The Gospel dispensation is fitly compared to a sumptuous feast —
[In feasts every thing is set forth that can gratify the palate. Thus in the Gospel there is every thing that can ad- minister delight or vigour to the soul. There is pardon for all the sins that we have ever committed : there is strength against all the corruptions or temptations that can assail us: there is communion with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: there are foretastes and earnests of the heavenly glory. On these accounts the prophets also spake of it under the image of a feast c.]
God sends his servants to invite men to his table —
[The first persons that were invited to it were the Jews. Upon their rejection of the Gospel the Gentiles were to be called in d. The invitation to us Gentiles is still continued : the servants of God are sent to hasten your tardy steps. We are to inform you, that " all things are now ready, and, as it were, waiting for youe : we are moreover to urge you to accept the invitation: we are to take, as it were, no denial from youf. Such is God's desire to bless us with all spiritual blessings.]
Nor are any, however mean or abandoned, to be overlooked —
[We are to go and call people of all ranks and descrip- tions : we are to search out the persons most distant, most obscure, most impious g : we are to bring them in, however labouring under infirmities of body, or distress of soul'1. God will have his " house to be filled :" nor are his servants to desist from their labours till that work be accomplished ; and, thanks be to God! " there is yet room" for more.]
One would suppose that such rich blessings would meet with universal acceptance : but,
II. We ungratefully reject them with vain and frivo- lous excuses —
c Isai. xxv. 6. d Rom. xi. 11.
e The blood, which is to cleanse you, is already shed : the Spirit, that is to renew you, is already poured out : God is reconciled and is ready to receive you : nothing is wanting, but that you come and fill the place prepared for you.
f It is the force of persuasion which we are to use ; not the force of penal statutes : such compulsion as that, is as abhorrent from rea- son, as it is from religion.
e This seems intimated by the streets and lanes of the city, and the highways and hedges without the city.
h " The poor, the halt," &c. may refer to their spiritual as well as temporal condition.