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THE

Parable of the Virgins.

IN SIX DISCOURSES.

First Discourse.

THE SUBJECT PROPOSED-ADJUSTMENT OF THE PICTURE-CHRIST THE BRIDEGROOM-"THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN"- WHO ARE THE VIRGINS-A PORTRAIT OF THE CHURCH-DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE TWO CLASSES-THE TARRYING OF THE BRIDEGROOM-MISTAKES ABOUT THE TIME OF CHRIST'S RETURN ANSWER TO THE SCOFFS BASED UPON THEM.

"Then shall the kingdom of heaven be likened unto ten virgins, which took their lamps, and went forth to meet the bridegroom," &c.-MATT. xxv. 1–13.

WE have in these words one of the Savior's most interesting and impressive parables. It was spoken on Mount Olivet, but a few days before his death. I call attention to it, at this time, with a view to devote a few Sabbath evenings to its more particular exposition. It is not a neglected portion of revelation. From Augustine and Luther down to the present, many have spoken and written upon it. Books and commentaries for its explanation are

not few. It has seemed to me, however, that it is not understood as it ought to be. It also touches upon fields of doctrine, experience, and hope concerning which the popular mind needs more instruction than it receives. I have, therefore, imposed upon myself the task of re-stating its import, and of producing a fresh account of its principal teachings and contents. Should I even fail to establish the conclusions which the terms and implications of the parable appear to me to require, the cause of truth may nevertheless be the gainer by a reopening of the questions involved, and a resurvey of the field.

The material circumstances of this parable present an Oriental wedding-scene, such as was frequent in those days.* It has been debated whether it describes the bridegroom's going to receive his bride, or whether it be the larger and more joyous procession of his return with her to his own house. It most likely includes both. Some of the most valuable versions of the New Testament specify it as the latter. The narrative itself makes the procession terminate in the house of the bridegroom.

It has also been made a question whether the virgins here spoken of were the attendants of the bride, waiting with her at, or going forth with her from, her father's house, or young women of the neighborhood, who were to join the procession as

* See 1 Maccabees ix. 37.

The Syriac, the Vulgate, the Coptic, the Cranmer Bible, Van Ess, Alioli, Knapp, and three of the MSS., all read "Bridegroom and the Bride."

soon as it reached them, and who were, therefore, obliged to wait at some convenient station until that time. But it matters very little how we decide this point. The first would seem to be the more natural; and the last would agree very satisfactorily with the things meant to be represented. Perhaps the Savior's silence respecting this particular was intended to leave the mind of the hearer free to take in both suppositions and to interpret the parable as if both were true. There is no question, however, that the Bridegroom is Jesus Christ. To this all interpreters agree. There are many other passages of Scripture in which he is so represented. David, and Solomon, and Isaiah, and John the Baptist, and the apostles, have all referred to him under this interesting figure. His Bride is the Church, to which he has given his promise, and to which he has betrothed himself for a blessed and eternal union. Hosea beautifully represents him as coming to his believing people, and saying to each, "I will betroth thee unto me forever; yea, I will betroth thee unto me in righteousness, and in judgment, and in loving-kindness, and in mercies. I will even betroth thee unto me in faithfulness: and thou shalt know the Lord." (Hosea ii. 19, 20.) This engagement he has made with all his Church, in the promises and ordinances of his gospel, on condition that each shall be ready when he comes.

The time for the fulfilment of these engagements is the period of his return to the earth. It usually requires two visits to effect a marriage,-the

one in which the proposal is made and the preliminaries arranged, and the other in which the marriage actually takes place. So Christ comes twice to the Church. The visit in which he made the proposal and arranged all the preliminary requisites is long past, and is all presupposed in the parable before us. The other is yet future, when he will come to receive his people, and to convey them to the place which he has gone to prepare for them, that they may be ever with him.

The subject of this parable plainly is, the Church,— the congregation of believers,-with reference to the experiences and qualifications necessary to secure the high honors of the world to come. It refers to a state of things preceding the second advent of Christ and having special regard to that great event. It is "the kingdom of heaven" which is meant to be illustrated,—not, indeed, in every aspect in which it is viewed in the Scriptures, but in the condition in which it is found in the times anterior to Christ's return, and the estate of its subjects with respect to that return. Properly, "the kingdom of heaven" embraces all that the gospel proposes, both in its means and in its end, whether in this world or in that which is to come. It includes all the provisions of grace, the whole economy of administrations by which salvation is conveyed to us, the experiences which it works in us, the system of remedial appliances under which it brings us, and all the rewards and glories in which Christ's mediatorial dealings are to eventuate. It is the most

comprehensive conception contained in any one phrase in the entire word of God. It sometimes embraces more, and sometimes less, as the kingdom in its fuller sense, or particular sections or phases of it, are the subject of remark. In the parables it is generally used with reference to the Christian State, in which Christ is king and the saints are his subjects; in which laws of government are enacted, and proper officers appointed for their explanation and execution; and which consists in God's administrations in and over a class of people united under one Head, distinguished from all other orders of men, and on their way to a perfect and eternal empire, to be more fully manifested hereafter.

It is called the kingdom of heaven, in distinction from earthly empires or confederations. Its subjects are born from on high, and have a celestial citizenship. It originates entirely from above, and has its head and centre in a celestial King, although located upon earth. The word, laws, and ordinances of it are all from heaven. There is also some resemblance between it and heaven. It embraces

many heavenly elements.

It is also very near

to heaven,—the next thing to it, the suburbs of it, and includes whatever upon earth is most heavenly. And it is this kingdom, as made up of purified souls hoping, looking, and waiting for the coming of their Lord to complete their bliss, which the Savior has here set before us.*

* "The kingdom of heaven is the body of believers in Christ; who are brought, by renovation by the Spirit, into the relation

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