pared were not prepared. Some have attempted to draw a distinction between the drowsiness and consequent unreadiness of the wise, and that of the foolish; but there is not the least foundation for this in the parable. Precisely the same declarations are made with reference to both classes.* It is as plainly written as can be, that there was not a lamp but needed trimming, and not a virgin that did not need to bestir herself quickly, when the signal of the coming was given, nor one that was not herself most thoroughly persuaded of the necessity of all possible haste in these renewed preparations to be ready, nor one that was not impelled to the most anxious activity to repair the now evident infirmities in her supposed readiness. There are some Christians who talk about being perfect in their qualifications to meet the Lord; and I shall be glad if their persuasions in their own favor turn out to be founded in truth; but I am certified by this parable that many who think themselves ready will find, when they come to confront the solemn scenes of the great day, that they are far less prepared than they suppose. That midnight cry, "Behold, the Bridegroom cometh," will be the death-cry to many a feeling of security and sense of readiness even in the best of Christians. When that cry is once made evident in the soul, and the solemn reality of the Savior's close proximity is upon "It seems impossible to gather any thing else, than that the whole professing Church of Christ will be found at last in the state here set forth."-Drummond on the Parables, p. 417. us, there shall come with it a sudden laying open of the heart to itself, such as it never experienced until then. And with that disclosure shall weaknesses and deficiencies become manifest to each one's conviction. of which there never was the remotest suspicion. A flood of light, suddenly pouring into all the darkest corners of the inmost spirit, will then show every man to himself exactly as he is. He shall awake as in a new world, where every thing is tried by new measurements and new and more searching tests. And the result will be more startling even to the very holiest than they ever previously imagined. Then shall the whole life come under quick review: the weaknesses of childhood long since forgotten, the hilarities of youth inwrought with sin, the ambition and worldliness of riper age, and every act from childhood onward, all shall rise before the conscience with every defect evident and unmistakable, and with great troops of moral ills and crimes, of which we have never dreamed, thrown out as by magic from their hidden ambuscade to menace and overwhelm our peace. are all a No living Whatever may be our attainments, we great deal worse than we think we are. man has ever yet sounded all the depths and subtleties of his own depraved heart. No living man can take up in one grasp a just estimate of his entire history. As remarked by a great preacher, "The variety of events which succeed each other here below, and divide our life, fix our attention only on the present, and do not permit us to recollect it in the whole, or fully to see what we really are. We never regard ourselves but in that point of view in which our present situation holds us out: the last situation is always the one which determines our judgment of ourselves; a sentiment of salvation, with which God sometimes indulges us, calms us on an insensibility of many years; a day passed in exercises of piety makes us forget a life of crimes; the declaration of our faults at the tribunal of penitence effaces them from our remembrance, and they become to us as though they had not been in a word, of all the different states of our conscience we never see but the present.' It will not be so when we come to that moment of intense awakening when we are aroused to the reality that the Bridegroom's coming, with all his glorious train, is just upon us. Then shall the whole heart, for the entire life, stand out to view, with all its long-hidden depths revealed, all its unsuspected secrets suddenly laid bare, and every act, desire, word, thought, and deed, from its first feeling to its latest sigh, with the true estimate to be put on each, and the grand sum-total of the entire account, made visible in a moment; and we shall see at a single glance what we never before could rightly search out,—that is, our true selves. Not a crime but shall then be present to us; not a departure from holiness but shall display itself; not an omission, of which the catalogue is almost interminable, nor a vile motive entertained, nor a mean * Massillon, on the Day of Judgment. us. compliance, nor an opportunity neglected, nor a truth avoided or a good deed undone, nor a mercy unacknowledged or a duty unperformed, nor a moment wasted or a day unimproved, but shall then confront And the few prayers with which we now satisfy ourselves, and the few brief weekly services through which we pass with hardly interest enough to keep from falling asleep, and the few dollars given to God, and the few good acts for which we credit ourselves so largely, and that feeble round of experiences which makes up the record of most men's piety,how shall they then dwindle down from the significance which we now attach to them, and seem to change into miserable mockeries that call only for an everlasting detestation of ourselves that ever we could think of seriously relying upon them! The mere thought of how we shall then appear, startles us as we dwell upon it, and almost makes us afraid to entertain it for a moment. From this we may judge to some extent how it will be in reality. And as we thus but feebly anticipate the nature and results of that last self-searching for readiness to meet the Lord, who that does not see and feel that the fund of goodness, faith, charity, and consecration must needs be vastly ampler than that which most Christians possess, from which to garnish their lamps into fitness to join the glorious marriage-procession of the Lamb! Even apart from this parable, and without reference to its statements, we are prepared to behold just what it portrays to us, that the midnight cry shall find even the best of Christians greatly deficient, and multitudes who will then for the first time discover that they are too irremediably wanting ever to enter in to the marriage-supper of the Lamb. Rouse thee, then, O drowsy professor, and think what shall be thy condition in that solemn night of the announcement of the Bridegroom's presence. Survey thy supplies for that emergency, and thy store for the requisitions which shall then be laid upon thee. Look at thy dim lamp, with its feeble flame already flickering to extinction. How wilt thou join that glorious cavalcade of torches bright, with such a mockery? And where are thy reserved supplies to make it better? Suppose that this night some messenger from heaven were to throw open thy chamber-door and shout into thy startled ear, "The Bridegroom is come! Be ready in a moment, or thy chance is forever lost!" would the summons find you with grace enough in store to meet the trying requirements of the event? If even a doubt upon the subject exists, give to thy soul no rest, but haste thee to thy prayers, renew thy consecration, and set out afresh. For if the best-prepared will then have to bestir themselves with all possible diligence, and many even chaste, pure, waiting virgins fail, how shall it be with those whose profession is but little more than a mere name, and with those who have never yet taken the first step toward becoming ready to meet their Judge? O thou Lamb of God, that takest away the sin of the world, have mercy on us! By thy love unto |