move again the same as if Adam had not fallen. Nothing less than this is redemption. And from the moment that "the sign of the Son of man" is seen in the heavens, the empire of death and unrighteousness is doomed. From that moment it shall decay, and wither, and dissolve, until every trace of it is at length expunged from the earth, and the beauty and glory of Eden put in its place. When this is achieved, then, and only then, redemption will be complete.

Precious consummation of this long weary world! Our hearts kindle at the joyous contemplation. No wonder that, with such surroundings, the Church has ever looked and longed for the day of the Lord's return. It is her wedding-day, and the world's redemption-day, and all creation's blessed Sabbathday. Well, therefore, might the great Milton pray, and all of us pray with him, "Come forth out of thy royal chambers, O Prince of all the kings of the earth. Put on the visible robes of thy imperial majesty. Take up that unlimited sceptre which thy Almighty. Father hath bequeathed thee. For now the voice of thy Bride calls thee, and all creatures sigh to be renewed!" It is only as Christians misunderstand these things that they cease to desire them or to pray for them.

But we return to the specifications in our parable. The record is, that, when the Bridegroom came,

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They that were ready went in with him to the marriage."

To be ready when Christ comes, is to be found at

the post of duty, diligent in the callings which we have received of the Lord, and faithfully engaged, doing what our hands find to do. It is to be in Christ by a faith which takes hold of him as our Redeemer, and trusts in him as our Helper, and obeys him as our Lord and Master. It is to be in a state of consecration so earnest and pervading as to count all things pledged to be laid upon the altar of sacrifice, if required. And hence it is to be in a class with the martyrs, who were ready to lay down their lives for the testimony of Jesus, and with such as lived martyr-lives for the gospel and esteemed no sacrifice too great if they might thereby attain to the resurrection of the just. Those whom John saw sitting upon thrones were such as had been "beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads or in their hands." (Rev. xx. 4.) Those of whom Peter speaks as having an abundant entrance into the kingdom are such as have obtained faith, and have been made partakers of the divine nature, and have escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust, and have given all diligence to add courage to their faith, and knowledge to their courage, and temperance to their knowledge, and patience to their temperance, and godliness to their patience, and brotherly kindness and charity to their godliness. (2 Pet. i. 1-11.) That servant whom the Lord pronounces blessed, is he whom he shall find "faithful and wise," and actively executing his

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

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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?