than this, they are not "virgins," and can find no hope or comfort from this or any other portion of Scripture. Instead of reducing the requirements so as to make men think they can be saved by less. activity, watchfulness, and consecration to God, the whole tenor of my remarks, as the whole object of this parable, has been to show that unless we all put forth more earnest efforts, and set ourselves to exhibit more of that apostolic spirit which lays every thing on the altar of Christ, our places in the kingdom, if we get there at all, will be those of "hewers of wood and drawers of water" (Josh. ix. 19, 20) rather than those of kings and princes. The whole strain is one of the most awakening sort, as the Savior meant that it should be. It is to show us that we do vainly dream of inheriting the judgeships and princedoms of the world to come, without a corresponding depth of devotion and completeness of consecration to our Lord. The word is, not that we can reach heaven with less, but that we can only rise to the rewards and honors of heaven by more. An honest filling out of the common Christian profession may save us, but it will not put us into “the Church of the first-born," nor fit us to go in to the marriage when the Bridegroom comes. It is only hard service that brings reward, and a real bearing of the cross that secures the crown. The men of easy Christianity, whose religion costs them no pains, no self-denial, and no sacrifices, may perchance get to heaven; but they shall never reign as kings, and they are not such as shall be present

at the marriage of the Lamb or share the high honors of his Bride.

In most awakening power, therefore, does this parable speak to every one of us. It shows us high honors to be obtained, for which it invites all of us to become competitors. It points us to the sublimest dignities of heaven as within our reach if we adopt the right measures to secure them. But it tells us plainly that unless we lay by more than that which currently passes for true Christianity, and augment our stock of self-denying consecration beyond what is the common import of our profession, we shall be left behind when the Savior comes, and at best only be saved at a loss which shall damage our joys for

ever.

Let each one, then, arouse himself, and earnestly press for the highest prize, lest, by being content to aim at less, he fail altogether.

THE

Sixth Discourse.

APPLICATION-DUTY

OF WATCHFULNESS-THE

OBJECT TO

WHICH IT IS TO BE DIRECTED-WHAT IS IMPLIED IN IT-GENERAL STATEMENT OF THE LESSONS INCULCATED BY THIS PARABLE

-CONCLUSION.

"Watch, therefore; for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh."-MATT. XXV. 13.

THESE words bring us to the practical application of this parable, and the object for which it was given. And as the crisis of it is the coming of the Bridegroom, so the essence of its teaching is to enforce the duty of watchfulness for that great event.

It is also remarkable how full and pointed the Scriptures are in holding forth and impressing this particular duty. The Savior enjoins it over and over, with the utmost solemnity and urgency.

Watch," says he, "for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come." "Know this, that if the good-man of the house had known in what watch the thief would come, he would have watched, and would not have suffered his house to be broken up. Therefore be ye also ready; for in such an hour as ye think not, the Son of man cometh." Then comes this awakening parable to enforce these admonitions, to which it is added, "Watch, therefore; for ye

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know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh." In Mark, again, he says, "Take ye heed, watch and pray; for ye know not when the time is. For the Son of man is as a man taking a far journey, who left his house, and gave authority to his servants, and to every man his work, and commanded the porter to watch. Watch ye, therefore; for ye know not when the master of the house cometh, at even, or at midnight, or at the cockcrowing, or in the morning: lest coming suddenly he find you sleeping. And what I say unto you, I say unto all, Watch." (Mark xiii. 33-37.) So, again, in Luke, "Let your loins be girded about, and your lights burning, and ye yourselves like unto men that wait for their lord when he will return from the wedding; that, when he cometh and knocketh, they may open unto him immediately. Blessed are those servants whom the lord when he cometh shall find watching." (Luke xii. 35-37.) And again, "Take heed to yourselves, lest that day come upon you unawares; for as a snare shall it come on all them that dwell on the face of the whole earth. Watch ye, therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all those things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man." (Luke xxi. 34-36.) "Ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief: ye are all the childrẻn of the light, and of the day we are not of the night, nor of darkness. Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober."

So, also, writes St. Paul,

(1 Thess. v. 4-6.) And again, in the Revelation of John, the Savior shouts back even from heaven, saying, "Behold, I come as a thief: blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame." (Rev. xvi. 15.)

A duty so repeatedly and earnestly enjoined must be of the very highest importance and of the very deepest necessity. It becomes us, therefore, to look at it with seriousness and to give to it our devout consideration.

Let us look, first, at the object with reference to which this watchfulness is to be exercised. That object is, the coming of the Son of man. The clause of the text which speaks of this has, indeed, been rejected by some as an interpolation. It is not found in the Vulgate, Syriac, Arabic, Persic, and Ethiopic versions. It is also wanting in three of Beza's copies. But nearly all the Greek copies contain it, -also Munster's Hebrew Gospel. But, whether it belongs to the original or not, it is very plainly implied. The watching enjoined has no other object expressed, and none other can be gathered from its surroundings. The subject of the parable is preeminently that of the coming of the Son of man, as it is also that of the whole chapter, of that which precedes it, and of the Church's hope. The watching inculcated is specifically urged as a practical deduction from the parable and the general subject of discourse. And the whole connection is broken by any other interpretation than that which is contained in the received reading. I therefore take the