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I. WE HAVE HERE TWO CHARACTERS CONTRASTED. "Five were wise and five were foolish." That we may define the difference between them, it is needful that we have a clear conception of the things in which they were alike.

1. They all had some knowledge of, and regard for, the bridegroom, and desired to honour him by going forth to meet him as he led home his bride.

2. They all had lamps which at the moment were burning.

3. That while the bridegroom tarried they all slumbered and slept. Not until his coming was announced did the difference between them develop itself. In all outward things the wise and foolish virgins were alike; the difference between them was internal. The going out of the lamp is commonly understood to mean the making of a profession, while the absence of the reserve store of oil is supposed to signify the want of sincerity in that profession. This seems to unduly narrow the scope of the parable. For the foolish virgins had a real regard for the bridegroom; they had gone far to meet him, and were disappointed at their exclusion. There was genuineness about them as far as they went; only they did not go far enough. Hence I cannot restrict this part of the story to deliberate hypocrites. I regard the foolish virgins as those who have had some feelings of attachment to Christ, and certain impulses Christward to which they yielded at the time; but they were not constant. Their emotion was a real thing, and when they were acting upon it you could not call them hypocrites; but it was not the right thing. They were animated by impulse, not principle. Their religion did not go down to the lowest depths of their nature; it was a thing on the surface. Their seed fell "upon rocky ground where it had not much earth," etc. They commenced to build a tower, but without counting the cost (Luke 14:28, 32).

II. THAT CHARACTER IS REVEALED BY CRISIS. A man has only as much religion as he can command in the hour of trial. The minor surprises of life are to prepare us for the last emergency.

III. THAT CHARACTER IS A PERSONAL THING, and cannot be given by one man to another, but MUST BE ACQUIRED AND MANIFESTED BY EACH ONE FOR HIMSELF. Character is not transferable. I cannot give you my courage to fortify you for duty. How perilous to leave preparation for these testing times till they have come upon us. Every time we perform duty the soul is made stronger. Here the store of oil is obtained. "Add to your faith virtue" (1 Peter 1:5, 7).

IV. THAT LOST OPPORTUNITIES CANNOT BE RECALLED.

(W. M. Taylor, D. D.)

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KJV: Then shall the kingdom of heaven be likened unto ten virgins, which took their lamps, and went forth to meet the bridegroom.

WEB: "Then the Kingdom of Heaven will be like ten virgins, who took their lamps, and went out to meet the bridegroom.