The Parable of the Ten Virgins, Collection of sermons · Sermon 10
SERMON X. On Matth. 25. 13. Watch therefore, for ye know neither the Day, nor the Hour wherein the Son of Man cometh.
I Come now to the Uſe, or (as we ſpeak) Application, which our Lord makes of this Great and Excellent Parable, Watch, for you know neither the day nor the hour, in which the Son of Man cometh: And it may be, upon the hearing of the Words, you may be ready to ſay, That I am upon a Scripture that overthrows the Attempts of drawing ſuch a Scripture Line of Time, as I have endeavoured to hold out, and to perſwade the Truth of, as ſhould lead to the very Coming of the Bridegroom, the great Son of Man. But indeed, the intention of it, as I ſhall ſhew you, is quite another thing, and does not concern it ſelf in that matter, either one way or other: The main Point in it is that great practical one, That every one of us ought to be upon our Guard, upon our Watch, while we are here in the World, in relation to that great Appearance of our Lord Jeſus Christ: We are to wait all our days according to our opportunity of enjoying the Goſpel, in the compaſs of Time God gives us, which may, as you know, be longer, or ſhorter, as our Lives are in the diſpoſe of God; he may take us away this very Night, if he pleaſes; and yet for all this, we muſt have made ſuch a proviſion, and preparation for the Coming of the Bridegroom; which will elſe be with a dreadful and ruinous ſurpriſe upon us whenſoever it be: We are infinitely obliged (give me leave to uſe ſo great a Word, in ſo great a Point) we are, I ſay, infinitely obliged therefore, to take heed in ſo great a matter; If it was as many Years to the Coming of Chriſt, as it hath been ſince he ſpake theſe Words, and though we were ſure it would be ſo: That therefore, which I will propoſe to open to you, ſhall be ſumm'd in this main Doctrine:
Doct. Every one that hears the Word of the Goſpel, concerning the Coming and Kingdom of Chriſt (take it in your own ſenſe as much as you pleaſe) is bound to watch, as if it might be the very next Day and Hour; yea though he had lived in the days of Chriſt, and had then known certainly, that that Coming and Kingdom, ſhould not have been in ſo many Ages as have run out ſince.
For the knowing what Day, or Hour, is not a knowing, or not knowing by Computation, or Account of Time; but by an effectual providing a Treaſure of Oil, that we may not be found fooliſh Virgins at that day. Our watchful knowing is knowing by Union to the great Son of Oil, Chriſt himſelf: And if any Man did know never ſo certainly, the preciſe time of the Coming of the Bridegroom, yet he would not know, in our Lord's ſence, at what hour he'll come, but would be in the ſame ſurpriſe, as if he knew nothing at all: That Day moſt certainly comes unawares, upon all overcharged with furfeiting and drunkenneſs, and Cares of this Life; upon all that ſleep, and are not watchful by Faith and Holineſs; It comes at a day when it is not looked for, and at an hour the evil ſervant is not aware, who eats and drinks with the drunken; They only know that day, whoſe Loins are girded, and whoſe Lights are burning, who, when their Lord cometh, upon account of the Wedding, open to him immediately; Bleſſed are thoſe ſervants, whom their Lord when he cometh, ſhall find ſo doing; Verily, ſaith Chriſt, he will gird himſelf, and will make them ſit down to Meat, and will ſerve them; be ye therefore ready; for the Son of Man cometh at an hour ye think not; that is, if you are not ready; For the very ſence of knowing, or not knowing the time, is being ready or not ready; if not ready, we are not aware. The knowing of time, or not knowing, is but the cover and outſide of this true, effective knowing, or not ſo knowing.
I will therefore, firſt endeavour to open to you the true ſtate of this thing, and then lay down to you ſeveral particular Directions for the right Exerciſe of this Watch: And in a Second Head, give you the Arguments of Perſuaſion to this Watch, and ſo cloſe the whole with Application.
1. To ſhew you then in the Firſt Place, the true ſence of this great Propoſition, from this our Lord's Application of the Parable: And in the general, You know the Concluſion of a Diſcourſe is the Practical Application; and that you know, is regularly drawn out of the main ſubſtance of it: This Application is then drawn out of the ſubſtance of the Parable; and that moſt evidently, is the having Oil in our Veſſels, as hath been explain'd: The watching is therefore, our looking well to that, having Oil in our Veſſels; for they watch'd, who were ſo ready, though the Bridegroom delaying his coming, they ſlumbred, and lay down in Death; they did not watch, who ſo ſlumbred, and went out of the World by Death, that they had not a proviſion ready for the Bridegrooms Coming; ſo that the knowing or not knowing the Time, is not at all touched upon; But more particularly, to attain our Lord's ſence in the moſt plain and practical inſtances of a Spiritual Life, according to the Goſpel, as Directions to watching.
1. Look diligently, that we are taken out of the Gall of Bitterneſs, and from under the Bond of Iniquity, That we are taken out of the ſtate of Children of Wrath, by being implanted into Chriſt, and tranſlated into the Kingdom of his dear Son, in whom is Redemption in his Bloud, even the forgiveneſs of ſins, according to the riches of his Grace; that we awake from that ſleep, and ſtand up from the dead, that Chriſt may give us life: Let us look well, that we are brought into the State of Grace; for that is the principal and fundamental Point of Watching, and the Eſſential Difference between a wiſe and a fooliſh Virgin; to be brought into Chriſt; and to have his Spirit.
2. Let us be continually carneſt, and fervent in Prayer; watch unto Prayer, as the Apoſtle Peter ſpeaks, 1 Pet. 4. 7. And as our Lord commands, Watch and pray, that you may be accounted worthy to eſcape all theſe things, and to ſtand before the Son of Man at his Coming, Luke 21. 36. Pray earneſtly with importunate Crys, that you may not be given over, and found in a ſtate of Ruine and Condemnation at that Great Day. Chriſt was whole Nights in Prayer; with ſtrong Crys and Tears, he offered up Supplications unto him that was able to ſave him from death, and was heard in that he feared; And how then ſhould we think to meet him without that exerciſe; let us therefore be inſtant in Prayer.
3. Let us be very diligent in meditating on the Word of God, Bleſſed is the Man that meditates in his Law day and night; that's watching, to meditate day and night; and whereas Chriſt ſays, I know you not, it is ſaid, The Lord knows the way of ſuch holy, righteous ſervants of his, through his Grace in Chriſt: And it is an evidence of being in him, Pſal. 1. 6.
4. Let us ſhew our watching, by keeping our ſelves from our iniquity, and from all the Temptations to it; Watch and pray, (ſaith our Lord) that ye enter not into Temptation, Luke 22. 43. Be ſober (ſaith the Apoſtle Peter) and watch unto Prayer; Gird up the loins of your mind, and hope perfectly, for the glory that ſhall be brought to you at the Revelation of Jeſus Chriſt, 1 Pet. 1. 13. with c. 4. 7. And be ſober, be vigilant, or watchful, for your Adverſary the Devil, goeth about like a roaring Lion, ſeeking whom he may devour, c. 5, 2. All this ſhews the great Watchfulneſs our Souls ſhould maintain againſt our own Iniquity, that we may be upright before him, and not be as fooliſh Virgins. And it is the more admoniſhing, that in like Diſcourſes of our Lords with this Parable, when he diſcovers ſuch fooliſh Virgins, he ſays, Depart from me, ye that work iniquity.
5. Our Watchfulneſs muſt be exercis'd in adding Grace to Grace; for otherwiſe, as the Apoſtle ſaith, we ſhall be blind, and not ſee ſo afar off, as to behold the King in his beauty, and the Land that is very far off, 2 Pet. 1. 9, &c. with Iſa. 33. 17. Thus an abundant and rich Entrance ſhall be miniſtred unto us, into the Everlaſting Kingdom of our Lord Jeſus Chriſt; We ſhall be ready, and not go to buy, and find the Door ſhut.
6. We Watch by continual Meditation upon being diſſolved, and being with Chriſt, and upon the Glory of his Coming; We need not be written to of the Times and Seaſons, for we our ſelves ſhall know, that the Day of God ſo cometh as a Thief in the night; and as ſudden deſtruction cometh on them, that ſay Peace, Peace; but they that watch thus, and are ſober, are not in darkneſs, and in the night; but are of the Day, and not aſleep, 1 Theſ. 5. 5. &c.
7. We muſt Watch againſt the Sin of the very Age and Day wherein we live; when we live in a prophane Age, take heed of that; when you live in a formal, hypocritical time, take heed of having a Name to live, and being dead; for Chriſt comes on ſuch as a Thief, at unawares. They ſhall not know, at what time he will come upon them, Rev. 3. 3. If a Senſual, Luxurious, Worldly Age; Take heed of being overcharged with thoſe evils, and the Cares of this Life.
8. Let us poſſeſs our ſelves with the moſt clear and diſtinct Apprehenſions of the Appearances of the Kingdom of Chriſt, as the Kingdom of the Reſurrection, and of the Appearances of Saints in Bodies of Light and Glory, Rev. 16. 15. Behold I come as a Thief, Bleſſed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his Garments, that is, that looketh to the preſenting his Body now, as a ſacrifice, a living and acceptable ſacrifice well pleaſing to God in Christ, Rom. 12. Thus we ſhall appear in Bodies of Glory, and not of Contempt; in the Redemption of our Bodies, and Men cannot ſee our ſhame when Chriſt cometh, and all his Saints with him.
Head 2. I come therefore to the Second Head, to lay down the Arguments of Perſwaſion, that we may be moved to this watch.
Argument 1. The Time of Watch is only the Time of the preſent Life: Whatever we would do for the After State, it is to be done in the Preſent State, in the Time of the preſent Life; There is no Counſel nor Device in the Grave whither we are going; and therefore, whatever Our Hands find to do, for that After-State, let us do it now; For in dying, Spirits going out of Bodies enter into their Determinative State; They enter in the State they were in here; They carry out the Oil, they have, whether only in the Lamp of their Profeſſion, or in the Veſſel, the Heart united to Chriſt the Fountain; And ſo they muſt abide, ſo they muſt appear, when the Bridegroom cometh; This is the holy and wiſe Decree of God, concerning the Human Spirit, and who dare controll it.
From hence then it neceſſarily follows, That this Watch is to be maintained in this Preſent State; and that, it can be only here; and that therefore, it is only in order to and with relation to the Coming of the Bridegroom, but not with relation to the Time of his Coming; for then the Doctrine of Watching had not been proper to Perſons living ſo many Ages before it; but becauſe every perſon ſucceſſively living ſince the Time our Lord ſpake theſe words, is in the Time of his Life to exerciſe this Watch; that is, to ſee he hath the Oil in his Veſſel, and not in his Lamp only, that he may ſtand before the Son of Man at his Coming; Therefore it is a Doctrine neceſſary to every Age, as well thoſe furtheſt off, as thoſe neareſt to his Coming; becauſe every one hath but a Life-Time to Watch in; and he is much more to be wrought upon by the ſence of the ſhortneſs and incertainty of his own Life, than by the nearneſs of the Bridegrooms Coming, and the incertainty of the time of that, as we plainly ſee by every Days Experience: And this is much the more unconteſtable, by obſerving the Apoſtle Paul's earneſtneſs, againſt the Chriſtians of thoſe Times, thinking the Day of Chriſt was then at hand, which he ſolemnly affirms, could not be, till an Apoſtacy of 1260 Days of Years ſhould have come in (and that not immediately neither) and have run out; Yea, our very Lord himſelf, when They thought the Kingdom of God ſhould immediately have appeared, Luke 19. 11, &c. gives the Parable of a Nobleman going into a far Country, and returning; importing a diſtance of Time; all which had been a contradiction to watching, becauſe we know not the day nor hour; if the meaning had not been a making proviſion in the preſent Life for the Bridegrooms Coming, how many Ages after ſoever it ſhould be; and that elſe, it would come upon us at unawares, and on the ſudden, and find us unready, unprovided for it.
Argument 2. It further appears, That Watching is the making ſuch proviſion in this preſent Time for the Bridegrooms Coming, as will bear up to the Glory of that Time; becauſe in the ſame State wherein we lie down, we ſhall riſe at that day, whenever it be, and openly appear therein in the face of Heaven and Earth.
The Judgment of Spirits, though it be before God and Chriſt, and Aangels, and Saints; yet Scripture ſpeaks of it as of a private Judgment; for the Day of the Appearance of Chriſt is ſpoken of, Rom. 2. 5. as the Revelation or uncovering that righteous Judgment of God; which as paſs'd upon Spirits returning to God that gave them, is as covered and ſecret; There is greateſt reaſon to be aſſured, That when Spirits of Saints come into the hand of Chriſt, there is joy in Heaven; for if there be joy at their Converſion in the preſence of the Angels of God, and ſo of Saints, there is much more ſo in the coming of Spirits to Glory; but this Joy, and the Shouts of it are not heard down on Earth; But at that Appearance of Chriſt, they are preſented with exceeding joy before Heaven and Earth; And ſo are All, not in Chriſt, with contempt and diſhonour: And this is the great Myſtery and Wonder of the Oeconomy, the Order of that Day; That perſons riſe in the very ſame State, wherein they lie down; God will have it ſo, for the clearneſs of his Judgment; though perſons die in the corner of a Bed, as the Prophets expreſſion is, yet they ſhall openly appear in the ſame circumſtances they died; God will have every ones Judgment, as in all orderly Governments, to be ſub Dio,, openly in the Face of Heaven and Earth; they ſhall all appear as in the Fact foreign; Thus he will be glorified in his Saints, and admired in all them that believe, in that day; and juſtified in the Condemnation of all, whom he condemns. If God ſhould diſpoſe of ſome to Hell, and ſome to Heaven; and that there were no publick account of the matter, we might think, they were ſo diſpoſed of by God, as by an Arbitrary Power, and in ſecret, and ſo his Juſtice called in Queſtion: But when Spirits, that have been ſo diſpoſed of in private, both Spirits ſo publickly, and Bodies are called for together, and the Judgment affirmed; This is clear and open proceeding; and therefore a Day of Judgment, and of Reſurrection is ſo often ſpoken of: All ſhall be brought Face to Face; and we ſhall not only know one another, who have converſed together, but even of all Ages; Abraham, Iſaac and Jacob; Cain and Eſau, Saul, Achitophel and Judas; All ſhall be known, and we ſhall know what becomes of every one to Eternity; Death here, and Spirits entring into their everlaſting ſtate is not All; of which we may ſay, Who knows the Spirit of a Saint, of a wiſe Virgin, that goes upward; of a wicked man, of a fooliſh Virgin that goes downward: But at that Day ſhall be known; All the Good Men, we have read of in Scripture, or in true Accounts of Hiſtory; And the Evil Men, and Hypocrites; Each Company, and Perſon, apart, and apart; God and Chriſt will paſs upon all openly, and in Publick.
And that which I would further urge, every one ſhall Riſe in the very Fact, the foreign, in which they lay down, Belſhazzars in their way, Diveſes in their way, the Worldlings in their way; and the Fooliſh Virgins in their way, Crying, Lord, Lord, without Truth, and Power, as here; The great Tyrants, Enemies of the Kingdom of Chriſt, in their way: To that purpoſe, they are deſcrib'd, as having laid their Weapons of War under their Heads, with their Iniquities upon their Bones, Ezek. 32. 17. and ſo they'll come to the Battel of Armageddon; The Iniquity, and the Bones, the Perſons, and Weapons of War will appear together, in that Day of the Revelation of the Righteous Judgment of God; as even then in actual War againſt the Lamb and his Saints. This is the Great, and ſtupendious management of the Day of Judgment, of that Day, and Hour, of which in this Senſe eſpecially; and not as relating to Time; no one knows, no Angels, no not the Son, as Man; The Father only, the Eternal Beeing alone had Wiſdom to find out, Authority, Dominion, and Power, thus to execute.
It is therefore the great Point of watchfulneſs, to Live ſo, and ſo to Dye, as we would deſire to Riſe, and to Appear; we are not therefore on this Account ſo ſenſible, as we ought to be, how great a thing it is to Dye: We know, it is a common Thing appointed to all, once to Dye, and it's no diſgrace to dye the common Death of Men; becauſe all Dye; and ſome Senſe Men have of a Private Judgment, at that Time; but to conſider; thus we muſt Riſe, and Appear, as we Dye, Oh how ſhould it oblige us to Watch, to get into Jeſus Chriſt, to be found in him; juſtified by his Blood, ſanctified by his Spirit, full of Faith, Repentance, every Grace; to Dye, and Sleep in, and by Jeſus, that we may ſo Riſe, and Appear, Come with him: This is indeed the knowing ſo, as that, that Day ſhould not take us at unawares, and unready, as having not Oyl in the Veſſel: For if you get it not now, you can never get it afterward. Let none of us therefore Dye with ſuch vain Hopes.
Arg. 4. All things at the Coming of the Bridegroom ſhall be carried by ſuch a Rapid Motion, That no Tongue can expreſs the ſwiftneſs of it; That Saints and wicked men are immediately, Body and Spirit, in that condition, as to Eſſential Happineſs, or Miſery, wherein they ſhall be for ever; and with all the circumſtances, in which they lived and died; it is incredible upon any account, but of Divine Power.
There are many Motions ſo ſwift, that a Man cannot know them, The greateſt Naturaliſt cannot give an exact account of: The great ſpeed of a Bullet in the Air is wonderfully ſwift; the motion of the Sun, meaſur'd either by Hours, Quarters, Minutes or Seconds; No one can conceive, what way the Sun makes in the Heavens in each of them, when he comes as a Bridegroom out of his Chamber, and rejoiceth as a ſtrong man to run a Race; and yet, it is nothing in compare with this illuſtrious Bridegroom, of which that is but a dark ſhadow; I would mention ſome Scriptures giving account of this ſwiftneſs, Prov. 1. 27. The Deſtruction of Wicked Men is compared to a Whirlwind, a Motion ſo ſudden, none can expreſs: Malach. 3. 5. I will be a ſwift Witneſs, A Witneſs ought to be conſiderate, and a Judge patient in hearing; and it is their commendation; But it is the Glory of God, who is both Witneſs and Judge, all in one, that he is both moſt juſt, and yet moſt ſwift; I'll do all (ſaith God) in a very little moment of time; again, you know of what a ſwift Motion, the Lightning is, from one End of Heaven to the other end of Heaven in a Moment. The Motion of the Sun is exceeding ſwift, and yet the Motion of Lightning, even as of Light from the Sun, is much ſwifter; now of ſuch a ſwift Motion ſhall all the Carriage of the Day of the Son of Man be; or the Son of Man in his day, ſhall move as Lightning, Luke 17. 24. What a little time is an Atom of Time; it is the ſmalleſt, moſt undividible for littleneſs, we can conceive; Now, ſaith the Apoſtle, 1 Cor. 15. 1, 2. In an Atom or Moment of Time, in the Twinkling of an Eye, the Dead ſhall be raiſed incorruptible; and we the living Saints ſhall be changed: None can expreſs or think this ſwiftneſs.
Now from all this, it follows beyond all denial; That if a man could give all the World, he cannot change himſelf on ſuch a ſudden; How can a Man change himſelf in the Twinkling of an Eye? and that therefore there is no poſſibility, that any ſhould make a Change then: If we have run therefore with the Footmen, and they have wearied us, how ſhall we run with the Horſemen? and if while we were in a Land of Peace, we could not draw nigh, what ſhall we do in the ſwelling of Jordan? ſurely in the Floods of theſe great Waters, we cannot draw nigh to God; and therefore, our watch, is to be with relation to the Coming of the Bridegroom; perfected while we are here, before we are gone out of the Body; for in our Riſing again, all will be ſo ſudden, there will be nothing to be done.
And this is a plain and downright ſence of not knowing at what hour our Lord cometh, and does no ways concern a Scripture Line of Time to his Coming; For thus underſtanding, the Day of the Son of Man, the Bridegrooms Coming, will not be more ſudden, on thoſe who ſhall be alive at it, than on thoſe who lived an Hundred Years ago, or any time ſince, or at this very Preaching of Chriſt, or indeed never ſo long before it; for all ſhall be raiſed to feel the ſuddenneſs of it, as David ſays, Pſal. 58. 9. Before your Pots can feel the Thorns, he ſhall take them away living, and in his Wrath; All ſhall be done ſo ſuddenly and in a moment: And on the other ſide, take any of the Saints of God, at what time ſoever they lived, nearer or further off from that Day; that Day or Coming of the Bridegroom is no more ſudden to thoſe that live neareſt, than to thoſe who live furtheſt off; becauſe they are ready with Oil in their Veſſels; if this were not ſo, there had been no force of our Lord's commanding thoſe, to whom he ſpake, to Watch: For in his Diſcourſes, he tells them of Judea and Jeruſalems being led Captive of all Nations, till the Time of the Gentiles ſhould be fulfilled; and that very Captivation was Forty Years about, from the Preaching of Chriſt; and before that came, the Apoſtle Paul aſſures, That Day could not come, except the Apoſtacy came firſt, as was before ſaid; The ſum therefore is, The truth of Grace ſtanding in Union to Chriſt by his Spirit, and Holineſs flowing from thence, is the true watching, and ſuch a knowing, as to be ready, and that Day not to come as a ſnare, and at unawares; Thus Chriſt keeps his from the hour of Temptation that ſhall come upon all the Word, to try them that dwell upon the Earsh, Rev. 3. 10.
Application. The General Application of ſo great a Point, that I ſhall conclude the Diſcourſe of it with is, That we would ſearch the Scriptures, as thoſe noble Bereans did, whether thoſe things are ſo or not? I would deſire no other Judge but the Scripture, that excellent Book, that I hope, we have all in ſo great eſteem; now by this it will appear, That I have not ſpoken theſe things of my ſelf, and that I have not ſpoken the half of the Wiſdom of that bleſſed Word therein.
And ſeeing we have ſo great reaſon to hope, the Kingdom of Chriſt is ſo near, how earneſt ſhould we be for the advantage of the Time; How ſhould we deſire to ſee one, that is in Scripture way of ſpeaking, the firſt of the Days of the Son of Man: Oh! What a change would ſuch a one Day make in the World, If we ſay, Why hath not God vouchſafed the World ſo great an Advantage ſooner? The Anſwer is, Times, in this regard, The Father hath ſet or conſtituted in his own power; He diſtributes them as he pleaſes, Why did not our Lord Jeſus appear ſooner in the World? He came in the End of the World, and in theſe laſt days God hath ſpoken to us by his Son. And ſaith our Lord to his Diſciples, Many Prophets and Righteous Men have deſired to ſee the things you ſee, and have not ſeen them, and to hear the things you hear, and have not heard them. But when that Time comes, how will the Bridegrooms near approach change the World; Converts will come in as the Drops of Dew from the Womb of the Morning, which is ſtiled, The Dew of Chriſts youth; Then ſhall the eyes of the blind ſee out of obſcurity; the eyes of the blind ſhall be opened, and the ears of the deaf ſhall be unſtopped, and the Tongue of the ſtammerers ſhall ſpeak plainly, Iſa. 29. 18. & 32. 3, 4. The Lame ſhall leap as an Hart, and the Tongue of the dumb ſhall ſing; and there ſhall be a way, it ſhall be called the way of holineſs, the unclean ſhall not paſs over it: It ſhall be ſo plain and eaſie, that wayfaring Men though fools, ſhall not err therein: it ſhall be ſo ſecure, That no Lion, nor ravenous Beaſt ſhall be there, it ſhall be for thoſe, viz. the ſervants of Chriſt. Oh! how ſhall all this flowing from the powring out of the Spirit from on high, awaken to make proviſion of Oil in the Veſſel, to look to the truth of union to Chriſt, and ſecure againſt Fooliſh Virginity, For the Wilderneſs ſhall become a fruitful field. But the more particular Application, I reſerve for the following Diſcourſe, as concluſive of the whole.