inference and conclusion from the whole. Ponder the word, and let it keep thy whole soul awake to the great business of thy everlasting interest in him. - -For ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh. He cometh when death cometh ; and you know not how soon that may open, or shut the door for ever. LECTURE. OUR Lord's design in this parable cannot be mistaken, he himself tells us what it is; it is to put all who are called by his name, and hope to be owned by him, upon watching and preparing for his coming. Every man's death is that time, the Lord's coming to him; and now mark what follows. If we have been looking and waiting for it, in faith, patience, and well-doing, he will take us to himself, we shall sit down at the marriagesupper of the Lamb; if we have sinned, or dozed away all our time, or lived only to ourselves, and to the cares of the world, in ignorance or neglect of our great work under Christ, we shall be separated from him, and shut out of his kingdom for ever. I must ask you one question upon this, and may the Spirit of God come close to your hearts with it: Have you a serious thought and purpose of being ready? Then you have been convinced of sin, and of death for sin. You have seen the corruption and helplessness of your nature, and the misery of a natural state; then you have been made sensible of your want of a Redeemer, and of the all-sufficiency of Christ to save you; then you have been carefully inquiring what you must do to get an interest in him; then you have fled to him in the peril of your souls, as your only refuge from condemnation, and are now living unto him in all such ways as he directs, and you know to be necessary for securing your portion in him. You are diligent readers of Scripture, to know what God has done for you, and to hear him speaking to you in it; you use prayer as for your lives; you attend constantly upon the public worship of God, and the sacrament of the Lord's supper; you have regard to all God's commandments; you keep the one thing needful steadily in view; and when you think with yourselves what you would ask of God, if you might have your wish, you can answer, and say at once, forgiveness of sins, peace with God, through Jesus Christ our Lord, a heart to love him, and a will to obey him. Alas! I fear they will not, I have told you what you are, and will, and must be, if you are truly waiting for the coming of the Lord, in Christian faith, hope, and living; Christ will be your joy, his salvation your comfort in life and death, and St. Paul's question to him will be always uppermost in your thoughts, "Lord, what wouldest thou have me to "do?" Let your consciences speak; let your hearts tell you whether it is so or not. I must therefore speak; I must tell you the truth, whether you will hear it or not; I must be faithful to your souls. Indeed, my brethren, there is hardly the least appearance of any such knowledge, faith, or work among us, as I have briefly mentioned; generally speaking, no sense of sin, nor dread of a sinful state; no inquiring after Christ; no hunger and thirst for his blessings; no looking and longing for redemption by him, as if you were sold into slavery, and captives in a dungeon, as, indeed, you are, till he delivers you from your natural darkness, from the curse of sin, from all your spiritual enemies; no submission to the authority of the Most High God, nor solemn purpose of obedience; no show of religion, except coming to church on Sundays, and that in very many not constantly, and the coming now and then of a few to the sacrament. What, my friends? Is this all? Is this believing to the saving of the soul? Is this having oil in your lamps? Is this watching for the coming of your Lord? Is this being ready? Will you abide by this poor form of an empty profession, and rest Know your mistake; know unbelief, and want of con your eternal hopes upon it? your blindness; know your version; consider, and be instructed from what you have heard to-day. The foolish virgins put themselves in company with those who waited for the bridegroom, and expected to enter in with them to the marriage; but being unprovided of oil in their lamps, had the door shut upon them, and were rejected for ever, with those heart-breaking words, "I know you not." What now will you say to this, and what is your condition this hour, if you have nothing to . allege for yourselves, nothing to plead for your admission into heaven, but your baptism and Christian name? I say again, the foolish virgins were seekers; they pretended tö be in the way to the kingdom of heaven; they had a form or appearance of religion, and came boldly to the door, with these words in their mouths, "Lord, Lord, open to "us;" but, alas! it was too late; it was in vain; hear it once more, a name, a form, a profession of religion only, is not seeking truly, and according to the mind of Christ; nor will any such, whatever they may think of themselves, have the door opened to them. The Lord make you know and feel in your hearts what the truth of conversion is; that, coming to him in repentance and faith, cleaving to him in all holy obedience, and desiring nothing so much as to grow in grace, and in the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, you may be received and welcomed by him, as his faithful servants, in the day of his coming. PRAYER. Blessed God, who hast caused the light of the Gospel to shine unto us, and received us into thy kingdom of grace, as the way to thy everlasting kingdom of glory in heaven; grant that we, receiving the Lord Jesus Christ into our hearts by faith, may give all diligence to make our calling and election sure, by gladly submitting to his teaching and authority, and walking in the Spirit. Let thy love be a holy fire in our souls, and do thou keep it burning day and night with continual supplies of thy grace. Keep us ever mindful of that time when we shall lie down in the dust, and be sealed up in our graves to the coming of our Lord; and of thy great mercy teach us the heavenly wisdom of making our lives a continual preparation for it. Let thy word be ever before us as our guide; do thou bless it to us, and deliver us from the wretched deceit of thinking that we are in the way to eternal life, when we neglect the means of attaining it. Call powerfully to those who are lying in the dead sleep of a sinful, careless, or worldly life: stir up thy children to greater degrees of watchfulness and fidelity, and seal the instruction we have now heard to all our hearts, that we may not be surprised with the midnight cry, and found without oil in our lamps. When we hear those awakening, awful words, Behold! the bridegroom, the Lord cometh; let our souls answer, Come, Lord Jesus, come now; as thou hast purged our sins, and redeemed us by thy death, come and live in us; be thou our Lord and Governor, take possession of us by thy Spirit, make us thine in faith and purity here, thine for ever in the glory and blessedness of thy kingdom. We know not the hour of thy coming; we know thou wilt come; we know thou camest into the world with bowels of pity to make us ready for thee; forbid it, Lord, that our knowledge of thee, and of our great work under thee, should lie dead upon our hands, or that thou shouldest say to any of us, in that day, I know you not. God be merciful to us, and help us; that, being cleansed from all our sins, and keeping our eyes steadily fixed on the one thing needful, we may be found of thee in peace, and received to thy mercy in Jesus Christ, our blessed and only Saviour. Amen. SECTION LVII. ST. MATTHEW, XXV. 14. WHO called his own servants.-It is of the utmost importance to us, to bear it continually upon our hearts, that we are all the servants of the Most High God, have our daily task assigned us, and are accountable to him for our fidelity. Not knowing, or not sufficiently attending to this, is the great blindness and sin of the world. Ver. 15. To every man according to his several ability.— Consider what is before you. Know your own work, and keep your thoughts bent to it. Look not at those who are higher in grace or abilities, to be discouraged, but to imitate them; nor at those who are lower, to nourish pride, but to be thankful, and double your diligence. Ver. 16. Went and traded with the same. You know what trading is, and that those who would be successful in it, must be sober and diligent, and keep their thoughts close to it day by day. Are you thus trading for the greatest of all gains? Can you think of one day in your life, one sabbath, that was ever so employed for heaven? Ver. 18. He that had received one, &c. He that had the least work to do, was the only one of the three that made a difficulty of it. God, who knew this man's |