The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1912-06-21


the glorious change promised. ''in a
moment. In the twinkling Of an eye"
They will complete the Bride Glass. to
which none can be added. because it is
a foreordained and predestinated mum
her With the end Of our Age the door
to glory and Immortality will close.
never to open again. because there is to
be but one Bride and her membership
Is limited by foreordination.
The Foolish Virgins.
The foolish virgins" will miss their
glorious opportunity by reason Of un-
wisdom, They will be so overcharged
with the cares of this life and the de-
ceitfulness of riches and the attempt
to have the favor of the world as we'll
as the favor of the Lord that it will
hinder them from, proper Bible study
and from faithfulness in walking in
the footsteps of Jesus. Because of this
they are styled foolish. unworthy of
Gods highest favOr-the divine nature.
The parable shows them as finally.
in the very close Of the Age. obtaining
the light which they should have had
sooner had they not been overcharged
with earthly cares and ambitions. AS
soon as they obtain the light they real
ize the situation and ask for admission
as members of the Bride of Christ, to
which they were called: but, the an
swer Is that 1t is complete. that the
Bridegroom can know only one Wife
and cannot recognize them thus Then
to them will come weeping and gnash-
ing of teeth. sorrow. disappointment.
chagrin. that they have failed TO OBJ
tain through their own carelessness
this highest Prize. to which Divine
mercy and love had invited them.
At that time will be great tribulatio
In the world. such as never was since
there was nation. and these foolish
virgins" will have their portion In 1t
with the hypocrites. The time of
trouble" will be specially upon the
hypocriticaI or ''tare" class of Chris
tendon. which has pretended loyalty
to God as His Church when in reality
their hearts were far from Him. The
foolish virgins" are not hypocrites.
but true saints: nevertheless. on ac-
count OF not living fully mp to their
privileges. they will fail to gain the
Prize and he given portion In the
great trouble time ,oith the hypocrites.
This Is the Masters own description
of the matter. A little later on fRev-
ella ton viii He tells us more on the
subject. that only Bible students may
t tss &c nt6st srte rd the 9d e5mfpeaon
the Church. spiritual Israel. the 144.-
900. a great multitude will come up
through great tribulation and wash
their robes and make them white In
the blood Of the Lamb" These will be
honored with a place before the
Throne, while the elect" as the
Bride. will be honored with Emmanuel
in His Throne.
This multitude will be granted palm
branches. representing final victory,
but they will never be granted the
crowns Of victory. which will belong
only to the elect. wise virgin" class.
the Bride upon the Throne The Bride
class will be the Temple. composed of
living stones; but the Great Company.
the foolish virgin" class. will not be
stones of that Temple. but will serve
God in the Temple. An honorable
place will thus be granted the foolish
virgins who finally get the oil and
finally cleanse their robes in the time
of trouble. but never will they attain
the portion of the Bride.
In Psalm xiv we have description
Of the Church In glory. the Wise Vir-
gin class. She is pictured as a Bride.
all glorious within and clothed in raj
ment of gold and fine needlework. The
Heavenly Bridegroom will present her
faultless before His Father. the Great
King; and then we read. THE virgins.
her companions. shall follow her; they
shall be brought into the presence of
the King" How glad we are that in
Divine providence their weeping and
crashing of teeth and sorrow and dis
appointment at losing place in the
Bride Class will eventually work out
for them contrition of heart and a
demonstration of loyalty which God
can reward with a blessing upon the
Heavenly plane!
WaiIins In Outer Darkness.
Another text dealing with "wailing
and gnashing Of teeth" deserves con-
sideration here. 1t occurs in connec-
ton with the parable of the Wedding
Garment. That parable pictures the
closing time of this Age, when under
Divine blessing Gods most sanity peo-
pie will be given greater light on His
Word and be enabled thereby to more
fully appreciate the lengths. breadths.
heights and depths of His Love and
its wonderful providences.
These consecrated ones are repre-
sented as being gathered into great
banquet hall. radiantly beautiful. In
it they tarry. waiting to be ushered
into the banquet proper. in an adjoin-
ing apartment. The light of these
apartments is in the parable wildly
cOntrasted with the darkness that pre-
walls outside. which darkness repre-
sents the condition of the world and all
of Gods people who have not vet come
into the light of present truth"
The parable is given specially to
show the necessity of the wedding
garment"-that none may enter into
the marriage feast except he acknowl-
edges and uses the wedding gar
ment" On such festival occasions in