St. Tammany farmer., 1903-04-18

u
AY most momentous events IN
S profane and sacred history
have transpired during the quiet hush
of the midnight hour. Man has fire.
quently chosen that period to plot
and to plan, to work and to execute,
and God has often found it con-
yenient season in which to move
among men and carry out His eternal
purposes. The words of our text are
taken from the parable OF the ten
virgins, and mark the advent OF the
Bridegroom as He comes to claim Ills
bride and go into the marriage sup
per. But it must not be supposed
that they fix definitely the hour OF
the second coming of Christ, tor
Christ Himself declared that "of that
day and hour knoweth no man, no,
not the angels which are in Heaven,
neither the Son, but the Father,
''It may be at morn, when the dayis awak-
ing,
When sunlight thrc' darkness and shadow
F is breaking.
That Jesus will come in the fullness of
+ glory,
To receive from the world His own.
''1t may be at midday. 1t may be at twi-
light,
1t may be, per,,ance, that the blackness
of midnight r
Will burst into light in the blaze OF His
glory,
When Jesus receives His own"
But our text rather teaches the un-
expected realization of the promise
of Christ, and of the angel on Olivet's
brow who told the heavenward-gaz-
ing disciples that, 'this same Jesus,
which is taken up, from you into
Heaven, shall so come in like manner
as We have seen Him go into Heaven y
The midnight hour is suggestive OF
the stiffness and rest and oblivion of
sleep. Nature seeks shelter under
the cloak of darkness and waits pa
tiently for the coming day. And in
the parable before us we are told
that the ten virgins who have gone
forth to meet the Bridegroom rest
in slumber as the darkness gathers
and deepens. 'And at midnight there
was a'cry made" 1t is a glad tri-
umphant cry. Paul tells us in I
Thess., 4:16, that ''the Lord Himself
shall descend from Heaven with a
shout, with the voice of the arch
angel, and with the trump of God"
There is no intimation that the cry
reaches the ears of any save the ten
virgins, or that it raises fear or
n sr hot -
church, the bride of Jesus Christ.
represented by the ten virgins, hears
the cry and trims the lamps in readi-
ness to receive it's coming Lord. The
five wise virgins. with the oil of the
Holy Spirit filling their hearts and
keeping the fame of their faith burn
ing brightly, pass quickly on to meet
their coming Lord and go with Him
into the, marriage supper. The five
foolish virgins, whose heads have re-
ceived the truth in regard to the
Christ, but whose hearts have not
opened up to receive the Holy Spirit,
find that the lack quenches the
fame of their faith in the crucial
time of the coming. and while they
go in eagerness, apparently, to sup
ply that deficiency, the door is shut
and the wall of disappointment and
anguish bursts from their lips.
u51UT." declares Rev. G. Campbell
@ Morgan, the eminent Bible
scholar and exponent. of the Scrip
lures. 1--WE have no warrant for
speaking of the foolish virgins as
lost. The punishment to them is that
they will have to pass through the
tribulation from which the wise have
escaped. This is no exception to the
general rule of Scripture, by which
oil is symbolic of the Holy Spirit.
Those who will be ready to go in
with the King to the marriage feast
will be such as have full supply of
the Spirit of Jesus Christi
The tribulation to which Mr.. Nor
gan refers is the period which e1apses
between the time of translation
of the church and the return of the
church with it's Lord to rule over the
world during the millennial age The
foolish virgins who were watching,
but, not ready, will be left behind in
the world to endure the trials and
distress of the tribulation period.
Butt to pass on to the thoughts
which we wish to draw from our text,
for it is not our purpose to develop
the plain lessons of the parable,
which are the necessity of prepared
ness for the coming of Christ, and
the absolute inability of one saint
giving part of his supply of the
Holy Spirit to fill up the lack of the
careless one who has failed to obtain
the precious oil. We do need to heed
the solemn admonition of Christ
with which he closes this parable.
and WATCH. Elisha would never
have been in the place where Eliiah's
mantle could fall upon his shoulders
had he not been watching intently,
and preparing: untiringly, for the
going of the prophetinto Heaven, and
you will never be ready to step up
ward to meet your Lord and go with
Him intos the banqueting hall of
Heaven, unless you are watching with
the eve of faith. and have the OF! of
preparation of the Holy Spirit filling
the lamp Of your heart.
ia HE Midnight Hour.-Tt was at
N midnight that the Bridegroom
came. Darkness, grim darkness. sat on
her throne, the conqueror of the day.
Strange hour for the Bridegroom to
come! It is not SO with man. The