same apostle says that this favorable opportunity for addressing this great concourse of people was employed by speaking to them in parables, as follows, "And he spake to them in parables"; and after thus addressing them he concludes with the words, "Who hath ears to hear let him hear" (13: 1-2-9). His disciples seemed to be somewhat annoyed by his speaking to them in this way, and they came to him and said, "Why speakest thou unto them in parables?" Jesus answered and said unto them, "Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given. For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance: but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away, even that he hath. Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing, see not, and hearing, they hear not, neither do they understand. And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Esaias, which saith, By hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and shall not perceive. For this people's heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them" (10-15). The specific object, therefore, in speaking to the multitudes in parables was that the truth might be hid from them, so that they should not see, hear or perceive, lest at any time they should be converted, and Christ should heal them.

The reason for these things is obvious. In the case of persons who had before improved their opportunities to find out what Moses in the law, and the prophets did write, and who were men, like the apostles, of good and honest hearts, it pleased God that they should be made acquainted with the mysteries of the kingdom of God, and be saved, but on the contrary, others, who had been indifferent and negligent of their opportunities, and simply chimed in with the errors and superstitions of the times, were kept at a distance; and when they came near to hear, Jesus spake in their hearing in parables and dark sayings. And from the scribes, Pharisees and chief priests and rulers of the people, who also came with the multitudes, who had a certain standing in society, and filled the chief seats in the synagogues and public places, and who held certain traditions and doctrines which made the word of God void, and of none effect,- from these, and all such, it was manifestly the purpose of God to hide the truth, for they sought honor of one another, and were very touchy as to what their neighbors would say and think of them, instead of seeking that honor which comes from God only. Accordingly, Matthew, after noting a number more of parables that Jesus spake to them, including the one of the mustard seed, adds (verse 34), "All these things spake Jesus unto the multitude in parables; and without a parable spake he not unto them; that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying, I will open my mouth in parables; I will utter things which have been kept secret from the foundation of the world."

Mark also bears record and says that after Jesus had spoken unto the multitude in parables, he closed with this significant expression, "He that hath ears to hear let him hear." And when he was alone, they that were about him with the twelve, asked of him the parable, and he said unto them, "Unto you it is given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God, but unto them

that are without, all these things are done in parables, that seeing they may see, and not perceive, and hearing they may hear, and not understand, lest at any time they should be converted, and their sins should be forgiven them (4:9-12).

Here is the secret; people who had sufficient interest in their own salvation, and respect enough for God's truth, to come personally to Jesus and ask him for the interpretation of the wisdom of God, as contained in these parables, were never sent empty away, nor was their request denied, unless they came with guile in their hearts; then Jesus, who knew the hearts of all men, answered the fools according to their folly. The veil therefore that was spread over Israel is clearly discernible by the teaching of Jesus, and he came, by no means, to remove it, for he said, For judgment, I am come into this world, that they which see not might see; and that they which see might be made blind. And some of the Pharisees which were with him heard these words, and said unto him, Are we blind also? Jesus said unto them, If ye were blind, ye should have no sin: but now ye say, We see; therefore your sin remaineth" (John 9: 39-41). As Paul said of them, writing to the Romans, they rested in the law, and made their boast of God, and professed to know his will and to approve the things which were more excellent, being instructed out of the law, and were confident that they were guides of the blind, a light to them which are in darkness, an instructor of the foolish, a teacher of babes, which hast the form of knowledge and of the truth in the law. But says Paul, "Thou therefore which teachest another, teachest thou not thyself? Thou that makest thy boast of the law, through breaking the law, dishonourest thou God?" (2:17-23).

The scribes and Pharisees and rulers of Israel were not aware of the great truth that Christ was the end of the law for righteousness to every one which believeth, and again that God had concluded all under sin that he might have mercy upon all. This doctrine was a leveler for them, for the idea that all the distinguished and learned men in Israel-scribes, Pharisees, chief priests, and rulers and teachers of the people, even those who sat in the seat of Moses the idea that according to this new scheme of righteousness, they were all to be included under sin, and be reduced to the common level of publicans and sinners and even harlots, and be baptized the same as they were, and with them, for the remission of sins, was not to be tolerated for a moment by such righteous people as they were, or professed to be. Consequently, when John, the forerunner of Christ, came by the command of God, preaching the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins, they stood aloof, for, says Luke, "All the people that heard him, and the publicans, justified God, being baptized with the baptism of John. But the Pharisees and lawyers rejected the counsel of God against themselves, being not baptized of him " (7:29-30).

Now as God had included all men under sin, all therefore who were baptized of John with the baptism of repentance, confessing their sins, thereby justified God, but they who rejected John's baptism, condemned God and justified themselves. Jesus took these people at their own estimate of themselves; they claimed to be righteous, and so Jesus said, "I came not to call the righteous (that is, such as they professed to be), but sinners to repentance'

(Mark 2: 17). And as illustrative of this matter, Jesus spake sundry parables, as it is written in Luke's Gospel, such as the parable of the lost sheep, and the lost piece of silver, showing thereby "that there is more joy in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, than over ninety and nine just persons which need no repentance" (15:7),- that is, just persons of the stamp of those who justified themselves, and refused to be baptized of John.

Again on another occasion, spoken of by Matthew, Jesus sat down to eat with publicans and sinners, "And when the Pharisees saw it, they said unto his disciples, Why eateth your Master with publicans and sinners? But when Jesus heard that, he said unto them, They that be whole need not a physician, but they that are sick. But go ye and learn what that meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice (Hos. 6:6): for I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance" (9: 10-13).

When a person allows that he is a sinner, he thereby admits that he is an object of mercy, and the covenant that Christ came to bring into force by his death says, "I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more" (Heb. 8:12). But those persons who already were righteous did not indeed know what Hosea meant by that saying, nor had they any need of the mercies offered in the new covenant. They rested in the law, and sought their justification by their own works.

Again, Matthew writes in the fifteenth chapter, verse one, "Then came to Jesus scribes and Pharisees which were of Jerusalem, saying, Why do thy disciples transgress the tradition of the elders, for they wash not their hands when they eat bread? But he answered and said unto them, Why do ye also transgress the commandment of God by your tradition?" He then cited an example, how they made void the command to honor father and mother, by their tradition, and said to them (verse 7), "Ye hypocrites! well did Esaias prophesy of you, saying (29: 13), This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoreth me with their lips: but their heart is far from me. . . . And he called the multitude, and said unto them, Hear, and understand: not that which goeth into the mouth defileth a man; but that which cometh out of the mouth, this defileth a man. Then came his disciples, and said unto him, Knowest thou that the Pharisees were offended, after they heard this saying? Now hearken to the words of him who spake as never man spake (verses 13-14), "But he answered and said, Every plant which my heavenly Father hath not planted, shall be rooted up. Let them alone: they be blind leaders of the blind. And, if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch." This is the case with blind leaders, and those who follow them in all ages of the world. Those religious teachers were the pillars of the darkness of that age, and the supporters of the veil spread over Israel. They would compass sea and land to make one proselyte, and when he was made, they made him two fold more the child of hell than themselves. "Ye blind guides! which strain at a gnat, and swallow a camel" (Matt. 23: 15-24). And Isaias also says, "The leaders of this people cause them to err, and they that are led of them are destroyed" (9:16). And Jesus at one time, when he came near, beheld the city and wept over it, saying, "If thou hadst known, even thou, at least in this thy day, the things which belong to thy peace! but now they are hid from thine eyes. For the days shall come upon thee,

that thine enemies shall cast a trench about thee, and compass thee round, and keep thee in on every side, and shall lay thee even with the ground, and thy children within thee; and they shall not leave in thee one stone upon another; because thou knowest not the time of thy visitation" (Luke 19:41-44). John came unto them in the way of righteousness, and they believed him not. He came neither eating bread, nor drinking wine, and they said, “He hath a devil." The Son of man came eating and drinking, and they said, “Behold a gluttonous man, and a winebibber, a friend of publicans and sinners." But says Christ the Lord, But says Christ the Lord, "Wisdom is justified of all her children" (Luke 7:33-35). This is a most comforting assurance, after one has endeavored to interest people in the great things of God's law, and to turn them from darkness to light, when they turn away, and will have none of these things, but prefer to go on in their own ways.

The teachers of Israel who sat in the seat of Moses were so blind and hardened, and so perverse were they that when they could not gainsay the mighty works that Jesus did by the finger of God, and when they saw him. cast out devils by his word, then they said, " He hath Beelzebub, and by the prince of the devils casteth he out devils." But a lie commonly refutes itself: "And Jesus called them unto him, and said unto them in parables, How can Satan cast out Satan? and if a kingdom be divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. And if a house be divided against itself, that house cannot stand. And if Satan rise up against himself, and be divided, he cannot stand, but hath an end. No man can enter into a strong man's house, and spoil his goods, except he will first bind the strong man; and then he will spoil his house. Verily I say unto you, All sins shall be forgiven unto the sons of men, and blasphemies wherewith soever they shall blaspheme: but he that shall blaspheme against the Holy Spirit hath never forgiveness, but is in danger of eternal damnation; because they said, He hath an unclean spirit" (Mark 3:23-30).

When God gave the Holy Spirit to men to perform thereby signs and wonders and miracles in confirmation of the truths of the gospel of men's salvation, to then charge that this was done through diabolical agency, is a sin for which God will allow of no forgiveness, and the perpetrators of this wickedness must inevitably perish.

John says, "But though he had done so many miracles before them, yet believed they not on him; that the saying of Esaias the prophet might be fulfilled, which he spake, Lord who hath believed our report? and to whom hath the arm of the Lord been revealed? Therefore they could not believe, because that Esaias said again, He hath blinded their eyes, and hardened their heart; that they should not see with their eyes, nor understand with their heart, and be converted, and I should heal them. These things said Esaias, when he saw his glory, and spake of him. Nevertheless among the chief rulers also many believed on him; but because of the Pharisees they did not confess him, lest they should be put out of the synagogue: for they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God" (John 12:37-43).

Paul also, in his letters to the churches, has spoken particularly in regard to the blindness which came upon Israel, and has shown abundantly in what their error consisted, and how they stumbled upon that stumbling stone,

which the Lord laid in Zion, for he says in his letter to the Romans that Esaias saith concerning Israel, "Though the number of the children of Israel be as the sand of the sea, a remnant shall be saved" (9:27).

There appears to have been in all periods of Israel's history a small remnant of wise people who feared God, notwithstanding the degeneracy of the times in which they lived. Even in the days of Ahab, the rebellious house of Israel had established the Egyptian form of idolatry in the land, and the prophet Elijah, as Paul says in Romans, had made intercession to God against Israel, saying, "Lord, they have killed thy prophets, and digged down thine altars; and I am left alone, and they seek my life." What saith the answer of God unto him? "I have reserved to myself seven thousand men, who have not bowed the knee to the image of Baal." "Even so" (adds Paul), then at this present time also there is a remnant according to the election of grace. . . . What then? Israel hath not obtained that which he seeketh for; but the election hath obtained it, and the rest were blinded, according as it is written, God hath given them the spirit of slumber, eyes that they should not see, and ears that they should not hear, unto this day. And David saith, Let their table be made a snare, and a trap, and a stumblingblock, and a recompense unto them: let their eyes be darkened, that they may not see, and bow down their back alway" (11:2-10). The righteous appear always to have been a remnant; as Jesus said, "Many are called, but few are chosen " (Matt. 20: 16). The great mass of mankind walk in the broad way to destruction and perish.

...

Again, the Apostle to the Gentiles, in his second letter to the Corinthians, interprets and shows the meaning of what Moses did when he came down. from Mount Sinai the second time with the second set of the tables of the covenant, when his face shone, and he had to put a veil upon his face to hide the glory of his countenance from the children of Israel while he talked with them. Now Paul shows that as the veil upon the face of Moses hid the glory of his countenance from the children of Israel, so the veil spread over the hearts of the children of Israel hid from them the true meaning of the law, and the substance of which that law is the shadow. The patterns showed Moses in the mount are called Patterns of things in the heavens," that is, the things under the law which were sprinkled and dedicated by blood represent the things which are sprinkled and dedicated by the blood of Christ, which are the righteous, and are spoken of as "things in the heavens," of which we cannot speak particularly here. These things, which were manifested in the way of life, were hid from the rebellious house because of the evil of their doings. Paul says, "Their minds were blinded; for until this day remaineth the same veil untaken away in the reading of the Old Testament; which veil is done away in Christ. But even unto this day, when Moses is read, the veil is upon their heart. Nevertheless, when it shall turn. to the Lord, the veil shall be taken away (II Cor. 3: 14-16).

The veil is removed, and the mystery disappears when the Israelite under the law seeks justification before God through an intelligent faith in Christ, instead of as before, through the works of the law, as Paul says to the Jews. in the synagogue at Antioch, "Be it known unto you, therefore, men and brethren, that through this man is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins.