Making Light of the Gospel Call
Cheerer. Matthew 22:1-10 And Jesus answered and spoke to them again by parables, and said,… A celebrated preacher of the seventeenth century in a sermon to a crowded audience, described the terrors of the Last Judgment with such eloquence, pathos, and force of action, that some of his audience not only burst into tears, but sent forth piercing cries, as if the Judge Himself had been present, and was about to pass upon them their final sentence. In the height of this commotion the preacher called upon them to dry their tears and cease their cries, as he was about to add something still more awful and astonishing than anything he had yet brought before them. Silence being obtained, he, with an agitated countenance and solemn voice, addressed them thus: "In one quarter of an hour from this time the emotions which you have just now exhibited wilt be stifled; the remembrance of the fearful truths which excited them will vanish; you will return to your carnal occupations, or sinful pleasures, with your usual avidity, and you will treat all you have heard 'as a tale that is told!'" (Cheerer.) Parallel Verses KJV: And Jesus answered and spake unto them again by parables, and said, WEB: Jesus answered and spoke again in parables to them, saying,