THE part of the beach the children had chosen for their service was a long way off from the most frequented part; so they had it entirely to themselves.
"I say, Bert!" said Charlie, who accompanied the others next day, "give us a long text and a short sermon, and then that will suit us exactly; eh, Ted?”
“I don't know," said Ted; "it's too hot stooping so long over the sand; I was very glad when I had finished my letter O.”
“What text shall we do to-day?" asked Mattie.
“I was thinking of ‘Knock, and it shall be opened unto you,'" answered Bertie. “The parable is ‘The Ten Virgins,' so the text about knocking would do nicely.”
From the top of the hill they could see quite distinctly yesterday's text stretching out a few yards on the sand.
“Oh! doesn't it look nice?" exclaimed Eva, clapping her hands.
“Quite like an illumination," said Mattie; "let us make haste and begin before the others come.”
But on arriving on the shore they found quite a number already at work picking up shells and sea-weed, and eager to know what the text was to be; and then followed quite a discussion as to how the letters were to be appropriated. As soon as that was arranged satisfactorily, the work began, and a pleasant task it was, judging from the bright, happy faces of the children. When at last the text was finished, and had been duly admired, the children were glad enough to sit down on their comfortable sand seats; for they were both hot and tired with their morning's work.
After a hymn and prayer, Bertie began to read—
“'The kingdom of heaven shall be likened unto ten virgins, which took their lamps, and went forth to meet the bridegroom.'
“In this parable the bridegroom represents the Lord Jesus Christ. The foolish virgins, people who are called Christians, but who are only so in name; while the five wise virgins are real Christians, people who have come to Jesus, and art trusting in Him. Which are you like, the wise or foolish virgins?
“The oil signifies the Holy Spirit, and He is only given, to those who believe in Jesus. It is very easy to make a profession, to go to church or chapel because our parents wish us to go, without paying any regard to what is said there. Easy to say our prayers without meaning what we say to God. This is like having a lamp but no oil.
“The wise virgins took oil, the foolish did not; so of course their lamps went out; and while they went to buy some oil the door was shut. Then they came and knocked at the door, and said, ‘Lord, Lord, open to us.' But He answered, ‘I know you not.'
“Jesus says to us now, ‘Knock, and it shall be opened unto you.' It is not too late to come to Him now, Jesus is still calling, Come unto me;' but if you refuse to come to Him now, it will be too late when He shuts the door. If you are not ready to go in with Jesus, you will be shut out of the bright home for ever, into the cold, black, everlasting night. It is not safe to put off coming to Jesus for a single day, for you cannot be sure you will live till to-morrow.
“If you were to die to-night, where would your soul go? To live with Jesus, or to be shut out of heaven for ever? If you put off coming now, you may die without being saved; or Jesus Himself may come and you will not be ready to meet Him. You know in the last chapter in the Bible He sends word to us three times that He is coming quickly. Oh, are you ready? ready at the sound of the trumpet to be caught up to meet the King of Glory in the air-to meet Him, not with shame and dread, but with joy and triumph?”
"Our lamps are trimmed and burning,
Our robes are white and clean;
We've tarried for the Bridegroom,
Oh may we enter in?
We know we've nothing worthy,
That we can call our own:
The light, the oil, the robes we wear,
All come from Him alone.
Behold, the Bridegroom cometh!
And all may enter in,
Whose lamps are trimmed and burning,
Whose robes are white and clean.
Go forth, go forth to meet Him,
The way is open now;
All lighted with the glory,
That's streaming from His brow.
Accept the invitation,
Beyond deserving kind:
Make no delay, but take your lamps,
And joy eternal find.”
“There will be no going out this afternoon, May," said Bertie, as they stood by the school-room window on Sunday afternoon. "Just look how it rains; if it did clear up by and by, the seats would be soaked; we must give up all thought of it.”
“Yes, I suppose we must. But you'll read at home, won't you? You know I'm going home on Tuesday, so there won't be much time for finishing my books.”
“I tell you what, May, I wish you were not going at all.”
“I shall ask papa to invite you to our house, Bertie. Should you like to come?”
“Oh, shouldn't I! but we go back to school on Thursday.”
“I wish your holidays were the same time as cousin Fred's, and then we could have you both together.”
“Well, May, call the others and I'll begin," said Bertie, as he took out of the packet the two little books which they had not yet read.
“It is not so nice as being on the sands," said Eva, as she drew her chair close to May.
"I rather prefer it," said Mattie, settling herself comfortably on the sofa; “it was far too hot yesterday out of doors in the sun. Do sit still, Lily. Now, Bertie, we are ready.”
“God is the great householder. He hires laborers to work for Him, and gives them wages according to His great goodness, but we will now look at the parable in the light of the gospel invitation. The gospel call is given to those who stand idle in the market place. The market place is the world; and we are called to leave the world, and come into the vineyard. Some are called early as children; some at the sixth or ninth hour, when they are men and women; and some at the eleventh hour, when they are old.
None are called at the twelfth hour. When life is done there will be no opportunity of coming. People who come to Jesus in the eleventh hour are saved just as much as those who come in the morning; they will all go to the same heaven; all be washed in the blood of Jesus; all be covered with the robe of righteousness. But this must not make us think we can put off coming till we are old; for we may not live to be old.
The men who were idle at the eleventh hour said that no man had hired them; no one had asked them in before. Now you have been asked to go into the vineyard in the early morning; but have you obeyed? Have you come? Do you say, There will be time enough to think of coming when I am old. Oh, but Jesus is calling you now. If you won't listen to Him in the morning, perhaps you may not live till the eleventh hour.
The Bible says, "To day if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts." To-day is the only time we can be sure of, we may not be alive to-morrow. If we put off coming till another day, we may die without having our sins forgiven. But if you will come to Jesus now, you will have everlasting life; you will be saved now, saved for ever. Should you not like to be sure you had passed from death unto life? If you believe in Jesus you may know it, for Jesus says—"He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, path everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life." (John 5:2424Verily, 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 5:24))
“I like that text," said May, as Bertie closed the book, "it's so nice to know that.”
“Know what?" asked Mattie.
“That we have passed from death unto life.”
“I don't know that I have," said Mattie; then, after a pause, "I wish I did.”
“Oh, but you may, Mattie, dear; you have simply to believe in Jesus.”
“Are you going to read the other one?" asked Eva, "it's nearly five o'clock.”
“It's a very short one," said Bertie, "we shall have plenty of time.”
“In this parable Jesus tells us, those who believe in Him, to be ready for His coming. Christ is then our Master, and we are all His servants, not only working servants, but waiting servants. We must be as men who wait for their lord. Jesus has gone back to heaven, but only for a time, He is soon coming again. Christ's servants are now looking for their Master's return. The time of our Lord's return is unknown; but what He expects and requires of His servants is, that they shall be ready to open to Him immediately, whenever He comes. In other words, we must live in continual readiness for our meeting with our Lord. How can we get ready? By coming to Him now, and giving ourselves up entirely to Him; to be washed in His precious blood, and clothed in His righteousness. The servants were to have their long garments girded, or tied up; which would else get in their way while they were serving their lord; so we must be willing to give up everything that would be likely to make us forget that Jesus is coming soon. If we love storybooks and play better than our Bibles we are not getting ready to meet Jesus. He has left word that all who believe in Him are to watch for His coming. He says 'Blessed are those servants, whom the lord when he cometh shall find watching;' and again, ‘What I say unto you, I say unto all, watch!'”
“Are you ready for the meeting
With the Saviour in the air?
Longing for that holy greeting
With the ransom'd myriads there?
If not ready, if not ready,
Oh, for that great day prepare!”
As Bertie read the last words, little Lily, who had been listening attentively, turned to May saying, "If we have the robe on we are ready to meet Jesus, are we not, May?”
“Yes, dear," answered May, drawing the little girl to her; "if you love and trust Him, He will give you the beautiful robe which will make you fit for heaven.”
“May," said Mattie a few minutes later when they were alone, "what is it to believe? It's something I do not understand.”
“To believe, is to accept Jesus for your Saviour, to give yourself quite up to Him, and to trust Him to do what you cannot do for yourself, to save you from your sins.”
“Who told you all that?”
“Miss Chester: I wish she could talk to you.”
“Will you pray for me, May?”
“Yes, dear, shall we kneel down here?”
“Thank you, May," said Mattie, as they rose from their knees. "I am glad you came to stay here, for I never thought of these things before.”
“I should so like," she added, "to look over your parable books; will you lend them to me?”
“I have another one besides those you have heard," said May. "I'll fetch it for you.”
“Oh! thank you, May," said Mattie, as her cousin returned in a minute with the little book in her hand.
“Oh! it's 'The rich man and Lazarus.' I'll read that first. I will be sure and let you have them to-morrow before you pack.”
Alone in her room, Mattie opened her Bible, and found the parable of "The rich man and Lazarus." She sat a long time after finishing it, with her head resting on her hands, lost in deep thought; and it was with trembling hands she at last took up May's little book.
“I wish I were like May," she said; "if I were to die to-night what would become of me?”
“This is a solemn picture: we first see the rich man so taken up with his riches and pleasures that he forgets he has a soul to be saved. We next see him in the lake of fire, where he has no rest day or night, and asking for a drop of water to cool his tongue; but he may not have even that.
“Between him and the happy place where Lazarus is, we see a great gulf fixed, so that none can pass from either side. Let this parable be a warning to you. Jesus told it because He wanted to warn you not to go to that dreadful place. There is time for you now to repent and believe, but if you die without having your sins forgiven there will be no heaven for you, but instead—the lake of fire, from which there is no escape. Jesus is calling you to come to Him. He has been waiting for you to come to Him for eight, ten, or twelve years, but how can you be sure He will wait any longer? If you do not come now, you may not come at all, to-morrow may be too late, to-morrow you may be dead. Jesus is calling now, Come unto me,' but if you will not listen, one day He will say, Depart from me.' Why should you not make up your mind to come to Him to-day? Would it not make you happier to know that your sins were washed away in His precious blood?”
It would, indeed, thought Mattie, as she read the last words; "I wish I did know that my sins were washed away.”