The commonwealth. (Greenwood, Miss.) 1896-1923, 1914-09-11
LESSON FOR SEPTEMBER 10
n TEN VIRGINS.

LESSON TExT-Matt. G5:l-i3,
GOLDEN TExT-"watch therefore for
ye know neither the day nor the hour
when the Son OF Man eometh," Matt
25.13.
A parable Is IAN earthly story with
q heavenly meaning" An analogy IL
"a likeness" This story Is a parable.
It is to illustrate the vigilant. expect
ant attitude OF faith, Heb. 6:2S: II
Tim. AS. Leaving the temple, Jesus
drew the disciples attention to Its
buildings and predicted Its destruc-
ton. Proceeding to the Mount OF
Olives, his disciples ask him, Tell us,
when shall these things be? And what
shall be the sign OF thy coming. and
the end OF the world?" In reply Je-
sus gave the disciples his Olivet dis
course and prophecies found In chap
tiers "a and rs. To fully comprehend
this parable we ought to review all
Of this teaching. The discourse as a
whole falls into these parts % 24:l.AA
deals with Israel as a nation: CD
"a; 45-25;3 80 deals with the church as
being responsible for the king dur
ing the period between his two ad-
vents; and ca 25:3l-46 deals with the
judgment Of the nations when the Son
Of Man comes In his glory. 1t will be
seen then that this lesson m In
the second part and Is n OF three
parallels concerning the responsible
groom, John 3:2S. 20; Eph. 5:25; II
Cor. 11:2; Rev. 21.9. and sets forth
the love OF Christ for the church
Eph. 5:25, rs. 30-32.
Two Glasses.
l. "Whiie the bridegroom tarrled"
w. IS. The first and strongest Idea
of this section 10 that he. Jesus, the
bridegroom, is coming again. Among
those who wait are two classes. the
wise and the foolish, though both
were right mentioned The lamps
symbolic Christian profession. Luke
1895; ii Tim. 3:5, and the oil that
which is essential to give us power
whereby we maintain our profession.
Acts 1928; 1 John 2:2027. The fool
ish virgins we're superficial and had
not enough to maintain their profess
sions. The wise virgins had enough
oil; 80 also may the believer have the
abiding spirit Of Christ's presence
wherein to maintain his Christian
profession. Waiting they all nodded
(slumbered) and others evidently lay
down (slept). TIE wise virgins could
afford to rest az they had all things
ready. II they had been awake. how
ever, they might have seen and rem
dered aid to those who were in the
sorry plight of not being ready. The
tarrying was a test OF the faith and
patience Of both the wise and the
foolish as both awaited the ~"fulness
Of time when he should appear.
The Great Question.
n. Behold tho bridegroom eometh"
~. 6-13. All are awakened by this
midnight cry. The hour was n
when he was least expected. and the
church Of today needs to be awak-
ened to a realizing sense Of this truth.
Both the wise and the foolish have to
meet him, but the wise we're the only
n Q whose lights could shine and
show the way into the banqueting
room. They all outwardly appear alike
even to the very point Of separation.
The church Of God individually and
collectively. has yet to sense the dan.
ger to 1t and to others II its light for
any reason be not continuous. This
cry was a call to meet him" and we
all need to ask ourselves. ARE we
ready to meet him." The hour was
too late to make needful preparation
to meet him. In their emergency they
turned to the five wise ones but the
wisdom OF n cannot supply the de.
ficiency or the foolishness OF others
". o.. There Is no Scripture to sup
port the teaching that one mans merit
is applicable to another except the
merit OF the Goldman Jesus as ap.
piled to sinful humanity. Hence the
wise sent their sisters to the orig
inal source Of supply for oil, and az
they went the bridegroom came" So
will It be with all who put on too long
the securing OF the Holy Spirit In
their lives.
They that were ready" went In,
they that were not ready when they
came found the door shut" To at
tend a marriage feast Is highly es
teemed everywhere, but It 10 a priv
ilege that is worthy Of careful prep
aration. Remember that Jesus Ia
here showing the attitude towards
himself Of those who profess to b.
devoted to him during the period o
his absence, and who expect his re
turn as king. That being 30. we need
to remind ourselves Of the laws o.
the kingdom as he gave them at thu
beginning OF his public career. II
them we hear bis saying, "Ye are thu
light Of the world. Neithel
do men light a candle and put 1t un
der a bushel but on a candlestick
Let your light 30 shine befor'
men that they . may glor1f!
your Father which is in heaven" Matt
b:l4-16. II we apply these words Y
this particular parable there is ~
yealed to us the fact that true ant
real waiting for Christ Is that which
witnesses to men, and 1t was In thi'
that the foolish virgins fsiled. At tn
outset their lights were shining bs
they failed to be In that close con
t.ct In. fhe exercise Of those habit