we believe, the full shower, will not you who are as yet slumbering awake and see what is the state of your lamps? You, too, may find, in this season of blessing, that your supposed conversion was not a reality—that it was mere conviction, or some dream of pleasantness which rested not on Christ, and if he should again constrain you to come, as unforgiven, to the footstool of his grace, and there grant you that which you have never yet received, a pardon bought with the blood of Jesus, and sealed by the Spirit, how thankful will you be through eternity that he did not let you slumber till then, when you must have awoke without forgiveness and without hope. Or perhaps he may teach you, as he has others, how far you have wandered from him who is yet yours-make you see the dimness of your light, and pour into it fresh oil; or he may be showing you that now you are perishing, that you are hitherto a stranger to his grace. Is this the deep conviction which is forcing itself on your mind? Does a sense of sin lie heavily on your heart? Can you no longer slumber in forgetfulness? Thank God it is so. May he melt the heart of each unconverted one, and so impress it with the reality of salvation, and the danger of neglecting it, that each may fly for refuge to Christ, and seek the oil of grace before the hour of grace is over.

Men are aroused from sleep in many different ways. The text, the prayer, the hymn, the word of Christian counsel may effect it. So may the still small voice of the gospel, applied by the Spirit to the heart, with no outward instrumentality. It is in some the result of years of knocking, on Christ's part, at the door of the heart, and in others of an hour. How it is effected

matters little so that it is effected. But when the heart is awake and eternity presses on it, and there is a longing desire for peace, how is this to be obtained? My words may be read by some restless, anxious ones who want, above all things, peace. You were asleep, but are asleep no longer. You want to be sure that God and you are of one mind, that you are at peace with the moral Governor of the universe, and not exposed to the sentence of the Judge Eternal. You want to be sure that your sins are all forgiven. You want to be sure that you are safe. How could this ever be without a Redeemer, who is God as well as Man-Man as well as God? He is able to make you sure, because he has purchased your peace, obtained the forgiveness of your sins by bearing the punishment of them, and will by no means let you perish if you trust in him. Awakened souls can find no true rest but in Jesus. Seek for no other, take no other. But now accept, what he freely offers, pardon, salvation, peace with God, the oil of grace; and then go on watching, that when he cometh he may not find you sleeping.

CHAPTER III.

THE BRIDEGROOM COMETH

THE midnight cry next invites our attention-"AND

AT

MIDNIGHT THERE WAS A CRY MADE, BEHOLD, THE BRIDEGROOM COMETH, GO YE OUT TO MEET HIM." The meaning of this prophecy, as a prophecy, is deeply interesting, and we must endeavour to investigate it. It is the turning point of the whole parable, and on our interpretation of it everything else depends. It may indeed be said, and has been said, that the midnight and the cry are only incidental to the emblem, and form no necessary part of that which the emblem represents. But it must be observed that though, according to Eastern custom, the marriage must take place at night, it was not at all necessary that the bridegroom should arrive at midnight. Nor does the mention of the cry seem to be required by the emblem, if not of importance in the interpretation. I believe that both are of deep and indeed to us of very peculiar interest.

But it must be observed, in the first place, that the cry, "Behold, the Bridegroom cometh," is distinct from, and prior to, the coming of the Bridegroom itself. It is so distinct from it, as to leave time for the wise virgins to trim their lamps; and yet not so distinct from it as to allow the foolish virgins time to buy oil. We are therefore about to consider an event as closely connected

D

with the Advent as possible, and yet not altogether contemporaneous with it. Otherwise, whatever interpretation, literal or mystical, we might give to the chronological expression "midnight," would be liable to the objection, "We know not the hour when the Son of Man cometh." But you will observe that whatever sense we may attach to the word "midnight," it is not really liable to any objection of the kind; for it is not said that the Bridegroom came at midnight. The cry was made at midnight, but the Bridegroom did not come till some time after-long enough for the wise to prepare their lamps, but not long enough for the foolish to purchase the oil.

The midnight, when the cry is made, is the first point to be examined. There can, in these words, be no sort of allusion to the time of day or night at which Christ will come. It is not his coming at all which is spoken of, but the cry preceding it; and if it were his coming, since we are told expressly that "as the lightning shineth out of one part under heaven even unto the other part under heaven, so shall also the coming of the Son of Man be;" and since if it is midnight in London it cannot be midnight in New York, we are absolutely forbidden from taking this singularly poor interpretation with which some have been satisfied.

The night appears to be used for the whole period of Christ's absence from his Church. It has been more or less a time of trial, a period of temptation, and not unfrequently of persecution. It is represented under various emblems. In one place it is the season of widowhood; in another, of tribulation; and the worst portion of it is described in the book of Revelation as the prophesying of God's witnesses in sackcloth.

There have been times when Christian men have been disposed to look more favourably and contentedly on the present state of things. At times there has

seemed an advance in godliness, or perhaps a lull in the assaults of the evil one, and they have called in question the fact of the present time being one of darkness. But no one, looking on the history of the Church as a whole, can fail to perceive it. There have been now and then a few bright flashes, but they have not been lasting. At times there have been many bright lamps shining and cheering the darkness very considerably; still, as a whole, looking at the course of ages, and looking at the breadth of the earth, it has been true all along that "darkness covers the earth, and thick darkness the nations."

We must bear this in mind. Some Christians can never forget it; so much of difficulty and darkness surrounds their path, that they are constantly reminded of it; and all must remember that such is really the state of the case. We are still in the night. The day has not yet arrived. The trials of the Church are not yet ended. It is still night till Christ comes and brings with him day.

But our parable speaks of "midnight," and if night represents the usual condition of Christ's people during Christ's absence, midnight must represent that condition in an aggravated degree. If by night we understand the tribulation of the Church all along, by midnight we must understand that tribulation intensified.

On turning to other parts of Scripture we find such to be the general tone and current of prophecy. We are led to expect the last days of the Church to be those of its most severe affliction. Christ comes to his