therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of Man cometh. For He is as a man travelling into a far country, who called his own servants, and delivered unto them his goods." The application of the parable of the ten virgins is "Watch," and the parable of the talents is immediately added, to teach how we are to watch. Hold all that you have from God, and for God. They are his goods that He entrusts to you, not yours. You are his responsible servants, to whom He has delivered talents to be employed for his glory. Time, wealth, influence, health, life, opportunities, and the like, all these are his goods which he has entrusted to your keeping. Recollect, then, every day that your master is coming—that though absent still, He has his eye upon you every hour of the day, and that soon he will be here to reckon with you, for the use you have made of all these things. Think of this the first thing in the morning, and then say, "Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?" "Speak, Lord, for thy servant heareth." "Here am I, send me." Think of it the last thing at night, and render up your daily account. Tell your Master your short comings, your failures, your backslidings of heart and life, your coldness, your weariness, your unbelief. Oh! He is a kind, and forgiving, and compassionate Master, and He will daily and hourly have mercy. Every day,

and every moment of the day, He will sprinkle you afresh from an evil conscience, and purge you from dead works to serve the living God. Bear your absent Lord constantly in mind. Hold fellowship and communion with Him in prayer. Walk humbly and closely with Him. Remember, that He entrusts his honour and glory into your hands, and occupy till He comes.

5. There is another very solemn lesson to be learnt from this parable, and it applies more especially to the formal professors of the Gospel. It is this: the great danger of making mistakes in religious matters. Even in worldly matters a trifling error may be followed by the most momentous consequences. One step too many may plunge us down a precipice. A wrong medicine administered or an undue quantity of the right one, may cost a fellow-creature his life. But how much more fatal is a mistake which concerns a man's soul. It is a mistake for eternity. These foolish virgins forgot the oil; and for this they are shut out of the kingdom of the saints for ever! My brethren, "As you dread destruction, dread mistakes. They are harmless,' says an unbelieving world. They are trifles,' say our foolish hearts. "They are truths,' whispers Satan. But all this while these harmless errors, these trifles, these seeming truths, are filling hell." Be not deceived, brethren. Do not

make the fatal mistake of confounding the form of godliness with the power of it. Do not suppose that because you are mingled with the companies of God's people, or because you join them in their Christian enterprises, or because you are familiar with their language and pursuits, and go forth by a Christian profession to meet the bridegroom, you are, therefore, ready to go in with Him to the marriage. You are not ready if you are not renewed. You are not ready, if you have not an unction from the Holy One. Be not content with the lamp, without the oil-with the leaves, without the fruit-with the profession of faith, without its possession-with a name to live while ye are dead. Remember your Master's most solemn words, and cry unto Him for help, for grace, mercy, and peace, before the door is shut for ever. "Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven." "Strive to enter in at the strait gate, for many, I say unto you, will seek to enter in, and shall not be able."

Brethren beloved, these are solemn words; and they teach us how straight is the gate, and how narrow the way, that leadeth unto life. Let us beware of self-deception : let us guard against mistakes: "Let us not sleep as do others; but let us

watch and be sober." And may God awaken us -may the Holy Spirit quicken us-may we be found ready-found in Christ-found "in peace, without spot, and blameless.”

"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; that, when he cometh and knocketh, they may open unto him immediately. Blessed are those servants whom the Lord, when He cometh, shall find watching."

"Now unto Him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy, to the only wise God our Saviour, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever. Amen.”

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LECTURE XI.

THE RECOVERY OF A LOST WORLD.

BY THE REV. C. J. GOODHART, M.A.

MINISTER OF PARK CHAPEL, CHELSEA,

Parable of the Sherp.

LUKE XV. 3—7.

"And He spake this parable unto them, saying, What man of you, having an hundred sheep, if he lose one of them, doth not leave the ninety and nine in the wilderness, and go after that which is lost, until he find it? And when he hath found it, he layeth it on his shoulders, rejoicing. And when he cometh home, he calleth together his friends and neighbours, saying unto them, Rejoice with me; for I have found my sheep which was lost. I say unto you, that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety and nine just persons which need no repentance."

THE subject assigned us to-night, from the text we have just read, is, "The recovery of a lost