NOVEMBER 21. LESSON XLVII. 1875. Sunday before Advent. 1. Then shall the kingdom of heaven be likened unto ten virgins, which took their lamps, and went forth to meet the bridegroom. 2. And five of them were wise, and five were foolish. 3. They that were foolish took their lamps, and took no oil with them: 4. But the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps. 5. While the bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered and slept. 6. And at midnight there was a cry made, Behold, the bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet him. 7. Then all those virgins arose, and trimmed their lamps. St. Matthew xxv. 1-13. 8. And the foolish said unto the wise, Give us of your oil; for our lamps are gone out. 9. But the wise answered, saying, Not so; lest there be not enough for us and you: but go ye rather to them that sell, and buy for your selves. 10. And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came; and they that were ready went in with him to the marriage: and the door was shut. 11. Afterward came also the other virgins, saying, Lord, Lord, open to us. 12. But he answered and said, Verily I say unto you, I know you not. 13. Watch therefore; for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh. QUESTIONS. 1. To what solemn event does this parable refer? What Jewish customs does Christ employ in this representation? Who are represented by the virgins? Who by the bridegroom? 2. What is said of the virgins? 3 and 4. What did the foolish virgins do? What did the wise do? Was there a separate vessel containing oil to replenish the lamps? Did the foolish virgins take a supply-vessel with them? What do the lamps denote? What does the oil denote? What sort of professing Christians are represented by the foolish virgins? What by the wise? 5. Was the falling asleep of the virgins caused by the delay of the bridegroom? Is this feature of the parable intended to imply a censure of the virgins? Is our Lord long in coming again? What should we do while He delays? 6. What cry was heard at midnight? When the Judgment Day comes what sound will be heard? 1 Thess. iv. 16. 7. Did the virgins hear this cry? What did they do? Does this imply self-examination? 8 and 9. What did the foolish virgins ask of the wise? What did these reply? Is it foolish to look to men for that grace which God alone can supply? Can any Christian have more of grace than he needs for his own wants? Who are represented by them that sell? 10. Who went in with the bridegroom? What does this signify? What is denoted by the shutting of the door? 11 and 12. Who came afterwards? Had they obtained oil? What did they say? What did the Lord answer? What does His I know you not mean? Were the foolish virgins excluded from the marriage feast? 13. What warning is contained in this verse? Will Christ's second advent be unexpected? Is there danger that you may not be prepared for His coming? What is it to watch? CATECHISM. XLVII. Lord's Day. 122. Which is the first petition? "HALLOWED BE THY NAME;" that is, grant us first rightly to know Thee, and to sanctify, glorify and praise Thee in all Thy works, in which Thy power, wisdom, goodness, justice, mercy, and truth, are clearly displayed, and further also, that we may so order and direct our whole lives, our thoughts, words and actions, as that Thy name may never be blasphemed, but rather honored and praised on our account. 1 Rejoice, all ye believers! And let your lights appear; The evening is advancing, And darker night is near; The Bridegroom is arising, And soon He draweth nigh; Up! pray, and watch, and wrestle; At midnight comes the cry. 2 The watchers on the mountain COMMENTS.-1. This parable refers to the second advent of Christ, and to the judgment awaiting professing Christians. It is based upon Jewish marriage customs. Their nuptials took place at night. At the appointed time. the bridegroom, accompanied by male friends, proceeded to the home of the bride to bring her to his own house. Somewhere, on the way he would return, maiden friends of the bride were in waiting, with lighted lamps in their hands. When the procession approached they joined it, went along into the house of the bridegroom, and took part in the marriage festivities. In this parable the bridegroom represents Christ; the virgins represent professing Christians; the return of the bridegroom represents Christ's second advent. 3 and 4. The lamps signify Christian profession. The oil signifies spiritual life. Both classes are represented as having lamps, and as having oil in them. But there is this great difference, that the wise have a supply of oil to replenish their lamps, while the foolish have none. Both the wise and the foolish virgins represent persons who have made a beginning in a true Christian life. The wise make constant use of the divinely appointed means, and thereby grow in grace; the foolish neglect the use of means, being satisfied with what they have and are. Unlike St. Paul, they say: "We have already attained; we are already perfect." 8 and 9. "Every man must live by his own faith. The wise virgins did all they could for their unfortunate companions. They gave them the best counsel possible under the circumstances, when they said: Go ye rather to them that sell, and buy for yourselves; i. e., turn to the dispensers of heavenly grace, to them whom God has appointed in the Church as channels of His gifts; or, as some would explain it, to the prophets and apostles, and learn from their words and teaching how to revive the work of God in your souls, if yet there be time.” 11 and 12. It is not said that they obtained oil; rather, having sought for it in vain, they come looking for mercy when it is the time of judgment. The Lord does not disclaim knowledge of them, but He refuses to acknowledge them as His own, refuses to regard them worthy to enter in to the marriage Supper of the Lamb. Robbing God. One Sunday a gentleman was going to Church. On his way he saw a number of boys playing on the common. He wanted very much to show them how wrong it was for them to be so doing; but he knew that if he began to reprove them they would not listen to him. So he walked leisurely up to them, and sat down on the grass. Presently, in a pleasant, familiar tone, he said, "Boys, I want to tell you a story." Directly they all gathered around him, and he began as follows: "There was once a good man who was noted for his kindness and liberality. At the time of which I speak he was on a journey. As he was pursuing his way along a lonely road, he met a man who represented himself as having suffered a great loss, in consequence of which he was in deep distress. With his usual kindness the good man drew out his purse, and after examining it, he said, 'I have only seven pounds with me, but I think that with one pound I can get to the end of my journey, and you shall have the rest.' handed the man the six pounds. Was not that generous? Would not you have thought that the beggar must have gone off, feeling very grateful and contented? Certainly, we should have expected this. But he did no such thing. He was not a beggar at all, but a robber; and seeing that the good man had still one pound in his purse, he knocked him down with a club, and stole his last pound from him." With this he The boys were very indignant on hearing this. They all cried out against the shameful conduct of the robber. "Now," said the gentleman; "let me tell you boys, this is just what you are doing. God has given you freely six days out of the seven for your own use. He has kept only one for Himself, to be kept holy, and spent in worshiping Him; and yet you are so mean as to rob Him even of that!" The boys hung down their heads. They had not a word to say, but broke up their play and went off.-The Biblical Treasury. A Governor in a Hogshead. A good-natured philanthropist was walking along the docks one Sunday morning, when he found a boy asleep in a hogshead. He shook him till he was wide awake, and then opened the following conversation : "What are you doing here, boy?" "I slept here all night, sir, for I had no other place to sleep in." "How is that? Have you no father you ?" "My father drinks, sir, and I don't or mother? Who takes care of know where he is. I have to take care of myself, for my mother's dead; she died not long ago." And at the mention of her name the boy's eyes filled with tears. "Well, come along with me. give you a home and look after you well as I can." I'll as The child thus adopted on the wharf was taken to a happy home. He was sent to a common school, to a commercial school, to a classical school, and afterwards employed as clerk in the store of his benefactor. When he became of age, his friend and benefactor said to him," You have been a faithful and honest boy and man, and if you will make three promises, I will furnish you with goods and letters of credit, so that you can start business at the West on your own account." "What promises do you wish me to make?" inquired the young man. "First, that you will not drink intoxicating liquors of any kind." "I agree to that." "Second, that you will not use profane speech." I agree to that." "Third, that you will not become a politician. "I agree to that." The young man started business in the West, and by minding his own business in a few years he became a rich man. At the close of the war he came East, and called upon his friend and adopted father. In the course of a happy interview, the philanthropist asked his adopted son if he had kept his total abstinence pledge. "Yes," was the answer. The streets and wharves of the great metropolis of commerce invite missionary effort, and the writer hopes that the little waifs afloat on the waves of outdoor life will not be neglected.-George W. Bungay. Voltaire's remark concerning the physicians of France, "that they put drugs of which they know little, into bodies of which they know less," may suggest to teachers the necessity of understanding whom as well as what they teach. Whilst truth is immutable, the methods of presenting truth are various, and this variety must arise from and be adapted to those to whom the truth is presented. volume published some years ago, constituted a part. The publishers wish to employ reliable canvassers to sell the "Have you abstained from the use work. Address Daniel Miller, Reading, of profane speech ?" Pa. The Guardian. VOL. XXVI. BEGIN IN TIME. DECEMBER, 1875, The close of the year for the GUARDIAN is approaching. Now is the time to raise clubs of subscribers. Sunday Schools or congregations taking twentyfive, fifty, or one hundred copies, will get the GUARDIAN at reduced rates; the larger the number the lower the rates. But these lists of new subscribers ought by all means to be sent to the publishers before the end of the year. For terms see the fourth page of the cover. Need of Help. We greatly need more contributors to the GUARDIAN. Many pastors, whose Sunday-school teachers take it, might do them and others a good service by writing for it. We entreat them to aid us in this good work. Autumn Spiritualized. BY THE EDITOR. In Germany the closing festival of the Church Year is called the Todtenfest-the festival in memory of the dead. It comes on the Sunday before Advent. In this country, too, not a few Reformed and Lutheran pastors observe it. A funeral sermon is preached in memory of all the members of the congregation who have died during the year preceding, and words of comfort and hope are spoken to all who mourn the loss of departed ones. The whole is a solemn summing up of death's doings in the flock during the year, and in hymns and prayers all the bereavements and sorrows caused thereby are NO. 12. devoutly brought before the Lord. During many years have we observed this festival. Sometimes we read a list of the names of the deceased, their respective ages and their virtues, if such they had, attended with such comments and commendations as their life may suggest. We deem this a festival worthy to be observed, and commend its observance to others. It happens at a very opportune time. For fifty-two Sundays Christians have devoutly followed the Saviour, from His conception to His glorification, and the establishing of His Church. On the festivals commemorating the leading events of His life, Christmas, Good Friday, Easter, and Whit-Sunday, they solemnly gathered around the Cross to partake of the holy communion. And now, on the threshold of His birth, they pause around the graves of the departed, as did the ancient Christians, singing hymns of comforting adoration and praise for the victory vouchsafed to those who have gone to inherit the promises. In Brazil the mournful song of a bird is taken to be a message which the dead send to their surviving friends on earth, and they accordingly treat the feathery messenger with kindly respect. And after our swallows, blackbirds, martins, and other birds of passage have departed, the few that remain with us chirp and sing in broken and mournful passages, as though they felt more like sobbing than singing. And we have sometimes thought that the Brazilian theory may not be altogether an empty fancy. Those who have an ear to hear the voice of truth in things natural, and are in religious sympathy ness. By degrees one loses the musical and mirthful tension. Gradually the nerves are unstrung. The senses become less acute. The sight becomes dim, the hearing dull, the voice screechy and husky. By and by, like the nightingale, the aged, weary pilgrim sings his plaintive songs with but "a single, low, croaking note." with the teachings of Nature, hear and feel sermons in these autumnal sounds, as touching as they are true. The old Sclavonic tribes began their year in autumn. To their simple, untutored minds the most natural terminus of the year was the season in which the grass withered and the flower thereof faded away; when the tinted leaves faded and fell, floating in the air and falling like large snow-flakes in a winter's storm, rustling and drifting together in dells and plains, as if seeking a grave wherein to return to the dust. Theirs was a natural division of time. After their harvests had been gathered and garnered, and kind Nature had poured its bounteous products into their laps, be-years; it can not withstand the yearly fore it gently sank into inactive repose for a season, when old things had passed away, and preparing for all things to become new-at that period it was befitting to mark the opening of the new year. The scenes and surroundings of Autumn excite sad and solemn reflections in thinking and sensitive minds. These yearly dyings remind one of Paul, who felt that he "died daily." Even the irrational creation seems to be in sympathy with the general passing away of things. The cattle low less. You seldom hear the crowing of a cock, or the cackling of a hen, though she daily lay her egg. The most birds have left us for parts unknown; left like the dear sainted dead, for a more genial clime. The few that remain either will not or cannot sing. They chirp in broken sounds, more like sobbing than singing. Their pipes seem muffled. The nightingale, whose notes are so melodious in carly summer, now seldom gets above a melancholy croak. The instrument seems to be out of tune; the singing organs seem to be deranged by a serious cold. How much all this resembles human life-a graphic panorama of a great living reality. The spring or youth of life is sweetly musical and merry. Then one breathes in an atmosphere freighted with pleasant odors and sounds. Like the early birds, one nimbly skips and sweeps along the path of life in mirthful glee. Like them, too, every nerve and organ are tuned to pleasing impres sions from without, trembling with delight at every touch of God's good There is no escape from this decay— no discharge in this war. The tall, sturdy elm, in its exuberance of life, with a great trunk and bushy foliage, no less than the more frail cherry and peach, must see itself stripped of its beautiful garb. It has withstood the mighty sweep of the tempest for fifty decay of its leaves. They must fall before the scythe of decay no less than the delicate clover blades around its trunk. The showy autumn dahlia must depart no less than the humble mignonette. The sweet-smelling rose which you have so tenderly nursed in your garden, must perish no less than its wild sister, blooming and blushing unseen in some bleak mountain solitude, wasting its fragrance on the desert air. The There is one battle which all must fight, and in which all must fall. Nor beauty nor strength, nor wealth nor wisdom, can bribe the king of terrors from your door. Goliath falls at the hands of the little son of Jesse. beautiful Absalom dies before Mephibosheth, the deformed son of Jonathan. Solomon in all his glory, at length, in spite of all the careful and costly embalming of his corpse, mingles with the dust like the leprous beggar who looked at him from afar. Wellington and his valet, Washington and his groom, Napoleon and the street-sweepers of Paris, now all mingle their dust with the same common earth, where one could not be distinguished from the other. "The tall, the wise, the reverend head, Must lie as low as ours." Not only in the Autumn of our earthly course are we liable to die. But in the summer or spring tide. The deadly frosts of life are as fatal in June as in January, in May as in March. "Leaves have their time to fall, And flowers to wither at the North wind's breath, But thou hast all seasons for thine own O death." |