The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1881-06-02

unprepared for it, and all their pounding
at the door does not get them in. l see
them coming up to the door The rab
BILE begin to jeer at them; they say: You
are too late; don't you wish you could get
in2 Where are all your fine clothes now
You are no better off than we are. We
don't expect to get in; we only came to
see the bride as she moved into the ban
quoting hail." type of that predicament
a good many shall find themselves about
their souls at the last. They make no
effort for heaven, and they make it after
the chance ia gone. Do you notice that
one. half the bridesmaids did not get into
the wedding? | think it is suggestion
of the great multitude who will miss the
eternal festivities. Do you notice the
proportion in figures: five saved, five loslY
No more torches 60 up than 90 down.
The eCstacy of the song no more than the
thunder of the groan. Five saved; five
lost. So that at last it will not be the
going away of that ineb late and that
OUTLAW, merely-it will be a multitude
that will 90 away and die. Stand at that
point and you will see hem going down
-lnyriads! myriad.l "Broad is the way
tmark you, that is not any doctrine, but
Christ's), broad is the way that leadeth
to destruction, and many there be that
90 in thereat; but straight the gate,ano
narrow is the way that leadeth to er,
nal life, and few here be that find it."
Five save6! five los! Brothers and sis
ters-some going to the right and some
going to the left. Father and mother
are going up, and the others are going
down. Husband and wife-one let in
and the other shut out. Chanting,chan-
ting, Chantingl Wailing, wailing, wall
lngl Five saved five lost!
suppose those silly bridesmaids were
moral, respectable, or they would not
have been invited to the wedding. But
their morality did not get them in, They
had no torches. All our good works and
all our morality will not take us into the
gate of heaven. We have got to have
the torch of divine grace or we will be
shut out. Just see how near those silly
bridesmaids came to getti g il! sup
pose they were within half an inch OF
being in the celebration-only the thick.
ness of the door between them-and |
suppose some people come just as near
to heaven as that, and do not get in. An
earnest prayer, sigh OF repentance, one
struggle of faith, would have taken them
in, vet they are shut out-almost saved,
but lost, These silly virgins seemed to
mean we'll enough; they expected to get
in, but they were too late. You know
what that feeling is. You come to the
depot, and the train is gone. T. ey tell
you i has gone an hour and half. You
are disappointed; but if they tell you the
train has only been gone two minutes
how Chagrined you arel You say, u
might as we'll have been here as not"
And l suppose there are men here who
will miss heaven by just two minutes.
TIL re is a man pushed into eternity by
some accident. One second before that
stroke came, a prayer of faith would
have saved him, but tie stroke came
and he was a second too late. That is
all; but when that door shuts, it shuts.
Salvation lost, my dear brother, is lost
forever. As the tree falleth, 30 it must
lie. How those virgins must have felt
when they came up and heard inside the
music, and the dancing, and the cla' h OF
the goblets, and the laughter, coming in
quick succession on the night airl low
they must have feltl Their sisters in.
8 de; their brothers, and friends and
neighbors inside, and they themselves
out-a tyne of how will feel at the
last il we do not get inside the gate Of
heaven. l suppose every hour of the
day and night there are uls goirg into
eternity unprepared. Oh, what excite
ment it must be about the deathbed, cry
ing out for lamp and for the oil, throw
ing hands out, throwing them up, throw
ing them around, until the nurse asks
"N hat do you want, water2' He says,
shaking his head, "No." What does he
want? Oh, he can not get his light hur-
ming. He must start; he is started; be
comes up to the gate of heaven; he
knocks; he cries, "Let me inl" He is not
admitted, he says: II want to see the
bridegroom" The voices within say,
"You cannot see the bridegroom; he is
busy with the guests now." Says the
man, II must come in; my children are
in there; l must come in." A voice
within says, "Ycu refused the grace that
would have brought you where they
are," But" says the man, "I n ust
come in; all my frieuds and kindred are
in there. HarkI now hear the sound o.
their voices and the bounding of their
feet. Let me in." And voice from
within says: "You are too late" 1t says
to one man: "You are twenty years too
late;" to anoth r. ."you are over five years
o late;" to another, "you are month
too late;" to another, "you are a minute
too late;" and the mob of destroyed
ones outside the door takes ur TIC cho.
rus, and cry: "Too lateW' And the hot
wind of the esert sighs, "Too lat H and
the bell in the tower of eternal midnight
tolls and tolls: "Too latel too latel" And
the torches of the silly virgins begin to
flicker and hiss in the storm; and one by
one they 90 out, until in the suffoCating
darkness they cry: "Our lamps have
gone out" And they go wandering
through eternity for ages after ages, feel
ing out for the light, for comfort, for
peace, for hope, but finding none, and
crying, "Our lamps have gone out!" And
then, turning in another direction, and
wandering on, age after age, feeling for
hope and comfort, light and heaven, but
finding none, and crying; '0ur lamps
have gone out"
To save that time of desperation, 1
hold be ore you today the hambeau of
the Gospel; and great procession, with
torches lighted with eter al hopes, comes
down from the heavens, and Jesus
stands in their midst. "Behold, the
bridegroom cometh, go ye out to meet
him. Plenty OF lamps now. Plenty of
oil now. Plenty of light noWl This
minute may FIRE fall from heaven and
kindla the toPChesl