LECTURE V.

THE LAST INVITATIONS OF THE GOSPEL.

BY THE REV B. PHILPOT, M. A.

RECTOR OF GREAT CRESSINGHAM.

Parable of the Great Supper.

LUKE XIV. 16-24.

"Then said Jesus unto him, A certain man made a great supper, and bade many: And sent his servant at supper time to say to them that were bidden, Come: for all things are now ready. And they all with one consent began to make excuse. The first said unto him, I have bought a piece of ground, and I must needs go and see it: I pray thee have me excused. And another said, I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I go to prove them: I pray thee have me excused. And another said I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come. So that servant came, and shewed his lord these things. Then the master of the house being angry said to his servant, Go out quickly into the

streets and lanes of the city, and bring in hither the poor, and the maimed, and the halt, and the blind. And the servant said, Lord, it is done as thou hast commanded, and yet there is room. And the lord said unto the servant, Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may filled. For I say unto you, That none of those men that were bidden shall taste of my supper."

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WHAT strange misunderstandings will be cleared up by the developments of the great day! Some condemned for doing right things on wrong principles others admitted to the kingdom whose wayward tempers and unattractive demeanour made it hard to believe that they were Christians indeed! Faith is in no hurry to square such matters with the world. Self-justification cometh not of the Spirit. After all, the single-eyed follower of Jesus must often be content to take his leave of this world under much misapprehension of his motives.

Our blessed Lord himself was severely censured for being the frequent guest of publicans and sinners (ch. xv., 2). On this occasion, his enemies "watched Him" as He went in to dine with a pharisee of high rank. With whatever motive the invitation was given, Jesus at once accepted it :not for any pleasure in the company, for He rebuked them sharply for their love of pre-eminence;

nor for the sake of the feast, for He charged the host with selfish extravagance, in spreading so costly a table for his rich neighbours, while the poor were left without a share of his bounty. Jesus went about continually doing good: and with that sole object He hardly ever refused an invitation to dinner or supper.

Unmindful of this, and of the sinless nature of our Lord's mind and body, many have presumed to quote his example, as an excuse for indulging in worldly company. I once heard a minister adduce this very instance as a plea for going to a ball. My answer was, "If you really mean to follow the example of Christ, carry it out. Go; but when you get there, rebuke the spirit of the world, and preach the kingdom of God. Bid the viol and the tabret cease; and cry aloud, 'Hearken unto me, ye sons and daughters of pleasure, for I am an ambassador of the King of Glory, and I have a message unto you from Him. Be not conformed to this world. There is nothing of the Spirit of Christ here; and if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his. These pomps and vanities will bring no glory to God; no meetness for the enjoyments of heaven. Wherefore come out, and be ye separate, saith the Lord.' 'Repent ye, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.' Now, brother," I added, "if you will take up the

cross and thus follow Christ, I'll count it an honour to go with you to the ball.”

It was in the midst of such a crowd that our Lord spake this parable. The supper was at that time the chief meal of the day, at which all the family were gathered. Under this similitude the Jews often spake of the happiness of heaven. It was in reply to an observation of that kind, by one of the company, that Jesus, suiting the lesson to the word, proclaimed the freeness and fulness of saving grace under the image of "a great supper."

The "Kingdom of God," taken in its threefold signification, (the gospel call to repentance; converting grace in the heart; and future glory,) is represented in this parable as a rich feast, in a large room, to which a general pressing invitation is given. The messenger at the appointed hour, announces to those first "bidden" that all is ready; but they refuse to come: and the barefaced excuses which they make greatly aggravate the affront put upon the master of the feast. had bought a piece of ground which he suddenly remembered that he must go and look at. Another had bought five yoke of oxen which he said he must go and prove;-as if any man in his senses would buy land till he had examined it, or oxen till he had seen whether they would plough. Another still more strangely pleaded that he had

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married a wife, and therefore he could not come; —the very reason for going to a marriage supper, if he had married "in the Lord." The host, indignant at this slight put upon the banquet by his pretended friends, sends his servants to those parts of the city where the poor lived, to bid them all come. They had never been invited to such a feast before, and a great crowd of them came, "the poor, and the maimed, and the halt, and the blind."

But "there was yet room." The hall is large and the provisions abundant. So the messenger is again sent to gather a still poorer and more destitute class,-houseless and homeless beggars. Every weary wanderer under the hedges is urged to come to the feast. And if any said, "I am too filthy to enter such a fine hall; my clothes are too soiled and ragged for such company," the servant was authorized to tell them that they must come: that they should be washed and clothed as well as fed; and that a most loving welcome awaited them at the hand of the gracious master.

Primarily, the parable was a warning to the proud and worldly-minded Jews that their rejection of the Gospel would open the way for its proclamation to the Gentiles. These dead formalists were thus instructed, that, although in a covenant sense, as descendants of faithful Abra