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THE ATLANTA GEORGIAN.
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SUNDAY SCHOOL LESSON
THE TEN
VIRGINS
—Matt. *: 1-13.
By DR. GEORGE A. BEATTIE.
Golden Text Weteh, therefore, for ye know neither «h» dey nor tho hour
wherein tho Son of Man comoth. Matt. 25:13,
Thlt parable was epoken-by Chrlat to
His disciples on tho latt day of His
public ministry on the Mount of Ollvea,
while He wo* on HI* way from the
Temple to Bethany, Hla nightly reit-
ls* place.
The parable was spoken to Illustrate
the Importance of watchfulness, For
this purpose Ho choose* a wedding
•cene with which thay were more fa
miliar.
The Inatitutlon of marriage la one of
the two that aurvlved the fall of man
In Eden. The other la the Sabbath.
The latter Is the foundation on which
Million stands; the former the one on
which the social fabrte rests. The first
marriage was In Eden, and If there was
•ny ceremony Ood Himself performed
It. In creating woman one would nat
urally suppose that the would have
been created In the same way that man
was, perhaps of finer clay. The method
"as significant. She was made out of
man and from that part which lay
nearest 1:1* heart, that she might love
and B* loved.
Though sacred, the original mar
riage was a simple Institution. It was
not till many centuries afterwards that
It was Invested with religious cere-
monies. In none of the cases recorded
In Scripture did the parties repair to a
place of worship or call on « priest or
minister to tie the nuptial knot. This
custom may be traced to the church of
Rome, who exalted this Institution into
a sacrament, to serve her otvn selfish
ends.
By all others It Is regarded as n so
cial, civil Inatitutlon. The minister
must get his llcenso from the state. Wc
do not mean to aay. that It Is. better to
employ a magistrate than a minister,
but the reverse. . Recently statistics of
divorces In one' Of our large cities
showed that In a great majority of
cases the parties seeking divorce had
not been married la a.church nor by a
minister. Not because the ceremony In
the one case was less binding,- but for
other reasons too obvious to mention.
crCd contracts the contracting parties
ever make, Instituted by' God in Eden,
and sanctioned by Christ by giving
His presence and performing His first
mlracte ln Cana, and on no other Occa
sion is a religious ceremony' more ap
propriate. I
. Yet, there Is tyo foundation tor claim
ing It a* a sacrament of the church.
The Spnnlsh minister of Justice In
his effort to Europeanise Spain,' Ini*
recently Issued a proclamation legalis
ing civil marriages.
Parties may be married as the
Quakers are. without magistrate or
minister, without form, or perem<
but the time will never-come whc„ ..
wedding will cease to be one of fhe
molt Interesting social events. Among
the Jews It was an occasion of "great
festivity.
It Is on the last act of the marriage
drama that this parable was founded.
After marriage It was the custom for
the bridegroom to bring his bride to
his own house, their future home. This
was generally at night. A company
of maidens would go out to meet them,
each carrying a lamp to light the way,
and for the sake of the illumination.
In the parable ten are mentioned, a
number that denoted completeness. For
some reason the wedding party was
delayed. The bridegroom might have
been late In getting there or the bride
slow In getting herself adorned for the
one occasion In her life, when every
bride wishes to look her best. On
such occasions young people are apt
to get addled and lose their heads, ns
welT as their hearts. A young man
once forgot his license, and the county
seat being 12 miles away, a license
had to be secured by telephone.
Weary with waiting and watching,
all the virgins fell asleep. At last they
w;ere roused from their slumber by the
cry that rung out on the midnight air,
“Behold the bridegroom cometh.” Then
the lamps were trimmed and Ailed.
Five of them, .were prepared for such
nn emergency and hpd brought oil in
their vessels, but the other Avc had
not. and when the provident ones re
fused to give them, because they had
none to spare, they went to those who
sold and when they returned the a’ed-
ding party had reached and entered
the bridegroom's house, the door was
shut and they were left tn the dark
ness, Such Is the story of the parable
to Illustrate the Importance of watch
fulness.
The bridegroom represents the 8a
vlor, the loving Husband of the church,
who are united by the bond of faith.
The union Is one of love. "We loves
Him because He Arat loved us.”
It Is a union that will never be die
solved by death. It la one of which
the prophets sung. It was a betrothal
In which the angels were Interested.
It was one to which the Father gave
HI* full consent; one Into which the
Son willingly entered, though to con
summate It He must lay aside His
royal robes, HI* crown and scepter,
companionship of angel* and the Fa
ther, assume tbs form of sinful man, be
born In a manger, be maligned and
calumlnated. die the cruel, ignomlnou*
death of the cross, and then be burled
In a borrowed sepulcher.
Besides, He found His bride deep In
debt and paid It all under sentence of
death, and died In her place; a poor
lost creature, clad > rags, and He took
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off His royal robes to cover her; to
win her He shed His tears. He en
dowed her with all His goods. What
lover ever came so far os sacrificed so
much to woo and win a bride?
How ran any refuse the suit of Him
who not only comes once, but stands
at the door saying. "Behold I stand at
the door and knock, open and 1 will
come In!” He will not open the door,
but If wo open It He will enter and
abide with us.
The Virgins.
The ten virgins correspond to the
bridesmaids of modem marriage*. The
number Is not slgnlAvant os the num
ber seven among the Jews denoted
perfection, so the number ten denoted
completeness. The virgins may rep
resent the visible church. Every church
and congregation of professing Chid*
tlans, all who have accepted the wed
ding Invitation, IVe here have a pic
ture that should be to many an alarm
and should be a warning to all.
The foolish virgins do not represent
the openly godless, the profane, those
that are the enemleo of Christ. They
have not treated His Invitation with
contempt or neglect. To some extent
they had prepared for the coming of
the bridegroom, and had gone out to
meet Him, and apparently were as well
prepared as any, till He came, and yet
they were shut out. We Ahd tho
representatives of the foolish virgins
among those In the church, whose con
sciences have been quickened, who
have been anxious about their souls,
who have made a formal profession of
llg ton.
We see In them how they who are
near to the kingdom may never reach
It, how they may come to the door and
And It shut.
Each of us should ask the question,
Have 1 mistaken reformation for re
generation; am I depending for my sal
vation, because l have good thoughts
occasionally, and seasons of religious
Impressions, because I nm a member of
the church? Have I oil not only In my
lamp but In my vessel ? In other words
have I the grace of Ood In my heart—
the love that Burns, the faith that
endureth to the end?
Asleep.
There Is not much slgntAcance In
the sleeping of the virgins. "They all
nodded and slept.” They could not be
criticised nor condemned for that.
Nothing less could be expected of them.
They knew when He would come they
would be awekened and they could
trim their tamps. The wisdom of the
one consisted In the fact they had
oil In their vessels, and the foolish
ness of the other virgins that they had
not.
The Door Wee Shut
Christ told the whole etory of the
parable that he might emphasize the
importance of being ready, the danger
of being too late.
Borne years ago an amateur artist,
a member of my church, painted an
original picture entitled
"Too Late.”
The ecene Is a death chamber. On a
scantily furnished bed the artist site,
rapped up with chairs and pillows.
Its easel stands before him, on which
there rest* his last picture, which Is
to win fame and fortune. His hand,
which olaeps the brush, lies at his
side. The emaciated form and hollow-
cheeks tell the sad story of death by
starvation. The door of this studio
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1, 1900.
Mr. Myerw wants a good name for hla hotel, and he Is willing to
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and death chamber etande half open.
Behind It within, there etande the
skeleton form of the grim reaper,
Death, who Is about to depart.
Just outside the threshold stand
two, women, one representing Fnme, in
one hand the laurel wreath, and In tho
other, n pen and scroll, on which to
Write the name of one who was not
bom to die. At her side etande For
tune, with her hands full to overflowing
with golden coin. With surprise and
sorrow depleted on their faces you al
most listen to hear them say, "Too
Late.” There ws* only a threshold be
tween them and Death, Had they come
a moment sooner, they might have
cheered a saddened heart and prolong
ed a useful life, but now it was too
late.
Too late now to place the glittering
gold In rigid hand; too late to place
the wreath on marble brow.
"The saddest words of tongue or pen
Soon or late the call
every one. What folly to delay our
preparation till it comes. Yet many
expect to ilo In a dying hour what ull
their life they have neglected, and And
themselves In the condition of the fool
ish virgins. How often Death comes
at midnight, comes when least expect
ed, comes with feet shod with wool,
like the fabled gods of Greece, so that
we cannot hear His footsteps on the
threshold- and before we know U,
without knocking, he enters and places
his Icy hand upon the heart, and Its
throbs are hushed In the eternal si
lence.
I once went to see a young man on
Ids death bed, and when I told him
why I cuinc, he looked up and said.
"Don't you think It Is too late to talk
about such things now?”
Another impenitent dying man once
said to me, "A death bed le the place
to enjoy religion and not to seek It."
How sad It will be for those who
come to the door and And It shut, be
cause they were not ready when the
summons came.
"Lite, late, so late, and dark the night
and chill,
Lato, late, so late, but we can enter
still.
Too late, too late; ye cannot enter
now."
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