rus. He was now going to prove that He was able to do a still greater miracle; for He was going to restore his life, four days after he had been buried. Accordingly, He proceeded towards the grave, followed by Martha, and Mary, and the Jews.

The tomb where Lazarus had been laid was a cave with a stone at the entrance; and when they arrived at the place, the Lord commanded that the stone should be taken away.

He then raised His eyes to Heaven, and praised God; and turning to the cave, cried in a loud and commanding voice, 'Lazarus, come forth!'

At the command of Christ, Lazarus awoke from the sleep of death, and came forth instantly from the cave, bound with the grave clothes in which he had been buried. He was received, as you may suppose, with every sign of joy by his sisters, and, with astonishment and fear by all.

The fame of this miracle was soon noised abroad, and when the chief priests and Pharisees heard it, they called a council, where they resolved that it was dangerous to the state that Christ should continue to preach to the people, and to perform miracles in support of what He taught.

From that hour it was determined that he should be put to death; and they only waited a favorable opportunity, in the absence of the multitude, to take Him prisoner. He therefore no longer went about openly among the Jews, but re

tired to a part of the country near the lerness, where He continued for a time with His disciples.

I dare say you wonder why the chief priests and Pharisees were so enraged as to desire to take away the life of our Lord for preaching the glad tidings of salvation, and performing miracles of mercy.

The reason was, that they thought the people, delighted with His holy character and extraordinary power, would proclaim him King of Israel, as they had endeavored to do once before, which they feared would provoke the Romans, who kept them in subjection, to take away their liberty and laws altogether, and enslave their whole nation: they therefore wished to get rid of this danger as soon as possible, by destroying Jesus.

How they succeeded in their dreadful purpose you will hear by and by; but at present we must think of the circumstances attending the resurrection of Lazarus.

He was in his grave, in the stillness and silence of death, when the voice of the Son of God was heard, and reached the ear that was deaf to every other sound. The eye which was closed to every other object, now opened to behold Him who is the Resurrection and the Life,' and Lazarus came forth to mingle once again with the living.

We cannot read the account of this miracle, without thinking of that day when we are told, all that are in the

graves shall hear

Voice of Christ, and shall come forth,'

some to happiness, and some to misery.

When we die, our bodies are put in the grave; but they

are not to remain there forever.

A day will come, when

they shall rise again from the dead.

But, my dear children, if you try to love and obey God now, you need not be frightened at the prospect of the day of judgment, for it is only unrepenting sinners that have need to fear.

THE WISE AND FOOLISH VIRGINS.

BEFORE Our Lord finally left his disciples, he told them several other beautiful parables, one of which you shall now hear.

He said that the kingdom of heaven, or our condition under the Christian religion, might be likened to certain young virgins who had been invited as bride's maids to a wedding, which it was the custom in those countries to celebrate by night. The bridegroom usually conducted his bride home by the light of lamps, which were held by the bride's maids, who afterwards partook of the marriage sup

per.

On this occasion, the bride's maids were ten in number

U

and the bridegroom desired them to prepare their lamps, and to be in readiness to receive him when he should meet them at the appointed place.

Accordingly, they began to prepare themselves, but not with equal zeal and alacrity.

Five of these virgins were wise and careful, and anxious to obey the wishes of the bridegroom, and five were idle and foolish, who, though they did not dare to offend the bridegroom so much as actually to refuse his invitation, yet gave themselves very little trouble in preparation, and did not much care whether he was pleased or not with the appearance they should make at the wedding.

They therefore would not encumber themselves with carrying the vessels of oil, which were necessary, in order to keep the lamps trimmed, but contented themselves with merely lighting them, and trusting to chance that they would not go out.

But the wise virgins, knowing that the principal thing they had to attend to, was to keep their lamps bright and clear, prudently filled their vessels full of oil and, when their preparation was complete, they all set off together, towards the appointed place of meeting.

Here, however, they were kept longer waiting than they had expected, and while the bridegroom delayed his coming, all the ten virgins fell asleep.

f

They continued sleeping for some time; but about mid night, they were suddenly roused by a cry in the streets, 'Behold, the bridegroom cometh, go ye out to meet him.'

Confused and startled with the suddenness of the cry, all the virgins hurriedly arose, and immediately began to examine their lamps. The wise found that the oil in their lamps had been diminishing during their slumber, and they were now burning dimly; but fortunately the vessel of oil was at hand, and they lost no time in replenishing their lamps, which now again blazed with renewed brightness.

But when the foolish virgins turned in bewilderment to the place where they had left their lamps, all was darkness- the lamps had gone out, and not even a spark was alive.

Now it was that, notwithstanding their former indifference, they bitterly repented having neglected to bring any oil, and they applied to the wise virgins, and entreated them to give them some of theirs; but the wise told them that they had none to spare, as they had only got what was necessary for themselves, and advised them to go to buy some as quickly as they could.

So the foolish virgins hastened away to procure the oil; but while they were gone, the bridegroom came, and finding the five wise virgins quite ready, with their lamps in