this question.