Page:A Compendium of the Chief Doctrines of the True Christian Religion.djvu/177

Rh ''unto a man which sowed good seed in his field; but while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went his way; and when the blade was sprung up, then appeared the tares also; so the servants of the householder came and said to him, wilt thou that we go and gather up the tares? But he said, Nay, lest, whilst ye gather up the tares, ye root up also the wheat with them. Let both grow together until the harvest, and in the time of harvest, I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them; but gather the wheat into my barn; the harvest is the consummation of the age; as therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire, so also shall it be in the consummation of the age'', Matt, xiii. 24 to 30, 39, 40. By wheat in this passage are meant the truths and goods of the new church, and by tares the falses and evils of the former church; that by the consummation of the age is understood the end of the church, may be seen in the first article of this chapter. That there is in every thing an internal and an external, and that the external dependeth on the internal, as the body does on its soul, must be evident to any one that considers attentively the particular parts of creation. In man this truth is very manifest; his whole body is dependent on his mind, and consequently there is an internal and an external in whatever proceedeth from him; in every particular action there is the will of his mind from within, and in every particular expression of speech there is the understanding of his mind, and the case is the same in every bodily sense. There is an internal and an external also in every bird and beast, nay, in every insect and worm; also in every tree, plant and shrub, nay, in every stone and smallest particle of dust. For the illustration of this truth it may suffice to consider a few particulars