his inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for his possession-break his enemies with a rod of iron, and dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel, (Psalm ii., 8, 9,)-when he would reign in mount Zion and in Jerusalem, and before his ancients gloriously, (Isai. xxiv., 23,)—when the kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven would be given to the saints of the Most High. (Dan. vii., 27.) Such appears to have been the mistake into which our Lord's disciples had fallen at the time when he spoke the parable of the pounds.

It was a great mistake unquestionably. They did not realize that, before all these prophecies could be fulfilled, "Christ must needs suffer." Their sanguine expectations overleaped the crucifixion and the long parenthesis of time to follow, and bounded onward to the final glory. They did not see that there was to be a first advent of Messiah "to be cut off," before the second advent of Messiah to reign. They did not perceive that all the typical sacrifices and ordinances and ceremonies of the law of Moses were first to receive their fulfilment in a better sacrifice and a better high priest, and the shedding of blood more precious than that of bulls and goats. They did not comprehend that before the glory Christ must be crucified, and an elect people gathered out from

among the Gentiles by the preaching of the Gospel. All these were dark things to them. They grasped part of the prophetical word, but not all. They saw that Christ was to have a kingdom, but they did not see that he was to be wounded and bruised, and be an offering for sin. They understood the end of the second Psalm, and the ninety-seventh and ninety-eighth, but not the beginning of the twenty-second. They understood the eleventh chapter of Isaiah, but not the fifty-third. They understood the dispensation of the crown and the glory, but not the dispensation of the cross and the shame. Such was their mistake.

It was a mistake which you will find partially clinging to the disciples even after the crucifixion. You have it creeping forth in the first of Acts, between the resurrection and the ascension, "Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel." You hear it referred to in 2 Thess. ii., 2, by St. Paul, "Be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand. Let no man deceive you by any means for that day shall not come, except there be a falling away first." In both these instances the old Jewish leaven peeps out. In both you see the same tendency to misunderstand God's purposes to overlook the dispensation of the cruci

fixion, and to concentrate all thought on the dispensation of the kingdom. In both you see the same disposition to neglect the duties of the present order of things, which are to work, to witness, and to preach—and to help to gather out a people for the Lord.

It was a mistake, however, which I frankly say, I think we Gentile believers are bound to regard with much tenderness and consideration. It will not do to run down our Jewish brethren as carnal and earthly-minded in their interpretation of prophecy, as if we Gentiles had never made any mistake at all. I think we have made great mistakes, and it is high time that we should confess it. I think we have fallen into an error parallel with that of our Jewish brethren—an error less fatal in its consequences than theirs no doubt, but an error more inexcusable because we have had more light. If the Jew thought too exclusively of Christ reigning, has not the Gentile thought too exclusively of Christ suffering? If the Jew could see nothing in Old Testament prophecy but Christ's exaltation and final power, has not the Gentile often seen nothing but Christ's humiliation and the preaching of the Gospel? If the Jew dwelt too much on Christ's second advent, has not the Gentile dwelt too much on the first? If the Jew ignored the cross, has not the Gentile ignored the crown? I believe

there can be but one answer to these questions. I believe that we Gentiles till lately have been verily guilty as concerning a large portion of God's truth. I believe that we have cherished an arbitrary, reckless habit of interpreting first advent texts literally, and second advent texts spiritually. I believe we have not rightly understood "all that the prophets have spoken" about the second personal advent of Christ any more than the Jews did about the first. And because we have done this, I say that we should speak of such mistakes as that referred to in our text with much tenderness and compassion.

And now let me call your attention to the beginning of the parable, in which our Lord corrects the mistake into which his disciples had fallen. I purposely abstain from touching any part of the parable except the beginning. I leave out altogether the judgment—the reward according to works-the conduct of the wicked servant-and the punishment of the king's enemies. I confine myself exclusively to the two following points

I. The present position of the Lord Jesus Christ. II. The present duty of all who profess to be his disciples.

May the Holy Spirit bless the consideration of these two points to the everlasting profit of all here present.

I. What then is Christ's present position? Our parable appears to me to answer that question distinctly in the twelfth verse. "A certain nobleman went into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom, and to return." This nobleman represents the Lord Jesus Christ, and that in two respects.

Like the nobleman, the Lord Jesus is gone into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom. He has not received it yet in possession though he has it in promise. He has a spiritual kingdom unquestionably. He is king over the hearts of his believing people, and they are all his faithful subjects. He has a controlling power over the world without controversy. He is King of kings and Lord of lords. "By Him all things consist," and nothing can happen without his permission. But his real, literal, visible, complete kingdom the Lord Jesus has not yet received. To use the words of Heb. ii., 8, "We see not yet all things put under him.' To use the words of Psalm cx., 1, "He sits on the right hand of the Father till his enemies are made his footstool."

دو

The devil is the prince of this world during the present dispensation. The vast majority of the inhabitants of the earth choose the things that please the devil far more than the things that please God. Little as they may think it, they are