The Jackson herald., 1910-09-29
THE WISE AND
FOOLISH VIRGINS
Sunday School Lesson for Oct. 2, 1910
Specially Arranged for This Paper

LESSON TExT-Matthew ~; lis.
ready also; for the Son Of man cometh |
e s.sd az hour when 70 think not"--Luko
TIME--Tuesday afternoon. Aprii\A.
PLACE-on the Mount of olives,
overlooking Jerusalem. on his way to |
Bethany
Suggestion and Practical Thought.
This is one Of the most beautiful and
touching Of the parallels. Poetry.
painting and the drama have combined
to give It an exceptional hold on the
Christian Imagination. The weird
pathos OF the story Is unspeakable.
The occasion is so happy, the agents
80 interesting. the issue SO tragic. The
story is picture Of an oriental wed.
ding. Among those friends Of the bride
who waited to join the procession were
ten virgins. While they we're waiting.
the time Of the procession being ever
unknown. they became drowsy and
slept In peace, knowing that the shouts
and cries of the coming crowd would
awaken them In time. They had no
anxiety: the wise, because they had
faith and were prepared; the foolish,
by false security and by ignoring the
| future.
The ten virgins had to wait till about
midnight, when through the still air
came shrill and clear those peculiar
shrill. quavering cries OF Joy, called
Zugaret. which are heard throughout
the east on occasions of special re-
joicing! (see Rev. 1862" And they
heard the cry: Behold. the bridegroom
cometh; go ye out to meet him.
The wise virgins trimmed and re-
plenished their lamps with the oil
which they had the forethought to
bring with them.
The foolish found their lamps burned
out, but they had been too careless
to bring extra oil with them. They
begged oil of the wise. but they had
none left; and advised the foolish to
go TO the source OF supply where they
should have gone earlier. While they
were gone. the procession reached its
destination; those who we're ready
went in to the marriage festival. And
the door was shut. Like Esau tho
foolish virgins came too late for the
blessing. They had thrown away their
opportunity.
The Lord was soon to depart by the
way Of the cross. But he promised to
return. He came back in the rcsur-
rection. He came in the coming or
the Spirit OF the day OF Pentecost. He
came at the destruction OF Jerusalem.
He is coming in glory at the last day,
when his kingdom shall come and his
will be done on earth as It Is In heav-
en-.
Every crisis OF our lives. every OPEN
ing Of opportunity. every crisis OF the
world or the church may be called in
its degree a coming OF the Lord whose
providence is over all. Q) The COM
ing is something OF the greatest value
and blessing. II Is like the wedding
festival, full OF the best of life. Even
In the subordinate comlngs and crises
of our lives, there is always n door, an
invitation. to something better than
we have had. Even death is q gate to
heaven. (2) The time of the coming
is always unknown. for ye know neith-
er the day nor the hour wherein the
Son OF man cometh.
In What Way Are We to Watch
The company OF watchers was divided
into two classes, the wise and the
foolish. The equality of numbers has
no bearing on the proportion Of per.
sons In real life who are wise or
foolish.
. The lamps signify the outward pro
fession, and the possibilities. All had
l. some light, they had religious feelings
!. they were moved by the Influences ol
y the Holy Spirit.
i The oil Is the spiritual life. the
q heart, which Is the source of the flame
q the visible manifestations of the
d Christian spirit. But this significanc,
, was shown only by the burning lamp
y Those who took vessels Of oil, per
manent supply, were those who hat
j. the living reality of that which the.
y professed, who put into practise, int
character, that which shone forth from
: their lamps,
70 Those who took no supply of oil
10 had surface feeling. like the see,
u sown on rocky soil. which sprang u
quickly and endured till persecution o
"a trouble arose Matt 1876, 9. 20, 21)
y Watchfulness consists In being pre-
u pared for every emergency, and ever
e duty, as the wise virgins watched b
% having their lamps continually burr
70 ing, and full supply of oil to kee
~ :, them burning.
- And the Door Was Shut.--The oppo
~ tunity came, and the gift in its han
=, was gained or lost. There came
=. time when 1t was too late to chang
- This is a fact Of nature. as well as
:. A' truth of the Word. There Is tel
~ dency to fix the character. so that on
will not change. In the MISUSE {
the body there comes time when 1t
ox impossible to ward OF disease. W
~. "a shut the door against ourselves. No OF
," but ourselves Is to blame for our not @