The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1921-02-17
SUNDAY SCHOOL LESSON
Prepared Especially for The Republi-
can By DIR. u. S. Wright.
SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 20.

can By DIR. U. S. Wright.
SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 20.
THE WISE AND FOOLISH VIRGINS
Matt. 25:1-13. Read Chapters %, "a.
Watch therefore, for We know not the
day nor the hour.-Matt. 25:13.
THE LONG LOOK.
In the Temple area the silenced, au-
tocratic ring listened to the worst ar
that they had ever heard.
Seven times the lips of the loving
Lord said, "Woe unto you," and called
them hypocrites, blind guides, whited
sepulchres, offsprings of vipers. Only
the crowd kept them from His throat |
as He dared to paint their inner life
with the lurid colors of passionate de-
nunciation. And they were the re
spectacle folk who called the common |
people "accursed." Is it any wonder
that Friday saw the cross? Then His
voice broke with the agony of regret |
for the fate of the beloved and holy
city and the case against formal re-
ligion was closed Refreshed by the
simple gift of widowhood and the ap-
peal of the Greeks, He passed out into
the shadows of approaching night still
intently thinking of the overthrow
temple. Looking back upon the twink
ling lights of the city from the crest
of Olivet with Peter, James, John and
Andrew close about Him, in answer to
their questioning, He mingled in His
speech the close of Jerusalem's day
with that of the worlds, endeavoring
to reassure them and steady their
faith through the testing of that over
throw three ideas were given to ena
bic them to endure without wavering.
The first was His clear understanding
of the faith-shattering events that
were to come. When the temple
famed like a torch, when the hills
grew crosses in forests, when hunger
stalked through every street and ham,
let and Rome's eagles were every
where, they would remember this hour
and say, "Our Master knew and told
us of these things Men are lost
through breaking faith and not
through falling walls. To hold their
faith through all the crisis was to save
His church, and this Christ did. The
second idea was the clear perception
of the permanence of the principles
underlying His message. They would
see that if He understood the world
well enough to trace its history grow
ing out of the forces then at work, He
knew what forces would survive out
of the wreckage. He would put into
their lives the sense Of coming victory
as the outcome of all the changes, ap-
palling as they seemed in passage.
The third idea was that clear challenge
to alertness and expectancy in facing
the world. Defeat would come only
through their failure and not through
any fault of God. All these twilight
stories throb with that insistence and
the one we study is as fine as any the
Book holds.
THE TEST OF REALITY.
Jesus pictured the coming of the
Kingdom, whenever that final hour
should arrive, under the guise of a
wedding. 1t was a perfectly familiar
picture to the four who heard His
voice through the shadows. Perhaps
they had caught the twinkling lights
of just that sort of procession MAX
ing its way to some bridgroom's home
where his captured bride would grace
the festivities of the conquest. All
were believers and were sharers in the
reception and procession plans. They
were gowned alike, lamped alike, slept
alike, were invited alike and had ac
cepted alike the responsibility for adj
ding to the illumination of the dim
street through which the procession
passed. There seems to be a differ
ence in the inner thinking of these
virgin attendants Of the Lords joy,
Part of them We're thinking of the
service they could render and that
bulked so large in their minds that
thy even laded themselves with cum
brous oil containers and risked their
drip that whatever was needed might
be given. The others were intent up
on their dress and their own call to
the festal occasion so that they could
skimp the lantern if only they could
share the march. 1t was not the
pleasure of the bridegroom that had
first place in their minds, but their
own share in it. They were self in
stead of service seekers, and the
Christ of reality demands above all
else that there shall be nothing of the
sham in the life of any folliwer.
THE TEST OF SURPLUS.
There was no skimping in the gen
erous preparations for their service
that part of the group rendered. The
lamp held sufficient oil to carry then
to the place of feasting, so there was