Matthew 25, let's read what will
be our text for this Bible study. It's verses one to 13. Then shall the kingdom of heaven
be likened unto 10 virgins which took their lamps and went forth
to meet the bridegroom. And five of them were wise and
five were foolish. They that were foolish took their
lamps and took no oil with them. But the wise took oil in their
vessels with their lamps. While the bridegroom tarried,
they all slumbered and slept. And at midnight there was a cry
made, behold, the bridegroom cometh, go ye out to meet him. Then all those virgins arose
and trimmed their lamps. And the foolish said unto the
wise, give us of your oil for our lamps are gone out. But the
wise answered saying, not so, lest there be not enough for
us and you, but go ye rather to them that sell and buy for
yourself. And while they went to buy, the
bridegroom came, and they that were ready went in with him to
the marriage, and the door was shut. Afterward came also the
other virgins, saying, Lord, Lord, open to us. But he answered
and said, Verily I say unto you, I know you not. Watch therefore,
for you know neither the day nor the hour when the Son of
Man cometh. Now, when I read this, something
really struck me that I want us to look at for our Bible study. I'm gonna ask the Lord to help
us all to follow this and enter into this. I'm going somewhere
with this. I want to take a few minutes
here and tell you what the spiritual message of this story is. And
then I want to tell you what struck me and what the Lord laid
on my heart to point out to us today. So give me just a minute
here. I'm going to move quickly. All
right. Let's see if the Lord will let us see this. This is
a picture. All right. You understand what happened.
These 10 virgins, five were wise, five were foolish, they're waiting
on the bridegroom to come. Five of them had oil, five of
them did not have oil. And when the announcement came,
he's here, the five that didn't have oil said, our lamps have
gone out, share your oil with us. And they said, no, because
then there won't be enough for any of us. Go buy oil. And while they were gone, he
came. And the five who had oil went in with him and the doors
were shut. And the five that didn't were
too late. Okay? This is a spiritual picture
of the saved and the lost. There will be a saved and a lost. And this tells us what their
end will be when Christ comes back. Christ is the bridegroom.
These 10 virgins represent every professing follower of Christ. Not every soul on this earth
professes to be a follower of the Lord Jesus Christ. This represents
every professing follower of Christ, but not every professing
follower of Christ will follow Christ. In the account here, all of them
had a lamp. All of them had a lamp. A light. Let your light so shine. Spiritually speaking, that represents
a profession. All of them had a profession.
They all had a profession. They all acknowledged themselves
to be expected members of the Bride to the Bridegroom. Spiritually speaking, they all
claimed and expected to be members of the Bride of Christ, just
like every person in Christian religion does. Every person in
Christian religion expects to be a member of the Bride of Christ.
All 10 of them stood there waiting side by side saying, yes, we're
waiting for him. We belong to him. He's coming
to get us. At that moment of waiting, they
all for the most part appeared to be the same, but one thing separated them.
One thing was different and it turned out to be the one thing
needful. The virgins who were welcomed into the marriage of
the bridegroom, they all had oil in their vessels. They all
had oil. That oil was the difference.
In the scripture, oil, the oil of sacrifice, the oil of worship
is referred to as the oil of gladness, the oil of joy. It's called anointing oil. It's called holy oil. This represents
The Spirit of the Lord Jesus Christ, which God gives to all
of His people. God gives His Spirit to His people,
the Spirit of God Almighty. That's what separated the two.
That's what literally set them apart. We talk about being set
apart. Well, the Spirit of God, that's
what does that for the child of God, which Concerning the
spirit, the scripture refers to as, and see if this doesn't
describe the set apart one, okay? The true bride of Christ. Speaking
of the spirit, this word calls him the spirit of wisdom and
understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit
of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord. He is called the
spirit of grace and supplications, prayer. He is called the Spirit
of Truth, the Spirit of Holiness, the Spirit of Life, the Spirit
of Adoption, the Spirit of Glory, the Spirit of Christ Himself. That's what separated them. That's
what separated them. That one thing, the Spirit of
God Almighty, that's what separated them unto this union with Christ. Unto this union with the bridegroom.
In the end, every one of them realized that was the one thing
needful. The anointing, burning, uniting
Spirit. And had those five unwise virgins
felt a need for that one thing needful like the other five did,
they would have had it. They would have had it. They
would have had their need met. Obviously, until it's too late,
they felt no need. The time came and they realized
we do not possess the one thing needful. And that's what's going
to happen to men and women. That time is going to come. The
announcement will go out. Okay, he's here. Everybody's
saying, we're waiting for him. He's coming to get us. And the
announcement is going to say, he's here. And some are going to realize
immediately we do not possess the one thing needful. But it's too late. Without the
blessing of God's Spirit, without the anointing, that holy application
of God, there's no entering in. That's the spiritual picture
of here. Now, I want us to learn something
from this story that doesn't just pertain to this story. I want us to learn something
that pertains to all the scripture. As soon as I read this, this
is what struck me and really got my attention. I want this
to be a blessing. I want this to be a benefit to
us, but I want us to learn something. I want this to be educational.
I believe this will be very beneficial to us. I want us to learn something
about the writing of scripture. I want us to learn something
of why our Lord has written what he has in the way that he has
written it. Because this is what at face
value our Lord, this is what it appears he wrote in this story.
When you just read this story like people do, this is what
it appears he wrote. This is what it appears the Spirit
of God inspired Matthew to pen in this story, okay? Five virgins were foolish. because
they did not bring oil with them. That was their oversight. They
dropped the ball on that one. Now, the other five virgins were
wise because they planned ahead. They made preparations for themselves. They put the thought into it.
They put the work into it and it paid off. What they did caused them to
enter in. That's the way men and women
read this at face value. That's what people get out of
it at face value. And they believe that to be the case because the
five wise virgins told the five foolish virgins, if you will
go do what we did, you'll enter in too. You go to them that sell oil
and you buy oil for yourself. And the five foolish ones went,
but because they weren't prepared and they had to leave, they missed
it. They were turned away. Now, is
that not what the story says at face value? Isn't that what
it says at face value? Yes. My question is, why does it say
that? Why is it written that way? Is
our Lord telling us that our eternal security is in our hands? Is that what he's saying to us?
Is he telling us that whether or not we become a member of
the bride of Christ, that depends on how we prepare ourselves for
it? Whether we do the work necessary
to be ready to enter in when He comes back, is that what He's
saying? Here's the answer. No, that's not what He's saying. That's not what He's saying.
Turn with me over to John 14. John 14 verse one says, let not
your heart be troubled. You believe in God, believe also
in me. In my father's house are many
mansions. If it were not so, I would have
told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place
for you, I will come again and receive you unto myself, that
where I am, there you may be also. He said, I am going to
do the work. That's what all of the scripture
says. He said, I'm going to do the
work. I will make all the preparations necessary for you to enter in.
Look at verse 16 right here. He said, I will pray the father. And he shall give you another
comforter that he may abide with you forever. Even the spirit
of truth whom the world cannot receive because it seeth him
not neither knoweth him, but you know him for he dwelleth
with you and shall be in you. declared a separation right here
between His own and the world, who would have the Spirit and
who do not have the Spirit, who cannot know the Spirit. Verse
18, I will not leave you comfortless. I will come to you. He said,
I will do this. I will send my Spirit to you.
You're not gonna have to buy the Spirit. Verse 26, but the
Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send
in my name, He shall teach you all things and bring all things
to your remembrance whatsoever I have said unto you. That's
not something we purchased. That's a gift from God to us. That is a gift from God. It's
a gift to all of his people. We need God's spirit. He said,
I'm going to provide my spirit. All right, let's talk about faith. Do we need faith? Do we need
faith? Here's the answer. Yes, we do.
Without faith, it is impossible to please God. How do we get it? That's not
of ourself. That's the gift of God. What about righteousness? Do
we need righteousness? Yes, we do. If we're going to
enter in, we need righteousness. Except our righteousnesses exceed
the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, we're not entering
in. We need righteousness. But we can't establish our own
righteousness. That can only be provided for
us and given to us in Christ only. All right, so why does
the scripture make demands to us if we cannot and do not fulfill
the demands. Let me start getting to the point
of this. Why does the scripture make demands
to us if we cannot and do not fulfill the demand? You realize
we could turn to pages and turn to pages and it says, you had
better do this or else. And you had better not do that
or else. And do you realize that there's
not a soul in this room who has done it or not done it? Every soul in this room has sinned
against God and fallen short on every count. So why does the scripture make
demands to us if we cannot and we do not fulfill those demands. Why does it say you need to bring
if in our hands no price we bring? Why does it say that? Why does
it say we need to buy? You know, in Isaiah 55, it says,
come ye, buy and eat. It says buy without money and
without price, but it says, buy it. You need to buy it. In Revelation 3, our Lord said,
I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire. I counsel
thee, I counsel you. This is my word of advice to
you. It's to buy of me gold tried in the fire that you may be rich
and clothed. He's speaking of the things of
salvation. Why would our Lord say that when Acts chapter 8
says this? Turn over there to Acts chapter
8. Acts chapter 8 verse 18 says. And when Simon and this is not
talking about Simon Peter, this is talking about a man who they
call Simon, the sorcerer. When Simon saw that through laying
on of the apostles hands, the Holy Ghost was given, he offered
them money saying, give me also this power that on whomsoever
I lay hands, he may receive the Holy Ghost. But Peter said unto
him, thy money perish with thee, because thou hast thought that
the gift of God may be purchased with money. Thou hast neither
part nor lot in this matter, for thy heart is not right in
the sight of God." What he's saying is the things of God cannot
be bought. The gifts of God cannot be bought,
not by man. not by man. So then why does
our God tell us to buy them? Here's why. Our God tells us
to buy the things that pertain to salvation because they must
be bought. And they were bought by the Lord
Jesus Christ. He paid the price. He bought
with a price. Our God tells us that whoever
does not believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, this is the warning
to man. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ
and thou shalt be saved. If you don't believe on the Lord
Jesus Christ, it is absolute damnation. The wrath of God abides
on the unbeliever. Our God tells us that because
faith must exist in a child of God. It has to. And faith does
exist in a child of God because Christ put it there and Christ
performed it there. God demands His people to sanctify
themselves. You've heard that scripture.
Sanctify yourselves. That means separate yourself
from sin. Be holy as I am holy, he says. That's impossible with man. That's
impossible with man. Why does God tell us to do that?
It's because it must be done. If we're going to enter into
glory, it must be done. And in Christ, it has been done.
In Christ, we are holy, harmless, and separate from sinners. This
word is worded in a way that plainly reveals to us what God
demands of us. The demand is to us. The demand is to every one of
us. And in the way the scripture is worded, we see that. We clearly
see God demands this of us. This is what strikes fear in
us. This is what strikes reverence in us. This is what makes us
bow. This is what makes us cry out for mercy. God demands this
of us. We see in the wording of the
scripture what God demands of us and what Christ did for us. What God demanded of us and what
Christ did for us. Everything that God has demanded
of us, Christ has supplied for us. And in realizing that, He
is glorified. He's glorified. Now in our story,
these five foolish virgins tried to go get their own oil and they
couldn't do it. They didn't do it. Either the
things that are commanded of us Either they will be provided
by God or they won't be provided. They're either gonna be provided
by God or they're not gonna be provided. If I'm going to buy
anything, Christ is gonna have to buy it for me. If I'm going
to believe anything, now here is the command of God. Believe
on the Lord Jesus Christ. That's the command to me. If
I am going to believe anything, Christ is going to have to believe
it for me. In me. If I am going to do anything,
Christ is going to have to do it for me. And here is the amazing
thing about it, all right? I took the whole time just to
tell you this. I could have told you this and
closed the book. This is the whole point. This is what the
Lord burdened my heart to show us. This is why the scripture is
worded the way it is. In closing, look at Romans 4. Romans 4, this is just amazing. Romans 4 verse 1 says, what shall
we say then that Abraham our father as pertaining to the flesh
hath found? For if Abraham were justified
by works, he hath whereof to glory, but not before God. For what saith the scripture?
Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness. Now to him that worketh is the
reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt. But to him that
worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly,
his faith is counted for righteousness." What is that saying? That saying,
when it comes to God's people, after it's proven that everything
they've done is sin and ruin, all of our works, you know what
the scripture says about all of our works? They are filthy
rags. They're all filthy rags. We're
all ungodly in everything we've done. And what this is saying
is Christ does everything that God requires of his people for
them, and then he counts it to them as though they did it. Christ
does everything that God's people need to do to satisfy Him and
please Him. Christ does all of that for them. And then He, once that record
is done, I did this, I did this, I did this, I never did this,
I never did this. Once all that's done, He writes
Gabe Stoniker at the top of that one. He does all of it for us. And
then he counts all of it to us as though we did it. We go before
God in Christ. Every person in Christ goes before
God with his own record, his own record, Christ's record given
to him. And it is counted to the child
of God as though the child of God did it. In the wording of
the scripture, God commands his people to do it. And in Christ,
they do it. In Christ, they are made righteousness. God made him to be sin who knew
no sin that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.
They're made to be righteousness. We are made to be obedient. We're
made to be acceptable. We're made to be doers of the
word. That's just amazing to me. Every time you see in the
scripture, Words that place the demand on you. You rest and rejoice
in the fact that Christ did it for you and counted it to you.
Everything that God requires, Christ has supplied. That is
amazing grace. That's amazing grace. All right,
I pray the Lord will bless that.