mockings, and scourgings: yea, moreover of bonds and imprisonment-Some of them have experienced sundry kinds of most cruel deaths-others have got off with life, but have wandered about destitute, afflicted, tormented, hiding in deserts, and in mountains, and in dens, and caves of the earth !

For them indeed, the furnace of affliction has been heated one seven times more than it was wont to be heated!

And how have they borne themselves under it? Why --but you know it well yourselves-patiently—meekly— manfully-like God's saints of old, swerving not from their trust in Him, no not even when all hope of a present deliverance was gone! For what we know from their letters before death-from what we have read of their demeanour in the hour of insult and extreme agony -we are bold to say that their faith failed not; that it verified the patriarch's words-Though He slay me yet will I trust in Him!

We are greatly comforted in the account of all that they endured, by contemplating the spirit in which they suffered neither tribulation, nor distress, nor persecution, nor famine, nor nakedness, nor peril, hor the sword, were able to separate them from the love of Christ-nay, in all these they were more than conquerors through Him that loved them!

And not only are we comforted, but we are encouraged. We have in them, as it were, a fresh band added to that great cloud of witnesses, by which God has compassed us about that we may run with the more patience the race that is set before us.

Our trials, it is true, are not to be spoken of by the side of theirs. But such as they are, let us bear them all the more bravely, from considering the example of our brethren, such as they are let us take them patiently, uncomplainingly, fortifying ourselves with the words— The will of the Lord be done!

God, we are sure, will not try us above what we are able to bear-neither did He try them-He will make a way of escape for us. Yes, and though He make not the escape we hope for-though we be called upon to suffer as they were till the end, yet, doubt it not, a deliverance is prepared for us. It will come at last, all the more welcome because it has been delayed-heaviness may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning. When the sharpness of death is overcome, Thou dost open the kingdom of heaven to all believers!

TWENTIETH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY.

THE MARRIAGE OF THE KING'S SON.

ST. MATTHEW XXII. 2.

The kingdom of heaven is like unto a certain king which made a marriage for his son.

THESE are the opening words of the parable which is selected for this Sunday's Gospel. And there is much in that parable to remind us of one we have already had brought before us by our Church on the Second Sunday after Trinity-the parable of the Great Supper. There is also much that is distinct in both parables, and before I enter upon the one now before us, I think it may be useful to point out wherein that distinction lies.

And, first, I may observe, that the parable in St. Luke xiv. was spoken by our Lord much earlier than the one which comes before us to-day. The Pharisees had not yet evinced all their hatred against Him. Nor did He as yet desire to denounce upon them all the weight of woe which by their conduct they were bringing upon them

selves. There is in His words a holding back of the worst, as though He still hoped that they might yet turn to Him and be saved.

But in this parable out of St. Matthew no such lingering hope appears. The Lord's words are stern and unsparing. And the terrible future in store for the bigoted and ungrateful Jews is plainly unfolded.

On this account-because it is later in our Lord's ministry, because it reveals more of His mind and purpose, this second parable must always be regarded as the fullest lessons for our learning.

And next, brethren, let us notice that while the same figure of a feast runs through both parables, still there is great variety in all the attending circumstances.

Thus-in St. Luke it is only-A certain man made a great supper. Whilst in St. Matthew it is-A certain king which made a marriage for his son. Again: in St. Luke, only one servant is sent out, while in St. Matthew there are many. Again: there, the invited guests merely excuse themselves and stay away,-here, they maltreat and murder the messengers. There, it is first, the poor and infirm of the city,—and afterwards those in the highways and hedges, i. e. the Gentiles who are called to fill up the vacant seats,-here, the invitation, slighted by the first, goes forth at once to those who are without. There, the abrupt conclusion is, that those who had first been invited should not partake of the supper,-here, there is a quick and sharp punishment inflicted upon the murderers and upon their city. There, when the guests are gathered together, the parable ends,-here we have a further view; and are shewn that a scrutiny will distinguish

between who are worthy and who are not worthy—that though many be called, all are not chosen.

These are points of difference in the two parables, and they afford a proof that we have in these records two distinct portions of our Lord's teaching, conveying to us similar, but not the same matter for our learning.

Let us proceed to examine more at length the second of these parables-the one provided for our meditation in the Gospel of to-day.

Jesus said, The kingdom of heaven is like unto a certain king, which made a marriage for his son; and sent forth his servants to call them that were bidden to the wedding; and they would not come.

Here, under the type of a marriage, is signified "the mystical union which is betwixt Christ and His Church.” He is the Bridegroom-His people, the whole collected company of the redeemed, are His spouse. Their union is celebrated by a royal feast-that feast referred to in the Revelation as the marriage supper of the Lamb. But the time of that feast is not yet. It will not be before the Gospel has been preached throughout the whole world-not till the invitation has been sounded far and wide, Come unto the marriage.

And next note who are called, and how often.

First of all the Jews were called-in many ways, and by many messengers. They were called by God's servants the prophets, whom He despatched, rising up early, and sending them. They were called by the types and sacrifices of the Mosaic law-by the sure word of prophecy, ever growing clearer and more definite, to come