face, and will be abased indeed; while they who shall have truly humbled themselves for sin, and sought the blood of sprinkling, and thenceforth tried to walk humbly with their God, will be exalted far above their highest hopes.

Yet, strange to say, some who hold such doctrines and principles as these, and seem to hold them sincerely, and to feel and act accordingly with regard to their souls' concerns, do yet by no means show a spirit of humility in other things, but are often proud, ambitious, and self-exalting. It seems as if they could be humble before God, but not humble with regard to men. There is something wrong here; there must be something wanting in their contrition before God, their sense of unworthiness, their feeling of the evil of sin. For the heart that is truly humbled before God, cannot but be humble towards men also. A broken and contrite spirit cannot dwell in the same heart with a spirit of pride and self-exaltation. A humble man is humble in all things. And one who is vain and ambitious with regard to his fellow creatures, and desires to have the first place among them, ought to examine himself very strictly as to the state of his heart towards God, lest pride should be lurking there still.

Yet it must be granted, that the desire to get on in the world is natural to us, and is not always wrong, even though we must in some measure get on at the expense of others, whom we leave behind, and perhaps displace. Life is in this respect like a race. Some win, others lose. Some are successful and prosperous, others meet with little but failure. There is nothing wrong in doing our best to succeed, if only we maintain a

right spirit and act on right principles. In seeking to get on ourselves, we need not desire to keep others back. On the contrary, we may often lend them a helping hand. An honest and moderate endeavour to advance ourselves, is not inconsistent with true humility, and we may seek to raise ourselves without anything of pride, envy, or jealousy.

But all such desires must be watched; for the heart is deceitful, and the world is ensnaring. And the words of our Lord must never be forgotten, “Seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness”; nor those of the apostle, "Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth.” There, indeed, we cannot desire too much, or seek too high a place. There the humblest will be highest, and they who have not sought for themselves the great things of this world will be great indeed. At the marriage supper of the Lamb there will be no misplacing of the guests, no moving up or moving down; none of the proud or self-exalting will sit down there, and not one humble disciple will be missing. Each guest will be placed by the Master himself; none will be mortified or discontented, but all will be satisfied, all thankful, all happy, all glorious. That is what we are to seek first.

XXVI.

THE GREAT SUPPER.

"Then said he 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 And the Lord said unto the servant, Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled. For I say unto you, That none of those men which were bidden shall taste of my supper." LUKE xiv. 16-24; see also MATT. xxii. 1-10.

room.

HIS parable was spoken by our Lord while sitting at meat in the Pharisee's house, by way of answer to what one of those present had said, "Blessed is he that shall eat bread in the kingdom of God." Those words therefore help us to understand the parable. They plainly refer to a spiritual feast, and so does the parable.

The "certain man" means Almighty God; the great supper means the provision which God has made for our souls in the gospel; the "many" who are bidden to it, mean all to whom the gospel comes.

I pass over the application of the parable to the Jewish nation, because that concerns us less than its application to ourselves; only remarking that the Jews

were invited first, and that when they, as a nation, refused the invitation, then it was given to others; first to the nations nearest to the Jews, and then to all the nations of the world. Long before Christ came, the Jews knew the will of God, and had the promise of the Messiah; thus, in a general way, they were bidden; when our Lord came, they were invited at once to believe in him, for the spiritual feast was then ready: but they rejected Christ, and then the gospel was preached to the Gentiles: our Lord's parting command was, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature."

Passing from this, let us now consider the parable more closely, as applying to ourselves.

God has made a great supper, the gospel plan of salvation. It is great in every way. It supplies a great need, it is large enough for all, it will fully satisfy all who partake of it; it is rich and plentiful, and will not only feed those who are spiritually hungry, but will make them happy too. It is also a great supper, because the guests are many; for, though many refuse, yet great numbers accept the invitation. Already the whole body of believers throughout the world is large; but what will the number be, when all the guests, of every age and country, are gathered together at the feast above!

We are bidden to this supper. The man in the parable bade many. God also has invited many, he has invited us, for we have heard the gospel, and it is in the gospel that the call is given. The invitation is quite free, there is nothing to pay. Just as we are, we are invited to go to Christ, and in him are offered to us freely pardon, life, salvation, peace, heaven.

This invitation has come to us; but, more than that, it does still come to us continually. The parable represents one message only, when the feast was actually spread, "Come, for all things are now ready"; but we are always receiving the message of the gospel afresh. Every time we hear the preaching of the word, every time we open the Bible, the gracious call comes to us again, in one shape or another, "Come, for all things are ready."

What have we done, and what are we doing, with regard to the gospel call? That is the main point in the parable. Those to whom the message was sent, "Come, for all things are now ready," "with one consent began to make excuse.' This does not mean that they agreed among themselves what to do and say, for they were not together when the message was brought, it came to each separately. But the meaning is, that they were all of one mind in the matter, none of them had any wish to be at the supper, all alike tried to find an excuse. The excuses were various, but the mind was the same: they would not go.

How exactly this represents what takes place with regard to the gospel! Sinners are invited to go to Christ, but they have no wish to go. They feel no need of him, and see nothing to desire in him. The complaint of the prophet comes true, "Who hath believed our report ?" And our Lord's own words are fulfilled, "Ye will not come unto me, that ye might have life." Therefore they make excuse. Not in words perhaps, but in deed. They hear the gospel; that they can hardly help doing. Perhaps some may even feel at times half drawn to accept it. But they do not obey the call. Their will is not that way.