trusts. (Matt. xxiv. 45, 46.) Those who stand with the Lamb on Mount Zion, and sing the new song before the throne, are such as have the Father's name written in their foreheads, and preserve their virginity, and follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth, and have no guile in their mouths, and are without fault. (Rev. xiv. 1-5.) Those whom Paul speaks of as obtaining reward in the great day are those who not only build upon Jesus Christ as their foundation, but build on that foundation gold, and silver, and precious stones, and not mere wood, and hay, and stubble. (1 Cor. iii. 11-15.) No such fitness as this has the mere natural man, nor yet the mere almost-Christian, nor yet the common believer who satisfies himself with a general conformity to his profession. To be a real virgin is not enough. To have the lamp of true profession is not enough. To expect and wait for the Bridegroom is not enough. To have been once in complete readiness is not enough. The lamp must be full, and trimmed, and burning at the time, or there is no readiness. Do you ask me, then, who are these wise and ready virgins who go in to the marriage? I answer, they are those Christians living in the time of the advent, and those like them in every age, who have given themselves wholly to the Lord, with all they have and are; in whom the grace of God is so deeply rooted as to have brought their whole nature into subjection to righteousness; who have attained to such excellency of saintship as to be no longer babes. and novices in religious things, but skilful in the word of righteousness, and active in the use of the talents God has given them to improve for him; whose profession is like a lamp well furnished, having an abundance of real grace to sustain it in every emergency, and whose testimony is given with the steady clearness of that lamp in perfect trim, lighted, and brightly burning. That such will be scarce and few when the Savior comes, is everywhere intimated. (Matt. vii. 14, xx. 16; Luke xiii. 23.) He himself has put the solemn and awakening question, "When the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?" (Luke xviii. 8.) Were he to come as we are here together to-night, how many of the large number of Christians present would be found possessed of the required readiness? I sometimes fear that the Church of our day is but little more than a Church of unwise virgins, who, if the Bridegroom were to come suddenly upon them-as he everywhere says that he will come-would be ill prepared to meet him. There will, however, be some ready,—at least, not so hopelessly unfurnished as to be unable to take their expected places in the procession and at the feast. In every age there have been some whom death found with their lamps trimmed and burning, and whom the Savior will find as death left them. even among those living in the evil times in which the advent is to occur, there will be some here and there, many of whom we know not, who will of a sudden take wings like eagles and mount up to their Lord. And The text says of the wise and ready virgins, that they went in." In what? In the Bridegroom's house, of course. Where else would he be taking his Bride but to the new home where she is to dwell with him? Christ has gone to prepare a place for his people. When he left the world, he said, "I go to prepare a place for you." That place he is now completing. It is to be "a firmly-founded city,"—the same for which Abraham looked in the days of old, which Paul describes as "the heavenly Jerusalem," and which John in vision saw descending out of heaven from God. And a sublime place it is. Even its foundations are composed of precious gems. Its gates are each of solid pearl. The city itself is of "pure gold, like unto clear glass." Its very streets are gold, and its walls jasper. It has no need of the sun, nor of the moon; for the glory of God lightens it, and the Lamb is the light thereof. Its watchmen are the angels; and nations walk in the sheen of its glory. It is of that city that the Church so often and so wishfully sings,― "Jerusalem! my happy home! Name ever dear to me! When shall my labors have an end In joy, and peace, and thee? "When shall these eyes thy heaven-built walls And pearly gates behold, Thy bulwarks with salvation strong, And streets of shining gold? "Oh, when, thou city of my God, Shall I thy courts ascend, Where congregations ne'er break up, And Sabbaths have no end?" Blessed city! And into it do they enter who are ready when the Bridegroom comes. The object for which they enter is also as glorious as the place. The gladdest thing, perhaps, and the most beautiful, in earthly life, is the celebration of the union of two noble, virtuous, and loving hearts in those bonds of intimacy, communion, and mutual happiness which death only can sever. There gather round it an interest, promise, and joy which we know not how adequately to express. The best robes must then be brought forth, and the best viands set out, and the heartiest congratulations bestowed, and the greatest liberties given; whilst full hearts flush every cheek and speak in every eye, and pour out their treasures in costly gifts, and every one for once seems anxious to make every other happy. But, with all the beautiful feeling and joyousness of such a high festival, it is but an earthly symbol of that for which the saints enter their new-made heaven. There is to be a marriage there such as has never yet occurred, and at which they are to be both the attendants and the Bride. Such a company as will there be assembled, whether for numbers, selectness, congeniality, or joy in each other, as yet hath never convened. Such an array of magnificence, beauty, and glory as shall there be made, no eye as yet hath ever seen. Such thrilling interest, transporting de light, and heartiness of congratulation, as shall there be shown, no soul as yet hath ever experienced. Such a table of good things, such an accumulation of all that heart can desire, and such an outpouring of all the varied bounties of the blessed God, as shall there be displayed, no imagination as yet hath ever been able to picture. There have, indeed, been some very magnificent nuptial celebrations. Plutarch tells of one at which the number of guests was ninety thousand. Herodotus tells of one at which a hundred oxen were offered in sacrifice, and the banquet of which was attended by all the people of Sicyon. And Diodorus Siculus tells of one in Agrigentum at which two hundred thousand people were entertained on tables laid for them at their own doors, in the streets where they lived, and during which the whole city was one grand blaze of joyous illumination. But all these vast and astounding marriage-feasts were but mean and ridiculous mimicries played by children, in comparison with that to which the saints go in when the Savior comes. "There shall love freely flow, Pure as life's river; There shall sweet friendship glow Changeless forever. There heavenly joys shall thrill, There bliss each heart shall fill, And fears of parting chill That feast is to be an everlasting feast. Its joys |