4. When the man had found the treasure, he concealed his discovery. To hide the treasure found, what is it but to cover received grace under the veil of humility; and not to be puffed up with the light sent from above; nor make proud boast of divine consolations and revelations; lest vainglory corrupt the true. St. Paul said, "It was not expedient for him to glory:" though no one might have so much cause as he had for it he speaks of a man, as if it had not been himself, caught up into Paradise; and not that mention made either, till fourteen years after. It is a sure rule that to whatsoever heights of piety any man pretends, it is of Satan, unless the greater the pretence be, the greater also be the humility of the man.

5. The discovery of the treasure was a cause of joy: for joy thereof. Great is the spiritual exultation of the Christian, on discovering the riches of the Gospel. How glad was Abraham when he saw the ram which was an exchange for Isaac his son! How glad was Hagar when she saw the fountain, wherewith she refreshed both herself and her babe! How glad, then, should we be that we see a lamb, the Lamb of God, who offereth himself to be a ransom for us! How glad should we be that we see the well, the well of living waters, which only can quench our thirst! (BISHOP LAKE, quoted by FORD.)

6. The man who found the treasure and the merchant who found the pearl, went and sold all that they had. In the same manner, when a man is brought to a sense of his spiritual condition, and becomes in earnest about eternal life, he searches the word of God with greater care; and having discovered the treasure, he resolves to obtain it, at any rate. He renounces all hopes, claims, pursuits, interests, pleasures, which are incompatible with salvation. He knows that he must go to the price of the whole religion of the Scriptures, and receive Christ in all respects, if he would be saved and enriched by him. Nothing indeed can be given as the price of salvation: yet much must be given up for the sake of it. This is implied in purchasing the field or the pearl. Spiritual joy is a motive and stimulus to our renouncing the world. "How delightful and sweet to my soul is the privation of my former delight in things of no value! How is it become my very joy to abandon that which I dreaded most to lose! For Thou didst cast them from me, Thou true and chief delight; and didst thyself enter in their stead; sweeter to

my soul than all enjoyment." (ST. AUGUSTINE, quoted by FORD.)

The parable of the pearl is nearly of the same import as that of the mine or hidden treasure. Our Lord in adopting the pearl as an emblem of evangelical worth, uses a comparison deriving its force from the almost incredible value which the ancients attached to pearls. In one sense, every man is a merchant seeking goodly pearls: one man would be rich; another, honourable; another, learned; but these are either debased or even counterfeit pearls, when compared with the preciousness of Christ. Those merchants who compass sea and land for temporal gain, condemn the slothfulness of the majority of those called Christians; who, though they confess eternal salvation from sin to be the most excellent of all treasures, yet seek worldly possessions in preference to it. Alas, for him who expects to find anything more amiable than God, more worthy to fill his heart, and more capable of making him happy. (SCOTT. QUESNEL. A. CLARKE. HENRY FORD, on Matthew.)

Christ having given directions (vv. 15-17) for the reconciliation of differences between general disciples, Peter consults him on the subject of forgiveness of injuries. Our Lord replies, by uttering the parable of the Unforgiving Servant. MATTHEW, xviii. 21-35.

21, 22. THEN came Peter to him, and said, 'Lord, how oft shall my brother offend against me, and I forgive him the offence? till seven times?' Jesus saith unto him, 'I say not unto thee, Until seven times, but until seventy times seven.'

23-25. Therefore, in respect to this question, the kingdom of heaven [or the government of the Messiah] may be illustrated by the instance of a certain king, who having various collectors of revenue under him, determined to settle accounts with his officers. 24. And when he began to reckon, there was brought unto him one who had so abused his trust, that he owed him ten thousand talents. 25. But forasmuch as he was unable to pay the debt, his lord commanded him to be sold, and his wife, and children, and all his property; and the debt to be paid.

26. Then the servant prostrated himself at his feet, saying,

'Lord, have patience with me; and I will pay thee all.' 27. Then the lord of that servant was moved with compassion, and released him from punishment, and forgave him the debt.

28. But the same servant went out from the presence of his lord, and found one of his fellow-servants who owed him a hundred denarii: and he laid hands on him, and took him by the throat, saying, 'Pay me that thou owest.' 29. And his fellowservant fell down at his feet, and besought him, saying, 'Have patience with me, and I will pay thee all.' 30. And he would not have patience; but went and cast him into prison, till he should pay the debt.

31. So when his fellow-servants saw what was done, they were exceedingly grieved and indignant: and went, and gave an exact account unto their lord, of all the things which had occurred.

32. Then his lord, after he had called him, said unto him, 'O thou wicked servant, I forgave thee all that debt because thou besoughtest me: 33, oughtest thou not also to have had compassion on thy fellow-servant, even as I had compassion on thee?' 34. And his lord was wroth, and delivered him to the jailors, [or tormentors] till he should pay all that was due to him.

35. In the same manner, will my heavenly Father do unto you, unless ye, from your hearts, forgive every one his brother their trespasses.

v. 21: Seven times is a Hebrew idiom for very often.-v. 24: the Jewish talent was equivalent to 1387.; the Roman denarius, to seven pence halfpenny.-v. 25: By the Jewish law, debtors with their whole family might be sold for the payment of debts. -v. 34, debtors were often subjected to torture, in order to extort the confession of having concealed treasures; or to excite the compassion of relatives, who might be thus induced to pay the debts of the sufferer. See TRENCH, p. 155.

1. The object of this parable is not only to enforce the duty of cultivating a placable disposition, but a disposition constantly placable; always ready to forgive the offences of our brother, however frequently he may repeat those offences. For it was immediately after our Lord had told Peter that he was to forgive his brother not merely seven times, but seventy times seven,

that he added this parable. This will to many people appear a hard saying; and will not very well agree with that keen sense of injuries, which too generally prevails; and which, instead of forgiving repeated offences, will listen to no expressions of contrition, even for a single one. But are you then content that your heavenly Father should deal out the same measure to you that you mete to your brother? Are you content that one single offence should exclude you for ever from the arms of his mercy? Are you not every day heaping up sin upon sin? Do not you stand as much in need of daily forgiveness as you do of your daily bread; and do you think it an excess of indulgence, an overstrained degree of tenderness and compassion, that your Maker should pardon you seven times a-day, or even seventy times seven?

2. This parable is a practical comment on that petition in the Lord's Prayer, "forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive them that trespass against us;" and it shows what infinite stress our Divine Master lays on this duty of forgiveness, by the care he takes to enforce it in so many different ways; by this parable; by making it a part of our daily prayers; and by his repeated declarations that we must expect no mercy from our Maker, "unless we from our hearts forgive every one his brother their trespasses." To the same purpose, are those irresistible words of St. Paul (Eph. iv. 32): "Be ye, therefore, kind one to another, tender-hearted; forgiving one another, even as God, for Christ's sake, hath forgiven you." Let the hard-hearted unrėrelenting man of the world, or the obdurate unforgiving parent, advert to these repeated admonitions; and then let him, if he can, indignantly spurn from him the repenting offender, entreating pardon at his feet in those heart-piercing words, "Have patience with me, and I will pay thee all."

3. Lastly, is it not dreadful to consider what very little regard is paid to this precept by a large part of mankind!

No man ever heard or read the parable before us without feeling his indignation rise against the ungrateful and unfeeling servant; who, after having a debt of ten thousand talents remitted to him by his indulgent lord, threw his fellow-servant into prison, for a debt of an hundred pence. And yet how frequently are we ourselves guilty of the very same offence!

Who is there among us that has not had ten thousand

talents forgiven him by his heavenly Father? Take together all the offences of his life, all his sins and follies from the first hour of his maturity to the present time, and they may well be compared to this immense sum; which immense sum, if he has been a sincere penitent, has been all forgiven through the merits of his Redeemer. Yet when his fellow-Christian owes him an hundred pence, when he commits the slightest offence against him; he too often refuses him forgiveness, though he fall at his feet to implore it.

In fact, do we not every day see men resenting not only real injuries, but slight and even imaginary offences, with extreme vehemence and passion, and sometimes punishing the offender with nothing less than death? Do we not even sec families rent asunder, and all domestic tranquillity and comfort destroyed frequently by the most trivial causes, sometimes on one side, and sometimes on both, refusing to listen to any reasonable overtures of peace, haughtily rejecting all offers of reconciliation, insisting on the highest possible satisfaction and submission, and carrying these sentiments of implacable rancour with them to the grave? And yet these persons call themselves Christians; and expect themselves to be forgiven at the throne of mercy.

Let, then, every man of this description most seriously reflect on this parable. Let him remember, that the unforgiving servant was delivered over to the tormentors, till he should pay the uttermost farthing. Let him feel himself to be precisely in the situation of that very servant; and that, of course, he must, at the last tremendous day, expect that bitter and unanswerable reproach from his offended Judge; "O thou wicked servant! I forgave thee all that debt, because thou desiredst me: shouldest not thou also have had compassion on thy fellow-servant, even as I had pity on thee?" (PORTEUS.)

Our Lord replies to the question, Who is my neighbour? LUKE, X. 25-37.

While our Lord was discoursing with his seventy Disciples, behold, a certain man, an interpreter of the Law, being attracted by the fame of Jesus as a divinely-commissioned Teacher, stood