altogether different. We have the Field again, as before, and Seed sown in it. But we shall see that the lesson which it teaches is entirely

a new one.

A person is here represented as sowing good seed in his field. In the night some malicious enemy comes, and scatters tares all over the ground. The Tares mentioned here are not like our tares; but a kind of grass which very much resembled wheat, though utterly worthless. He is not seen doing this: he does it secretly at night, while his neighbour is asleep. The Farmer sees his crop springing up, and has no suspicion whatever that there are Tares mixed with the Wheat. But when it begins to form into ear, then he discovers the mixture.

His Labourers on the farm express their surprise," Sir, didst thou not sow good seed in thy field? From whence then hath it tares ? " He at once guesses what has happened he has an unfriendly neighbour, and it must be his work. The servants then propose to go, and gather up all the tares they can find. But the Master objects to their doing this-"Nay," he says, "lest, while ye

gather up the tares, ye root up also the wheat with them. Let both grow together till harvesttime; and then we will separate them."

And now for the explanation. Here we have no difficulty; for in this Parable, as well as in that of the Sower, our Lord gives His own explanation. It appears that when the multitude were gone, Jesus went into a private house; and there the disciples followed Him, begging Him to tell them the meaning of what He had been saying "Declare unto us the Parable of the tares of the field."

But before we come to the explanation, there is one expression at the opening of the Parable, which may be misunderstood. Jesus says, "The kingdom of heaven is likened unto a man which sowed good seed in his field." Now, what did He mean by "the kingdom of heaven"? He certainly could not have meant Heaven itself; for there are no tares there, no evil ones there. It means the gospel kingdom-the Church of God-Christ's kingdom in the world-that kingdom which Daniel spoke of many hundred years before, when he said, “I saw in the night visions and

behold, one like the Son of Man came with the clouds of heaven. And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom. His dominion is an everlasting dominion which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed." It is well to bear this in mind; for the expression "the kingdom of heaven" is very often used in the Gospels, and especially in the Parables. Remember then that it means the gospel kingdom.

Now then let us see what our Lord would have us understand by this interesting Parable.

"The Field," He says, "is the World"this world in which we are now living. "The good seed are the children of the kingdom holy persons, who truly love and serve the Lord, whom the Saviour now reckons among His people, and who will share His glory hereafter. They are brought into His kingdom by the power of His grace. They are His plants— His chosen ones-the wheat which He Himself has sown and cherished.

are

But to go on-If "the good seed " "the children of the kingdom," what are

D

"the Tares"? They, says our Lord, are "the children of the wicked one "-false professors, mock disciples. Satan is their Master and their Father. Though mixed among the wheat, they belong to him. "The Enemy that sowed them is the Devil." He is the great Enemy of Christ; and uses every effort to mar His work, and to destroy His kingdom.

"The Harvest," here spoken of, "is the end of the world;" and "the Reapers are the Angels," whom God will then employ to gather together His elect. "As therefore the tares are gathered, and burned in the fire, so shall it be in the end of this world. The Son of man shall send forth his angels; and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity. And shall cast them into a furnace of fire; there shall be weeping, and gnashing of teeth. Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father."

The drift of the Parable then is this-It represents to us the present and future state of the Gospel Church, or kingdom; Christ's

care of it; the Devil's enmity against it; the
mixture of good and bad in it, of false and
true; and the separation between them at the
end of the world.

Having thus endeavoured to make clear to you the Parable itself, let us now dwell on some of the different points in it.

First, we learn here that in Christ's king-
dom on earth—that is, in His Church-there
is, and always has been, a mixture of bad
with the good, of false with the true. Just
as in a field there will always be a mixed crop;
take what pains you may, there will be weeds
and blighted ears among the corn; so it is in
every Christian Body. There were unclean
animals in the ark, as well as clean. There
are goats feeding in the same pasture with
the sheep. There is chaff on the same barn-
floor as the grain. And so here there are
Tares mingled with the Wheat.

I say
Tares in the Jewish Church.

it always has been so.

Prophets, "who wore a rough

There were

There were

garment to

deceive." There were Jewish Priests and
Rulers, who put on a mere cloak of godliness.