THE PARABLE OF THE TEN VIRGINS
BY
ROBERT GOVETT
[Page 1]
That the parable of the
wise and foolish virgins has been misunderstood, the following pages are designed to show. And the
misunderstanding is traceable to several assumptions, which have been silently
made by commentators. These assumptions, then, let us examine, before entering
on the interpretation here given.
The main assumption, nearly
universal among writers on this parable, is that “Sincere
Christians are the wise virgins, and hypocrites the foolish ones.” The
wise virgins are those “who truly enjoy,” the
foolish, “those who only profess the purity and
holiness of His (Christ’s) religion” and
From this assumption it immediately follows that the writers seek to make
differences, where Christ has made agreement, in order to distinguish
fundamentally the foolish from the wise. Now the Saviour has stated that they
were alike in eight points, and that they differ in one only.
They agree in (1) being virgins
(2) and going forth - (3) to meet the bridegroom (4) In taking their lamps -
(5) In falling asleep (6) In sleeping till the cry (7)
In rising at the cry (8) In trimming their lamps. The one point of disagreement
is that some carried no oil in another vessel for future supply: for oil in their
lamps for present use they all had.
All these points of identity are sought to be depressed, or contradicted, in order that
they may wear an unfavourable aspect towards the foolish virgins. But taken simply, and as the Saviour has stated the matter, the
whole bears quite another appearance. All that is alleged against them is
simple foolishness, or want of foresight of what was expedient towards the
securing the desired admission to the wedding feast. The Saviour would manifest
that all previous care and steps taken towards it were
rendered vain by the omission of one. But no
hint is dropped of their double dealing or wickedness. On the contrary they are alike in inward character, as to their
persons: in external characteristics, as to their works, and in the principle
whence they flowed. They were alike as to their voluntary position of
separation, and its motive was the same in all.
2. But secondly, that
they are not hypocrites, or formal professors, is clear from the character
given them by the Saviour. They are “virgins” all.
This is the character of the true Christian alone. “I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ.” If virgins, then are they not “corrupted
from the simplicity that is in Christ:” 2 Corinthians 11: 2, 3.
They are pure, and purity is combined with the sister graces of “longsuffering,” “kindness,” - “the Holy Ghost,” “love unfeigned,” “the
word of truth,” and “the armour
of righteousness:” 2 Corinthians 6: 6, 7. It is joined
with things true, honest, just, lovely, and of good report: Philippians
4: 8.
It is conjoined with the hope of [Page 3] Christ’s appearing, and “he that
hath this hope purifieth himself even as Christ is pure:” 1 John 3: 3.
3. If they were professors alone, or hypocrites, they would be
described as adulteresses. “Ye adulterers, and
adulteresses, know ye
not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God?” James 4: 4. The
character given of them, by Him who cannot err, would have been that, they
were, to His eyes, professed virgins indeed, but really harlots. Thus the
Church of Rome, which professes itself the chaste spouse of Christ, is by Him
who truly reads, and truly testifies of character before Himself, described as
“the Great Whore.”
4. Lastly, you cannot wedge in a
distinction where Christ has made none. If the virginity of the foolish be professed only, so is the virginity of the wise.
(b) It
follows from the same assumption that the case of the foolish virgins, on
awaking, is a desperate one. If they wanted true grace all through their lives,
vain and fruitless must be all hope of attaining it then. But
this does not appear so either to the wise virgins, or the foolish. Nor do the
wise virgins reject as absurd and impossible the application made to themselves for oil.
(c) But
there is one point more assumed, which, perhaps, one might say is the radical
error, from which all, or nearly all, the others have flowed. This is, that the rejection by the bridegroom is damnation, and
that the separation of the wise and foolish is eternal. Hence
it was argued since none but the false and insincere will be shut out from
eternal life, those so shut out must be hypocrites. And then
follow the consequences just named, and others afterward to be noticed. But proof is not given, though so much depends on it. After
this assumption, commentators perplex themselves to make out an adequate reason
for the damnation of the foolish, and thus are driven
to overstate the Lord’s words, and to make distinctions where He has made
agreements. From the same mistake it originates that
they confound wisdom and folly with wickedness and holiness: and loss of
privilege with a trust wilfully betrayed. Again, if the awaking of the virgins be the resurrection, then the resurrection of the saved and
of the lost occurs at the same time, contrary to the express declaration of Revelation 20. Or else, awaking must signify death, and the virgins’ rising
up must signify a sinner’s lying down to die!
(d) Again,
the assumption that the foolish virgins are hypocrites has entirely diverted
the instruction of the parable from those truly concerned in it. For if the
foolish be hypocrites, then are the unbeliever [Page 4] and the formalist the
characters to whom it is addressed: and they who know themselves to be sincere,
pass by this most important lesson, as not bearing on themselves. To show the
falsehood then of the assumption, it is only necessary to observe that it is a lesson of the Lord Jesus to His true disciples alone.
If the foolish be unbelievers, the lesson is to those
that are not Christ’s true disciples. But the prophecy
on the
II. On the question of their “taking their
lamps and going forth,” misapprehension again comes in. “They
make a show of being ready.” “All their care is
to recommend themselves to their neighbours ... not to approve them selves to
Christ. Tell them of things not seen as get, and you are as
III. The same current of misrepresentation sets in again with
regard to the lamp (properly “torch”). “The lamp is the profession of enjoying the burning and
shining light of the gospel of Christ.” In order that a lamp may be profession
alone, it must be a lamp not lit. But these are lamps
lighted. Nor have they lamps alone, they go forth with them: and this is
practice corresponding with profession. Christians alone “shine as lights in the world.” “Ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye
light in the Lord.” And to maintain that the foolish are
deficient in the necessary display of good works is to make our Lord’s
description preposterous: for He assigns as the characteristic
note of folly the not taking the vessel of oil which lay unemployed,
the lamp being (if I may so call it) the working vessel, up to the very time of
their awaking. The fact is, commentators blame them as deficient with
regard to the present; Christ, on the other hand, notes their folly only in regard to the future. The unused oil is
the characteristic difference.
IV. We now
come to the decisive question. What is the oil?
1. Is it grace? Is it faith, or love? Then it is internal grace
exhibited in its legitimate effect, the light given. Then can
not the foolish be hypocrites, or formalists. And
to all who believe in the perseverance of the saints the question is settled,
that they cannot finally fall away, and be lost: and therefore their rejection
at the close is not final damnation. Here the inconsistency of the [Page 5] interpreters appears. “Grace is the oil.” Oil is “the
grace and salvation of God, or that faith which works by love.” Then is
it monstrous to affirm of the foolish virgins that “they have no principle within.” Then is it a
dereliction of principle in a Calvinistic commentator, to speak of their
failing away. And then, even in an Arminian expositor,
it is a contradiction to affirm that the lamp was profession alone: for the
lamp has oil, and the oil is grace.
2. But some, seeing this, have adopted an evasion
which more directly contradicts the text. They assume that the foolish
had no oil at all. “The wick that had blazed for a moment,
was now burned down.” “What a useless thing is a lamp
without oil!” “All formal professors are like
these foolish virgins ... forgetting that the
lamp without oil the outward appearance, without the inward grace, is useless.”
Against this misrepresentation it is enough to state that
the lamps of the foolish were burning for hours, yea till midnight, not only
while they were awake, but while they slept: and that their lamps did not begin
to fail any earlier than those of the wise virgins. And
if there were no oil in the lamps of the foolish, so neither was there any in
those of the wise: for all that is stated as a matter of difference in their
cases is, that the wise had “oil in their vessels,” and
not in their lamps only.
3. But lastly, would
any affirm that the oil (though the principle within which sustains the light)
is something “short of true grace”? then there is no evidence that the wise were true disciples.
For they differ from the foolish only in having more oil. It
is a question, not between those who have some oil and those who have none, but
between those who have little, and those who have more. If then oil be a
formal thing, a great deal of it is no better than a little.
But if it be real internal grace, then a little of it
is as secure of eternal life, as a great deal. It is either true grace in both,
or false show in both. The parable turns, not on the quality of the oil as good or
bad, but on its quantity as enough, or less than enough. Having considered these preliminary
points, let us now pass to the interpretation of the parable.
MATTHEW 25: 1.
1. “Then shall the kingdom of heaven be
likened unto ten virgins who took their torches and went forth for the purpose
of meeting the bridegroom.”
As regards the question of
interpretation throughout the prophetic parables, this principle is assumed
(the very contrary to that which is so frequently met with in commentaries and
expositions) that no part of them is [Page 6] trivial or useless, and merely intended for ornament. To
maintain the reverse of this seems to me unbelief. It is a manifestation of the
incapacity of the expounder, or of the fallacy of his exposition, but nothing
more. It is a mistake of which even the maker of enigmas
among men is not guilty. Would any one be satisfied with the explanation
of an enigma that answered with more or less adaptation some of the conditions
of a riddle, but left others unsatisfied; and explained them away, as meaning
nothing, but mere ornament. Much less would it be accounted satisfactory if the
explanation contradict some of the statements. But we are not left even to a clear analogy between the
enigmas of God and those of men. Direct instruction of the Saviour affirms that
“the Scripture cannot be broken,” and “Till heaven and earth pass, one
jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law till all be fulfilled:”
Matthew 5: 18.
And if no jot of the law shall pass, how much less of
the Gospel? But more directly still. “Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away:” Matthew 24: 35 a
notice peculiarly applying to the discourse whence this parable is taken.
It is vain to say, as some do,
that we are to take the general meaning of the parable alone, in order to
obtain the lesson of it. For the general meaning can only be guessed at, till we have obtained the meaning of the symbols and action
of the parable.
The first word of this passage
is important, and calls for remark. “The” This
admits of two interpretations, both, however nearly agreeing with each other.
(1) We may understand it in
general of “the time of the end,” or, according to the
disciples’ question, of Christ’s “presence, and the end of the age,” as the Saviour says,
in the former chapter, “Then shall the end come:” Matthew 24: 14.
(2) Or we may under stand it
more strictly as parallel with the time described before. In days like those of
Noah (Matthew24: 37-51), in the hour not thought of by the wicked
servant, at the time when the watchful
and unwatchful shall be suddenly separated - “then shall the kingdom of heaven be likened to ten virgins.”
A part of the parable is
preparatory, or is supposed to be past before the scene occurs, to which our
attention is particularly called. The first five verses are descriptive of the
state of things in their principles, and accounting for the results
which follow. The point of time to which the word “then” at the commencement refers is, I judge, contained in the
word - “were sleeping.” This states the condition in
which they were found, and which will have its
answering scene in the hour of the Saviour’s coming. The effects
which follow on the [Page 7] awaking are
those to which the reader’s eye is specially drawn as characteristic of that
time.
But what is
intended by the expression “Kingdom of heaven”? I
consider the period intended by it the same with that contemplated by the
parables of Matthew 13.; and
that it answers in part to the time of mystery, and the present Church
dispensation. The parable begins from the commencement of the expectation of
the bridegroom’s return, and ends with the presence of the Lord Jesus in
heaven, and His marriage supper on high. Thus the whole period, from the first
setting forth of the return of the Lord Jesus as the hope of the believer, to
the consummation of this hope in glory, is taken in. The same period, I judge,
is intended in the parables of the king taking account of his servants (Matt. 18.); and the parable of the wedding garment (Matthew 22.).
“Ten virgins.” The number ten is used, with reference to
the previous “two:” Matthew 24: 40. The ten represent the dead, the two the
living disciples. Ten is the number of the lamps in the
We inquire next, who are the “virgins”? Most reply, the church in general: the visible body of
professing Christians. But then the proportion of the
wise is far too large. Are the half of professing
Christians wise? And further, all these are found
asleep when the Lord comes. But it is not so with the
church in general. “We shall not all sleep.” And
this holds, whether the sleep be supposed a spiritual deadness, or literal
death. That they are believers, the Saviour has
furnished us with most evident proofs.
1. They are “virgins.” Therefore they are chaste and pure
in the Lord’s sight: 2 Corinthians 11: 2, 3.
2. They “take their torches.” And all those torches are lighted: verse 8. Then they are “the sons of God ... in the
midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among
whom they shine as lights in the world:” Philippians
2: 15. And
their light is that of good works. “Ye are
the light of the world.” “Let your light so
shine before men that they may see your good works;” Matthew 5: 14-16. Unbelievers are darkness; believers only
are “light in the Lord:” Ephesians 5: 8.
3. They “go forth.” Then are they children of faithful Abraham, leaving their
homes and city through hope and faith: Hebrews 11. Then
are they [Page 8] the
children of God, as it is written, “Wherefore
come ye out from among them and be ye separate ... and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty:” 2 Corinthians 6:
17, 18.
4. They go forth, “to meet the bridegroom.” Then
they believe in, and hope for, His appearing: 2 Timothy 4: 8. And to them belongs not only salvation, but the hope of reward.
5. In
these four particulars we have given us the inward personal character,
and the outward display, the act, the constantly maintained attitude, and the
motive. And all are pure. Where is there room for hypocrisy or lip profession? They
have faith as is manifested by their going forth. They have works, as is
manifest by their lighted torches. They believe with the heart, as is manifest
by their going out to meet the bridegroom. They confess Him before men by their
torches. Their salvation then is certain; for faith
and confession make salvation sure: Romans 10: 9, 10. These
points apply to all, wise and foolish alike. For if the
foolish ‘virgins’ torches were
not lighted, so neither were those of the wise.
6. If the sleep be death, then
are they believers, for of none else (I believe) is it spoken in the New
Testament. The proof that the sleep is death will be found
in its place.
7. They all* rise together; and
the first resurrection is of [‘blessed
and holy’] believers alone: Revelation 20: 5,
6.
[* That is, all that are judged as “accounted worthy” rise together. See also Luke 20: 35; Phil. 3: 11; Heb. 11: 35b, etc.
Cf. Num. 14:
21-30; 1
Cor. 10: 5-11; Acts 7: 4, 5; Rev. 2: 21- 25 R.V.).]
8. The parable was
addressed to [regenerate] believers only.
They represent, I suppose, those
in general who have fallen asleep in Christ, since the return of Jesus as the
Bridegroom began to be preached, and the gifts of the
Holy Ghost were dispensed. Hence the saints of the Old
Testament are [not] excluded
from the meaning and lesson of the parable.
The reasons why the title “virgins” is given to believers in the present parable,
are, I submit, two. First, the disciple’s name is ruled
by that which his Master takes. As then the Saviour
Himself as the Bridegroom, the [obedient] disciple takes the place of the attendant
bridesmaid, or virgin companion of the bride. * Secondly, because the parable is designed to represent to us the manner in which a
valuable privilege was lost, through want of foresight; no relation was so fit
to display this loss as the voluntary one of bridesmaid. This seemed to promise
a place at the marriage feast, while, notwithstanding, the honour and pleasure
were lost through improvidence.
[* See Ruth 2: 3, 12, 20, 23; 3: 1, 5, 6; 4: 10, R.V.
etc.]
[Page 9]
The subjects of the parable are
female virgins, and as such are marked out as companions of the bride, abiding
with her, as the 144,000 virgins of Rev. 14. are the special
companions of the bridegroom, attendant on him in his passage to and fro
between the earthly and the heavenly
Lastly, they arise at the
Saviour’s first approach. Now this is the privilege of “those that are Christ’s:” 1
Corinthians 15.Who took their “torches.” “Torch” rather than “lamp” is the
true translation of the word. It is a light for out of door use, while the lamp
is fitted for indoor service: (Luke 12: 35).
Torches or flambeaux are larger lights than those used for the house, which
last are more liable to be blown out by gust of wind and rain. Torches were,
and are still, in use in the East for nuptial processions. They
were vessels of iron or brass, funnel shaped, ending from a broad mouth in a
point, which point was in serted into a handle of
wood that the oil might not flow down to the hand, or the communicated heat be
too great for the bearer to endure, as would have been the case had the whole
been of metal alone. In this funnel shaped cavity
rags were placed as the wick, and oil was poured to maintain the light. We read
of such instruments as these in Gideon’s adventure with the Midianites.
They were used also by those who
came forth to arrest Jesus in Gethsemane, and the translation there is the same
as is given above - “Judas, having
received a band of men and officers from the chief priests and Pharisees,
cometh thither with lanterns torches, and weapons:” John 18:
1. The same word
occurs again in the account of the meeting of the disciples at Troas, on the
first day of the week. As they came out by night, they provided
flambeaux to light them out and back again, and these were
suspended in the room to give light while Paul was preaching, and the
disciples broke bread in the upper room. The scene was, I believe, a type of
the marriage feast, here supposed: Acts 20.
That the torches were lighted and intended to give light, needs not any
proof. It is assumed throughout, and incidentally affirmed of
the foolish, about whose torches alone could there be any doubt: verse 8. And the light answers to whatever
of Christ’s doctrines or practice is maintained by the believer: Ephesians 5: 13. They
have both the inward principle, and its appropriate outward manifestation. The
burning and shining light is the proof of the oil within. And
thus faith is shown by works: James 2: 18.
“And went forth for the purpose of Meeting the bridegroom.” Here is
not only Christian profession, but answerable
Christian practice. They not only believed the bridegroom’s
coming, but they went forth to meet him.
This going forth implies the leaving of their own
houses and their city. Thus they take the position
required of the members of Christ. “Let us go forth therefore unto Him [Page 10] without the camp, bearing His reproach. For we have here no continuing
city, but we are seeking the one to come;” Hebrews 13: 13,
14. The torches
and their going forth made them distinct from the rest of the citizens; they are a body apart, both before and
after their sleep.* And both the torch and the act of going forth
were a testimony to others and to themselves that they hoped for the bride
groom’s appearing, and looked for a
place in the procession, and at the feast. They go forth in the
direction in which the bridegroom is expected, and wait for His appearing, which is the attitude of the true
believer in Jesus alone. None but he expects, desires, and “1oves His appearing.”
[* That is, before and after the time of Death.
See Luke 21: 36; Rev. 3: 10. Cf. 2 Tim. 2: 4: 8; Tit. 2: 13; Heb. 11: 6, 8, 13, 26, 35, R.V.]
“The Bridegroom.” This is, of course, the
Lord Jesus. “He that hath the bride is the
bridegroom” (John 3: 29): as John the Baptist testifies,
he himself being only the bride groom’s friend, rejoicing to hear the voice of
the bridegroom. “I will show thee the bride, the Lamb’s wife:” Revelation
21: 9. (See also Matthew 9: 15; Mark 2: 19; Luke 5: 34.)
The going forth of the virgins
to meet the Bridegroom is a mark of respect, love, and delight. Thus the servants of the centurion came forth to meet and
welcome their master with the joyful tidings of the healing of his son: John 4: 51. Thus also the brethren at
It is worthy of observation that
this mark of respect and love is said to be paid to the Bridegroom, and to Him
alone. The bride is not even once mentioned, though,
as the virgins are her female companions, we might have expected it. And, therefore, a few manuscripts add to the Saviour’s
declaration, and read - “They took their lamps, and went forth for the
purpose of meeting the bridegroom and the bride.” But this bears marks of being unauthorized human addition,
attempt ing to supply a supposed defect of the word of God.
Yet we are
permitted to know what is to be understood by the bride. It is not the
church universal: for the Saviour supposes it not yet gathered: and the present
chapter describes the manner of assembling it from the earth, and from the “gates of Hades,” when they shall no longer “prevail against it:” Matthew 16. But the bride is [in] the New Jerusalem, the
city of God, such as it was shown to John - “Come
hither, I will show thee the bride, the Lamb’s wife. And he
carried me away in spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me that great city, the holy
[Page 11]
For the
parable describes the procession of the bridegroom and bride in company, when
the bridegroom brings home the bride from her father’s house. The
usual interpretation supposes the contrary to this, namely, that the
bridesmaids come forth to meet the bridegroom, when he is proceeding to take
her. But first, this coming of the bridesmaids to meet
the bridegroom alone is not Eastern; and secondly, would not be accounted
consistent either with their or our notions of delicacy and propriety. The
procession is to the house of the husband, as Jarchi,
the great Jewish commentator, testifies was usual. “It is the custom in the land of Ishmael, to bring the bride
from the house of her father to that of her husband in the night time, and there
were about ten staves, upon the top of each of which was a brazen dish,
containing rags, oil, and pitch, and this being kindled, formed blazing
torches, which were carried before the bride.” This is also the
scriptural exhibition of the matter. “And Solomon
made affinity with Pharaoh, king of
Lastly, the structure of the
parable shows that the procession is that of the bridegroom and bride to the
house or hall of the former. For it is supposed throughout that his coming is a
rapid and momentary passage, not admitting of delay, and not offering any
opportunity of retrieving the loss if once the brief time be passed. But if the procession were the bridegroom’s going to fetch the
bride from her father’s house, then we must suppose that the virgins meet him,
accompany him back to the house of the bride’s father, attend him during the ceremonies
of receiving her, and that they then fall into his train as he retires with the
bride from her father’s house to his own. All this must produce
considerable delay a condition of things quite opposed to the rapidity and
directness of the movements indicated in the parable.
2. “And five of them were wise and five
were foolish. 3. They that were foolish, took their torches
and took no oil with them selves.*
4. But the wise
took oil in their vessels with their torches.”
* Thus translated, it is
seen to be an error to suppose that the foolish had no oil in their torches ...
Something additional and distinct is implied
by the present words: Matthew 12: 45; Mark 9: 8.
In a due perception or not of
the meaning of these verses lies the comprehension or misunderstanding of the
whole of the parable. Commentators, almost without exception, confound
foolishness with wickedness, and speak of the responsibility of the virgins.
This leads to a train of thought utterly astray [Page 12] from the scope of the parable. The virgins are
not described as entrusted with any thing on behalf of another, for
which they were called on to render account. Then they would have been under
responsibility, and either faithful or unfaithful, and so good or evil. But they are described
as respectively wise and foolish. Now this shows them to be
regarded by the Saviour in quite a different light from the former.
Prudence consists in a care of our own interests, as faithfulness consists in
watching over the interests of another. Wisdom (or more properly ‘prudence,’ (see Greek) is concerned in the provision
for our own advantage in the future; while folly is displayed in a careless
contentment in the present, and the disregard of the means necessary to
secure a man’s well being hereafter. Accordingly
wisdom and folly are displayed by the different behaviour of persons under the same
circumstances, in proportion as they act in a manner adapted to advance
their own interests.
This, therefore, is evidently
distinguished from the case of the servant, who is not left to his own will,
but is under orders, and is acting not for
himself, but for his master’s advantage, under a sense of account to be rendered in. Hence, in the parable
of the talents, the accepted servant is addressed as “Good and faithful;” the rejected as “Wicked and slothful.” But
the unjust steward, when he is regarded as acting with a view to advance his
own interests, is praised for his prudence; for he thoughtfully regarded the
calamities that would be likely to fall upon him in the future, and contrived
to ward them off. This example shows us that prudence is by no means equivalent
to holiness. Nay, the Saviour goes on to say, that the children of light are
more deficient in prudence for eternal glory, than the children of this world
are for the present scene. And [regenerate] believers are sometimes addressed as being foolish, or are
cautioned against it - “Therefore be ye not foolish;” Ephesians 5: 17.
“Thou fool, that which
thou sowest is not quickened except it die:” 1 Corinthians 15: 36.
“O foolish Galatians, who
hath bewitched you? Are ye so foolish?” Galatians 3: 1, 3.
Thus then it is with the [regenerate] virgins before us. They are all the children of light, but
some are deficient in foresight, and the provident securing of their own
advantage. And the advantage to be secured in the present
instance, is the possession of a place at the wedding feast of the Lord Jesus.
Now, in proportion to the value of the privilege ought to be their zeal and
forethought, to assure themselves of it, and to guard against any possibility
by which the desired object might be snatched from
their grasp. But this
prudence was possessed by but half of the number. Five only were wise, and
five foolish.
These five were foolish, because
so much pains were spent on attaining the end, and get
in vain, for want of forethought for the
future. Vain the going forth, the preparation and
lighting of the lamp, its first supply, and the watching [Page 13] for the
bridegroom. All the other steps were useless,
for want of the second supply.
They are wise or foolish in the
Saviour’s eyes from the very first, and He stamps their character, before He
proceeds to display it. The not taking the vessel of oil
is the one step of folly which draws on the disastrous result, and
this Jesus sets forth as the single point which characterizes them as wise or
foolish to His eye. But the foolish do not
see their error till the close. Nor are its
consequences manifested till then; although
all the succeeding parts of the parable are intended to exhibit the results of
the error. But during the time of delay, the
improvidence does not appear, for the bridegroom’s tarrying is the time of
mystery in which we now live. But at the coming of the
bridegroom, a new state of things ensues, and the wisdom of the wise is
apparent, and their foresight is crowned.
But the bridegroom rejects the foolish, that their
folly may appear. A very little prudence would have sufficed to attain the
desired end. They might have been prepared against all mischances,
by the simple provision of a little extra oil.
The foolish virgins were indeed
prepared, if the bridegroom came at the usual time; but the wise alone were
prepared, whether his coming were early or late. Under no circumstances of delay
could the prize escape their hold. Their torches could be made to burn till morn. But the foolish virgins
left a loophole, through which loss might enter; and at that neglected and
unguarded entrance, it did come in. Their want of vigilance herein was either
ignorance, not discerning the need, and not advertised
of it; or, reasoning folly, not receiving the warning when given. Their thought, and their plea, if asked - Why they had not provided
an oil vessel in case of need? would have been,
doubtless, that it was not essential, not absolutely necessary. They had enough
for the present; why should they imagine that anything more was required? The bridegroom might come very early for anything
they could tell; and then, where would be the wisdom of troubling themselves
with an additional burthen? Since the whole force of
the lesson of the parable depends on the meaning we attach to the second supply
of oil, I shall consider the point at some length.
First, I suppose it will be granted, that by oil is meant the grace [and continuous indwelling] of the Holy Ghost. And
this is twofold; either sanctifying or miraculous.
1. If then I show that the second
supply is not sanctifying grace, it will follow that it is miraculous
endowment, or “the gift by grace.”
(a) That it is not any
difference in degree of sanctification which is in question,
is clear from this that then the parable would supply us with no rule by
which to discern between wise and foolish. For if you tell me only, that the [Page 12] difference lies in degree of
sanctification, if you do not point out the degree, I must either
be terrified or secure. Terrified, if I think I have not the degree
requisite, while none con satisfy me what the degree required is; or secure,
that I have some grace, and why may not
that be enough to set me among the wise?
(b) It cannot be any degree of
sanctification, for this oil gives no light to the world. It is unemployed in
good works, which is the meaning of the light of the torch.
(c) As being a distinct supply, it
follows that the oil in the torch might be without that in the vessel, or vice
versa. But it is not true that any degree of the grace
of sanctification can be distinct from its display in good works. There cannot
be two supplies of it, independent the one of the other. But
miraculous gift is distinct from, and may be independent of grace: Matthew 7.
Three other proofs, arising from
(1) the request of the foolish, (2) the answer of the wise, and (3) the means
of repairing the error, will be found in another part.
2. The further relations of the two supplies prove it. The oil
in the torch is essential now, the oil in the vessel is not essential now. Such
is also the relative difference between the present necessity of sanctifying
grace, and of miraculous gift.
3. The second supply is additional, something beside that of
the torch: and such is the place which the gifts of
the Holy Ghost take, as compared with His graces.
4. The second store agrees with miraculous gift in point of
order. It is in succession after it. First the torch, then
the vessel of oil. So of gift it is written - “In whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise;” Eph. 1: 13.
5. If they be all believers, the
difference must be one which is not essential to salvation. And
among things not essential to salvation, what so great as the difference
between the possession, or the want of, the gifts of the Holy Ghost?
6. It is met and sustained by fact.
Between the believers of modern times and the ancient Church, there is, in this particular just the difference supposed: the one
possessing, the other wanting, the gifts of the Spirit.
7. A consideration of the order, in which the wise and foolish
appear, beautifully confirms this. We have the “wise” presented
first, then the “foolish:” verse 2. Then again the “foolish,” and lastly the “wise:” verse 3. Thus the wise come first and last; the foolish occupy the
intermediate space. And has it not [Page 15] been exactly thus with the [Holy] Spirit’s gifts? They were possessed at first, and then ceased;
and the whole dreary interval of 1600 years has been
taken up by believers destitute of them. We might conclude, therefore, that as
gifted believers began the series, and ungifted ones have followed, so in the last days gifted believers will rise
again, and close the train. But we can show by
Scripture, independently of inference, that such will be the case. Acts 2: 17, 18; Mark 13: 11; Luke 21: 14, 15; Revelation 16: 6;
18: 24; 2 Timothy 3: 8;
James. 5: 7.
8. On the taking it or not, the greatest stress is laid
throughout the parable. On purpose to set it in the strongest light possible,
the wise and foolish agree together in every particular but this. And the difference is optional; for in things within our power
alone, can wisdom or folly be seen. So
are the gifts of the [Holy] Spirit
made to rest upon our asking for them or not. Luke 11: 13; 1 Corinthians 14: 1. In the
asking
for,
and receiving
these, therefore, that vigilance may consist, which is the lesson drawn from
the parable by our Lord.
9. They are the “powers of the coming
age;” Hebrews 6: 5. And answerably
thereto, this oil is seen to come into play, when the new age has begun.
10. They that sleep with the oil
vessel, awake with it. And even thus the “gifts” of God are unrepented of Romans 11: 29.
11. Further, as both are described as
oil, so are the same terms used of each kind of grace. In both cases these powers of the Holy Ghost are said to “fill” the individual. “The God
of hope fill you with all joy and
peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope
through the power of the Holy Ghost:” Romans
15: 13. The same expression is usual
of the miraculous gifts. “
2. Both are said to be “taken” or “received.” “They who receive abundance
of grace (sanctifying), and of the gift of righteousness (the
miraculous gifts attached to justification by faith: Galatians 3.) shall reign in life by one, Jesus
Christ:” Rom. 5: 17. “The grace of God,
and the gift by grace, which
is by one man, Jesus Christ, hath abounded unto many:” verse
15.
3. Both are called “grace.” No proof is required of this use of the word, concerning the sanctifying
powers of the Holy Ghost; but of its being used of the miraculous gifts take
these as examples - “Whereof
I was made a minister, according to the gift of the grace of God, given unto me by the effectual [Page
16] working of His power:”
Ephesians 3: 7.
“Unto every one of us was given grace, according to the
measure of the gift of Christ.
Wherefore He saith, When
He ascended up on high, He led captivity captive,
and gave gifts
unto men:” (Greek) Ephesians 4: 7, 8.
12. But more
pointedly yet, it can be shown that the wisdom or lot of the believer is made to turn on or surrendering the privilege of the gifts of the Holy Ghost. “See then that ye
walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, redeeming the
time, because the days are evil. Therefore be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is. And be not drunk with wine, wherein
is excess; but be filled with the Spirit, speaking to yourselves in psalms, and hymns,
and spiritual (or ‘inspired’)
songs, singing, and making melody in your heart unto the Lord:” Ephesians 5: 15-19.
And still more remarkably the third chapter of Galatians is nothing less than a reproof
of the Galatians for their folly in going back to the Law, and undervaluing
thereby the miraculous gifts, and works of power, which (as the apostle argues)
are essentially connected with justification by faith. It was with an eye to
this difference, as involving wisdom or folly, that
Paul asks of the disciples at
The want of God’s wisdom, or the
possession of the world’s wisdom, leads them to this
unhappy issue. For God’s wisdom and man’s wisdom are
opposed. “The wisdom of the world is foolishness with God.” The
foolish virgins then are accounted wise by the world. And
the wisdom of the world accounts the [Holy] Spirit’s gifts
unnecessary, and the additional supply needless. But
the “foolishness of God is wiser than man”, and
the rest of the parable is directed to prove that the extra oil is not needless.
The neglect or the rejection of the [Holy] Spirit’s gifts is a false, worldly, short sighted wisdom, which looks no farther than present
necessity. They are not, it is granted, essential to
life before God, but the present lesson of our Lord
evinces that they are essential to a place at the wedding feast.
13. The additional oil was the
riches of the wise virgins, the want of it the poverty of the foolish, at the
coming of the bridegroom. Now this is just the place seen to
be occupied by the [Holy] Spirit’s gifts, in connexion with the
coming of the Lord Jesus. “I thank my God always on your behalf, for the grace of God which is [Page
17] given you by Jesus
Christ; that in
everything We are enriched by Him, in all
utterance, and in all know ledge, even as the testimony of Christ was confirmed in you
(or ‘among you’), so
that ye lack no gift, waiting for the revelation
(marg.) of
our Lord Jesus Christ; who also shall confirm you to the end, that ge may be blameless in the day
of our Lord Jesus Christ:” 1 Corinthians 1:
4-8.
In the possession of the gifts then lies
the wisdom and riches, and blamelessness of the wise
virgins at the coming of Christ. But
they who have them not, at His
appearing are found lacking.
Exhortations to seek and to pray
for the [Holy]
Spirit’s gifts occur not unfrequently, in token that the additional oil is not vain. “Covet earnestly the best gifts:” 1 Corinthians 12: 31.
“Desire spiritual gifts, but rather that ye may prophesy:” 14: 1. “As ye are zealous of spiritual gifts, seek that ye may abound to the edifying of the church”
verse 12. “Covet to
prophesy:” verse 39.
The reception of the [Holy] Spirit’s gifts is an optional thing, not absolutely essential, but promised to those that ask. The power of procuring it is supposed
open to all alike. Hence it
answers to the voluntary taking or omitting to take the second supply of oil in
the vessel. The [Holy] Spirit’s
gifts are not essential to life, or
to the Christian’s maintaining a witness for God in the present state of things
while the kingdom is a mystery. But it is the mistake
of the foolish to imagine that, because not essential at present, they will be equally needless in the future, at the manifestation of the Lord Jesus. So widely, however,
has this error crept in, that the Saviour describes one half
of His believing [and regenerate] People,
as made foolish by it!
The want of expectation of the
bridegroom’s return, and the want of the additional oil, have gone together, as
all Christian history will inform us. But the parable
manifests that even the expectation of the coming of the Lord Jesus may revive,
and get that there may be no consciousness of the need of extraordinary oil,
and no petition for it.
Watchfulness is a duty which, as Christ declares, applies to all. How this
should apply to those who fall asleep before Christ’s
coming is not apparent. But this lesson supplies the
deficiency. If any say ‘Let those
watch in whose life the signs predicted are actually coming to pass, but we
shall be dead ere then, and therefore the question of preparation does not
touch us’ the parable enables us to answer that there is a preparation
required of those that shall be then the dead in Christ, no less than of those
that shall be alive at His coming. Preparation for death is not necessarily
a preparation for the Lord’s coming. Sleep overtook
all alike, and all appeared alike while asleep, and the Bridegroom’s
coming found all equally in the same condition of slumber. But
at the awaking came the difference. And then the extra supply of oil, neglected as [Page 18] unnecessary before, is found
indispensable. We see therefore, that, even as regards those
that are fallen asleep in Christ Jesus, a state of things will come into play -
[before, (see Heb. 9: 27; cf. Rev.
3: 21; 20: 5, R.V.)
and] - at the resurrection, which
will discriminate between those who lived in vigilant preparation for the Lord’s
coming, and those that did not;
and that it is a mere deceit of a foolish heart to compose ourselves to rest
because Christ will not come in our day.
But the
vessel into which the additional oil was put, we are to understand, I judge,
the body. “This is the will of God, even your sanctification ... that every one of you should know how to possess his vessel
in sanctification and honour.” Here the body is not only a
vessel, but the vessel in possession of the man - “Hs vessel.” “Oil in their vessels.” Again it is said, “We have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may
be of God, and not of us:” (2 Corinthians 4: 7) where,
in relation to the power of the Holy Ghost miraculously displayed by His
ministry, they are called “earthen vessels.” And Paul is said to be a “vessel of election,” who
was to be “filled with the Holy Ghost:” Acts 9: 15, 17; so Romans 9: 21-23. The
torch is, I believe, external witness to others; the
oil in the vessel a personal possession and testimony to themselves.
5. “Now while the Bridegroom tarried
they all became drowsy, and were sleeping:” (See
Greek)
What is
intended by the Bridegroom’s tarrying, is easy to apprehend. The Saviour
more than once dropped intimations that His absence would be
prolonged. He was a nobleman going into a “far
country for a long time:” Luke 20: 9: 19: 12. “After a long lime the
Lord of those servants cometh:” Matthew 25:
19.
The cause of the delay is not specified, and accordingly the reasons of the
Saviour’s tarrying are unknown to us. The seasons and their
reasons are known only to God. And the time of
this delay answers to the time of mystery, during which the plans of God are
greatly hidden.
This tarrying is the critical
point of the whole on the part of the Bridegroom; just
as the additional supply is the critical point of the parable on the part of
the virgins. Had He come earlier, He might have found all awake, and the extra
supply of the wise would have seemed needless, nor would there have been any
difference of result to the wise and the foolish, and the wisdom of the wise
would not have been displayed, nor the disastrous consequences of want of prudence
seen. But the Bridegroom’s tarrying gives occasion to
the sleep, which [Page 19] hinders
the remedy of the error: and to the continued consumption of the oil, which
makes necessary the fresh supply of the wise upon their common awaking. It is
the delay of the Bridegroom, giving occasion to the sleep of all, which makes
the difference between this case and that considered by the Saviour before. Had
the virgins been awake at the Bridegroom’s coming, the case would have been
that of the living saints, and thus it would have been only the very same
aspect of the Saviour’s coming which He had elsewhere
considered.
But we must
now investigate a very important question as to the nature of the sleep, and
give proofs of its true signification. There are two ideas respecting it - (1) One, it is a blameable carelessness
with regard to the Lord’s coming, and a shrinking into spiritual sloth and
worldliness. (2) The other, that it is intended to represent the death of the virgins. Now, that
it is not a blameworthy sleep is evident from these considerations.
1. The sleep is seemingly apologized for, by
the mention of the Bridegroom’s delay immediately preceding, and assigned in a
certain sense, as its cause. For the case of the virgins must be ever kept distinct from that of servants under responsibility,
and charged to watch. To sleep while on guard is faithlessness worthy of
punishment in a servant; and hence the Saviour warns the servants against being found sleeping. But where
sleep overtakes one desirous of obtaining a pleasure, privilege, or honour,
which he is watching for, we at once ascribe it, not to want of will to resist,
but to want of power; and we
consider the sleeping involuntary. The effect of the Bridegroom’s delay is here
simply practical, not a moral one, like that of the evil servant, who, finding
his master’s coming delayed, begins to beat his fellow servants, and to eat and
drink with the drunken.
2. To suppose the sleep a failing away to carelessness, worldliness,
and disregard of the Lord’s coming, would be to argue utter defectibility of
grace given, for the sleep is continued up to the Saviour’s coming; and yet, in
spite of this, we have the highest privilege and joy awarded to those that have
so carelessly slept! This would be giving licence to sin, if the steep were
evil.
3. If blameworthy, the parable would have been made to turn on
it, and the Master’s finding some awake, and others
asleep, would have been the natural ground of difference between the wise and
the foolish.
4. It affects all equally. The foolish and
the wise together sleep, and together wake. But
if the sleep were sin, either all the wise would not sleep together with all
the foolish, or all the foolish would not wake at once with all the wise.
[Page 20]
5. The sleep is not that of intemperance, nor that of worldly
care, for they fall asleep in the position of waiting and separation
which they held at first; their torches are still burning, and they
themselves still undefiled.
6. Were it an error, then the parable would not (as it does)
set forth the result of one single error committed at the first, and traced out
to its legitimate consequences, but a new mistake is introduced, and the first
lesson is lost, or obscured. But the sleep comes in,
not as a fresh error, but as a circum stance which fixes a period to the
opportunity of remedying the original mistake.
7. The wise sleep no less than the foolish, and get retain
their character of “wise;” verse 8. Therefore, since the
sleep does not affect their character for wisdom, it was not
an unwise sleep.
8. The sleep is not blamed, and the
foolish, even when rejected, are not reproved for it. Therefore
it is not criminal. It corresponds therefore most exactly to the blameless
sleep of death. Against this, wisdom and folly are equally power less: however willing the spirit may be, the flesh is weak; they
were not suffered to continue by reason of DEATH:
Hebrews 7: 23. This
is that sleep which cannot be resisted, but which happens (as Solomon tells us)
with like event both to the wise and the fool. Ecelesiastes 2: 14.
9. Again if the oil signify grace,
then is not the sleep sinful, especially in the wise. For
worldliness and careless indifference to Christ’s coming are incompatible with
the abundance of grace which the wise possess.
10. And if the
sleep be death, then are all the virgins believers; for to none but such is
death a steep.
The Bridegroom’s coming is not
death, for death affects but one at a time, this all at once. Further it is the consequence of their sleep that they do
not notice the consumption of the oil, and consequently do not attempt to
replenish the torch. Hence the only time of repairing
the error is before the sleep begins. After that time, there is no possibility
of remedy. For the sleep continues till the [‘first’] resurrection;
and between the resurrection and the entrance into the glory of the feast,
there is no time. However long the interval of sleep, it is incapable of being applied to remedy the imprudence, because of the
inaction of sleep. The time of mystery, as we should expect on this
supposition, runs on indefinitely longer than their life. But
as it regards the virgins, it is occupied by but one condition the state of
inactivity or sleep. And it is unbroken till the
Bridegroom comes. Till then not one of the sleepers
arises. The old age ends to them in sleep. The new [millennial age] begins
by awaking.
[Page 21]
Of the two words that describe
the sleep, the one notices the failing of the eyelids and the nodding of the
head, which characterizes the passing from wakefulness to sleep, and the other
describes the state of those asleep, after that of wakefulness has been
abandoned. Thus they correspond respectively to the
act of dying, and to the state into
which death introduces the [disembodied] soul.
Of the frequent places in which
the death of the believer is called sleep, a few
instances will suffice. “In the mouth of two or three
witnesses shall every word he established.” “Many
bodies of the saints which slept arose, and came
out of the graves after his resurrection, and
went into the holy city and appeared unto many:” Matthew 28: 52, 53. “Our
friend Lazarus sleepeth.” “Then said Jesus unto them plainly, Lazarus is dead:” John 11:
11, 14. “After that he appeared unto five hundred brethren at once,
of whom the greater part remain unto this Present,
but some are fallen asleep:” 1 Corinthians 15: 6. Here
the very case in question, the constant lapse of time, is
cited as the reason why those who had once beheld Jesus had fallen asleep.
And in the case of Lazarus, we see the tarrying of
Jesus to be the occasion of his failing asleep; while, afterwards, at His voice
he arises, and feasts with Jesus.
Further, this interpretation
presents the Church in the two great and real divisions in which the Scripture
contemplates it at the coming of Christ. The whole Church will then be composed
either of those “who are alive and remain,” or of
those who are “fallen asleep in Christ.” And
the passage which exhibits the Church in this aspect, also
teaches us why the sleep of the virgins, which seems the greatest obstacle in
the way of their attendance at the feast, will not be found to be so. “I would not have you ignorant, brethren, concerning them that are asleep,
that ye sorrow not, even
as others who have no hope. For if we believe
that Jesus died and rose again, even so them that sleep in Jesus will God bring with Him. For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the
Lord shall not prevent (get the start of) those
which are asleep. For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God:
and the dead in Christ shall rise first:” 1
Thessalonians 4: 13-16.
And again, “God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us, that whether
we wake or sleep, we shall live together with
Him:” 1 Thessalonians 5: 9, 10. The
parable before us then respects the great body of the Church who shall be found amongst the dead at Christ’s appearing; while
in the former chapter the Saviour had addressed himself in giving signs, which
could apply only to the living. But here, “they all slumbered and slept.”
[Page 22]
Accordingly, while the sleep begins
at an indefinite time and at different instants for each of the virgins, yet
the sleep is not shaken off by any till the coming of
the Bridegroom. In the interval of suspense nothing
occurs but the dropping off to sleep of one and another of the virgins,
answering to the present successive decease of the saints of Christ, owing to
the time of His return being prolonged.
We may
further remark, that, as the period embraced by this parable extends for at
least the space of 1800 - [now almost 2,000] - years, from the time when
the Saviour’s return began to be expected, up to the present hour if the sleep
be supposed to be spiritual sloth, then the virgins must be regarded as
corporate bodies, or churches, for such only could continue from that period
till Christ’s return. And on the other
hand, if the virgins be individuals, then the sleep is death; for this alone
accounts for the condition in which they are found during the Bridegroom’s
delay. But it has been already proved that the sleep
is death, therefore the virgins are justly regarded as representatives of
individuals.
6. “But
at midnight a cry took place, Behold, the Bridegroom is coming, come
ye forth to meet Him.”
Midnight is the midway point
between one day and another. The virgins awake into a new day
answering to the new or “coming age”.
And though it be midnight to earth, get to the saints
it is the hour of the bridal feast. For this festal hour of the new age now
begun on high, the “powers of the coming age,” must
be highly appropriate, not to say necessary. If earth itself, when the hour of
Christ’s coming hath dawned, will be filled with the [Holy] Spirit’s
gifts, how can it be fitting that the sons of heaven be destitute of them?
It being
proved that the sleep is death, we are prepared readily to answer to the
question - What is intended by the cry, and its accompanying words of
exhortation and command? It is doubtless the “shout” with which the Lord descends
when the dead in Christ arise. And the words
which follow appear to be those of the Bridegroom’s angelic attendants and
forerunners. They take the place of the servants sent at supper
time to call those that are bidden - “Come,
for all things are now ready.”
The notice thus given before the
Saviour appears, and the interval which succeeds, prove that this is not the
coming of Jesus to the living: for that is a thief-like approach, with no
notice beforehand to herald His appearing. It is a sudden flash of lightning
breaking without previous warning from the darkness of the light.
[Page 23]
The expression - “The Bridegroom is coming,” represents him as still on his way. He
has set forth, but is not get arrived at the hall of
the feast. This marks the time at which the dead awake. The interval between
this commenced approach and its ceasing at a distance from the earth (when it
is called his presence) gives the time that elapses between the rising of the
saintly dead and their being caught up (in conjunction with the living saints)
to meet him. That it is very brief, the parable shows. The Bridegroom’s
setting out takes place while all are asleep. But his
coming is after all are awake.
“Come ye forth to meet him.” The virgins
first going forth was not enough. Here they are required to come
forth again. And the explanation of the
sleep above given, clears up the point. Their first going forth was a voluntary
separation from the world. But this second coming
forth is from [‘Hades’ and] the tombs. The
same word is used in Scripture to express both these
ideas. “There met him two possessed with
devils, coming out of the tombs” - Matthew 8: 28.
“The hour is coming in which all that are in the graves
shall hear his voice, and shall come forth,
they that have done good unto the resurrection of life,
and they that have done evil unto the resurrection of
damnation:” John 5: 28, 29. “He cried with a loud voice, ‘Lazarus,
come forth.’ And he that
was dead came forth:” John 11: 43, 44. Thus we have the very command of the parable addressed to
Lazarus at his resurrection, “Lazarus, come forth!”
They came forth for the purpose of meeting him. And
the place of meeting is the air: 1 Thessalonians 4: 17. The meeting supposes that the Bridegroom
is moving towards the earth, and that they are to move away from it. The first
going forth denotes the sanctification of the spirit;
the second, the redemption of the body.
The first act is voluntary; the second
requires an awaking from without.
7. “Then all those virgins arose and
trimmed their torches.”
Such as the sleep is, such is
the awaking, and as the awaking so the sleep. If the sleep be
death, the awaking is the resurrection. And if the awaking at the Bridegroom’s
coming be the [‘first’] resurrection, then is the
sleep death.
The word used is that constantly
applied to the resurrection, “Young man, I say unto thee, arise:”
Luke 7: 14.
“Maid, arise:” 8: 54. “After I am risen again, I will go before you into
The virgins all arise at once.
This proves them all believers: for none but the [‘blessed and holy’] saints rise at the
first resurrection. “The rest of
the dead lived not again until the thousand years were
finished.” And their resurrection creates no
stir in the city, nor does the Bridegroom’s train enter it. Those
who are outside are awakened by the sound, but none within the city.
They rise in the same place in which they fell asleep: for the resurrection is
not the ascent of [all] the
saints.
On arising, their first care is
to trim their lamps. A part of the wick is consumed to
ashes and makes the flame to burn dimly. They all, therefore, remove this
impediment to the brightness of the torch, and the act reveals to them the
state of the supply of oil. The wise, therefore, complete what is further
necessary to the trimming of the torch, by adding the requisite oil.
The first supply was just
failing, having lasted for the same time in all. Now, therefore the necessity
of the second supply began to appear. The wise are able to meet that necessity.
They pour in fresh oil, and the torch is rekindled as
brightly as before.
8. “And the foolish said unto the wise, Give us of your oil, for our
lamps are going out.” (margin.)
With the - [‘first’ and ‘a better’ (Heb. 11: 35b)] - resurrection a new state of things
begins. Then the difference between those that seemed equally ready before
begins to be perceived. We could draw no argument
against the necessity of the spiritual gifts for the coming day of glory, from
the fact that God’s saints have fallen asleep happily, without perceiving their
need of them. There was no differ ence perceivable
between the two companies in their failing asleep, nor in their continuing so.
But when the foolish see the
wise recruiting with fresh oil the decaying flame of their torches, they become
sensible of a preparedness which they have not themselves. All need the fresh
supply on awaking, but the wise alone can meet the exigency. The old burns on till midnight, the end of the former [evil and apostate] day: but a new
stock is needed for the new - [messianic and millennial] - day that is begun. Then it is painfully
felt by the foolish that the extra supply is not as they vainly imagined,
needless. They [Page 25] refused
it before as not essential; but now the “foolishness of God” in
providing the second supply is seen to be wiser than
man’s wisdom in declining it. It seemed an unnecessary burthen, for the gifts
of the Holy Ghost must, in an evil - [and faithless] - world peculiarly provoke the enmity
and perhaps the ridicule of men.
But now they
find their want of foresight. They see at length that enough oil for the
present is not enough for the future. They that it was folly to imagine that
what is not essential now may not be so at Christ’s coming. They discern that
it is folly to rest content with the present, and not to provide for the new
state of things to ensue on the coming of Jesus and the resurrection. In the
day of the bridal they find themselves unfit for the
especial glory. The [Holy] Spirit’s
powers were witness of the age to come before it came, but in
the age that is now come they find their especial sphere, and beauty, and
brightness. The want of the glory possessed by the wise will
then be keenly felt. To the content with more than is absolutely
indispensible for the present, while it was
thought wisdom for the time, is now discovered to be folly. The
issue of the whole manifests that while the extra supply is not essential to
the character of a virgin, it is
essential to the virgin’s entrance into the wedding-feast. The only
oil used in the marriage procession is the additional supply. The gifts of the
Holy Ghost are “first fruits” now (Romans 8: 23), but
then they will be poured out “on all flesh”.
The wise were prepared before
they slept; and their wisdom shines brightly now.
Whether the Bridegroom came early or late they were
ready: and their torches now show it. But the torches
of the foolish throw a dying light. They are not gone out indeed, for then oil
alone would not suffice to make them ready, and they would not need a wick, and
would rather have asked for a light than for oil. But
the parable supposes all to wake in circumstances exactly alike, as before they
slept under the same circumstances; in order that the difference of character
as wise and foolish might be the more openly demonstrated.
9. “But the wise answered, saying (Not so*), lest there
be not enough for us and for you; but go ye
rather to them that sell, and buy for yourselves.”
* The
words “Not so” are added by the translators to supply
a seeming ellipsis. They might be translated
sufficiently closely to our idiom - “Perhaps there
would not be enough for us and you.”
It has been
thought by some that this reply of the wise was intended as a keen
cutting rebuke of irony. A strange supposition! Even
from a believer to an unbeliever this were unkind, but between believers
impossible. Those who could taunt the unwise with their folly, when grace alone
made them to differ, would not be fit to enter at once into the wedding feast
of love! But in truth there is not [Page 26] a particle of the style of
irony about it. And had the words of the wise been
those of derision, the counsel offered would not have been taken by those to
whom it was given; since indeed it were no counsel, but a bitter jest.
Its purport is very observable, as corroborating the interpretation given. For
their answer to the address of the foolish is not that their request is
impossible to be complied with. This would, this must
have been the reply had the question been concerning the power of the believer
to communicate saving grace to unbelievers. They do not
deny the possibility of granting their petition, but they gently represent it
as inexpedient: that is, they indirectly admit the power of granting it. And this answers to the fact that one believer is able to
transmit the gifts of the Holy Ghost to another. Nay, the laying on of an
apostle’s hands was actually the ordinary way of communicating them: Acts 8: 17; 9: 17; 19: 6. And this difference answers to the difference of the oil in
the torch, and the oil in the vessel. The oil in the torch could
not be communicated, as being already imbibed by the wick: but the oil
in the vessel was in a state to be transferred at the discretion of the
possessor.
The plea of the foolish is their own necessity. The counter plea of the prudent is that
they need the oil for themselves. Had the thing been impossible, this, as the
most effectual answer, would have been returned; as we
see in the dialogue between Abraham and his evil son. “Send Lazarus,” is the request. “They that would pass
from hence to you cannot,” is the reply.
Nor do
either of the parties esteem the omission on the part of the foolish to be
irreparable. The wise do not reply, as they would have done to the unbelieving
(were it permitted us to suppose that the wicked would rise at the same time with
the just) - ‘Your case is desperate. It is the day of
resurrection. Your hour of grace is gone by for ever. Do you not see how
foolish your request is? Not only have we no more grace than we ourselves
require in order to be saved, but were we disposed to grant you any, as
imagining ourselves to have more than enough, it were impossible.’
Instead of this, they suppose that oil was still procurable. The remedy against
the omission of the foolish, as it was open at the first, so they assume it to
be even at last. They take it for granted that in the city
which they had left, there were shops at which oil was disposed of. And this falls in with what has been shown above, that the [Holy] Spirit’s
gifts will be abroad on earth in the latter days.
At this point
the usual interpretations fail. The words of the wise are - “Go ye rather to
them that sell.” It is not said, “To him that sells,”
as it must have been, had saving grace been the matter
in question: for who can communicate this but God? But
the power of communicating the gifts
of the [Page 27] Holy
Ghost was committed at first (and therefore we may conclude that it will be so
at last also) to more than one. The selling doubtless,
is that kind of sale of which the prophet speaks “Buy
wine and milk without money and without price:” Isaiah
55: 1. And
we know one who was reproved with awful solemnity for supposing that the gift of God could be purchased by money
The sellers are those who keep
more than sufficient for their own supply, and whose office it is to impart, on
certain terms, to others. Such were the apostles; to whom
was imparted the power of bestowing gifts on believers of the first age. The
prudent here prudently refuse, because the supply, though enough for one, might
not be enough for two.
10. “But while they were going away to
buy, the bridegroom come, and they that were
ready went in with him to the marriage feast and
the door was shut.”
The error of the foolish is not irreparable in its nature, but the parable is intended
to show that it is not repaired in result. It was a question of time, but time was not afforded. The remedy came too late.
The foolish see the justice of
the refusal of the wise, and perceive also that their
advice is the only alternative that presents itself under the circumstances.
Their going to obtain a supply is necessary, and is felt
to be so; but the very means adopted to retrieve the error only display it more
manifestly. They are compelled to withdraw from the scene, and
to sever themselves from the company of the wise. But
this departure, though necessary, carries with it exclusion. They
are not upon the spot when the Bridegroom arrives, and the procession cannot
tarry. The voluntary separation, therefore, is the first step to an involuntary
one. The refusal of oil by the virgins is the prelude to a refusal of a place
at the feast by the Bridegroom.
On purpose to manifest the
wisdom of the wise, and by contrast, their improvidence, as soon as they have
withdrawn, the Bridegroom comes. In what follows, speed is set forth - ‘The Bridegroom came - those ready went in - the door was shut.’
By the going in to the wedding-feast is, I believe, meant the
catching up of the saints - [“accounted worthy to escape all these
things that shall come to pass” (Luke 21:
36. Cf. Rev.
3: 10)], -
that they may enter into the gates of the New Jerusalem - the bridal city, the wife of the Lamb.
The feast is on high, for this
is the place of the sons of God raised from the dead. And
the parable of the Great Supper informs us that none of those to whom the
wedding-feast was first proclaimed should taste of it; Luke 14: 24. And hence its scene is not earth, but heaven; not the living
in the flesh, but the saints [Page 28] of incorruptible bodies. This [select] rapture of the saints takes place at the thief-like coming of the Son
of Man. It is a sudden momentary glance, like the lightning opening heaven for
a moment with its flash, and suddenly shutting it again. It is “in a moment, in the twinkling
of an eye.” The open door answers to the glory suddenly shining forth:
the closed door, to the darkness settling on all things again.
The door that is
opened and shut is that of the house of God in heaven. “In my Father’s house are many mansions:” John 14: 2. “For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were
dissolved, we have a building from God an house
not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.
For in this we groan, earnestly
desiring to be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven.” This
gives us, however, not so much the general place of assembly of the saints, as
our own special locality in the city. But what follows
casts light, as I suppose, upon the parable. “If
so be that being clothed we shall not be found naked:” 2
Corinthians 5: 1, 3. For the foolish virgins are in the
condition of those who have not watched and kept their garments.
Hence the thief like presence of the Lord is come upon
them unawares; though they are - [after the
Great Tribulation] - clothed with their immortal bodies, because they are risen again.*
[* Note: There
will be two raptures of living saints. Those who believe all
Christians will partake in the first rapture, because they are
regenerate, are making a grave mistake: they believe God is not a Righteous
Judge,
- Who will reward all on the basis
of saving ‘faith’ only! See Heb. 10: 30; Col. 3: 23- 4: 1; Heb. 11: 6-9; 24-26; 1
John 2: 28. Cf. Luke 13: 3, 5; 16: 30; Rev. 2: 5, etc.]
Yet are they “found naked;” because in the hour in which one is taken up and another is
left behind, they remain upon the earth. Thus “they walk naked, and men see
their shame.” The torches were the proof that they were desirous of
entering the wedding, and seemed to have almost the certainty of doing so; but they are now memorials of their disgrace. The house has been
broken into because not guarded, and
the master has to mourn over his loss, with the melancholy reflection that it
was owing to his own want of vigilance,
and not to want of warning.*
[* NOTE: “…they stumble at the word, being disobedient: whereunto they were appointed.” (1 Pet. 2: 8bff.)]
Of this part of the parable we have a beautiful illustration in the book of Revelation. As soon as the Saviour has finished giving to John the
counsels and warnings to the church; as soon as He has threatened His thief
like coming, and has made promise with
the obedient to sup with him (chap. 3), we read, “After this I
saw and behold a door was opened in heaven.” He is
called up by a voice like a trumpet, a token of that which is to awake
the dead, and the voice says, “Come up hither.” And the result to himself was, that he was there “immediately in the spirit,” as these will be there in the body [and ‘soul’*] also.
[* 1 Pet. 1: 5, 9.]
“The
door was shut.”
1. The use of a door is to shut out those without from sight
and hearing. [Page 29] It is
the means recommended by the Saviour, when we would be hidden
from men, and in communion with God: Matt. 6: 6. And even thus the
glory of the bridal feast is shut out from man. It is a magnificent assembly,
of which the sleeping world is ignorant. The shut door hides the bright ness
from their eyes, and prevents the melody from reaching their ears.
2. It marks the determination of
the owner to sever between the guests
and those without. It is the signal of full and free communication among
those that are within, and the cutting off of communication and communion with those without.
It is an effectual barrier interposed
against entrance from without, as it intimates also the full acceptance of
those within (Luke 11: 7), and
is the token that the feast is begun. Heaven has before been shut from men, as
it regarded the out pouring of its earthly treasures
of rain. But this
shutting up is for the prevention of those without from entering into its
glories.
If we inquire by whom it is shut, we shall find it is by the Bridegroom. “A door was opened
to me of the Lord:” 2 Corinthians 2: 12.
“I have set before thee an open door, and none can shut it:” Revelation
3: 8. As the master of the
house, it depends on His will to admit
or to exclude:
Luke 13: 25.
11. & 12. “Now afterwards came also the other virgins, saying, ‘Lord, Lord, open unto us.’ But He answered and said, Verily,
I say unto you, I know
you not.”
Whether they were successful in
their errand is not stated. But
if they have obtained at length the needed supply, it has come too late. The
opportunity has slipped by. The once open door is shut.
It is not clear whether they are caught up into heaven afterwards, or whether
they are supposed to return to the same spot at which they left the wise, and
on finding them departed, perceive the loss they have
sustained. The others “entered in” (see Greek). They “come” (see Greek).
They try their last and forlorn
hope by making a personal appeal to the Bridegroom for admittance - “Lord, Lord, open unto us.” But
their suit is refused. It is refused in terms so
strong, as to make many suppose that it implies the eternal perdition of those
so addressed. But a nearer examination of the words
will show us that this is not intended. Indeed, in some most important points
it stands in contrast to those cases which seem to
resemble it.
First,
then, it is uttered by the Bridegroom to brides - maidens; and it
implies, ‘I as bridegroom do not recognize you as
guests and companions of the bride at the feast.’ But
the characters of Bridegroom and of brides-maidens are [Page 30] temporary characters. Hence while they have lost that peculiar and temporary
privilege represented by the title of virgins, they may get be received after
the feast is over. And in accordance with this, the
words, “I know you not,” stand in contrast to those
which are addressed to the wicked - “I never knew you.” The
address to the foolish implies only - ‘During the
present period of the feast, my countenance will not be upon you for joy.’
But it does not add the fearful declaration, that, ‘You are none of my chosen ones; your names are not in the
book of life at all.’
The exclusion is punishment enough
the loss of privilege consequent upon the neglect of the call to vigilant
preparation is its own sufficient recompense. They have done much with
a view to the desired end, yet for want of forecast have come short of it. This
loss is enough of itself. There is the
being ashamed before Christ at His coming; and shame is the proper recompense
of folly. Punishment is not awarded to folly by a judge.
The damage it brings to a man’s own interests is considered
sufficient. None is injured but the man’s own self.
A bridegroom is not judge of
brides-maidens. Therefore, there is not, as in the other cases, the sentence of
the judge, “Depart from me.” It is now only - ‘While I am feasting, you cannot enter, but must wait
without. I have the key of David I shut and none opens. I open and none shuts.’
Nor is a word added as to their character. They are not
addressed as “workers of iniquity,” for then they would be
more than foolish, but now they are the unwise ones among the children of
light, reaping the sad wages of their imprudence. Nor is there any word of the
“outer darkness” and “weeping and gnashing
of teeth,” as in the cases of utter exclusion. For that is the
sentence on faithlessness and wickedness, and want of the wedding garment: Matthew 8: 12; 13: 42, 50; 22: 13; 24: 51; Luke 13: 28. This silence, then, of the
Saviour, on these points, in the present instance, is a true silence: it gives
us to understand that the loss of privilege is all.
The entrance to the marriage
feast of the Lamb is set forth as a peculiar blessedness: Revelation 19: 9. It is
not a necessary thing, short of which is perdition. It is a glory bright but
brief, before the Lord Jesus is manifested from the
open heavens: Revelation 19: 11. It is not intended for all the subjects of the kingdom, but for
the household. The feast may be lost, and get the loser be the partaker in the
- [coming Messianic and Millennial] - kingdom which is revealed. And he who
misses it, does so by an error answering to want of punctuality; as when a
passenger, having paid his fare by a vessel, and sent on board his goods,
arrives after the time required, and loses both his money and his passage. The
vexation and damage sustained are, in such cases, rebuke enough. Here is a “suffering loss,” a diminishing of the “full
reward:” 1 Corinthians 3: 15;
2 John 8.
[Page 31]
13. “Watch, therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour in which the Son of
man cometh.”
This is the great lesson of the
parable applied to the disciples, and enforced by the result of the preceding
history. The wise were vigilant that they might not lose the great object of
their desire as brides-maidens, and therefore, being ignorant at what time the
bridegroom might come, they prepared themselves for the latest hour, and the
most unfavourable case, that the expected pleasure might not escape them. Not
only were their lamps furnished with what was indispensable for present
consumption, but they had an eye to future need, and provided themselves with a second supply. The foolish were ready if
the Bridegroom had come early; but if He came late, their present supply of oil
might not be enough. And this possibility,
against which they neglected to secure themselves, as the wise had done, proved
the inlet to the disastrous result to themselves. But
it was wholly traceable to their own
improvidence that they were excluded from the feast.
The lesson is the same to us. Do
you take, like the wise virgins, the second supply of oil.
Go seek, without money, and get with fervent, importunate prayers, the gifts of the Holy Ghost. Buy before you
fall asleep in Jesus, for if you have them not ere then, it will be too late.
Be ready, not for the present alone, but provide
for the future of Christ’s appearing. And as you know not the day nor the hour of it, nor whether
He shall find you asleep or awake, prepare for either. The day of His coming will make a separation between the wise and the
foolish. The [Holy] Spirit’s
[miraculous] gifts* are not indeed necessary for the present, but the parable shows that
for an admission into the guest chamber of the wedding, they are. Is this
indeed the lesson of the parable? How important then that we should “covet earnestly the best gifts!” Let
me beg the believer to search the Scriptures and see whether these things are
not so.
[* See Luke 10: 9, 17, 19, etc. These divine gifts will
be given to the elect for a sign, and for resistance to demonic
powers, which will be given to the coming Antichrist.]
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[2]
FAITH AND REASON
By D. M. PANTON, B.A.
Faith is a far-sighted calculation based on a
Divine utterance. Faith is opposed to sight, faith is
not opposed to reason: faith is reason based on the invisible as vouched for by
God. Faith sacrifices visible evil, to win invisible good: it acts on concrete
realities in the unseen - just as actual, though not always so gross, as the
things around us - which, if really there, change the whole world-outlook, and
revolutionize life. “Faith is the ASSURANCE [R.V.] of things hoped for, the CONVICTION
[Govett] of things not
seen” (Heb. 11: 1). Full faith (the faith of Hebrews Eleven) loads all its goods on one
raft; it lodges its entire fortune in a single bank; it stakes its all on one
throw - because, in the mirror of what God has said, it sees an empty Tomb
backward, and the lightnings of a descending Christ forward, and it shapes all
life on these invisible, concrete, overmastering realities. Faith
barters the infinitely little for the infinitely great. Faith is the highest
reason functioning on actual realities which it has
never seen.*
* It is obvious that if
there be no actual, tangible, reliable information from God on the unseen, no
specific break in the eternal silence, faith (as the infidel has always said)
is a self-created illusion which builds on a void, and ends in an abyss. “Faith cometh by hearing,” not seeing, “and hearing by
the word of God” (Rom. 10: 17).
REFUSING
Now in all the marvellous galaxy
of Hebrews Eleven none more
sharply defines and enforces this reasoning element in faith - this wise,
deliberate, far-sighted decision - than Moses; and it opens with probably the
greatest renunciation recorded in the history of the world. For renunciation is
measured by the value of what a man renounces;
and “by faith” - a whole-hearted decision
reposing on invisible facts - “Moses refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s
daughter” (Heb. 11: 24). Moses,
if not heir to the Egyptian throne - as Jewish tradition, embodied in Josephus,
says that he was - stood upon its steps, the throne of the wealthiest and most
powerful monarchy on the globe. He had to renounce for his children also, who lost
a palace, and perhaps a throne. Why then a renunciation so
vast? Because evil is transitory, and righteousness is permanent. To
Pharaoh, dying, the pomp of the world was a dream: to Moses, it was a dream all his
life. For God is good, and goodness is the foundation of the
universe, the imperishable substance of immortality: therefore the renunciation
of evil is the highest reason; and therefore Moses deliberately, and as a
mature calculation - his full age is therefore noted - abandons the prosperous
and the wicked, and casts in his lot with the suffering and the holy. He lived
for the future, for the future is sure, while the present is a vapour, a
vanity, and can be a most dangerous deception.
CHOOSING
The choice over against the
refusal is also without precedent, the scales on the other side being loaded with all from which the heart most shrinks. “Choosing” - deliberately
selecting with wide-eyed choice - “rather to be afflicted
with the people of God” - that is, he cast in his lot with Israel, not because they were blood-relations, but because they
were God’s [to be redeemed] people - “than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season.”
ACCOUNTING
A volume of instruction is packed away into the next logic of Moses’ balanced
judgment. “Accounting” - judging, as the word is
elsewhere translated: coming to a conclusion on mature consideration - “the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures of
LOOKING
So now we
reach the intensity of Moses’ forward gaze. “He looked” -
gazing off into the God-revealed future - “unto the recompense” - the
exactly adjusted compensation for all righteous suffering, which God has made a
law of the universe - “of reward.” Moses gave up a crown for a
crown; but the throne of an
ENDURING
Finally, the [Holy] Spirit is
careful to record that Moses’ choice by faith proved the backbone, the skeleton
of steel, of his life. “For he endured” - the word means strength, power, courage: he remained resolute, immovable, undaunted - “as seeing him who is invisible.” All life thus becomes a
steady waiting for a certain [promised and future] glory. For it is not stupidity, or obstinacy,
or pigheadedness, or illusion: it is a vision of God based on the Scriptures of
God. It is the philosophy of all martyrdom: as, in the hand of the statue to Gaspard de Coligny, in Paris,
lies an open Bible, and on the page exposed are the words - “He endured as seeing Him who is invisible.” An identical principle
ruled our Lord. “I have set the Lord always before me:
because he is at my right hand” - God
holding me, God teaching me, God loving me, God bracing me - “I shall not be moved” (Ps.
16: 8). It is a constant Godward gaze which creates immobility of character. Moses looked through Egypt,
and he saw Hell: he looked through the palace, and he saw the “crown of righteousness which
the Lord, the
righteous judge, will give in that day”: he looked through the Wilderness, and he saw the Mount of Transfiguration: he looked
through life and death, and he saw a Great White Throne, from which the
earth and the heavens flee away. So faith can be infinite in its reach
and power, for its eyes can be full of God; and thus refusing, choosing,
accounting, looking, enduring, seeing, Moses alights, fifteen centuries later,
on the Transfigured Mount.
-------
[3]
THE DANGER OF AN EXASPERATED SPIRIT
Kadesh is the [Holy] Spirit’s
portrait of our modern [and apostate] age. In
all the history of the Theocracy there is no such entire blank as
* Denial of the [promised Messianic
and Millennial
(Ps. 2: 8. Cf. Rev. 2: 25, 26; 20: 5)] Kingdom
is self-exclusion. “Whosoever shall not receive the
For if
there was one man in those wandering tribes whose conspicuous office, holy
character, faithful record, and constant devotion lifted him head and shoulders
above the faithless crowd, and seemed to make entrance into the Reward absolutely
secure, it was Moses. Here is a man of whom the Divine record
is that he was faithful in all his house (Heb. 3: 5): a
man whose renunciation on the threshold of discipleship was so great that he is
chosen by the Holy Spirit as its eternal model; in spite of extreme age, a man
with none of the crippling and lowering disabilities of years; the meekest man
on earth (Num. 12: 3), and so armed in triple brass against
outbursts of temper; with a devotion such that he alone of mankind ever asked
to be blotted out of the Book of Life for others’ sake; a worker of miracles on
a scale; and of a quality unparalleled save by our Lord; and the author of more
Scripture than any man who ever lived. Yet this is the mighty servant of
God who trips and falls in the last lap of his race. The warning could not be
more pregnant and rousing. Nothing wins the Prize (Phil. 3: 14), but a clean race run to a clean finish.
For the
very heart of the warning lies in the absolute justification of Moses’
exasperation. It is only necessary to recite the sacred narrative. “And the people strove with Moses” - casting off, with scorn, the
faithful leadership, and undying intercession, of nearly four decades - “and spake, saying, Would
God that we had died when our brethren died before the Lord! and
why have ye brought the assembly of the Lord into this wilderness?” (Num. 20: 3). The whole
modern situation lies embedded in Kadesh. First, all [future] prophecy comes to be totally denied; then
follows the inevitable reaction and revolt against a leadership - for Moses had
never faltered as to the goal - which had fastened the entire gaze of God’s people
on Canaan, a future state; and finally, under an awful realization of
Wilderness horrors - the sole destiny of God’s people left - faith in the very call
of God is shaken to its foundations, and God’s Word becomes a dead letter, the
pilgrimage a funeral, and the Wilderness a cemetery.
Now we
see the danger. Jehovah had been rightly consulted:
the dangerous Shekinah fires had shown themselves in the heavens in response:
God’s mercy was to be unlocked from the rock. Moses and Aaron approach the
rock. Before the vast assemblage Moses cries:- “Hear now, ye rebels; shall we bring you forth water out of this rock?” The
comment of the Psalm (106:
32) lodges the sin in the exasperated
utterance rather than in the double blow, his passionate action being only a
symptom: “it went ill with Moses for their
sakes [on their account]; and he spake
unadvisedly with his lips.” God had proposed a greater miracle - a fountain gushing from the rock without a gash: Moses curtly disobeys, striking the
rock much as he might have desired to strike the people. “They provoked his spirit,” says the Psalmist: once he
reproached them as rebellious (Dent. 9: 24)
without offence; but now, in passion, he loses all command of himself, and by
that fearful word - “ye rebels” - plumbs the depths of
denunciation and excommunicates, in one sweeping sarcasm, the entire People of
God.*
* “It is too like Moreh” - [i.e., ‘a Hebrew expression of condemnation’, (R.V.] - (M. Henry)
For a [regenerate] believer,
in a fit of passion, to brand another [regenerate] believer as a ‘rebel’
from God, an apostate, a limb of Satan, is an offence (Matt. 5: 22) on which the Most High is extraordinarily sensitive.
The sentence of God falls like
lightning. “And the Lord said unto Moses and Aaron,
Because ye believed not in me, to
sanctify me in the eyes of the children of
A valuable lesson on the graded
nature of sin springs from the severity of the sentence. “The aged saint himself felt keenly the dreadful disaster.
“And I besought the Lord, saying, O Lord God, let me go over, I pray thee;
but the Lord was wroth with me, and hearkened not unto me: and
the Lord said unto me, Let it suffice thee;
speak no more unto me of this matter” (Deut. 3: 24). The
guilt of a sin turns on the standing of the sinner as well as on the enormity
of the act. The supremest saintly achievement spells the greatest largesse of a
grace which makes a man more responsible, not less (Amos 3: 2).
Similar impatience’s and angers, only incomparably greater, in the ignorant and
unstable people which He had overlooked again and again God could not pass over
in him who was His very mouthpiece to the people.* Nor could He revoke the sentence. The reversal of a sentence
announced in public and scaled by oath would have shaken the very foundations
of God’s throne; and so he who had saved millions by his intercession, cannot
save himself. Moses and Aaron had lost the race that Joshua and Caleb won. **
* It is also a comfort to recollect the Aggravations of the offence which place it beyond mere exasperation. It was
public; it occurred just after God’s miraculous action (Num. 20: 6), and immediately before fresh miracle, as Moses
well knew; it was accompanied by violence - the double rupture of the rock; and it was lawlessness, in the supreme lawgiver of all
time.
** Actually, Moses lost
Therefore Jehovah
Himself finally lays bare the profound principle underlying the judgment of His
people. “Because ye believed not in Me, TO SANCTIFY ME in the eyes of
the children of
* “Moses and
Aaron among his priests: …thou wast a God that forgavest them, though
thou tookest vengeance on their doings (Ps.
99: 6, 8). It
is sad to see how otherwise godly evangelicals can soften, if not obliterate,
the sorely needed and most blessed judicial warnings of God. “It was better for Moses,” says G. H. Mackintosh, “to see the
Some one said to George Muller
in his life’s eventide:- “When
God calls you home, Mr. Muller, you will be like a ship entering harbour in
full sail.” “Oh no,” he replied; “it will be only poor George Muller, who needs daily to pray
- ‘Hold Thou me up in my goings, that my footsteps slip not.’”
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[4]
THE PROGRESS OF THE TRUTH -
WHY I BECAME A CHRISTIAN
By JOHN A. SUBHAN
I was born in
One day a copy
of the Gospel was given to me by a Moslem friend. On previous occasions I had torn it into pieces, as a book of Satan.
This time I was prompted to read it again and studied it
carefully and tried to discover something satanic, but there was nothing
which I could discard as a lie or corruption. The simplicity of the life of
Christ impressed me. The story of the crucifixion was something new and
contrary to what I was taught, yet it seemed to be the
natural development of the whole thing. My faith in Islamic interpretation was shaken. The Gospel story, either right or wrong, was not
at least satanic. The moulvies had told a lie. I
managed to obtain a copy of the Bible and started reading it every day. Then
came difficulties, there were so many questions to be solved.
I wanted some one to guide me.
The year
was 1911and Dr. Zwemer was to preach the first of his
series that evening. I could hardly follow his preaching, but after the lecture
I was introduced to Dr. Zwemer
who, this time using a mixture of Arabic, Persian and English spoke to me on
the Koranic text, “Show me
the straight path.” It was the first occasion that the Christian Message
in its absolute purity free from polemics was presented
to me. I had found the existing Bible to be the real Torah, Zabur
and Injil, mentioned in the Koran and because the God
of the Christian seemed to me to be superior to Allah of Islam. Now within
those few minutes, I learned that Christ and only Christ is the way, and that I
must become a Christian, not only for the intellectual satisfaction but in
order to be saved, saved from the hell and judgment with which I was
familiarized in Islam. I learned that I must accept Christ as my living (spiritual
guide) and follow Him with unhesitating steps to the end of my life. It became
clear to me that Christ is the Taragat or
Path leading to God, for He is the way between God and Man, for He came from
God and has returned to God. The path was clear and straight, and my soul cried
out in exultant joy. It was the joy of a man who had lost his way, and then
found it again, and, recognizing it as his path leading to his home, would feel
happy and relieved.
My acquaintance with Rev. F. W.
Steinthal opened a new chapter in my religious experience. Week after week he
would read from the sacred scripture and after brief devotional remarks would
kneel, and I by his side, and offer prayer. In his reading and expounding
scripture and in his prayer I would find what I had missed all through in my
previous religious experience as a Moslem and a Sufi. No mosque, no Islamic
devotion could create that atmosphere of the presence of some unseen spiritual Being that I used to experience in that little office in the
upper story of Y. M. C. A., facing
Next day I began my practical
evangelism. I spoke of Christ in a pleading and persuasive tone to a little
group of young Muslims of my own class. The news spread, “Subhan is a Christian.” It spread and spread till in an hour’s time almost 700 students of the Madrasah
came to know of it. Some were filled with rage, some
were astonished and some horrified. Many refused to believe it; how can a
Muslim turn a Christian infidel? At midday, when the students in schools are generally released for half an hour’s interval, a crowd
of boys surrounded me. In a mixed attitude of horror and curiosity
they were pointing me out to each other. The teacher, an old Muslim, seemed no
less horrified than the boys. There was a confusion, the boys were in the spirit of rioting. A short
meeting of the teachers was held, and I was taken in their midst. The door of
the teacher’s room was besieged, there was a rush, the
door was to be locked. Questions followed one after another in quick
succession, and the Lord fulfilled His promise, “Take
no thought how or what ye shall speak, for it
shall be given you in that same hour
what ye shall speak,” Matthew 10: 19. I was no master in the art of controversy, but I could
not be persuaded to deny my Saviour. How could I say no to that which I
have known and experienced to be true? The scholars of the Madrasah were
baffled; the arguments of the witness to the experience of my life were too
strong to be refuted. The resort was taken to threats,
but I could hardly follow them, for my mind was full of such words of my
Saviour “fear them not which kill the body.
... The very hairs of your head are all numbered.
Fear ye not therefore, ye are of more value than many sparrows. Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my father which is in heaven,”
Matthew 10: 28-32. The news of my expulsion from
school reached my people.
The evening I was leaving home,
my mother was too shocked to tell me anything or stop me from the step that I
had told her I was to take. The day after I left home, my mother with my young
brother came to the school to persuade me to return home with her. As a strict
Muslim lady she had never been out before and had
never stepped inside any Christian building or a stranger’s house. I met her, she was all in tears. My
brother told me that she had not touched any food since the evening I had left
her. She had brought some food along, which she would see me eat and be
satisfied. Our Western friends realize very little the depth of the love of an
Oriental mother for her child. The idea of sending the children to boarding
house is unbearable for the majority of Indian mothers. A sick child would rather be allowed to die in her mother’s arms, than be
taken to a hospital and be treated properly. Whenever I think of that memorable
evening when I met her, the whole picture of that great conflict which was to
decide the battle finally, comes to my mind. Pleading tears of an affectionate
mother are not to be easily forgotten, and after the lapse of 16 years I can recall, this evening, every single detail of her
visit. She loved all her sons, but she has always loved me most. No one of her
sons has ever been allowed to be separated from her
even for a day, and I was to act treacherously towards her, make her cry and
break her heart. The storm was surging and the tempest was slowly rising in my
mind; I was deeply agitated, and I felt that I must get up, take her hand, wipe
her tears and follow her home. Now I can go with her and remain with her till I have explained things to her, and then I can come
back and be baptized with her consent. Go with her, go with her was the
constant urging of my heart. Then suddenly above the tumult and storms the
words of Him who once has calmed the tempestuous sea in
On the
evening of my baptism I was introduced to a Christian
preacher, his name was Babu Gyanandra
Nath Biswas. He highly
impressed me with his venerable appearance, wearing a long beard, and
scrutinizing me with his large and flaming eyes, he asked me whether I have
been to my people and friends and have invited them to witness the baptismal
ceremony. When I told him that I could not do that as
it was not safe for me to go to my Muslim friends, he turned round and told me
that in his honest opinion I was not fit to become a Christian, for I had
trusted the four walls of the school, and the principal more than God. If I
really trusted God and had confidence in His fatherly protection
why was I afraid to face my people? Was it because God only could save and
protect me inside the mission school, or was I afraid to seal my testimony by
dying a martyr’s death? However, I was so much impressed that I at once left
school and went to see my friends. I met them some at school, and some at their
homes, and then I went to my own people. I talked to every one of them of my
Saviour and the inward joy that I have received from Him. I informed them of my
baptism, and asked them to come and witness the ceremony. Meantime Mr. J. H. Hickinbotham hearing of my absence was much upset, and as
he with others was praying for my safety, I returned and stood in their midst
rejoicing for the new experience and praising the Lord for the new lesson in God’s
loving protection. The very persons who were waiting for an opportunity to
persecute me listened to my talk and let me go unmolested. On
July 7, 1912, at 4 p.m. I was baptized.
The real facts of the fuller
experiences of Christian life begin just where this chapter of my life closes.
Many are the blessings which have followed me in my
journey, and many are the lessons which I am taught by my Master in various
ways, though many have been my disappointments, but great has been His favours.
I still find myself very imperfect and weak, and so I
am glad that I found Him for He and He alone is able to keep me to the end. - The Missionary Review of the World.
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[5]
A FATHER’S TESTAMENT TO HIS SON
“This actual Testament bequeathed by a father to his son - an
only child who was about thirteen years of age when his father died - is so
tender, so true, so spiritually simple, that - without, naturally, endorsing
every sentence - we count it a privilege
to help fulfil his heart’s desire that his spiritual legacy might reach some
now in the twilight in which he once
was. His son, who permits us to print it, has fulfilled
the Testament at heavy cost.” - [D.M. Panton.]
By way of preface I briefly state I was brought up in the Church of England,
being the youngest son of an Evangelical Clergyman, who, unfortunately for me,
passed away at the early age of 48, just when I most needed his loving care and
guidance. I have evidence that I was Baptized in
infancy, and Confirmed in that Church when 15 years of age, and while still a lad
at school. Of our so-called preparation for that ceremony by a learned and
well-known “D.D.” the
less said the better. I served that Church in all some 35 years, chiefly as a
Chorister and Organist in various places Ritualistic and Evangelical, High and
Low, as they are spoken of. I carried out my duties
carefully and diligently, as I have testimony from those in authority to prove,
but regret to say that at the end of that long time I knew very little more
about Christ and the Way of Salvation than when I started. This, we will
assume, was my own fault, but such is the sad fact.
I was even
invited and more than once persuaded to join the Ministry myself. The
idea, however, never commended itself to me, and it is fortunate I did not do
so, both for the Church and myself, as I was wholly unconverted at the time,
and there are certain matters referred to elsewhere which I could not now in
the light of fuller knowledge accept. It is also hopeless to teach and preach
to others doctrines which you do not yourself believe.
I had noticed on two or three
occasions a striking passage in the lesson read at the Burial of the Dead, as
follows:- “Some have not the knowledge of God:
I speak this to your shame” (1 Corinthians
15: 34). Then I
thought the matter over, and found I had practically no saving knowledge of Him
at all, for it is one thing to know about God, but quite another
thing to know Him by personal contact and daily experience. Also about this time I was much struck by reading a sermon by C. H. Spurgeon
on “Are you prepared to die? which
is a very leading question, and I came to the conclusion I was quite unprepared
for such an event, and unsaved. It was then brought home to me that I was
living in a terribly perilous position, and that I must at once bestir myself
(see 2 Samuel 5: 24). I take it the Holy Spirit was at work in
my heart, and my Conversion commenced in that way. Thank God, He thus sought me
out in a dark world of sin, and brought me back to the Light of His
Countenance.
In recent years I have been laid
aside with severe bodily affliction, but I have no doubt the Saviour has
chastened and corrected me in Love, and in full confidence I commit myself to
His gracious care and keeping (Isaiah 41: 10). Faith looks ahead to that bright Home, where
there shall be no more pain (Revelation 21: 4), and praying that I may be enabled to bear
patiently what our Good Master sends me, I bow my spirit in humble submission
to the Divine Will (John 13: 7).
My intention is that the
following Testimony may be attached to my Will, and by God’s Blessing I trust
it may be helpful to my dear child, for whom it was chiefly undertaken, and it
may be to those that come after (Ecclesiastes 11: 1)
THE PLAN OF SALVATION
We are saved
by the Grace of God the Father, through Faith in Jesus Christ the Son, and by
the Indwelling of the Holy Spirit in our hearts. Thus
the Great Trinity of Wisdom, Love and Power, the Three that bear record in
Heaven, and witness in Earth, all have a part in it.
(See Ephesians 2: 8; 1 Peter 1: 9*; Romans 8: 9; and Hebrews 2:
3)
[* NOTE: I
believe this text is a reference to the time of Resurrection, when the ‘soul’ of
man will be delivered from ‘Hades’ - the place of the dead ‘in the heart of the earth’ (Matthew
12: 40). Cf. Matt 16: 18; Luke 16: 23; Acts 2: 27, (See also Psalm
16: 10), and verse
34 with 2 Timothy 2: 17,
18, R.V.). Therefore, 1 Peter 1: 9 cannot
possibly be a reference to a Christian’s initial and eternal salvation
by God’s ‘grace’ through ‘faith’ in their Lord Jesus Christ because Peter is
writing and addressing “the elect” (verse 1) - to those who were already saved, at
the time of his writing, by God’s grace!]
THINGS NEEDFUL TO SALVATION
1. REPENTANCE. True Repentance consists of godly sorrow whereby we forsake
every known sin, and our favourite sins in particular.
(See Isaiah 55: 7; Ezekiel 18: 21; and Luke 13: 3.)
2.
WHOLE-HEARTED BELIEF in the revealed Word of God
(See John 3: 16; John 5: 24; and Mark 9: 23)
3. SIMPLE TRUST in the
finished work of Christ, that your sins are washed
away for ever in the cleansing fountain of His Blood.
(See Ezekiel 33: 16; and 1 John 1: 7.)
4. The NEW
BIRTH of Water and of the Spirit, which is Conversion.
(See Matthew 18: 32 and John 3: 1-15.)
5. The INDWELLING of the HOLY SPIRIT in our
hearts.
(See Romans 8: 9 and 16; 1 John 4: 13; and Luke 11: 13.)
6. HOLINESS of life and conversation.
(See Hebrews 12: 14; 1 Peter 1: 16; 1 Timothy 5: 22; and 2 Corinthians 7: 1).
THE MEANS OF GRACE
First
and foremost, PRAYER, which
is the backbone of the
Spiritual Life. At least, begin and end each day with fervent Prayer (James 5: 16),
asking the Loving Saviour to accept and present our humble petitions before the
Father’s Throne, and to intercede for us.
Our gratitude is so important I
have found it helpful to always commence with Thanks and Praise to our Heavenly Father for His manifold
and great mercies to us day by day, and for all His wondrous and unchanging
Love.
(See Psalm 1: 23; and Philippians 4: 6.)
BIBLE READING AND STUDY is also most important. Read some definite
portion of the Bible each day, always asking the Holy Spirit to give you a
hearing ear and an understanding heart. Meditate upon what you read, comparing
Scripture with Scripture to find out the truth for yourself. Also meditate much
on Heaven; this world of woe is but the stepping stone
to a world of bliss, and it will help you to forget the toil of the way.
(See Isaiah 55: 3; Jeremiah 33: 3;
Psalm 119: 18;
Luke 24: 45;
2Timothy 3: 16; and James 4: 8.)
BAPTISM
It is doubtless well that little
children should be received into the visible Church and named, but the teaching
of the Church of England that infant Baptism conveys with it Regeneration is,
in my opinion, false and misleading, because it cannot be supported by the Word
of God. The only Baptism recognized in the Scriptures is Believer’s Baptism, in
which the all-important Belief must come first, which, it is obvious, it cannot
do in the case of an infant (see Mark 16: 16; and Acts 8: 36 and 37). Bishop J. C. Ryle
has well said, “As a result our Churches are largely
filled with ungodly people and ‘baptized infidels,’” which is a sad, but,
I fear, true comment, and I quite agree with it. It is also worthy of note that
Our Lord Himself was named and presented in the
CONFIRMATION
The
taking upon ourselves of the promises and vows made on our behalf in infancy by
well-meaning, but, too often, thoughtless and careless persons, is an excellent
way of making a public confession of Christ (Matthew 10: 32); provided always the Holy
Spirit has been at work in our hearts, and we have first been converted and
brought to Christ: this is essential. Otherwise, as I regret to say in my own case, it is but an
empty form and ceremony, and a fitting sequel to the supposed regeneration in
infant Baptism. Thus I was myself a “Baptized and Confirmed infidel,” not being converted
till many years afterwards. The Church of England does not exercise sufficient
care in this important and vital matter (see Acts 6: 6; Acts 8: 15 to 17; and Acts 19: 1 to 6).
THE LORD’S SUPPER
I must tread lightly here in
speaking of the Great Memorial Feast of the Saviour’s Love to mankind. We should always carefully and prayerfully prepare
and examine ourselves and our lives before we presume
to fulfil His dying command; this is vital (1 Cor. 11: 27-29).
Rightly understood, a great and blessed Means of
Grace, but a means only; and beware of a
very popular delusion that Baptism, Confirmation, and the reception of the Lord’s
Supper will in or of themselves save your Soul, as they were never intended for
such a purpose, and will not do
so. It is just grasping at forms and ceremonies
which are but the shadows, and losing the substance which is Christ
Himself.
(See Matt. 26: 26 to 29; Mark 14: 22 to 25; Luke 22: 19 and 20; and 1 Cor. 11: 23 to 29.)
THE CHURCH
Probably no word is more misused and misunderstood than this. The
Personally, I have always felt
Christ to be nearer to me when two or three have met together in His Name, as
in Matthew 18: 20, than
in the great congregation (Ps. 22: 25; Heb. 10: 25).
THE MINISTRY
I take it that even in the visible
Church this is a most important and highly responsible office to fill, though it
is to be feared often lightly undertaken in these days, and without
sufficiently counting the cost, which is inevitable and far-reaching in its consequences.
(See Ezek. 3: 17-21, 33: 1-9, and 34: 1-10; also 2 Tim. 4: 1-5. and 1 Peter 4: 17.)
Above all things do not enter
the Ministry of any Church unless you feel
distinctly “Called” by Christ Himself to such a
High Office, and with such great responsibilities. The lack of such a Divine “Call” is fatal to a successful Ministry, and is the
chief cause of the many failures we see around us, among those who have, as we say, mistaken their calling (see Jude 1).
DOCTRINE
This is perhaps the most thorny subject of all in these degenerate days. The great
Apostle Paul says (1 Thess. 5: 21), “Prove all things,” and we are not called upon to
believe or accept what cannot be proved by the Word of God. Avoid all so-called
“New Theology” (2 Tim. 4:
3, 4), and
any doctrines that tend to exalt Man, as they have their origin in the Prince
of this world, the great enemy of souls (2 Thess. 2: 3, 4).
Beware also of any
THE SECOND COMING OF CHRIST
As believers this is the next
great event we should be looking and praying for in
the world’s history, and it [i.e. the pre-Tribulation rapture] - may
happen at any moment. - [(see pre-tribulation rapture at Luke 21: 34-36 and Rev. 3: 10)] - Matt. 24: 44; 2 Pet. 3: 10). Its fulfilment has been many
times foretold, but we need pay no attention to such speculation, as we are
distinctly told “Of that day and that hour knoweth no man,” which
is certain and conclusive (see Matt. 24: 36; and Mark 13: 32).
We may, however, note that the
course of events in the world around us - [today in
the year 2021] - point to the time
being very near at hand, and it behoves us to set our houses in order
while we may (Isa. 38: 1), and
to be ever watching and waiting for His Glorious Appearing. I have always
prayed that it might take place in my own lifetime, and the Saviour’s Advent
will end the present - [evil and apostate age,
and] - Dispensation.
(See
Zech. 14: 1-5; Acts 1: 11; Titus 2: 13; James 5: 8; Rev. 3: 11; Rev. 22: 20; and remember always 2 Cor. 5: 10). - [also Acts 20: 30; 1 Cor. 5: 11-13; 2 Tim. 3: 1-4; Jude 4 & 5, R.V.]
CONCLUDING REMARKS
My testimony contains, I
believe, the truth, and nothing but the truth, but not the whole truth, which we shall not know till
hereafter (John 13: 7). Of course, the Bible
references are the
most, and perhaps the only, important part of it. Here at any rate we are on
safe ground.
(See Isa. 40: 8; Matthew 24:
35; and 1 Pet. 1: 25.)
I trust, by God’s blessing, it
may be helpful to my dear child, as I sadly needed some such guidance in my own
youthful days. I have always prayed that he might have the great and priceless
privilege of being converted in his youth. God grant
it may be so, and that till such time I may be spared
to teach him to grow up in His love and fear. Should I be called away my desire
is that he may have this record of my Testimony to refer to, and in due time be
led to seek out the truth for himself.
It has
also been my constant prayer that we may have part in that Blessed First Resurrection
spoken of in Revelation 20: 6, and
that our names may be found written in the Lamb’s Book of Life (see Rev. 21: 27); so that at the last, with all our dear ones,
we may be found one family in Christ - here in full Trust, hereafter in full
joy (Matt. 13: 43), and may receive the reward,
the Crown of Life that fadeth not away (Rev. 2: 10).
Even so, come Lord Jesus, come
quickly (Rev. 22: 20), that Thy Name may be
Glorified, and that Thy Throne may be set up for ever, and may we be ever
watching and waiting for Thy Glorious Appearing (Titus 2: 13).
“Now
unto the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God,
be honour and glory for ever and ever. Amen” (1 Tim. 1: 17).
THE END