ble infatuation of that nation; they remained unalarmed and unreclaimed, amidst the most pointed and repeated admonitions of. our Lord and his apostles. By the coming of the bridegroom, mentioned in the sixth verse, is probably implied the appearance of the Son of God for the destruction of their city, the subversion of their temple, and utter overthrow and dispersion as a nation. This event occurred at midnight, that is, at a period altogether unexpected; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded, they were absorbed in their secular pursuits and gratifications, until sudden destruction came upon them, as travail upon a woman with child."*

The phrase "kingdom of heaven" should here be understood somewhat as the word "church" is now generally used, viz. to signify the professed followers of Christ. They were represented by the virgins, those who watched for their master's coming, by the wise yirgins, and those who were regardless of that. event by the foolish. Christians were too prone, like

these virgins, to slumber. Paul, in writing to the Romans, endeavoured to awake them. "It is high time to awake out of sleep." Rom. xiii. 11. Addressing the Thessalonians, the same. apostle said, "For yourselves know perfectly, that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. *.* * * * Therefore, let us not sleep, as do others, but let us watch and be sober." 1 Thess. v. 2, 6. By the coming of the bridegroom in splendor, with his attendants, Jesus represented his own coming, in his glory, with his angels, or messengers, at the destruction of the Jews. As the wise virgins entered with the bridegroom to the marriage, so the watchful Christians entered into the enjoyment of all the blessings which accrued to the church from that signal destruction of its enemies, which took place at the coming of Christ; and, as the foolish virgins were excluded from the marriage, so the

* Lectures on the Parables, 1820, pp. 72, 73.

heedless, 'sleeping professors, who did not watch for their Lord, were excluded from the blessings which the watchful enjoyed, and were shut out in darkness and misery with the hypocritical Jews, the avowed enemies of Jesus Christ. Kenrick will be found to confirm the views here advanced. Remarking on ver. 13, he says,. "These last words, as well as what the . parable begins with, show that it refers to the coming of Christ, for the destruction of Jerusalem, and not to his coming at the general judgment; for he concludes with the same. exhortation which he had subjoined to the account which he gave, in the former chapter, of the signs of his coming in that event; his language there was, (ver. 42,) Watch, therefore, for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come.' The intention of the parable is to enforce the necessity of watchfulness, by showing the distinction which will be made, in that day, between those by whom it was practised, and those by whom it was neglected."

XXVIII. "And cast ye the unprofitable servant into outer darkness; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth." Matt. xxv.-30. This is the closing portion of the parable of the Unfaithful Servant, embraced in vers. 14-30.

That the twenty-fifth chapter of Matthew is a continuation of the subject commenced in the twenty-fourth chapter, we have shown in the preceding section. We refer also to the very lucid remarks of Mr. Balfour. on this subject, in his "Second Inquiry," pp. 311 – 315. See also the "Plenary Inspiration of the Scriptures asserted," by Rev. S. Noble, Boston, 1828, pp. 217223. We think it impossible for any candid and considerate person to read the remarks of these two authors, without being convinced, that the twenty-fourth and twenty-fifth chapters of Matthew both refer to the

same events.

"

The outer darkness," into which the unprofitable servant was cast, will be found to be fully explained in Section XXIII. of this chapter; and also the phrase

ology," there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth." The reader is respectfully referred to what is there said, in order to save a repetition."

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

This is one of the standard proof-texts of endless misery; but we are confident, that the passage has no just reference to that subject: It must be inquired, When did the parable, to which these words belong,. have its fulfilment ?

At the very commencement of the parable, the Saviour informs us, when those things of which he spake were to take place. (See ver. 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 glo ry," &c. Let the reader now be careful to observe, that all which is predicted in this parable was fulfilled at the coming of the Son of man in his glory. The only inquiry, therefore, which it is necessary to make,. in order to ascertain when the events of this parable took place, is this,.-When did the Son of man come in his glory?

22

In the first place, see Matt. xvi. 27, 28: "For the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father, with his angels and then he shall reward every man according to his works. Verily I say unto you, there be some standing here, which shall not taste of death. till. they see the Son of man coming in his kingdom.' This must be the same coming of the Son of man, mentioned in the text. In both instances, it is a glo riaus coming;. in both, the Son of man. is accompanied with angels; and in both, he comes to reward. men according to their works. There is no room for doubt, that it is the same event which is spoken of in both these passages. Now notice particularly, that the Saviour says, "There be some standing here, which shall not taste of death till they see the Son of man coming in his kingdom.". To "taste of death,"

is a Hebraism, signifying to die; and hence the meaning of this passage is, there be some standing here which shall not die, till they see the Son of man coming in his kingdom. Here it is evident, beyond possibility of mistake, that the coming of the Son of man was to take place during the natural lives of some of those who stood near him, at the time he uttered these words. Whenever the evangelists give an account of this conversation of our Lord with his disciples, as to the subject under consideration, they give it precisely in the same manner. See Mark viii. 38; ix. 1, "Whosoever, therefore, shall be ashamed of me, and of my words, in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him also shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he cometh in the glory of his Father, with the holy angels. And he said unto them, Verily, I say unto you, that there be some of them that stand here which shall not taste of death till they have seen the kingdom of God come with power." See also Luke ix. 26, 27, "For whosoever shall be ashamed of me, and of my words, of him shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he shall come in his own glory, and in his Father's, and of the holy angels. But I tell you of a truth, there be some standing here which shall not taste of death till they see the kingdom of God." Here, in each instance, the evangelists have recorded the explicit assurance of Jesus, that his coming to judge and recompense men, according to their works, would take place while some of those people lived, who stood near him when he spake. What can be more plain ?

On other occasions Jesus embraced opportunities to impress upon the minds of his disciples the same fact with respect to the coming of the Son of man. And, in one particular instance, he pointed out John, his beloved disciple, as a person who should live until his coming took place. See John xxi. 21–23. seeing him, saith to Jesus, Lord, and what shall this man do? Jesus saith unto him, If I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee? Follow thou me.

"Peter

Then went this saying abroad among the brethren, that that disciple should not die yet Jesus said not unto him, he shall not die; but If I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee?" Agreeably to this ac-. count, John lived until after the destruction of Jerusalem.. Again, in Matt. x. 23, we have the following words: "But when they persecute you in this city, flee ye into another for verily I say unto you, ye shall not have gone over the cities of Israel till the Son of man be come. Here is an unconditional assurance from the lips of the Saviour, that, pursued by their angry persecutors, the disciples would not traverse all the cities of Israel, before the coming of the Son of man took place, Now, as.every thing predicted in the parable was to be fulfilled at the time of the coming of the Son of man, why should any part of the parable of the sheep and goats he applied to a day of judgment in the future state? Was not the fulfilment confined by the words of the Great Teacher, to time long ago passed .by?

As it is thus seen most clearly, that the passage at the head of this section, had sole reference to the punishment of the unbelieving Jews, and the reward of the faithful Christians, at the time of the destruction of the Jewish polity and state, the reader may be prompted to inquire, why that punishment was said to be everlasting ?

Orthodox writers have very freely allowed, that the words everlasting and eternal are frequently used in a limited sense. Professor Stuart says, the word translated everlasting "is sometimes applied, (as in common life,) to things which endure for a long time, for an indefinite period. So it is applied to the Jewish priesthood; to the Mosaic ordinances; to the possession of the land of Canaan; to the hills and mountains; to the earth; to the time of service to be rendered by a slave; and to some other things of a like nature." "Exeget. Essays," p. 50.

Professor Robinson, of the Andover Institution,