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burden and heat of the day, they also received every man his penny, conformably to the agreement they had made; but these murmured against the good man. And he answered them, and said, " Friend, I do thee no wrong; is it not lawful for me to do what I will with mine own?"

The parable of the barren fig-tree, though spoken to the Jews, and having a primary reference unto them, yet is applicable to the church of God in all ages, and is a very suitable portion of scripture for our meditations at the commencement of a new year.

The Lord Jesus had been three years preaching repentance and righteousness to the Jewish nation, and had accompanied his preaching with many miracles calculated to arrest the attention of any body of men that had human hearts; but Jews' hearts are as hard as millstones: impressive as is the gospel message, it has scarcely ever made an impression upon the heart of a Jew. Christians, pray for them, that their hearts may be melted like wax before the shining of the Sun of righteousness.

The Lord Jesus spake as never man spake, was the testimony of those who heard him; and he wrought miracles which no prophet ever wrought before him, and which one would have thought would have gone to have convinced every one of the truth of his mission; but was it so? far otherwise. He came now to look for the fruit of his labours, but he found none, as it regarded the great body of the Jewish nation; and well might he add, "Why cumbereth it the ground?"

In the parable, the vine-dresser begged for a further trial of one year; but we know that the Lord's mercies were extended to the house of Israel for forty years before Jerusalem was destroyed, before those cum

A NEW YEAR.

JESUS CHRIST, as God, knew what was in the hearts of his hearers; he saw the thoughts that arose in their minds, while he was remarking upon the case of those Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices; and while he had been improving the event of those men on whom the tower of Siloam fell-and he knows how prone we all are to draw uncharitable conclusions respecting such as are suddenly cut off from the land of the living-he asks, "Think ye that they were sinners above all men who dwelt in Jerusalem? I tell ye nay; but except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish." And then, for the purpose of enforcing the doctrine of repentance, he related the parable of the barren fig-tree.

Jesus Christ taught that God spared some sinners longer than others; and we elsewhere learn that, as a Sovereign, he has a right to do it; that he can do it, and yet be perfectly just towards those whom he speedily punishes. In the similitude of the labourers who were called at different hours of the day to work in the vineyard, God shews that he is in nowise indebted to any man: those who were engaged to work at the eleventh hour received every man his penny; and when those came to be paid who had borne the

burden and heat of the day, they also received every man his penny, conformably to the agreement they had made; but these murmured against the good man. And he answered them, and said, " Friend, I do thee no wrong; is it not lawful for me to do what I will with mine own?"

The parable of the barren fig-tree, though spoken to the Jews, and having a primary reference unto them, yet is applicable to the church of God in all ages, and is a very suitable portion of scripture for our meditations at the commencement of a new year.

The Lord Jesus had been three years preaching repentance and righteousness to the Jewish nation, and had accompanied his preaching with many miracles calculated to arrest the attention of any body of men that had human hearts; but Jews' hearts are as hard as millstones: impressive as is the gospel message, it has scarcely ever made an impression upon the heart of a Jew. Christians, pray for them, that their hearts may be melted like wax before the shining of the Sun of righteousness.

The Lord Jesus spake as never man spake, was the testimony of those who heard him; and he wrought miracles which no prophet ever wrought before him, and which one would have thought would have gone to have convinced every one of the truth of his mission; but was it so? far otherwise. He came now to look for the fruit of his labours, but he found none, as it regarded the great body of the Jewish nation; and well might he add, “ Why cumbereth it the ground?"

In the parable, the vine-dresser begged for a further trial of one year; but we know that the Lord's mercies were extended to the house of Israel for forty years before Jerusalem was destroyed, before those cum

berers of the ground were swept away with the besom of destruction.

God is in perpetual expectation of reaping fruit from every tree that is planted in his church. "These three years I come seeking fruit." Whenever God's people meet, his special presence is promised to them; he comes into his garden to gather fruit, and to observe the different growth and bearing of the various trees, at the same time comparing the produce with the cultivation, as a husbandman would do. A husbandman would calculate the expense he was at for cultivation, for manure, and tillage; and then, if the produce was not equal to the expense, finding it to be an unprofitable concern, he would cut down the trees of that fruitless orchard, and plant others that would be likely to yield a larger increase. "Then said he unto the dresser of his vineyard, Behold, these three years I come seeking fruit." Mark, it is not said, I came once in each of the three years, but an indefinite number of times, very often, in the space of three years. It has been said that some fig-trees bear fruit only once in three years, and that the allusion is to that peculiarity; that if, after the lapse of the specified period, no fruit appeared, it must be concluded to be barren. But this allusion cannot be applied in a spiritual sense to the church of God; for if a professor does not bring forth the fruits of faith oftener than once in three years, he may not only be called barren, but❝ twice dead, and plucked up by the roots." It is possible for an individual to sit three years under the preaching of the word, and in some few instances to sit thirty years, before any fruit is visible; but we may learn that three years is a sufficiently long period of trial to justify the Lord of the vineyard in cutting the cumberer down.

If the preached word has not its influence upon the heart after sitting under the sound of the gospel for three years, it is more than probable that that heart becomes callous, sermon-proof, incapable of receiving an impression; and what a fearful state is that to be in! What an argument for all attendants upon the means of grace to be urgent with God in prayer for a blessing, that the word preached may profit those who hear it! But God has said, that "wherever two or three are met together, there am I in the midst." This would lead us to the conclusion, that every time that Christians meet to perform an act of worship, the Lord of the vineyard comes seeking fruit; he walks among the trees of the garden, so that Christians worshipping may say, “The Lord is in this place at this time; how dreadful is this place! this is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven.”

Reader, does your conscience tell you that you are a barren tree? If so, does not the thought create a dread in your bosom lest the omnipotent eye of a heart-searching God should mark you for a barren tree? lest he should say, "Behold, these three years I come seeking fruit on this fig-tree, and find none”? Knowing the deceitfulness of the heart, I judge of others by my own; and I know that it is customary to make excuses. I fancy I hear you saying, "But I have not been under cultivation three years;" nevertheless, you may have been long enough an attendant upon the means of grace at church or chapel, you may have lived long enough in the world, and had opportunities enough, had you embraced them, to have known that the Lord of the vineyard expected fruit, and consequently to have used all diligence, and to have availed yourself of all means, if peradventure you might have brought forth fruit. I observe that the

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