od's bounties while it despises and rejects his grace. To crucify
Christ by the hands of the Romans, or to crucify him afresh through
unbelief, was and is a short-sighted policy.

When the Lord of the vineyard cometh he will destroy those wicked men,
and will let out the vineyard unto others. The interpretation of this
turning-point is given to the Jewish rulers in full, and without
concealment. "The kingdom of God shall be taken from you and given to a
nation bringing forth the fruits thereof" (ver. 43). The polity of the
Jews was crushed by the Romans, and the charge of the Church fell into
other hands. The "nation" that has succeeded to the kingdom is
constituted on a different principle, and held together by different
bonds. It is not after the flesh, but after the spirit that citizenship
is obtained in the Christian commonwealth; henceforth, the partakers of
Abraham's faith are the seed of Abraham to whom the covenant of promise
pertains. The worship and ordinances of God's house were transferred to
the apostles and their followers, neither as Jews nor as Gentiles, but
as the disciples of Christ. A new nation ([Greek: ethnos]) is
constituted of those who are born again; of those the kingdom consists,
and under their charge its affairs will be carried on until the Lord
come again.

The personal and permanent application of the lesson is obvious.

A rich vineyard, planted and fenced to our hand, has been let out to us
by the Maker and Owner of the world. Civil and religious liberty, the
Bible and the Sabbath, the Church and its ministry, have been provided
and preserved for us by our Father's care. We are permitted to enjoy all
for our own benefit, under deduction of a tribute to the Giver. Our
offerings cannot directly reach him, but he has made them payable to the
poor.

When Christ the messenger of the covenant stands at the door and knocks,
a worldly heart within refuses to admit him. The carnal mind is enmity
against God, and therefore resists the claim which the Mediator bears:
its language is, "We will not have this man to reign over us."

The lesson bears also upon the gradual corruption of the Christian
Church in the first centuries, and the absolute apostasy of the lordly
hierarchy at Rome. At the Reformation the kingdom was in part taken from
that faithless priesthood; but they retain vast multitudes in bondage
still. The Lord reigneth; and the time will come when every yoke shall
be broken, and the C