Quesnel: Moral Reflections on the Gospels Vol 1

CHAPTER XIII. 205
mixture of the one with the other is necessary to
instruct, exercise, purify, sanctify, and keep the elect
in humihly.
" 27. So the servants of the householder came
and said unto him, Sir, didst not thou sow good seed
in thy field? from whence then hath it tares?"
Adorable is the divine conduct in this mixture of
the good and bad. A faithful and vigilant minister
fails not to discover the tares, and to address himself
to God by prayer, in order to lament the misfortune
before him, to inquire after the cause of it, and
receive from him the rules of his behaviour on this
occasion. It is under these evils which befall the
church, that the zeal and application of a true pastor
are fully known.
" 28. He said unto them, An enemy hath done
this. The servants said unto him. Wilt thou then
that we go and gather them up?"
God answers his faithful servants, and informs
them concerning the devil's artifices and attempts
against his church, when they apply themselves to
him in the way of prayer and pastoral vigilance.
The grand enemy of mankind introduces sometimes
into the church, and into religious societies, wicked
persons, to favour his designs. A zeal, which is
rash and precipitate, and not according to knowledge,
is as much to be feared as one which is too slow and
inactive. But that zeal is commendable which is
ruled by God's direction, which does not anticipate his
designs, and which is free from all indecent passion,
God judges quite otherwise than men of this mix-
ture of the good and evil. He alone knows the good
which he intends to produce from it, and hpsv far his