"For by one offering he hath perfected for ever,

them that are sanctified."

Their sins and

iniquities will I remember no more."

"There is "Verily,

no more offering for sin." (Heb. x.) verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, HATH everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life.” (John v. 24.) "By him all that believe ARE justified from all things." (Acts xiii. 39.) There are these blessed divine certainties true of every believer: he has peace with God, being justified by faith; he has access into the present favour and grace of God; and the future before him is the glory of God. In Christ he is without condemnation: and nothing can separate him from the love of Christ. (Rom. v. 1, 2; viii. 1, 38, 39.)

And will you now say that the knowledge of salvation is unscriptural? Will you give up all this which God tells you in His holy word? Fellow believer, we are invited to give up this divine soul-sustaining certainty, for what? Positively nothing with any certainty. If I understand this doctrine it is this: God has done His best to save you: He has failed, for you are not saved. Now you must do your best: the clergyman will do his best with sacraments, and the like, yet after all, it is still uncertain whether you can be saved.

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THE PARABLES OF OUR LORD.

THE TEN VIRGINS.

"Then shall the kingdom of heaven be likened unto ten virgins, which took their lamps, and went forth to meet the bridegroom. And five of them were wise, and five were foolish. They that were foolish took their lamps, and took no oil with them: but the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps. While the bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered and slept. And at midnight there was a cry made, Behold, the bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet him. Then all those virgins arose, and trimmed their lamps. And the foolish said unto the wise, Give us of your oil; for our lamps are gone out. But the wise answered, saying, Not so; lest there be not enough for us and you but go ye rather to them that sell, and buy for yourselves. And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came; and they that were ready went in with him to the marriage: and the door was shut. A terward came also the other virgins, saying, Lord, Lord, open to us. answered and said, Verily I say unto you, I know you not. Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh."-MATTHEW xxv. 1-13.

But he

WITH this parable we all are, happily, more or less familiar, however short we may come of being practically in its spirit. It is the normal condition of the Christian, like the saints of Thessalonica, to be waiting for the Lord from heaven, to be going out in spirit to meet the Bridegroom.

It may be a question as to when the parable more definitely applies. It is introduced by the word, "then." In the previous chapter we have, "Watch, therefore, for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come." (Ver. 42.) And in Luke

we are exhorted to be like unto men who wait for their Lord, that when He cometh, we may open to Him immediately. All of which well agrees with the thought, that, from the beginning of the church, the true position of the Christian has been to be going out to meet the Bridegroom.

It is true that, some fifty years since, there seemed to be a definite cry raised, "Behold, the Bridegroom cometh;" which was followed by much searching of the scripture on the subject,. and a general revival followed as to the hope of the coming of the Lord in the hearts of His saints.

Along with this, many grave mistakes were made, by attempting to fix dates when ourTM Lord should come, in direct conflict with the assurance, that we know not the day nor the hour; and this agrees well with our parable. And as these various dates, one after another, passed by, and our Lord came not, we fear that many a one dozed off again, and slumbered and slept, though. we trust a few still are really looking for, and expecting their Lord with their lamps still burning; while the foolish fixing of dates, and the inevitable failure, estranged many an earnest Christian from the after study of the prophetic books of scripture.

Sad indeed it is to read in the parable that they all-wise and foolish-fell asleep, after having once gone out to meet the Bridegroom. And with this agrees the fact, that, until comparatively recently-as just referred to-there is scarcely a

trace to be found of any Christian looking for his Lord as a present hope before his soul.

Does not the call yet continue? And may it not yet wax louder and louder-" Behold, the bridegroom cometh "-as, in many prophecies, there would seem to have been a partial fulfilment before the full and final one? In the parable, we do not read of the virgins again going to sleep after they were once awakened by the call; while we fear many who once heard it have given up the hope, and, in this respect, have slumbered again. The cry, too, is at midnight; we know not whether the darkness is quite at its full, though alas! it seems hardly possible to be worse than it is.

As in other parables, the virgins are taken up on their profession. They all profess to go forth to meet the Bridegroom, and they are all furnished with lamps-the lamps of profession. But only the wise have oil in their vessels: t.e foolish have their lamps, but no oil-a profession without Christ. Alas! the state, we fear, of many thousands in this day of nominal Christianity.

Well, as they all slept, so they all awoke at the cry, and trimmed their lamps. And now it is on the approach of the Bridegroom that the foolish find they need something they do not possess, for they find their lamps are going out" (as it should read, not "gone out ").

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The wise virgins cannot supply their need. They must go and buy for themselves. In the

meantime the Bridegroom arrives, and they that are ready go in with him to the marriage; and -awful words!" the door was shut."

But the foolish virgins now appear. It does not say that they have procured any oil, but they come, and are represented as crying, "Lord, Lord, open unto us. But he answered, and said, Verily, I say unto you, I know you not."

What words of warning are these to the professors of this day! Will you still be deceived? Will you still profess to be God's people? Here you are represented as deceived up to the very gates of heaven, as it were; but then to hear those fatal words, "I know you not." Alas! one trembles to think of the responsibility of any who help on, with ritualism, or any other means, the fatal delusion, that a mere human religion is all that is needed. May God open the eyes of all who are being led astray by the delusions of Satan. The exhortation is still, "Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money; come ye, buy, and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price." (Is. lv. 1.)

All closes with these seasonable words: "Watch, therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh." With oil in our vessels, with joy we can look forward to that happy moment, when we shall hear "the voice of the archangel and the trump of God; and the dead