From Time To Time - Part Thirty One Jun 09, 2024 by: John Herbert | Series: From Time to Time Audio Study Notes PDF https://s3.amazonaws.com/cornerstonejax/sermonfiles/T012_20240609.mp3 Refresh A Recap from the Sermon Mt 25:4 but the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps. 5 But while the bridegroom was delayed, they all slumbered and slept. We shall continue to look at what is being taught through the extra supply of oil. The full text of this message can be found by clicking the PDF button. Sunday June 9th 2024 From Time to Time – Part 31 1). Mt 25:1 “Then the kingdom of heaven shall be likened to ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. 2 Now five of them were wise, and five were foolish. 3 Those who were foolish took their lamps and took no oil with them, 4 but the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps. 5 But while the bridegroom was delayed, they all slumbered and slept. As we have seen in our previous weeks of study, we are now in the time of present preparation so that we might be ready for the time when the Lord returns and be ready for our appearance before Him in judgment when He does. The meeting we will all have with the ‘Bridegroom’ on His ‘threshing floor’, is an absolute certainty – 2 Co 5:9 Therefore we make it our aim, whether present or absent, to be well pleasing to Him. 10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad. Mt 16:26 For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? 27 For the Son of Man will come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and then He will reward each according to his works. Ro 14:12 So then each of us shall give account of himself to God. And it is this time of present preparation and the subsequent appearance at the Judgment Seat of Christ that is pictured for us through the parable of the ten virgins. And as we have seen, five were wise with respect to this and five were foolish, five were morons. The five who exercised wisdom and prudence had a vessel in addition to their lamps that was filled with oil, an extra supply, and the five who lacked wisdom and understanding had no additional supply of oil beyond that which was already in their lamps. And having, or not having, an extra supply of oil is how the wise and the foolish found themselves during the time when the Bridegroom was delayed, a time when, according to the parable, they all slumbered and slept. a). And clearly, how they had entered into this time when ‘the Bridegroom was delayed’ was different for the wise and the foolish. And the way that the foolish responded to this time had been shown to us through the detail of the previous parable – Mt 24:48 But if that evil servant says in his heart, ‘My master is delaying his coming,’ And what is implied through the ‘evil’ servant’s statement, is that he thought that his master was not going to come back anytime soon, so, he didn’t need to worry about what he was doing. b). When we had looked at this parable, we had reminded ourselves of what the Scriptures say about being ‘evil’ – Jer 16:12 And you have done worse than your fathers, for behold, each one follows the dictates of his own evil heart, so that no one listens to Me. Heb 3:12 Beware, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God……… So then, for those pictured through the evil servant and the foolish virgins, these would view the Lord’s ‘delay’ after a similar fashion. And we might liken their mindset to the experience of being at the airport and having our flight delayed for one hour, then delayed for two hours, and then maybe cancelled. Where is the promise of His coming? This of course, is not how the Lord’s return will be. c). And because this is not how His return will be, how then should we view this word ‘delay’, because we know that the Scripture says – Heb 10:36 For you have need of endurance, so that after you have done the will of God, you may receive the promise: 37 “For yet a little while, And He who is coming will come and will not tarry. [tarry is the same word translated as delay in the parable] If the Lord is not delaying His coming, which He clearly is not, again the question, how should we understand His ‘delay’? – 2 Pe 3:8 But, beloved, do not forget this one thing, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. 9 The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance. Simply, the Lord has set a precise time at the end of which He will return, and this return begins with the resurrection/rapture of all Christians and their judgment at His Judgment Seat, and the precise time He has set for this, is a very long time from a human perspective, but the purpose for this long period of time is given in the v9 from 2 Peter Chapter 3. That which we see in both the 2 Peter verses we have just read is what we are to believe, and if we believe this, if we have faith, then we will understand the Lord’s timing and understand the precision within time in which He operates. And consequently, we will choose to make the proper preparations in readiness for His guaranteed return – Jn 14:3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also. And, according to the parable of the ten virgins, it is during this time when the Lord is ‘delayed’, the period of time from a Christian perspective that extends from the time of His ascension to the resurrection/rapture, two thousand years in the antitype, that all the virgins, the wise and the foolish ‘slumbered and slept.’ d). Now it would be completely incorrect to think that the wise virgins were asleep with respect to preparing for the Bridegroom coming, because if this were the case the wise could not be counted as faithful, and faithful is exactly what they had to be in order to enter into the wedding with the Bridegroom – Mt 25:10 And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the wedding; and the door was shut. So then, rather than just seeing what the letter of the statement about slumbering and sleeping says, we have to go beyond the letter to see what the Holy Spirit is teaching through it. And what the Holy Spirit is teaching here is the same as we have seen in previous weeks – 1 Th 5:5 You are all sons of light and sons of the day. We are not of the night nor of darkness. 6 Therefore let us not sleep, as others do, but let us watch and be sober. 7 For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk are drunk at night. Eph 6:12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. Ro 13:12 The night is far spent, the day is at hand. Therefore let us cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light. And we can take this all the way back to the foundation, where that taught in these verses find their origin – Ge 1:3 Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light. 4 And God saw the light, that it was good; and God divided the light from the darkness. 5 God called the light Day, and the darkness He called Night. The darkness that had engulfed the earth because of Satan’s rebellion, the darkness that God called ‘night’ after He introduced the light, is antithetical to that which the light depicts. The light and the day are used in Scripture to stand for that, which is God, and is of God with the Millennial Kingdom in view. The darkness and the night, on the other hand, are used to represent the kingdom of Satan, that which is under the authority of the god of this age – Eph 6:12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. Slumbering and sleeping, in the natural, is something that takes place ‘at night’, and this phrase has been used symbolically in the parable to stand for the spiritual darkness of this age, for the time when Satan continues to hold the scepter of rulership. And all Christians, both the faithful and the unfaithful, pictured through all ten virgins, cannot be anywhere else but in the time of the spiritual darkness of this age, a time which will soon come to an end – Ro 13:12 The night is far spent, the day is at hand. Therefore let us cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light. But although we all live in this time of spiritual darkness, in the spiritual night of Satan’s kingdom, we are not to be subject to it – 1 Pe 2:9 But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light…….. And we should not be overcome by the spiritual darkness because we have been provided with the light that is necessary for us to navigate our way through it towards the salvation of our souls – Ps 119:105 Your word is a lamp to my feet And a light to my path. The Lord had promised David in – 2 Ki 8:19 Yet the LORD would not destroy Judah, for the sake of His servant David, as He promised him to give a lamp to him and his sons forever. Jesus is the promised Lamp given to the house of David – Jn 1:8 That man [John the Baptist] was not the light. But he came in order that he might bear witness concerning the light. 9 He, the aforementioned Word, was the light, the genuine light which enlightens spiritually every man as it comes into the universe. [Wuest] Jesus is the Word made flesh, the Light of the world, the originator, source, and embodiment of the ‘light’ that we need to safely navigate our way along the narrow path through this time of spiritual darkness under the sway of the god of this age. 2). Mt 25:5 But while the bridegroom was delayed, they all slumbered and slept. 6 “And at midnight a cry was heard: ‘Behold, the bridegroom is coming; go out to meet him!’ 7 Then all those virgins arose and trimmed their lamps. 8 And the foolish said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’ 9 But the wise answered, saying, ‘No, lest there should not be enough for us and you; but go rather to those who sell, and buy for yourselves.’ In the verses that precede these we have already seen that all the virgins had ‘light’ as their lamps were burning with the oil contained within them. However, when at midnight a cry was heard: ‘Behold, the bridegroom is coming; go out to meet him! Then the oil in the lamps of the foolish began to be depleted, their lamps were going out, and they had no extra supply of oil to be able keep their lamps burning. a). And we have seen in previous studies of this parable that the midnight cry is not a cry that comes at midnight, but rather a cry concerning ‘midnight’ – Ex 11:4 Then Moses said, “Thus says the LORD: ‘About midnight I will go out into the midst of Egypt; 5 and all the firstborn in the land of Egypt shall die….. Ex 12:29 And it came to pass at midnight that the LORD struck all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sat on his throne to the firstborn of the captive who was in the dungeon, and all the firstborn of livestock. The first mention of midnight in Scripture is seen in conjunction with God’s judgment upon the land of Egypt, and this sets a first mention principle whereby ‘midnight’ in Scripture is used elsewhere to signify God’s judgement – Ru 3:8 Now it happened at midnight that the man was startled, and turned himself; and there, a woman was lying at his feet. 9 And he said, “Who are you?” So she answered, “I am Ruth, your maidservant. Take your maidservant under your wing, for you are a close relative.” Boaz’s threshing floor provides a type for the Judgment Seat of Christ, the place where through the symbolism, that which is of value will be separated from that which is worthless. This same symbolism had also been used to teach the Jews at the Lord’s first Advent – Lk 3:17 His winnowing fan is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clean out His threshing floor, and gather the wheat into His barn; but the chaff He will burn with unquenchable fire.” And Ruth, picturing the faithful Christian, was revealed to Boaz at ‘midnight’, just as the faithful Christian will be revealed in Christ’s presence at the time of judgment. As Boaz became aware of Ruth, so she made clear to him that she was there for the purpose of redeeming the forfeited inheritance and becoming Boaz’s wife. And the same will be true for the faithful Christian at the Judgment Seat. Those revealed as faithful that day will have been identified so that the forfeited inheritance can be redeemed, and marriage to Christ can follow, all for the purpose of rulership together with Him in the Seventh Day. b). The cry concerning ‘midnight’ in the parable then is symbolic of the proclamation that is to be made concerning Christ’s return and His Kingdom, a proclamation concerning every Christian’s appearance at Christ’s Judgment Seat when He does return, the purpose for the Christian appearing there, the judgment that will take place there and what must be done by the Christian to be properly prepared for it. The Word of the Kingdom. And it is with respect to this proclamation that the foolish virgins’ lamps were going out. It is with respect to this that they had no extra supply of oil. c). Those who the foolish virgins, picture will not be able to navigate their way through the spiritual darkness of this age as there will be no light to light their path. The spiritual light/life they possess following their eternal redemption is not sufficient of itself to make this navigation possible, they must be continually filled with the light/life that the Spirit gives or else they will be – Eph 4:14…………children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting……… Satan will take advantage of them, and they will be ignorant of his devices, in stark contrast to those who have the extra supply of oil in their vessel – 2 Co 2:11 lest Satan should take advantage of us; for we are not ignorant of his devices. Those pictured by the foolish virgins will be defeated in the spiritual warfare as they will have no means of defense, they will be subject to Satan’s wiles and unable to discern his deceptions. There will be no serious contemplation of what awaits them at the Judgment Seat but a focus on their best life now instead. d). And it is interesting to note that it is only when the ‘midnight cry’ is heard that the lamps of the foolish began to go out. And we can understand this from our own experience. Following our eternal salvation, before we heard the Word of the Kingdom, when we thought we were ‘going to heaven’ and there was nothing further we needed to worry about, the spiritual life imparted to us at the time of our redemption was sufficient. What else did we need? But once we heard the Word of the Kingdom, things changed dramatically. We realized that our eternal salvation is only the beginning and that there is SO MUCH MORE we have to know, understand and believe if we are to receive the salvation of our souls. And we have realized that this can’t be done apart from having an ‘epignosis’ knowledge of the Word of Christ, which can only be ours by being continually filled with the Spirit, the wisdom brought forth from above –2 Co 4:6 For it is the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness, who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. 7 But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us. In the parable, the foolish virgins go to the wise to ask them to give them some of their oil, which the wise decline to do, instead telling the foolish to go and buy for themselves. And the key to understanding this scene is to remember that we are looking at a parable and not the portrayal of a literal event. If we have ever entertained the notion that right before the resurrection/rapture unfaithful Christians will come knocking on our door asking about the Word of the Kingdom, then it is time to feel embarrassed and move on. e). As always, we need to look beyond the letter to the spiritual truth that is being taught here. And to do this we can return to something we had looked at last time that I had said we would come back to – Re 3:18 I counsel you to buy from Me gold refined in the fire, that you may be rich; and white garments, that you may be clothed, that the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed……… This verse is part of the Lord’s instructions to the Laodicean church, and we will note first of all what the Lord says is to be bought from Him, ‘gold refined in the fire’ and ‘white garments.’ And hopefully, both of these will bring other Scriptures to our mind- 1 Co 3:11 For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. 12 Now if anyone builds on this foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, 13 each one's work will become clear; for the Day will declare it, because it will be revealed by fire; and the fire will test each one's work, of what sort it is. According to the verses from 1 Corinthians 3 we are to build on the foundation with works associated with ‘gold’, as well as silver and precious stones – Pr 3:13 Happy is the man who finds wisdom, And the man who gains understanding; 14 For her proceeds are better than the profits of silver, And her gain than fine gold. 15 She is more precious than rubies, And all the things you may desire cannot compare with her. There is then, the gold, silver and precious stones that exist in the natural that the world sees as valuable, and then there is the ‘gold, silver and precious stones’ that God supplies, the wisdom brought forth from above, and He uses the value that gold, silver and precious stones have in the natural to point to the exponentially greater value of that which the wisdom from above brings forth, if we receive it – 1 Pe 1:7 that the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire…….. The enormous value gold has in the natural is used to show the exponentially greater value that genuine faith has in the spiritual. And through this comparison we can see the association between the ‘gold’ that God supplies and faith, faith to the saving of the soul. Faith that can only come by receiving the wisdom from above. And so, when God counsels the Christian to buy from Him gold refined in the fire, this pictures the Christian changing his mind concerning the faith, and then allowing this faith to be tested to prove its genuineness. And the white garments, also to be bought from the Lord are inextricably connected to the genuine faith – Re 19:7 Let us be glad and rejoice and give Him glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife has made herself ready.” 8 And to her it was granted to be arrayed in fine linen, clean and bright, for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints. The white garments from Revelation Chapter 3 are the fine linen, clean and bright, from Revelation Chapter 19 and the fine linen, as the Scripture says ‘is the righteous acts of the saints’, acts of righteousness. Acts of faith which have been accounted to us for righteousness – Ga 3:5 Therefore He who supplies the Spirit to you and works miracles among you, does He do it by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?— 6 just as Abraham “believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.” 7 Therefore know that only those who are of faith are sons of Abraham. 8 And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel to Abraham beforehand, saying, “In you all the nations shall be blessed.” 9 So then those who are of faith are blessed with believing Abraham. And so, to be clear, our righteous acts will only come from a genuine faith, that we will buy from the Lord as He brings forth the wisdom from above, wisdom more valuable than fine gold. f). And all of this brings us back to the foolish virgins, And the foolish said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’ 9 But the wise answered, saying, ‘No, lest there should not be enough for us and you; but go rather to those who sell, and buy for yourselves.’ The only way that the extra supply of oil necessary to keep the lamp burning, so that the Christian can safely navigate through this world’s darkness, can be accessed is to go to the Source – Ro 10:17 So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. Jn 6:63 It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life. Eph 5:17 Therefore do not be unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is. 18 And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation; but be continually filled with the Spirit….. In Revelation Chapter 3 the Lord said, ‘Buy from Me’ and in the parable of the ten virgins the foolish are told to go, ‘and buy for yourselves.’ There is then a price that must be paid if we want to be continually filled with the Spirit. And for many, like the foolish virgins, it is too great a price to pay. We will come back to this next time if we remain, and the Lord is willing, and we have prayed. From Time To Time - Part Thirty One Jun 09, 2024 Speaker: John Herbert Series: From Time to Time Category: Sunday Morning https://s3.amazonaws.com/cornerstonejax/sermonfiles/T012_20240609.mp3 Download Audio x
Refresh A Recap from the Sermon Mt 25:4 but the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps. 5 But while the bridegroom was delayed, they all slumbered and slept. We shall continue to look at what is being taught through the extra supply of oil. The full text of this message can be found by clicking the PDF button. Sunday June 9th 2024 From Time to Time – Part 31 1). Mt 25:1 “Then the kingdom of heaven shall be likened to ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. 2 Now five of them were wise, and five were foolish. 3 Those who were foolish took their lamps and took no oil with them, 4 but the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps. 5 But while the bridegroom was delayed, they all slumbered and slept. As we have seen in our previous weeks of study, we are now in the time of present preparation so that we might be ready for the time when the Lord returns and be ready for our appearance before Him in judgment when He does. The meeting we will all have with the ‘Bridegroom’ on His ‘threshing floor’, is an absolute certainty – 2 Co 5:9 Therefore we make it our aim, whether present or absent, to be well pleasing to Him. 10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad. Mt 16:26 For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? 27 For the Son of Man will come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and then He will reward each according to his works. Ro 14:12 So then each of us shall give account of himself to God. And it is this time of present preparation and the subsequent appearance at the Judgment Seat of Christ that is pictured for us through the parable of the ten virgins. And as we have seen, five were wise with respect to this and five were foolish, five were morons. The five who exercised wisdom and prudence had a vessel in addition to their lamps that was filled with oil, an extra supply, and the five who lacked wisdom and understanding had no additional supply of oil beyond that which was already in their lamps. And having, or not having, an extra supply of oil is how the wise and the foolish found themselves during the time when the Bridegroom was delayed, a time when, according to the parable, they all slumbered and slept. a). And clearly, how they had entered into this time when ‘the Bridegroom was delayed’ was different for the wise and the foolish. And the way that the foolish responded to this time had been shown to us through the detail of the previous parable – Mt 24:48 But if that evil servant says in his heart, ‘My master is delaying his coming,’ And what is implied through the ‘evil’ servant’s statement, is that he thought that his master was not going to come back anytime soon, so, he didn’t need to worry about what he was doing. b). When we had looked at this parable, we had reminded ourselves of what the Scriptures say about being ‘evil’ – Jer 16:12 And you have done worse than your fathers, for behold, each one follows the dictates of his own evil heart, so that no one listens to Me. Heb 3:12 Beware, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God……… So then, for those pictured through the evil servant and the foolish virgins, these would view the Lord’s ‘delay’ after a similar fashion. And we might liken their mindset to the experience of being at the airport and having our flight delayed for one hour, then delayed for two hours, and then maybe cancelled. Where is the promise of His coming? This of course, is not how the Lord’s return will be. c). And because this is not how His return will be, how then should we view this word ‘delay’, because we know that the Scripture says – Heb 10:36 For you have need of endurance, so that after you have done the will of God, you may receive the promise: 37 “For yet a little while, And He who is coming will come and will not tarry. [tarry is the same word translated as delay in the parable] If the Lord is not delaying His coming, which He clearly is not, again the question, how should we understand His ‘delay’? – 2 Pe 3:8 But, beloved, do not forget this one thing, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. 9 The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance. Simply, the Lord has set a precise time at the end of which He will return, and this return begins with the resurrection/rapture of all Christians and their judgment at His Judgment Seat, and the precise time He has set for this, is a very long time from a human perspective, but the purpose for this long period of time is given in the v9 from 2 Peter Chapter 3. That which we see in both the 2 Peter verses we have just read is what we are to believe, and if we believe this, if we have faith, then we will understand the Lord’s timing and understand the precision within time in which He operates. And consequently, we will choose to make the proper preparations in readiness for His guaranteed return – Jn 14:3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also. And, according to the parable of the ten virgins, it is during this time when the Lord is ‘delayed’, the period of time from a Christian perspective that extends from the time of His ascension to the resurrection/rapture, two thousand years in the antitype, that all the virgins, the wise and the foolish ‘slumbered and slept.’ d). Now it would be completely incorrect to think that the wise virgins were asleep with respect to preparing for the Bridegroom coming, because if this were the case the wise could not be counted as faithful, and faithful is exactly what they had to be in order to enter into the wedding with the Bridegroom – Mt 25:10 And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the wedding; and the door was shut. So then, rather than just seeing what the letter of the statement about slumbering and sleeping says, we have to go beyond the letter to see what the Holy Spirit is teaching through it. And what the Holy Spirit is teaching here is the same as we have seen in previous weeks – 1 Th 5:5 You are all sons of light and sons of the day. We are not of the night nor of darkness. 6 Therefore let us not sleep, as others do, but let us watch and be sober. 7 For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk are drunk at night. Eph 6:12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. Ro 13:12 The night is far spent, the day is at hand. Therefore let us cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light. And we can take this all the way back to the foundation, where that taught in these verses find their origin – Ge 1:3 Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light. 4 And God saw the light, that it was good; and God divided the light from the darkness. 5 God called the light Day, and the darkness He called Night. The darkness that had engulfed the earth because of Satan’s rebellion, the darkness that God called ‘night’ after He introduced the light, is antithetical to that which the light depicts. The light and the day are used in Scripture to stand for that, which is God, and is of God with the Millennial Kingdom in view. The darkness and the night, on the other hand, are used to represent the kingdom of Satan, that which is under the authority of the god of this age – Eph 6:12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. Slumbering and sleeping, in the natural, is something that takes place ‘at night’, and this phrase has been used symbolically in the parable to stand for the spiritual darkness of this age, for the time when Satan continues to hold the scepter of rulership. And all Christians, both the faithful and the unfaithful, pictured through all ten virgins, cannot be anywhere else but in the time of the spiritual darkness of this age, a time which will soon come to an end – Ro 13:12 The night is far spent, the day is at hand. Therefore let us cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light. But although we all live in this time of spiritual darkness, in the spiritual night of Satan’s kingdom, we are not to be subject to it – 1 Pe 2:9 But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light…….. And we should not be overcome by the spiritual darkness because we have been provided with the light that is necessary for us to navigate our way through it towards the salvation of our souls – Ps 119:105 Your word is a lamp to my feet And a light to my path. The Lord had promised David in – 2 Ki 8:19 Yet the LORD would not destroy Judah, for the sake of His servant David, as He promised him to give a lamp to him and his sons forever. Jesus is the promised Lamp given to the house of David – Jn 1:8 That man [John the Baptist] was not the light. But he came in order that he might bear witness concerning the light. 9 He, the aforementioned Word, was the light, the genuine light which enlightens spiritually every man as it comes into the universe. [Wuest] Jesus is the Word made flesh, the Light of the world, the originator, source, and embodiment of the ‘light’ that we need to safely navigate our way along the narrow path through this time of spiritual darkness under the sway of the god of this age. 2). Mt 25:5 But while the bridegroom was delayed, they all slumbered and slept. 6 “And at midnight a cry was heard: ‘Behold, the bridegroom is coming; go out to meet him!’ 7 Then all those virgins arose and trimmed their lamps. 8 And the foolish said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’ 9 But the wise answered, saying, ‘No, lest there should not be enough for us and you; but go rather to those who sell, and buy for yourselves.’ In the verses that precede these we have already seen that all the virgins had ‘light’ as their lamps were burning with the oil contained within them. However, when at midnight a cry was heard: ‘Behold, the bridegroom is coming; go out to meet him! Then the oil in the lamps of the foolish began to be depleted, their lamps were going out, and they had no extra supply of oil to be able keep their lamps burning. a). And we have seen in previous studies of this parable that the midnight cry is not a cry that comes at midnight, but rather a cry concerning ‘midnight’ – Ex 11:4 Then Moses said, “Thus says the LORD: ‘About midnight I will go out into the midst of Egypt; 5 and all the firstborn in the land of Egypt shall die….. Ex 12:29 And it came to pass at midnight that the LORD struck all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sat on his throne to the firstborn of the captive who was in the dungeon, and all the firstborn of livestock. The first mention of midnight in Scripture is seen in conjunction with God’s judgment upon the land of Egypt, and this sets a first mention principle whereby ‘midnight’ in Scripture is used elsewhere to signify God’s judgement – Ru 3:8 Now it happened at midnight that the man was startled, and turned himself; and there, a woman was lying at his feet. 9 And he said, “Who are you?” So she answered, “I am Ruth, your maidservant. Take your maidservant under your wing, for you are a close relative.” Boaz’s threshing floor provides a type for the Judgment Seat of Christ, the place where through the symbolism, that which is of value will be separated from that which is worthless. This same symbolism had also been used to teach the Jews at the Lord’s first Advent – Lk 3:17 His winnowing fan is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clean out His threshing floor, and gather the wheat into His barn; but the chaff He will burn with unquenchable fire.” And Ruth, picturing the faithful Christian, was revealed to Boaz at ‘midnight’, just as the faithful Christian will be revealed in Christ’s presence at the time of judgment. As Boaz became aware of Ruth, so she made clear to him that she was there for the purpose of redeeming the forfeited inheritance and becoming Boaz’s wife. And the same will be true for the faithful Christian at the Judgment Seat. Those revealed as faithful that day will have been identified so that the forfeited inheritance can be redeemed, and marriage to Christ can follow, all for the purpose of rulership together with Him in the Seventh Day. b). The cry concerning ‘midnight’ in the parable then is symbolic of the proclamation that is to be made concerning Christ’s return and His Kingdom, a proclamation concerning every Christian’s appearance at Christ’s Judgment Seat when He does return, the purpose for the Christian appearing there, the judgment that will take place there and what must be done by the Christian to be properly prepared for it. The Word of the Kingdom. And it is with respect to this proclamation that the foolish virgins’ lamps were going out. It is with respect to this that they had no extra supply of oil. c). Those who the foolish virgins, picture will not be able to navigate their way through the spiritual darkness of this age as there will be no light to light their path. The spiritual light/life they possess following their eternal redemption is not sufficient of itself to make this navigation possible, they must be continually filled with the light/life that the Spirit gives or else they will be – Eph 4:14…………children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting……… Satan will take advantage of them, and they will be ignorant of his devices, in stark contrast to those who have the extra supply of oil in their vessel – 2 Co 2:11 lest Satan should take advantage of us; for we are not ignorant of his devices. Those pictured by the foolish virgins will be defeated in the spiritual warfare as they will have no means of defense, they will be subject to Satan’s wiles and unable to discern his deceptions. There will be no serious contemplation of what awaits them at the Judgment Seat but a focus on their best life now instead. d). And it is interesting to note that it is only when the ‘midnight cry’ is heard that the lamps of the foolish began to go out. And we can understand this from our own experience. Following our eternal salvation, before we heard the Word of the Kingdom, when we thought we were ‘going to heaven’ and there was nothing further we needed to worry about, the spiritual life imparted to us at the time of our redemption was sufficient. What else did we need? But once we heard the Word of the Kingdom, things changed dramatically. We realized that our eternal salvation is only the beginning and that there is SO MUCH MORE we have to know, understand and believe if we are to receive the salvation of our souls. And we have realized that this can’t be done apart from having an ‘epignosis’ knowledge of the Word of Christ, which can only be ours by being continually filled with the Spirit, the wisdom brought forth from above –2 Co 4:6 For it is the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness, who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. 7 But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us. In the parable, the foolish virgins go to the wise to ask them to give them some of their oil, which the wise decline to do, instead telling the foolish to go and buy for themselves. And the key to understanding this scene is to remember that we are looking at a parable and not the portrayal of a literal event. If we have ever entertained the notion that right before the resurrection/rapture unfaithful Christians will come knocking on our door asking about the Word of the Kingdom, then it is time to feel embarrassed and move on. e). As always, we need to look beyond the letter to the spiritual truth that is being taught here. And to do this we can return to something we had looked at last time that I had said we would come back to – Re 3:18 I counsel you to buy from Me gold refined in the fire, that you may be rich; and white garments, that you may be clothed, that the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed……… This verse is part of the Lord’s instructions to the Laodicean church, and we will note first of all what the Lord says is to be bought from Him, ‘gold refined in the fire’ and ‘white garments.’ And hopefully, both of these will bring other Scriptures to our mind- 1 Co 3:11 For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. 12 Now if anyone builds on this foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, 13 each one's work will become clear; for the Day will declare it, because it will be revealed by fire; and the fire will test each one's work, of what sort it is. According to the verses from 1 Corinthians 3 we are to build on the foundation with works associated with ‘gold’, as well as silver and precious stones – Pr 3:13 Happy is the man who finds wisdom, And the man who gains understanding; 14 For her proceeds are better than the profits of silver, And her gain than fine gold. 15 She is more precious than rubies, And all the things you may desire cannot compare with her. There is then, the gold, silver and precious stones that exist in the natural that the world sees as valuable, and then there is the ‘gold, silver and precious stones’ that God supplies, the wisdom brought forth from above, and He uses the value that gold, silver and precious stones have in the natural to point to the exponentially greater value of that which the wisdom from above brings forth, if we receive it – 1 Pe 1:7 that the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire…….. The enormous value gold has in the natural is used to show the exponentially greater value that genuine faith has in the spiritual. And through this comparison we can see the association between the ‘gold’ that God supplies and faith, faith to the saving of the soul. Faith that can only come by receiving the wisdom from above. And so, when God counsels the Christian to buy from Him gold refined in the fire, this pictures the Christian changing his mind concerning the faith, and then allowing this faith to be tested to prove its genuineness. And the white garments, also to be bought from the Lord are inextricably connected to the genuine faith – Re 19:7 Let us be glad and rejoice and give Him glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife has made herself ready.” 8 And to her it was granted to be arrayed in fine linen, clean and bright, for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints. The white garments from Revelation Chapter 3 are the fine linen, clean and bright, from Revelation Chapter 19 and the fine linen, as the Scripture says ‘is the righteous acts of the saints’, acts of righteousness. Acts of faith which have been accounted to us for righteousness – Ga 3:5 Therefore He who supplies the Spirit to you and works miracles among you, does He do it by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?— 6 just as Abraham “believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.” 7 Therefore know that only those who are of faith are sons of Abraham. 8 And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel to Abraham beforehand, saying, “In you all the nations shall be blessed.” 9 So then those who are of faith are blessed with believing Abraham. And so, to be clear, our righteous acts will only come from a genuine faith, that we will buy from the Lord as He brings forth the wisdom from above, wisdom more valuable than fine gold. f). And all of this brings us back to the foolish virgins, And the foolish said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’ 9 But the wise answered, saying, ‘No, lest there should not be enough for us and you; but go rather to those who sell, and buy for yourselves.’ The only way that the extra supply of oil necessary to keep the lamp burning, so that the Christian can safely navigate through this world’s darkness, can be accessed is to go to the Source – Ro 10:17 So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. Jn 6:63 It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life. Eph 5:17 Therefore do not be unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is. 18 And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation; but be continually filled with the Spirit….. In Revelation Chapter 3 the Lord said, ‘Buy from Me’ and in the parable of the ten virgins the foolish are told to go, ‘and buy for yourselves.’ There is then a price that must be paid if we want to be continually filled with the Spirit. And for many, like the foolish virgins, it is too great a price to pay. We will come back to this next time if we remain, and the Lord is willing, and we have prayed.