Matthew 25:1-13
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.
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.’
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.
11  “Afterward the other virgins came also, saying, ‘Lord, Lord, open to us!’
12  But he answered and said, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, I do not know you.’
13  “Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour in which the Son of Man is coming.

Who are the virgins?
The virgins represent the church. They were all supposedly awaiting the return of the Bridegroom. It may or may not mean anything specifically, but it’s worthwhile noting that half of those waiting for Him were counted as foolish.

Who had the lamps, and what did they represent?
Note that all the virgins had lamps, both wise and foolish. The lamps represent the Word of God, which is a lamp unto our feet Psalm 119:105. Just as in the church, all have access to the revealed Word of God in the Bible.

What was the difference between the wise and the foolish?
The difference was that the wise took sufficient oil to burn now, but also to continue to burn if He should be delayed. But the foolish just had sufficient to burn here and now, but nothing prepared should there be any delay. This can be a typical reflection of the attitudes of those in the church; some (foolish) just look to here and now, and to immediate answers. Whereas others (wise), look further beyond, knowing that their hope is beyond here and now.

What does the oil represent?
Firstly the oil represents a knowledge of the Word. As Jesus says:

John 8:31-32
31  Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, “If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed.
32  And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”

It is not just the Word that makes you free, but an abiding knowledge of it. The foolish had only a superficial knowledge of the Word, and as a result had only enough oil to last for a short time. Whereas the wise had an intimate knowledge of the Word, knowing their life depended upon it (abiding/living in it), and as a result had sufficient oil to last the course of time needed.

Secondly, and more importantly, it represents the Holy Spirit abiding within us. The foolish had only a limited amount of oil to burn, because they were relying on their own knowledge and understanding. However the wise not only abode in His Word, but He in them too. It is His presence within us that burns brightly without fail, and never fades. And it is His Spirit abiding within us that produces much fruit in our lives, not us. That is why He could say in Matthew 25:12 above “assuredly, I say to you, I do not know you.” Because He did not abide within them.

John 15:4-5
4  Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me.
5  “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.

Who are those who sell the oil?
If the lamp represents the Word of God, and the oil is the knowledge of His Truth and His Spirit, then it stands to reason that the oil sellers are those who claim to have a hold on both. Without it being necessary to go into detail, a simple glance at the visible church will reveal such people and ministries. Those who claim to belong to the Lord, and claim to offer His truth, but in reality all that is offered is counterfeit. The ONLY source of the Truth of God revealed to us, belongs in the Holy Bible, and the indwelling of His Holy Spirit to minister His truth through our lives.

Conclusion:
If we wish to be considered amongst the wise and not the foolish, we must heed carefully what the Word of God has to say about His return, and turn away from idle chatter, personal opinions, and the traditions of men. We must be eager to abide in His Word, knowing that our lives depend on it, and knowing that it contains all that we need to lead us safely home. Also we must be constantly willing and ready to examine ourselves closely to ensure the Holy Spirit does actually dwell within us, and we are not allowing ourselves to be deceived.

2 Corinthians 13:5-6
5  Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Do you not know yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you are disqualified.
6  But I trust that you will know that we are not disqualified.

Also we must seriously consider the peril that faces those who have already been taken in by those who sell counterfeit oil. We must not be afraid to confront other Christians with the truth, even when this leads to division, for we are commanded not to ignore the works of darkness, but expose them by His Light.

Read together to finish:

Ephesians 5:8-21
8  For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light
9  (for the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness, righteousness, and truth),
10  finding out what is acceptable to the Lord.
11  And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose them.
12  For it is shameful even to speak of those things which are done by them in secret.
13  But all things that are exposed are made manifest by the light, for whatever makes manifest is light.
14  Therefore He says: “Awake, you who sleep, Arise from the dead, And Christ will give you light.”
15  See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise,
16  redeeming the time, because the days are evil.
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 filled with the Spirit,
19  speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord,
20  giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ,
21  submitting to one another in the fear of God.

Sourced from: Townhill Christian Fellowship Blog

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Matthew 10:34-38
34  “Do not think that I came to bring peace on earth. I did not come to bring peace but a sword.
35  For I have come to ‘SET A MAN AGAINST HIS FATHER, A DAUGHTER AGAINST HER MOTHER, AND A DAUGHTER-IN-LAW AGAINST HER MOTHER-IN-LAW’;
36  and ‘A MAN’S ENEMIES WILL BE THOSE OF HIS OWN HOUSEHOLD.’
37  He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me.
38  And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me.

Although our weapons are spiritual, not carnal, and our fight is with principalities and powers, not flesh and blood. As Christians we will still experience the fight we have entered, as the powers of the enemy manifest through the evil desires of the flesh, both our own sinful desires, and sinful desires of other people. If we are truly in Christ, then we shall most definitely experience the reality of being in the midst of battle. Whereas if this is not our experience on a daily basis, at the very least this should cause alarm bells to sound in our spirit, for it is a clear indicator that all is not right in our walk with Christ.

Whilst in this battle, we will be face to face with all sorts of manifestations of the enemy principalities and powers, as they work their way out in the desires of our own flesh, and that of other people too. The enemy will attempt to drag us away by tempting us in our weaknesses and past addictions on a personal level, and will cause the manifestations of the flesh in others, such as jealousy, hatred, bitterness etc., to rise up against us. But the important thing we have to remember is, if we are truly dead to ourselves and alive in Christ, this battle is no longer our own, but the Lord’s. We simply become as soldiers who are subject to the orders of their Commander in Chief, and our orders are written clearly throughout the teaching of Scripture, and through the direction and leading of the Holy Spirit.

From the perspective of our own internal battle, we must learn to embrace the act of dying to ourself, for this is the command of Scripture. We must surrender fully to the prospect of putting away every desire of our flesh, every earthly need, and every selfish ambition, in favour of seeking to pick up those of the Lord. And in return we must learn to trust that, as we commit ourselves to this act of humble obedience, He will take care of those needs we once considered above all in our lives.

1 Timothy 6:10-14
10  For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.
11  But you, O man of God, flee these things and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, gentleness.
12  Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, to which you were also called and have confessed the good confession in the presence of many witnesses.
13  I urge you in the sight of God who gives life to all things, and before Christ Jesus who witnessed the good confession before Pontius Pilate,
14  that you keep this commandment without spot, blameless until our Lord Jesus Christ’s appearing,

(The “love of money” mentioned in verse 10 above, could just as easily apply to any other worldly desire in our life that we put before our desire for the Lord.)

When the Lord revives us from our slumber, the internal fight is what we notice more than anything else. As we surrender to the Truth of His Word, and apply it obediently to our life, we begin to experience the Spirit of God cutting away the things of offense within us. We will find a growing awareness of our own weakness and failure, and our need for Him alone. We will grow in our understanding of the reality of sin, death, and the judgment of God against such things, and our dire need for Him to extend His great mercy towards us constantly. And a passion and hunger for His truth and righteousness will begin to grow within us, which will in turn drive us to His Word alone as the Truth, where we will begin to feast with all our might.

It is this process in our lives that, in the Lord’s timing, will bring us to a place of fighting, not just to work out the salvation in our own lives, but to stand and fight for the salvation of those around us too. As the truth of His Word renews our mind, we grow in confidence in Him, knowing in a deeper way that which He has secured on our behalf, and the power of the Holy Spirit within us to work out those purposes in our life, all for His glory. He will lead us to a place of fighting for the salvation of others, by standing upon and contending for the truth according to His Word, boldly proclaiming, exhorting and teaching others, including some who are already professing Christians, to embrace the Lord in the same manner.

This is the reality of “making disciples of all nations” that Jesus Christ commands us to carry out. It is not our own wisdom or power that will acheive anything, but it is the instruction of Christ Himself, passed on directly to the apostles for the edification of the Body of Christ, and through the proclamation of the instruction they passed down under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, we instruct and guide others by that same wisdom.

Contrary to what we may first think, we actually find that our battle in this arena lies not so much outside, but inside the boundaries of the visible church. As we grow in maturity and godly wisdom, purely by clinging to His Word as the Truth alone, the Lord begins to use those believers to come against the ungodly deceivers that are rampant within the confines of the church across the denominations, that those who are genuinely His are woken up from their slumber.

Jude 1:3-4
3  Beloved, while I was very diligent to write to you concerning our common salvation, I found it necessary to write to you exhorting you to contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints.
4  For certain men have crept in unnoticed, who long ago were marked out for this condemnation, ungodly men, who turn the grace of our God into lewdness and deny the only Lord God and our Lord Jesus Christ.

Matthew 7:15
15  “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves.

Acts 20:29-31
29  For I know this, that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock.
30  Also from among yourselves men will rise up, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after themselves.
31  Therefore watch, and remember that for three years I did not cease to warn everyone night and day with tears.

As we enter more fully into this area of the battle, we will experience many painful times, for we are dealing with the true strongholds the Bible speaks of, and those that the devil will protect with great force. But providing we remember that the battle is the Lord’s and not our own, and we remember to fight in the power of His might, and not our own; then we will be victorious. Also we must remember that as we experience a growing sense of liberty in our own lives as we submit to God in this way, we must realise that it is for the specific purpose of serving Him here and now, by entering into the mission of Christ Himself to set the captives free by proclaiming this time of Grace that has been given to us, and exhorting every creature to repent and believe the Gospel.

Amongst other things, this external battle to further the Gospel and make disciples of all nations, must have at its heart a constant travailing prayer for one another, and for those around us. We must also truly begin to realise how precious is even one soul to God, and how greatly He desires all men to be saved.

James 5:16-20
16  Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.
17  Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed earnestly that it would not rain; and it did not rain on the land for three years and six months.
18  And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth produced its fruit.
19  Brethren, if anyone among you wanders from the truth, and someone turns him back,
20  let him know that he who turns a sinner from the error of his way will save a soul from death and cover a multitude of sins.

Finally we have to remind ourselves often that the battle we are in will not be forever. It may feel tiresome at times, we may feel tired and weary at times, and if we are faithful, we will most definitely enter the Kingdom of Heaven exhausted and battle scarred! But there we will be revived, and if we are faithful to the end, we will witness others at our side that are there because we fought for their salvation, just as Christ and other faithful believers fought for ours. And at that time, the long, hard battle we have been in during our life in this world will disappear like a puff of smoke in the wind!

If anyone reading this feels a heaviness of heart at the prospect of such a battle, it would serve you well to remember that the blessed hope we have is for a time to come, not necessarily now, and how great is the hope that we have! I will let the apostle Paul remind you in the same words He so reminded the church in Rome in his own day:

Romans 8:15-39
15  For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, “Abba, Father.”
16  The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God,
17  and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together.
18  For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.
19  For the earnest expectation of the creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of God.
20  For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it in hope;
21  because the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God.
22  For we know that the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs together until now.
23  Not only that, but we also who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, eagerly waiting for the adoption, the redemption of our body.
24  For we were saved in this hope, but hope that is seen is not hope; for why does one still hope for what he sees?
25  But if we hope for what we do not see, we eagerly wait for it with perseverance.
26  Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.
27  Now He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God.
28  And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.
29  For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren.
30  Moreover whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified.
31  What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?
32  He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?
33  Who shall bring a charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies.
34  Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us.
35  Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?
36  As it is written: “FOR YOUR SAKE WE ARE KILLED ALL DAY LONG; WE ARE ACCOUNTED AS SHEEP FOR THE SLAUGHTER.”
37  Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.
38  For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come,
39  nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Sourced from: Townhill Christian Fellowship Blog

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