1. Let us now proceed with the parable: “He sent forth his servants to call them that were bidden to the wedding (feast); and they would not come.” This probably alludes to the first period of the promulgation of the gospel; under the preaching of John the Baptist and of the earliest disciples; the former endeavouring to prepare the hearts of men for the kingdom and coming of Christ; and the latter proclaiming His glorious arrival, preaching the truth of His gospel, and confirming the word by a display of miraculous power. But the Jews had been a carnal people, “holding the truth in unrighteousness;” and they refused to give ear to those holy instructions, which called upon them to “lay the axe to the root of all sin,” and to “bring forth fruits meet for repentance.” {233a} This it was that prevented them, not only from a cordial acceptance of the gospel, but even from a fair examination and inquiry; they would not listen to such doctrine; their heart was decided against it: to this it was owing, these carnal habits and views, that when their Messiah came, they were not ready to receive Him in the way which He required. Ready enough were they to admit Him in their own way; agreeably to their own notions and desires, as an earthly conqueror, as the dispenser of temporal blessings and rewards; but not as the abolisher of sin; not as a preacher of righteousness; not as a herald, announcing to them the necessity of holiness in this world, and the inheritance of glory in the world to come. Not all His amazing miracles, not all His fulfilment of their own prophecies, not all the power of His word, could convince their understandings; because they had “an evil heart of unbelief:” {233b} and therefore, notwithstanding His awful warnings, His earnest and affectionate invitations, “they would not come” unto Him, that they might find rest unto their souls. Here we behold, as in a glass, the real ground of every rejection of the Saviour in every age; it is not because men deny His excellency, or His power, or His mercy, or the greatness of His kingdom: it is because they “love this present evil world,” and the “god of this world hath blinded their minds,” {234a} through the deceitfulness of sin. Even though eternal salvation is offered them, and they do not disbelieve it; still, awful to think! the Saviour is rejected for perishable interests and sensual indulgences. “He feedeth on ashes; a deceived heart hath turned him aside, that he cannot deliver his soul, nor say, is there not a lie in my right hand?” {234b} Men walk on in darkness because they love it; and they “love darkness rather than light, because their deeds are evil.” {234c}