Quesnel: Moral Reflections on the Gospels Vol 1

CHAPTER XIII.
201
lived only by faith, by a faith altogether pure, which
relied solely upon God, and was destitute of all the
supports which ours finds in the wonders of seventeen
ages ! The more advantages we have above them,
the more criminal is our abuse of them, and our
baseness the more punishable. Let us be per-
suaded, that it is more profitable for us to see and
hear Christ with the eyes and ears of the heart, than
with those of the body. Let us by no means envy
the Jews this last advantage, which tended only to
their condemnation ; and let us praise God for hav-
ing vouchsafed us the first, whereof we were more
unworthy perhaps than they.
Sect. IL— The ^Explication of the Parable,
"18. ^ Hear ye therefore the parable of the
sower."
Hear ye, to whom God is pleased to impart the
knowledge of his mysteries, to whom he discovers
his truths, to whom no means of instruction in the
way of salvation is wanting ; while so many others
are abandoned to their darkness, to ignorance and
error, to seducers and blind guides. Do ye there-
fore comprehend and value your happiness, love and
practise what ye know, and by your life glorify him
who bestows so many mercies upon you.
*' 19. When any one heareth the word of the
kingdom, and understandeth it not, then coraeth the
wicked one, and catcheth away that which was sown
in his heart. This is he which receiveth seed by
the way-side.'*
Who does not perceive, in this description, the
generality of the world, and the manner in which
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