Wheat trom the outward Appearance, that rhey cannor be rooce. out without an Hazard of a Miſtake, and a rooting up of the Wheat with them ; but our Saviour reſerves the Point of the Miniſterial Duty in purging the Church, to another more proper time; he here faich nothing of chac, bur of his own Detign co purge it at the Harve$t; which he interprers the End of the WiiiT; thac is, the Day of Fudgment. By the Rezpers, he tells us that ke meaneth the Angels.
40 As therefore the tares are gathered and burnt in the fire : ſo ſhall it be in the end of this world.
41 The Son of man {hall ſend forth his angels, and they ſhall gather out of his kingdom all || chings that oftend, and them which do iniquity :
42 And ſhall caſt them into a furnace of fire : * there ſhall be wailing and gnaſhing of teeth.
4.3 * Then ſhall the righteous ſhine forth as the ſun, in the kingdom of their Father. ears to hear, ler him hear,
As in the common pradtice of Men, when they have a mind to pick their Corn, and have «it clean when it 15 Reaped , to fer Men to clean the Wheat, and to pick out the Tires; and having tied chem up in Bundles to burn chem, ſo (faith he) will 1 do.
I will ſend my Angels at the Day of Judgment, and they ihall our of my Church rake all impenicenr Sinners all thoſe who, in ctis
1 W1d, have been Scandats, and Offences, and Mijchievsus to my
People, and who have made it their Butinets ro work Iniquity. { And they fhail ca# tnem into a Furnace of Fire, where ſhall be wail- ing and gnaſhing of teeth : | Thar 1s, into Hell; which in regard of the ſevere Torments which the Da-med ſhall teel there, 1s ot- ren in Scripture compared to Fire; as chap. 25. 41. and in orher Texts ; by which is only fer our co us, rhe Dreadtulnets of rhe Puniſhment of the Damned ;, that is, proportioned to, if not tur exceeding thar of rhe Burning /iving Bodies in Fire, Having thus
expreſied the Puniſhment ot Wicked Afen , he Expoundeth what he
char ſuch muſt nor be rooted our as have ſuch a Reſemblance of
* Who hath 7
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Chap. XII.
* Phil. 3. 7, 8.
he means by gathering the Wheat into his Barn ; viz. The taking ot Righteous Men to Heaven. Then, faith he, ſhall the Righteous 3 thote whom I have Cloathed wich my Righteouſneſs, and who have lived in Obedietice ro my Will, to that degree, that tho' they be nor perteftly Righteous, yer are ſincere and uprighr, ſo as I have accepted them, Shine as the Sun in the Kinga)m of their Futhzr : An Expreſſion much like that of Dan.12. 2, 3- Signht- ficative of that Glorious State of the Saints in Heaven, which no Eve having ſeen, nor Ear having heard , no Tongue 1s able co expreſs. He concluderh in the fame manner, as he concluderh the Parable of the Sower, exciting his Hearers to a diligent Conf1- deration, and Belief of whar he had ſaid. Our Saviour adding no particular Explication of the two Parables delivered, V. ZI, 32, 33. the Diſciples not acking him to explain chem, and the Evan- 2-1; having pur the Explication of rhe firſt Parable atrer them, 7. [t is reaſonable, that tho' I omitted the Explication of them in their proper place, yer I ſhould add ſomething here tor the be- nefic of thoſe who' poſſibly will ncr be able fo readily to con- ceive our Saviour's meaning in them withour an Interpreter, as the Diſciples did ; which is thought to he the reaſon why they asked n9 Explication of them. The one is the Parable of the Gram of Alutard-ſeed, v. 31,32. the other, the Parable of the Zeaven hid in three 12::ſcres of Meal, v. 33, the Scope of both 1s the ſame, Our Saviour intended them borh ro let his Diſciples know rhe Succeſs that his Gofpel ſhould have over all the World, that they might not be diſcouraged ar the little Succeſs of ir ar preient. To this purpoſe he compareth it, 1. To a Grain of Muſtard-ſezd, which, he ſaith, 3s the lea$t of all Seeds; that is, one of the leaſt of Seeds, or the leaſt Seed that produceth fo grear a Plant, bur
b:comes a Tree Þ high, that the Birds of the Air come and loage in the branches of it. ] Tho* that ſmall Seed with us runs up to a great heighth, and produceth a Plant which hath Branches con- fiderable enough to lodge Birds which fit low, yer we muſt nor judze of what grew in thoſe Countries,by what growerh 1n ours; there are ſtrange, and almoſt incredible Stories told of that Plant by Nacuraliſts, as to its growth in ſome, hot and fertile Coun- tries. Criſt by this foretold his Diſciples, what following Ages guickly verified , That the Heathen ſhould entertain the Gr/p-!, and the Smd of it ſhould go to the Ends of the Earth , norwith- ftardinz its prefenc ſmall appearance. Upon the ſame ſcore he combareth it to a little | Leaven, which a Woman hid in three Mea- ſures of Ite.11, till the while Maſs of Meal was leavened.] By theſe two Expreſſims, our Saviour alto lers us know the quick and power- ful Nature of the Word; That Chriſt's Words are (as he faid ) Spirit of Life, and have an hidden and extraordinary Virtue in them. I do not think ic worth the while to inquire inco the con- tent of theſe oz, or Meaſures of Meal, and why he men- tioneth bur three; they are Curioſities, the knowledge of which
'turneth to no account. Our Saviour certainly, by the Expreſ-
fan deſizned only to hint the ſmall number of the Fews that Be- lieved in him, bur foretold a far greater Harveif : The Law fhodd g1 forth out of Sion, and the Word of the Lord from Jeruſalem, as 1/aiah Propheſied , chap. 2.3. But many People (after them ) ſhould ſay, Come you , let us g2 up to the Mountain 0
r ho Lord.
44 Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto treaſure hid in a field : the which when a man hath found, he hideth, and for joy thereof, goeth and * ſelleth all thar he hath, and buyeth that field.