joice, for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready." "Blessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb."

But alas, whilst we speak of the door being shut as securing for ever the safety of those who are within, what shall we say of those who are without? Oh, they will cry out in the agony of their hearts, "That door was once open to me, but I would not enter in. There was once written over that door, OPEN TO EVERY PENITENT"! Now there is written over it, "SHUT FOR EVERMORE."

What will be our feeling, if we shall stand at that door hereafter, and find it closed against us? What if we are forced to exclaim in the anguish of our souls, "That door once admitted as great sinners as we are; for they forsook their sins in time, and sought admission. They found a refuge; whilst I am shut out. Manasseh, once so wicked, and David, whose sins were of so deep a dye, were admitted. Saul, once a persecutor, was admitted. The Woman who was a sinner was admitted. Weeping Peter was admitted. The Penitent Thief was admitted. And I,

Y

even I, might have found admission, but I put and now the door of mercy

mercy from me;

is for ever closed against me"!

Think of this. And And may God enable you to welcome with thankfulness those gracious words of Christ, "I am the Door; by me if any man enter in he shall be saved!"

And now, lest we should miss the great lesson which this Parable is intended to teach us, our Lord bids us in the closing verse,

Watch therefore; for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh."

There is great need for the Ministers of Christ to watch both for themselves, and for their people. They are the Lord's "watchmen." They must sound the alarm. They must blow the trumpet, and see that it gives no uncertain sound. They must warn the heedless, and awaken the sleeping.

And those have need to watch who are living careless, thoughtless lives. They have slept too long. Let them beware lest they sleep the sleep of death."

There is need too for every true servant of

Christ to watch. The world is very enticing. Satan is very busy. Where then does our safety lie? Chiefly I think in prayer. We must be much in prayer, much alone with God.

In these days there is a great deal of activity -a great deal of running to and fro-a great deal of talk about religion. But all this may be, without any heart work-without any watchfulness and preparedness for the great day of our Lord's coming. I am persuaded that one great fault among us is this-we do not spend enough time in retirement, in holding secret communion with our Lord.

This is one great reason why there is not more life and growth among us, and why the work of grace advances so slowly. We know but little of what it is to "enter into our closets," and when we have "shut the door," to speak to "our Father which is in secret." Public Prayer, and the Preaching of the Word are most important means of grace. But if these are allowed to take the place of Private Prayer, and private intercourse with the Saviour, we cannot truly know Him, or be getting ready for His arrival.

You pray, I dare say, morning and evening, and read a portion of God's Word. But I believe a Christian needs something more than this. I believe no Christian can be making rapid strides on the way to heaven, unless he is in the constant habit of retiring for a while from his ordinary business, and putting himself, if it is only for a very few minutes, in the presence of his Lord, and speaking to Him as it were "face to face."

Try this. It will at first seem very difficult. But you will find it most useful. Each day get away for five minutes from your usual occupations, and spend those five minutes in speaking solemnly to Christ, as you would to some one who knows all that is in your heart. This is the way to become acquainted with Him, to realize Him as your Friend, and to look forward to His appearing. This is the way to call down refreshing showers of blessing upon your soul.

I would say to every one who is really anxious to be admitted into heaven, you must hold intercourse with God, or your soul will die, your lamp will burn out. You must walk with God, or Satan will walk with you. You

must grow in grace, or you will certainly lose

what you have.

Be very watchful, or you

will not be ready when the Bridegroom cometh. The night is far spent: the day is at hand. The great marriage procession may soon be here. Therefore let us not sleep as do others. Let us wake up before the day dawns. Let us try and be ready. What I say unto you, I say unto all, WATCH!