V. 8.— But that which beareth thorns and briers is rejected, and is nigh unto cursing; whose end is to be burned. But that which beareth thorns and briers is given up by the husbandman, who finds it vain to waste his strength without obtaining any return, and therefore lets it alone, only removing the surface as fuel. We have a beautiful representation of God’ s dealings with sinners, of mankind, in that striking parable in which Israel is compared to a vineyard on which the greatest care had been lavished, Isaiah 5:1-2, but it produced wild grapes, on which account the Lord declared his intention of laying it waste, so that it should only produce thorns and briers. We have another illustration of this passage in the prophecies of Ezekiel. He describes the waters which flowed from the threshold of the house, which gradually augmented. The water was at first to the ankles, then to the knees, afterwards to the loins, and then a river which could not be passed over. In these waters there were exceeding many fishes, and fishermen spreading their nets: “ And it shall come to pass, that every thing that liveth, which moveth, whithersoever the rivers shall come, shall live: and there shall be a very great multitude of fish, because these waters shall come thither: for they shall be healed; and every thing shall live whither the river cometh. And it shall come to pass, that the fishers shall stand upon it from En-gedi even unto En-eglaim; they shall be a place to spread forth nets; their fish shall be according to their kinds, as the fish of the great sea, exceeding many. But the miry places thereof and the marishes thereof shall not be healed; they shall be given to salt.” Ezekiel 47:9-11. Ezekiel's vision of the temple is very obscure, but it is evident that the waters issuing from the house of God denote the Gospel, and the fishers the Apostles and those who succeeded them as preachers of the Gospel. Every thing lived whither the waters came, but the miry places and the marshes thereof were not healed: "They shall be given to salt,” ver. 11. The Gospel is not only the savour of life unto life, but of death unto death, and of such it will prove to apostates of whom the Apostle treats. To such we may apply the words of the prophet respecting Jerusalem: "In thy filthiness is lewdness; because I have purged thee, and thou wast not purged, thou shalt not be purged from thy filthiness any more, till I have caused my fury to rest upon thee.” Ezekiel 24:13; and again, “But my people would not hearken to my voice; and Israel would none of me. So I gave them up unto their own hearts’ lust: and they walked in their own counsels.” Psalms 81:11-12.