Page images
PDF
EPUB

which they engross the mind; the seed of life is choked with the cares and the pleasures of the world, and “ brings no fruit to perfection." St. Paul has given the rule; "Brethren, the time is short: it remaineth that both they that have wives, be as though they had none; and they that weep, as though they wept not; and they that rejoice, as though they rejoiced not; and they that buy, as though they possessed not; and they that use this world, as not abusing it for the fashion of this world passeth away."

[ocr errors]

Our Lord continues to enforce this in words which are meant to carry on our thoughts from his first coming, when Jerusalem should fall, to his second coming, when heaven and earth shall pass away, and make room for new heavens and a new earth,

66

wherein dwelleth righteousness."

43. But know this, that if the goodman 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.

44. Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh.

45. Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his lord hath made ruler over his household, to give them meat in due season?

46. Blessed is that servant, whom his lord when he cometh shall find so doing.

47. Verily I say unto you, That he shall make him ruler over all his goods.

48. But and if that evil servant shall say in his heart, My lord delayeth his coming;

5 1 Cor. vii. 29.

49. And shall begin to smite his fellow servants, and to eat and drink with the drunken;

50. The lord of that servant shall come in a day when he looketh not for him, and in an hour that he is not aware of,

51. And shall cut him asunder, and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

The resemblance in many points, between an overthrow such as that of Jerusalem, and the end of the world, leads to a transition in our Lord's discourse from one event to the other. Of either day and hour knoweth no man. In both cases, multitudes would know not, till the flood came and swept them all away. In both cases there is but one and the same way of safety, to watch and be ready.

It has pleased God to try the faith of his people, by requiring them to be always ready. Their death is, to them, the end of this world; it is their summons from the Son of man, and cometh in such an hour as they think not. Therefore like the master who goes into a far country, and leaves his servants in charge, he tells them to watch, that the lord may not come and find them unprepared. This is all that justice requires: account must be rendered— the time alone is uncertain. The master is not obliged to acquaint his steward on what day the account is to be taken; he warns him, that he hold himself ready. And to him who is ready, it little matters whether his lord's summons be sudden, or be long delayed. Blessed is that servant whom his lord, when he cometh, shall find so doing, as was his duty in the post assigned him.

6

It may seem indeed desirable, even for the best and most watchful Christian, to have some time for reflection, some season for renewing repentance and confirming faith, before he goes hence and is no more seen." But in real fact, it is an advantage which belongs to very few. Such is the nature of those maladies which separate the soul from the body, sometimes lulling the senses asleep, sometimes racking the whole frame with pain, and often leaving a very short interval between the first seizure and dissolution, that, to reckon on the season of illness as the season of preparation for death, would be no wiser than to put off the preparing money to answer a debt, till we were summoned to pay it. And this is the exact meaning of our Lord's warning. Whenever he speaks on the subject, he always takes it for granted that there will be no time at last to make a change in a man's condition. Know this, that the goodman 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.

One, however, who is ready against the summons, cannot be taken by surprise, however unexpectedly he may be called. The sentinel, who is awake and under arms at his post, is not taken by surprise, though the enemy come in the dead of the night, and in the most unexpected manner. The servant who, during his lord's absence, rules the household as if his lord were at home, is not taken by surprise though the lord may come in a day when he looketh not for him. Neither is the faithful Christian taken

" Hence the prayer in our Liturgy, to be delivered from sudden death.

by surprise, though the day of the Lord come to him "as a thief in the night." Like the faithful sentinel, he is found watching. Like the trusty servant, he is about his lord's business; and whenever the Lord shall say, "Give an account of thy stewardship," he is ready. For having believed that he had an account to give, he has prepared to meet it. He has secured an interest in the Redeemer's sacrifice; and he has not abused his lord's trust, or lived unworthily of the service which he had entered. He has not begun to smite his fellowservants, and to eat and drink with the drunken. He has denied worldly lusts, and renounced covetousness. He will be found having "the righteousness which is through the faith of Christ." He will be admitted "into the joy of his Lord."

LECTURE CII.

PARABLE OF THE FOOLISH AND THE WISE
VIRGINS.

MATT. XXV. 1—13.

1. Then shall the kingdom of heaven be likened unto ten virgins, which took their lamps, and went forth to meet the bridegroom.

2. And five of them were wise, and five were foolish.

3. They that were foolish took their lamps, and took no oil with them :

4. But the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps.

According to the Jewish custom, those who were invited to a marriage, were in waiting to meet the bridegroom when he arrived home: and on his arrival they lit up lamps in token of joy and congratulation.

Why is the kingdom of heaven likened to persons engaged in this manner?

Because Christians are invited to a banquet, a feast of heavenly things; to a place in the kingdom of God; at whose right hand is the fulness of joy, and pleasures for evermore. That kingdom is often in Scripture compared to a feast and Christ, the head of the feast, who provides and bestows it, is for that reason styled the bridegroom. And as the party of virgins in the parable had this business assigned them, to wait for the bridegroom and be ready when he came; so it is the business of Christians to wait and watch for the coming of their Lord to be prepared for the hour when he shall summon them out of this world, and bid them appear before him.

Those virgins, however, who all went forth for the same purpose, to meet the bridegroom, were not all alike in character. Five of them were wise, and five foolish. This was manifested by their conduct. The foolish took their lamps, and took no oil with them: but the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps, that they might have them lighted and in readiness whenever the bridegroom appeared.

This is the important part of the parable. The foolish took their lamps, and took no oil with them. Now oil, which feeds the lamp, was the very thing

K K

« ՆախորդըՇարունակել »