1 And he began to speak unto them by parables. A certain man planted a vineyard, and set an hedge about it, and digged a place for the^winefat, and built a tower, and let it out to husbandmen, and went into a far country.
2 And at the season he sent to the husbandmen a servant, that he might receive from the husbandmen of the fruit of the vineyard.
8 And they caught Mm, and beat him, and sent Mm away empty.
4 And again be sent unto them an- other servant ; and at him tbey cast stones, and wounded him in the bead, and sent him away shamefully band- led.
5 And again he sent another ; and him they killed, and many others ; beating some and killing some.
6 Having yet therefore one sou, his well-beloved, he sent him also last
unto them, saying, They will rever- ence my son.
7 But those husbandmen said among. themselves, This is the heir; come, let us kill him, and the inheritance shall be our's.
8 And they took him, and killed Mm, and cast Mm oxi.1 of the vineyard.
9 What shall therefore the lord of the vineyard do? he will come and destroy the husbandmen, and will give the vineyard nnto others.
10 And have ye not read this Scrip- ture; The stone which the builders rejected is become the head of the corner :
11 This was the Lord's doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes ?
12 And they sought to lay hold on him, but feared the people : fur they knew that be bad spoken the parable against them : and they left him, and went their way.
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The verses before us contain an historical parable. The history of the Jewish nation, from the day that Israel left Egypt down to the time of the destruction of Jeru- salem, is here set before ns as in a glass.; Under the figure of the vineyard and the husbandmen, the Lord Jesus tells the story of God's dealings with His people for fifteen hundred years. Let us study it attentively, and apply it to ourselves.
Let us observe, in the first place, God's special kind- ness to the Jewish Church and nation. He gave to them peculiar privileges. He dealt with them as a man deals with a piece of land which he separates and hedges in for aa vineyard." He gave them good laws and ordinances. He planted them in a goodly land, and cast out seven nations before them. He passed by greater and mightier nations to show them favor. He let alone Egypt, and Assyria, and Greece, and Rome, and showered down mercies on a few millions of people in Palestine. The vineyard of the Lord was the house of Israel. No family under heaven ever received so many signal and distin- guishing privileges as the family of Abraham.
And we too, who live in Great Britain, can we say that we have received no special mercies from God ? We cannot say so. Why are we not a heathen country, like China ? Why are we not a land of idolaters, like Hindostan ? We owe it all to the distinguishing favor of God. It is not for our goodness and worthiness, but of God's free grace, that England is what England is among the nations of the earth. Let us be thankful for our mercies, and know the hand from which they come. Let us not be high-minded, but humble, lest we provoke