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building was dedicated to the worship of Christ An inscription was placed on an arch, in Greek capital letters, as follows: “Thy kingdom, O Christ, is an everlasting kingdom, and Thy dominion endureth throughout all generations.” This is a quotation from the Greek Old Testament —Psalm 145:13. In process of time, nominal Christians became indifferent to the faith of Christ, and the Mohammedans took possession of the temple and made of it a Mohammedan mosque. They did not destroy the inscription, and notwithstand ing the fact that the mosque has been burned in part more than once (the last time in 1894), the inscription yet remains. We may believe that the preservation of this inscription in a Mohammedan mosque, for twelve centuries, is a prophecy that Christ shall yet reign in the earth, King o f kings, Lord o f lords.—A. J. Reynolds, in 5,000 Best Modern Illustrations, by Hallock. A Story About a Wedding M atthew 25:1-13 Memory Verse: “Be ye also ready” (Matt. 24:44). Approach: Jesus had many things to tell the people before He should leave them. He had been telling them how .He must that country, there were ten maidens who went to await the coming o f the bride groom. They carried lamps in their hands to light the way. Now five o f them were wise and five were foolish. The wise ones brought oil in their lamps. The lamps of the foolish ones were empty. Suddenly the cry was made, “The bride groom is coming.” Then up rose the maidens to greet him. The wise ones lighted their lamps and were soon ready to follow him. The fool ish ones didn’t know what to do. They begged the wise maidens to lend them some oil. “Not so,” answered the wise, “lest there be not enough for us and you: but go rather to them that sell, and buy for your selves I” And while they were gone, the bride groom came. The wise ones followed him in, and the door was shut When the foolish maidens returned, it was too late. “ Lord, Lord,” they cried, “open to us.” But he answered and said: “Verily I say unto you, I know you not.” When Jesus finished this story, He said to the people, “Watch therefore; for ye know neither the day nor the hour where in the Son o f man cometh.” The way to be ready to meet the Lord is to believe that Jesus is the Son of God, to receive Him as Saviour, and to be filled with His Spirit. Then when He comes, we shall be waiting to follow Him. 'We shall be like the wise maidens and then we can go with Jesus. “When Jesus comes to reward His servants, Whether it be noon or night, Faithful to Him, will He find us watching, . With our lamps all trimmed and bright ?” * 'V i s \ o * leave them. Now He began to tell them that He was coming again, and He ex plained to them how they must be ready. He told them a story which helped them to Understand. Lesson S tory: He said that once there was a wedding, and, as the custom was in
daily readiness for His coming. W e are to so reveal the true characteristics of sep aration, manifestation, and expectancy, that we shall not be ashamed before Him at His coming (1 John 2:28). And there must be constant readiness, because He will come suddenly, and to many His coming will be unexpected. For our comfort, however, the Holy Spirit tells us that the catching away of believers to meet the Lord in the air is dependent alto gether upon the efficacy o f the Lord’s death and not upon the believers’ state'of wake fulness at the time of this event (1 Thess. 5:9-11). Points and Problems 1. The inspired key to the interpretation of this parable of the ten virgins is given by our Lord Himself in Luke 12:35, 36: “ Let your loins be girded about, and your lights burning; and ye yourselves like unto men that wait for their lord, when he will return from the wedding.” Here you have a wedding, servants waiting, with lights burning and in readiness. Certainly these are the leading ideas in the parable. 2. But there is one apparent contradic tion between the two scenes: In the para ble, the Lord comes to the marriage. But in Luke 12:36, He comes from the wed ding. (Both “marriage” and “wedding” represent the same Greek word, gamos, which the Revised Version renders “mar riage feast.” ) 3. The solution of the apparent contra diction may be found in the nature of the ordinary marriage ceremonies in our Lord’s day. Actually, there were two cele brations. There was first a feast at the home o f the bride. From there the bride groom brought the bride in a joyous pro cession to his own home where a second feast was held. (For the complete citation o f authorities, see Peters’ great work, The Theocratic Kingdom,” Vol. Ill, and also Barnes’ Commentary on the parable.) 4. Applying this imagery to the parable in Matthew and to the passage in Luke, we are able to fix the setting exactly. The first celebration is at the marriage in hea ven (Rev. 19:6-9). From this great event, the wonderful procession moves' trium phantly to earth where in His own house, as the seed of David, our blessed Lord brings His bride for the second celebra tion. 5. Who then are the virgins who.wait for their Lord when He shall come “from” the first marriage feast that they may go in with Him “ to” another marriage feast? Here again the Word is very clear. Revela tion 14 :l-5 speaks of a company who attend the Lamb and declares that “ they are vir gins.” These 144,000 are chosen Israelites (Rev. 7 :l-8 ), preserved on earth during the tribulation period, who will wait for the Bridegroom and His bride as He comes from the heavenly marriage feast, and they will enter with Him into the second celebration which will be held upon earth. 6. In summary, it may be said that probably there are four companies who will participate in some phase of the mar riage celebration o f the Lamb: first, the bride (Rev. 19:7, 8) ; second, the friends o f the Bridegroom, the Old Testament saints (John 3:29; Jas. 2 :2 3 ); third, the virgin attendants (Matt. 25:1-13); and fourth, the bidden guests (Matt. 22:10). Golden Text Illustration There is yet standing in Damascus a temple o f stone built centuries ago, per haps at first as a Syrian heathen temple for the worship of Rimmon. When Chris tianity was spread over the East, this
Object Lesson G etting R eady for a W edding Objects: Two kerosene lamps, identical in shape, one filled with oil, and the other with the wick slightly dampened with kero sene. Lesson: Isn’t it fun to be invited to a wedding? It is very sad not to be invited when the wedding is. for some one you know. Weddings have always been a time o f great joy and rejoicing. Our Sunday- school lesson this morning was a story about a wedding like those held in the days o f Christ. In those times, several young women would wait for the bridegroom and, entering the bride’s home with him, be present at the wedding. The young women about whom Christ talked were like people who will be living when He returns to earth. He has pre pared a wedding feast and has told His people that He will some day return and take them to the feast. The virgins, as the young women were called, carried lamps. Their plan was that when the bridegroom should come, they would light their lamps and go out to meet him. Five o f the virgins were foolish and took no oil in their lamps. The other five were wise and took oil. Here are two lamps. The lamps both look alike, but they do not burn alike. Having oil in the lamp is like having the Holy Spirit in the heart. When any one accepts Christ, the Holy Spirit comes into the heart, and bears witness with our spirit that we are the children of God. Paul says that if a person does not have the Spirit of Christ, that person is reprobate, which means that he is not saved. The five virgins who did not have oil in their lamps could not go in to the wed ding feast when the bridegroom came. There will doubtless be many people in every church who will not have been saved when Christ comes, and not having the Holy Spirit, will not be allowed to enter into the marriage feast with Him. They may look the same as those who go with Him, but the test is not in looks. It will depend on whether or not they have been saved. If they are saved, they will have already received the Holy Spirit and there fore will be taken with Christ. What should we do while we wait for this wonderful wedding feast which the Lord Jesus Christ has prepared ? He said: “Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh.”. Two Spirits The world-spirit and the Christ-spirit are ever at enmity. The world-spirit moves by sight ; the Christ-spirit by faith. The world- spirit is limited by time and incarcerated in space; the Christ-spirit soars to the third heaven to kneel at the feet of the ever-lov ing Father. The world-spirit sees not be yond the grave; the Christ-spirit endures as seeing Him who is invisible. The world- spirit seeks material reward; the Christ- spirit lays up a treasure incorruptible, that fadeth not away. The two spirits will never be reconciled. —R oy T almage B rumbaugh .
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