The Ten Virgins

Q: What does the Bible say about the parable of the ten virgins?

The parable of the ten virgins teaches about the importance of being prepared for Christ's return with true faith, symbolized by having oil in their lamps. In the parable of the ten virgins found in Matthew 25:1-13, Jesus illustrates the need for readiness in anticipation of His second coming. The ten virgins represent professing believers, but only half of them, the wise virgins, were truly prepared with oil for their lamps, symbolizing the Holy Spirit. The wise virgins understood that true preparation involves more than outward profession; it necessitates a real, personal relationship with Christ, facilitated by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. The foolish virgins, despite their outward appearance of faith, lacked the essential oil, representing their absence of the Spirit and genuine faith, leading to their exclusion from the wedding feast.

Q: How do we know that salvation is like a marriage?

Salvation is likened to marriage in the Bible, as seen in Ephesians 5, where Christ is the bridegroom and the church is the bride. The analogy of salvation as a marriage is rich in Scripture, particularly in Ephesians 5:30-32, where the Apostle Paul describes the profound relationship between Christ and His church. In this passage, Paul indicates that just as a husband and wife are united as one flesh, believers are united with Christ, who is the bridegroom. This signifies a deep, committed relationship of love and fidelity. Christ, having redeemed His bride, is both the source of salvation and the object of the believer's love. This marital imagery emphasizes the covenant nature of salvation, where believers are called to love, submit, and cling to Christ as their ultimate source of life, just as a wife does to her husband.

Q: Why is the Holy Spirit compared to oil in the Bible?

In Scripture, oil symbolizes the Holy Spirit, representing His presence, anointing, and the life-giving power He brings to the believer. The comparison of the Holy Spirit to oil has significant theological implications, as seen throughout the Bible. Oil in Scripture often represents anointing and the presence of the Holy Spirit, signifying that the Spirit is essential for genuine faith and life. For instance, in Matthew 25, the wise virgins bring oil for their lamps, illustrating that true believers possess the Holy Spirit, which enlightens and empowers them to live for Christ. This is further affirmed in passages such as John 14 and Romans 8, where the Spirit's role is to glorify Christ and empower believers for godly living. Without this 'oil,' believers can only have an outward profession; true life and light come from the Spirit within, who transforms the heart and equips believers for holiness.

Q: How can we be certain we are part of the wise virgins?

To be certain of being among the wise virgins, one must possess the Holy Spirit, reflecting true faith in Christ and a genuine relationship with Him. Assurance of being counted among the wise virgins involves self-examination in the light of Scripture. The wise virgins are characterized not merely by outward profession but by the inner reality of the Holy Spirit within them. 1 John 5:13 encourages believers to know that they have eternal life, which is anchored in a living faith in Jesus Christ. A relationship with Christ implies ongoing dependence on Him, characterized by love for God, a desire for holiness, and a consistent turning to Him for strength and guidance. The wise virgins exhibit a readiness that comes from a heart transformed by grace, producing spiritual fruit and a longing for Christ’s return. Therefore, one must continually seek the Lord, asking Him to instill within them the oil of the Spirit, ensuring their hearts are in alignment with the will of God.

Amazing love, how can it be That
Thou, my God, shouldst die for me? Amazing love, how can it
be That Thou, my God, shouldst die for me? The writer of that hymn, Charles
Wesley, apparently knew something about the true God's amazing love. He was amazed that God would love him. Not like today, where men seem
to think But it's something God owes them. How can it be? It was incredulous that God would
love him. And that's what all of God's people
think. Amazing love. Matthew 25. Well, Matthew 24. I know as we read these verses, picked your interest, but we're
not dealing with chapter 24. But I do want you to look at
a couple of verses in chapter 24. Now, the words of our Lord
Jesus Christ are always a life and death matter. The words of our Lord Jesus Christ
are always a life or death matter. He said, my words are spirit
and life. Not men's sermons, but the Lord's
word. What he says is life to those
who hear it and eat it by his grace, by his spirit. Death to
those who ignore. And don't do what he said. That's
a fact. The Lord never gave advice. About anything. The Lord does
not give advice. Advice is something you give
that can be taken or not taken. Everything the Lord says is absolutely
the only way it is. That's a fact. Now in chapter
24, the Lord speaks at length on the times preceding his second
coming. And even though in these last
days, men, scoffers, mockers, Peter prophesied of, would say,
where is the promise of his coming? Yet the Lord said, surely I come
quickly. It may not seem quick to us who
are subject to time. He's been gone two thousand years.
Yet to him, a day is a thousand years. He said, I come quickly. In relation to time, it's quick. It's quick to him. I come quickly. And he said in verse fourteen
of chapter twenty four. This gospel of the kingdom shall
be preached in all the world for a witness under all nations.
In other words, the gospel will reach the four corners of the
earth and then shall the end come. So, you know, we're at
least in those last days, don't you? Because the gospel has gone
everywhere. In verses 37 through 39, he describes the day or time in which he will
come. Verse thirty-six, Of that day
and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but
my Father only. Any imbecile, any idiot who makes
some prediction is an absolute fool. The Lord himself said no
man knows. He said you can judge the time. the general times, like you would
a fig tree. Remember that? The parable of
the fig tree. When you see leaves coming, you
know summer is near. So, when you see these things,
you know it's near. And so on. All right, of that day and hour knoweth
no man, verse 37, but as the day. Now here's something our
Lord gives, a clue, a clear description of the days. Immediately preceding
his return as the days of Noah. So shall also the coming of the
son of man be, as in the days that were before the flood, they
were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage. What
does that tell you? Eating and drinking, marrying
and giving in marriage. And back in Genesis, buying and
selling and so forth. What does that tell you? Prosperity. is not going to be a worldwide.
Dirth or calamity. That's when men and women seem
to call on the Lord no. No he says it will come on them
unawares like in the days of Noah verse thirty eight they
were eating and drinking and until the day the very day that
Noah entered into the ark and knew not. Didn't have a clue
they didn't have a clue. Until the flood rain start I say they didn't have a clue
they had God's Word. They heard God's Word, but they
rejected it and knew not. Until a flood came and took them
all away, except eight souls. So shall also the coming of the
Son of Man be. So our Lord speaks of a materialistic,
prosperous age. And there's never been one like
there is now never been a more prosperous, affluent age than
the one we live in now. Never. It's it's incredible. The riches of this generation
is incredible. Absolutely incredible. And so
he says to us, to disciples, to disciples, those are the only
ones who are going to listen to him anyway. Right. Verse 42, he says, So watch,
therefore, watch. And over and over in the Scriptures,
he says, Watch unto prayer. Pray, call on the Lord, seek
his face, pray, watch unto prayer, be a praying people, seeking
his face, looking, watch. When you watch, you mean you're
looking, aren't you? You observe him, got your eyes
open, not sleeping, as do others, got your eyes open. That's what
he said to the watchman. This preacher is supposed to
be a watchman, supposed to be observing things, what's going
on, not asleep like those dumb dogs in Isaiah. Watchman, what
of the night? Now, Bacchus said, I will set
me on my watch and watch in my tower and see what the Lord will
say to me. That's a watchman. And all of us are told to watch,
observe, seek, ask, not. That's what that means. Watch.
And that hastens, you remember when Peter said, hastening the
coming of the Lord, that's what that does, the more you consider
and think about what he said, the more real it. Stays, do you,
and the sooner? It will be, you'll be expecting.
Be waiting. The verse forty five. And he
says, well, verse 40, Yeah verse forty five he said
who's a faithful and wise servant who is whom his Lord has made
ruler over his household the Lord has set some over his church
and. Their. Occupation is a watchman
and to give meat. To give me to feed the flock
feed the flock all told the elders that acts are Ephesians. Then feed the flock, which God
has made you rulers over. Feed them, feed them with meat.
All right. Now, chapter 25, it begins this
way. Then. You see, he's talking about the
last of the last day, then at that time, then. In that age,
in that day, then shall the kingdom of heaven kingdom of heaven be
likened unto ten virgins which took their lamps and went forth
to meet the bridegroom." The kingdom of heaven. Whenever Scripture
talks about the kingdom of heaven, it's talking about the king.
That's Christ. There's but one king, and that's
Christ. There is no queen. There is a
king reigning and ruling. No queen, but there's a kingdom. Not the queendom, the king-dom.
The king and his subjects, that's what this kingdom of heaven is
talking about. The kingdom and those under his
reign and rule, those who are his subject. Talking about Christ
and his people. All right? Christ is the bridegroom. Salvation throughout the scriptures,
especially the New Testament, salvation is likened to marriage. Turn with me to Ephesians 5.
This is something that we read from. Most every marriage and
Ephesians 5. The apostle Paul here is speaking
of marriage and what it really means. Throughout the scriptures,
salvation. Has been typified by marriage.
Salvation, look at it, Ephesians 5 verses 30 through 32. We are
members. Now, again, he's speaking to
his people, Christ's people. Whom he called back in chapter
one, the chosen of God, the saints, faithful in Christ Jesus, those
who have been predestinated by him, chosen and on and on, redeemed
by his blood. That's who he's talking to. That's
who he's writing to. And he says in verse 30, we,
that is, believers, God's elect, are members of his body and of
his flesh, that is, members of Christ's body. and of his mom. He's the head with the body verse
thirty one for this call shall a man leave his father and mother
and shall be joined unto his wife and they too shall be one
flesh. This is a great mystery that
I speak. Concerning Christ and the church. So you see. We'll stop reading
their. Salvation that is the The relationship
between Christ and his people is like a marriage. It is a marriage.
It's a union made by God. They were betrothed to each other.
It's a love affair, not an affair in the sense of an illicit one,
but it's an ongoing love affair. Christ is the bridegroom. He's the groom. I wish I had
time. to tell what the true marriage
is going to be like, the bride's not going to get the glory sashaying
down the aisle. I can tell you that. The groom
is, the bridegroom, Christ gets all the glory. That's so typical
of modern religion today. They make a whole lot of the
bride, of the people, and Christ is like, you see these husbands
standing over at the side waiting on her. That's not the Christ
of Scripture, the bridegroom. He comes to this earth to get
his bride. He chooses her, makes her willing
in the day of his power, and redeems her. Christ is the bridegroom
who came to redeem her because she was a forlorn woman on the
auction of sin, and he bought her. To redeem her, to take her
to himself, to take her all the way home to his father's house.
That's the bridegroom. He does it all. Salvation is
of the Lord, the bridegroom. The church is called the bride.
The believer is called the bride. A people, and this best describes
the bride or the church of the Lord Jesus Christ, they love
Jesus Christ. They're in love with the Lord
Jesus Christ. He is their everything. He is
their head. He is their husband. They submit
to him in all things. He is their redeemer. He is their
mediator. He is their intercessor. He is
their substitute. He is their high priest. He is
their sacrifice. He is their salvation. He is
their sanctification, their wisdom. He is their all. They're all
like a submissive woman to a The most altogether lovely man with
the only one. I love him. I bow to him and
they leave everybody and everything to cleave to him and him alone
for as long as they both shall live. How long is that? Christ
said forever. This is the description of the
salvation of God's people. Christ is the bridegroom, and
the church, his people, are the bride. They're in love with the
Lord Jesus Christ. They're not in love with themselves. They're not in love with their
denomination. They're not in love with their building. They're
not in love with their tradition. They're in love with Jesus Christ. That's why they're called Christians. They bear his name. They don't go by any other name. Here in our text, in the Lord's
parable, he says these virgins, they're called, ten virgins,
took their lamps. Now, the lamp is something you
see outward, isn't it? Outward light. That's all a lamp
is, outward light. It shows forth something. And
this is talking about an outward profession. All right. Our Lord
said, Remember in Matthew five, you are the light of the world.
Speaking to his disciples, you are the light of the world. And we saw clearly what that
means. That means as we show forth the light of the knowledge
of the glory of God in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. That's
the only light there is. Christ is the light. He said,
I'm the light of the world. And the only way we show light
is as we profess him, not ourselves. We don't let our little light
shine, so men will glorify us. But we show forth the light,
which is Christ, so they'll glorify the Father. Right? All right. Lamps. Or an outward
profession only. Outward. All ten of these virgins,
and they're called virgins, because a virgin is one who saves herself
for her husband. Right? A virgin is one who says
no to everyone else. She's waiting on her husband.
And that's what all professing believers say. I'm in love with
Jesus Christ, they say. Everything he's my savior me
my lord and so forth all professing Christian say that. Now the revelation calls his
people. Only his people true part. Truly
not given themselves to the great whore. But saving themselves
with whom the whole world was getting in bed with false religion
But they are true virgins, saving themselves for the Lord. They're
saved by the Holy Spirit for the Lord. They don't save themselves.
All right, but here's, you understand, ten virgins, ten who have lamps,
outward profession. They all seem to be waiting on
the bridegroom. All right. They all profess to
love, to look for the coming Christ. All right, look at verse
two. Five of them were wise and five
were foolish. Now, again, this is the Lord
Jesus Christ speaking, who knows all men, who knows all hearts. He says, all souls are mine.
And the Lord said there are ten virgins who took lamps to go
out to meet the bridegroom. Ten professors of religion. Ten
professors of religion. They professed Christ. And they appeared to be waiting
on him. All right. He says five were foolish and
five were wise. Right now, right away, we would
be wise. Right away, everyone in here,
starting with me, would be wise to say, Lord. Am I wise or am I foolish? There's ten. Don't we don't play
the odds, people like to play odds, don't they? We've got a
one in a million chance. I'll buy one. I'll play that. The Lord gives a factory. Five
wise, five foolish. And we're in one of these groups,
and that's 50 percent. We would be wise to say, Lord,
would you please make me to know? Am I wise? Now that's the first
sign of wisdom. The fear of the Lord is the beginning
of wisdom. The fear of missing the Lord.
Are you with me? The fear of missing the Lord. I spoke with someone recently,
and I said, I'm worried about you. And we'd do well if we'd just
be right up front with folks, I believe. But there's some people going
to miss Christ. Ten virgins with lamps, all right? Five were wise and five were
foolish. Now, where would you turn, if
I asked you, where would you turn in God's Word to find out
about what it means to be wise and what it means to be foolish?
Where would you turn? Good for you. Somebody said it.
Exactly. There's a book in this Bible
that it speaks of wisdom and foolishness all the way through.
Hundreds and hundreds of times. I go back to proverbs with my
proverbs chapter one again where God begins the proper. This is
not Solomon's proverbs. He just took dictation. The Lord
told him what to write. Proverbs one. Look at proverbs
one with me here. He. Every book begins with a. a dedication that you read books. Every book has an inside cover
page and it says this is such and such and so forth and tell
the author tells why he's writing and so forth. Look at this. Here's the here's the meaning.
The Proverbs of Solomon, the son of David, king of Israel,
to know wisdom. We want to be wise. Read on, to know wisdom, to perceive
the words of understanding. Verse five, a wise man, look
at this, verse five, a wise man, a wise woman, a wise young person
will hear. Will hear and will increase learning,
meaning we don't ever know anything as we fully ought to know. A man of understanding shall
attain unto wise counsel. Verse seven, the fear of the
Lord is the beginning of knowledge. But fools despise wisdom and
instruction. Can't tell me anything. All right, all right, already
we've seen a wise person and a fool. A wise person is one
who hears the word, fears the Lord, and a fool is one that
I'm not interested. Not interested. Well, look at
what the Lord says. Let me go on a little bit, would
you please? Let me go on the Scriptures over and over and
say things like this. Fools despise wisdom and knowledge.
Verse 20. Wisdom crieth without. She uttereth
her voice in the street. She crieth in the cheap place
of the concord. Verse 22. How long, you simple
ones, will you love simplicity? And the scorners delight in their
scorners, and fools hate knowledge. Turn you at my reproof. Well,
he says, verse 24. I have called you to refuse.
I stretched out my hand. No man regarded. You said it
not. My counsel would none of my reproof. So I will ask. at
your calamity. I will mock when your fear come
up. Verse 28, Then shall they call
upon me, but I will not answer. They shall seek me, but they
shall not find me. They that hated knowledge did
not choose the fear of the Lord. That sounds just like our parable,
doesn't it? These fools finally came to the
door and said, Lord, Lord. And he said, I don't know you.
Go back to our text now, and the reason it sounds like our
parable is because the same one wrote it. The same Lord wrote
it. As I said, it wasn't Solomon's
parable, or probably, but the son of David himself, the Lord
Jesus Christ. All right, back in our text,
verse 3, it says, They that were foolish took their lamps, but
took no oil with them. In other words, they had a outward
profession, a lamp, but no oil with them. What is oil? Oil has always represented
one thing, the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit, whom our Lord
said very plainly, John 14, John 16, and other places, Romans
8, takes the things of Christ and
shows them unto you. He shall bring in all things
to remembrance that I have said. He shall not speak of himself.
He shall speak of me. He shall glorify me. He shall
bring to remembrance what I have said. The Holy Spirit speaks
of Christ. The Holy Spirit puts Christ in the heart. The words
of Christ, the truth. The Holy Spirit also gives us
new birth. New birth, born from above, born
by the Holy Spirit. and gives this fruit of the Spirit,
love, joy, love for God, true love for God, love for Christ,
love for the gospel, love for the truth, love for the brethren,
joy, joy and rejoicing in the Lord Himself, in the gospel,
in the truth, love, joy, peace, peace, not believing in Christ,
all these fruit of the Spirit. Well, these didn't happen. They didn't have any of that.
They had an outward profession. A lamp only. No oil. Are you with me? They had lamps. They had an outward
profession. They were seen and heard. It's outward. You see
it. I'm going to wake you up again. I've already lost some of you. I wish that I could do this right
here with God's Word. I can't. He does. I said this is life or death
is five foolish and five right here we have a crowd full of
people. Without a doubt everybody in
here is not a wise virgin. And beginning with me I should
be saying Lord I want to hear this I want to know And John
over and over, Teresa said, by this we shall know. You shall
know, you shall know. How? He's telling us. All right,
five didn't have this oil. Five didn't have oil. Where's
this oil come from? Where's oil come from? Where
do you get your oil? Olive oil. That's the oil he's
speaking of. It's the only oil used in Scripture.
Olive oil. Where do you all get your olive
oil? You grow your trees? Anybody got any olive trees in
your yard? You grow your own olives, you mash them with your
feet, and you produce your own. No, it's impossible. It won't
grow around here. Neither does this oil grow in
this human heart. You can't produce it. We can't
produce it. We cannot produce it. Love for God. It's not there. We're dead and trespassed in
sin, Scripture said, by nature. The natural man receiveth not
the things of God. And foolishness to him, neither
can he know them. They're spiritually discerned
or given. It must come from above. A man
can receive nothing except it be given him where? He can't
grow it. He can't drum it up. He can't
try his best. Where does it come from? One
place, from above. So, he said, you have not because
you ask not. I'm a God of all grace. Joseph is in charge of the storehouse. There's corn in Egypt. Where
are we going to go? What are we going to do? Where
are we going to get it? Cry unto me, the Lord said. I need it. Lord, save me or I perish. Lord,
give me your spirit. Take David. Here's a good example. David. Now, David, the root of
the matter was in him, wasn't it? He was a man after God's
own heart. The Holy Spirit of God truly dwelled in David. And
that doesn't mean it made him talk like a blooming idiot. That's
all a farce. That's all a phony. It's all
fake. All this gibberish called tongues
today is fake. Because anybody can fake that.
You can't fake love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness,
love for God, love for Christ, love for the gospel, faith. You
can't fake that. Very long, anyway. Didn't fake
give a give a shlub a shlub a dubba. Kelly Grace, that little child,
talks more than tons than any of these so-called Holy Spirit-filled
people. Right? Somebody needs to tell
it like it is, because everybody's falling for these phonies. David was full of the Holy Spirit,
and what did he talk like? He talked about Christ. He talked
about his God. He talked about the truth. David
was a sinner, though. He didn't have some false notion.
This is what the Holy Spirit does, convinces us of sin, righteousness,
and judgment, Christ said. Are you with me? The Holy Spirit
will convince us of sin, righteousness, and judgment. That's what the
Holy Spirit does. Sin, we mean sin, that we are
sinners through and through and need a Savior. If we weren't
sinners, we wouldn't need a Savior. If we ever quit being sinners,
we quit needing a Savior. And the Holy Spirit that dwells
in a person convinces them constantly till the day they die that they're
sinners in need of the Lord Jesus Christ,
His redemption. All right? David, who was a man
full of the Holy Spirit, said, against thee and thee only have
I sinned and done this evil in thy sight. Take not thy Holy
Spirit from me. Me. Uphold me, he said, with
thy free spirit. Uphold me. I can't walk a step
if the Holy Spirit doesn't hold me up. I can't make a move if
He doesn't direct me. I'll go wrong. If He doesn't
hold me up, I'll fall. I'll take one step and fall flat
on my face and go down into the pit. And David said, Deliver
me from going down into the pit. Who deliver me? God help me. Send your Holy Spirit to hedge
me back, restrain me, constrain me. Huh? This doesn't grow in
here. It comes from above, this oil.
Don't take it for granted. We need fresh supplies. Fresh supply. You ladies who
use oil, do you have an endless supply in your cabinet? Those of you who use oil, do
you have an endless supply? What do you got to do? You got
to go where it is, and you got to buy it. And if you use it
enough, you'll pay the price. And this is what our Lord is
speaking of here. The wise have the Spirit of God within them.
God's made them wise. He has made unto us wisdom. The
wise see Jesus Christ as their all in salvation, nobody else,
nothing else, not the church, so-called church, not Mary, not
John, not Peter, not Christopher, not Jesus Christ. The wise see
Jesus Christ as their wisdom. That's what the scripture said.
He has made unto us wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption.
And according as it is written, he that glorieth, let him glory
in the Lord. The wise have the Spirit of God
within them telling them that, and they continually pray for
a fresh supply. Lord, take not thy Holy Spirit
from me. Don't do it. I'm losing some
of you again. Come on now. You need to be doing
what I'm saying right now. Lord, take not thy Spirit from
me. Don't let me take it for granted. Verse 5, the Lord said,
While the bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered and slept. All right, there are five wise
and five foolish. Five foolish, five wise. Five
had no oil in their lamps, verse four. The wise took oil in their
vessels with their lamp. I about left that out, didn't
I? The wise took oil in their vessels
with their lamps. It seems to be too different
a thing, doesn't it? You've got a lamp and you've
got a vessel, an outward then you've got something
that really holds oil. What's the vessel? Where are all the issues of life?
Where does God look? The heart. Out of the heart are
the issues of life. God looked upon the heart, Scripture
said. With the heart man believeth. With the heart. the heart. All right. These wise
had this in their heart. My God's great. And it says they
all slept. They all slumbered and slept.
Now, I'm glad. I'm sure glad that the Lord wrote
said this. Aren't you? The Lord is so merciful
to our flesh. The Lord knows our brain. Nancy
and I love that Psalm 103, 13. It's the way of all flesh to
slumber and to sleep. It's the way of all flesh. We're
flesh. Even though the Holy Spirit dwells within His people, they're
still flesh. I need to keep that in mind. The Lord did. He said they all
slept. They all slumbered and slept.
While the heart is willing, our Lord said this too, I'm so glad,
the spirit is willing, but the flesh is so weak. And
you got one warring against another. The world doesn't have this war
going on. They've got one thing, flesh. But the believer has a
war within their members. Two things warring, two men warring. New man, old man, warring. One
wars against the other. Well, thank God he said they
all slept as the disciples did. I need to read that every now
and then when I get aggravated at you. That story, the disciples
slept at the most incredible time, right when the
Lord was headed to the cross. And he said, watch. And he was
going into the garden with Praise Him. Watch. And he came back
and found them sleeping. And he upbraided them. He rebuked
them. Can't you watch with me one hour? And he went back to
Praise Him. And they were sleeping again.
And he upbraided them again because they were to blame. They should
have been sleeping, should have been watching, doing what he
told them. And he told them, watch. And then he went back.
And they were sleeping again. What's wrong with them? They're men. Man at his best
day. They're men. They all slept.
They all slept. And at midnight, cry came. There's a cry made, Behold, the
bridegroom cometh. Go out to meet him. He's coming."
Now, he hadn't come yet, but they said he was coming. You
hear me? They hadn't seen him yet, but
somebody said, as a faithful person has said it, because in
a minute they're going to see him. Just a few minutes, they're
going to see him. Somebody faithful said, he's coming. Wake up! He's coming. And every time the gospel is
preached, this cry is made. You know that? If a man is a
true gospel preacher, every time he stands up, he will say, Behold
your God! That's what Isaiah said. What
shall I cry? Tell me what to tell the people,
Lord. In Isaiah 40, he said, Tell them
this, all flesh is grass. The beauty of it, the glory of
it is fading away. It's nothing. All men and women
are nothing. He said, tell them this, behold
your God. Tell them not to look at anybody
or anything. It's all flesh. But tell them
to behold, to look upon, behold God's servant. Christ said, or
God said, Behold my servant, mine elect. He'll bring forth
justice. He'll bring forth judgment. Behold
the Lord Jesus Christ. Do we ever quit needing to be
told that? We'll take our eyes off. We'll
look at this. We'll look at that. People do that. Get all taken
up with the beauty of the disciples themselves. We're all taken up
with the beauty of the temple. Lord, look, isn't this beautiful?
He said, there's not one stone on me standing on another. It's
just a pile of rubble. Look to me. Your salvation's
not in this stone temple, not in this denomination, not in
this person, that person. It's in me. Look unto me and
be ye saved, all the ends thereof. I'm God. Salvation's of God. God's the one that says you're
forgiven. God's the one that says I justify you. God's the
one that says you can come into my heaven. God and God only.
Not Mary, not anybody, but God. So who do we look to? Who do
we call upon? You say, why are you getting excited?
We all believe you. We'll see. We'll see. I've seen people leave. Where do they
go? I saw a woman the other day cutting grass who was here for
20 years as far as I know. 15 or 20 years. Had her husband
a treasurer of the church. And she doesn't have any interest
in God at all now. Where'd she go? What's she turned
to? To whom will she go? Christ said, to whom will you
go? She appeared for all appearances
to be one of His own. But something or someone took
her eyes off of Christ and she went after Him. What it revealed
was, she was not of us. She no doubt would have remained
with us. As Christ said, I give unto my sheep eternal life and
they'll never perish. He said it to Peter who truly
was one of his own. Will you also go away? Say, where
are we going to go? To whom shall we go? This is
life. No. Like love, you know. Love never
fails. You leaving? Well, maybe temporarily,
but not forever. I'm mad at you. I'm going to
walk out the door and cool off, but I'm not leaving you. Like somebody Fellas, one time
said to a believer, have you ever thought about divorce? He
said, murder, yes, but divorce, no. And only those who know what
I'm talking about. And that was my wife who said
that about me. Not me. Every time the gospel is preached,
this is the cry. Wake up, the bridegroom's here.
He's coming. He's at the door. You see all
these things, know that he's near, even at the doors. He said,
I'm coming, he's coming. Behold, he's coming. Well, they
all arose. Verse seven, they all arose.
You know, the gospel, the scripture, preaching, if a man, you know,
does it with any emotion or feeling whatsoever, everybody Can't tell you how many people,
you know, I've met at the door or someplace, not just here,
but other places. I'll give you an example. Whose
funeral? It may have been Shannon's or
somebody's funeral. Last one, somebody met me at
the door and said, I've never heard anything like that. That is really something. Were they there worshiping God
the very next time? They all arose. They all were
woken up a little bit. See that? They all arose. It
says, trim their lamps. Well, I'm a believer. I'll have
you know I'm a Christian. I just backslidden. I've never heard a black believer
in my life say that. Never. I've never heard a believer
in my life say he's backslidden. I've heard believers who fail
and got in a bad way say, I may be lost. That's what they fear. That's
what they think. I'm lost. So I'm just backslidden. I'll
be all right. They never presume upon the mercy and grace of God.
Never. That's the fear of the Lord. They all woke up and trimmed
their lamps. I'm here. Here I am. You see
me now, don't you? Lord don't let me be facetious
here, don't let me be smart aleck, not at all. I don't want to be
that way, at all. But I've seen lamps trimmed,
you know, people get in trouble. Every time somebody gets in trouble,
somebody dies or some calamity happens, some trauma happens,
they come to church. Trim the lamps. The five of them
didn't have any oil. Didn't have any oil. Well, verse
7, they all trimmed their lamps, and in verse 8, the foolish said
unto the wise, Give us of your oil. Our lamps are going out. See, these foolish didn't have
any oil. They were turning their wick up, trying to get some light. The Lord is so wise. He can say
in a few words, it's taking me 45 minutes. They were turning the wick up,
trying to get more light, trying to see. But they couldn't seem
to get any light. The food couldn't seem to get
any light. I don't understand. I can't see. What's happening?
What's going on? Why is this happening to me? I'm stumbling around here in
the dark. I don't have any light. I don't have this. I don't have
that. I don't have any love. I don't have any peace. I don't have
any joy. Would you help me? Help me here. Give me some of yours. I can't tell you how many people
I've seen come to gatherings. When there's food served, people
come to that. I think people rub off on it, you know, like
guilt by association, innocence by association. I just rub shoulders
with God's people. I'll be all right in the judgment.
Man, oh man, there's one person who grants us entrance into heaven. Jesus Christ. Give us your oil. Give us your oil. Can't do that. I can't give you my oil. You've
got to get it where I've got it. Isn't that what we say? Husbands think they're sanctified
by the wise, wise by the husband and so forth and so on. Can't
do that. Can't do that. Verse nine, the wise answered,
And not so, lest there not be enough for us and you. Go rather
to them that sell, go to them that sell, and buy it for yourself. There's somebody who has it. Lots of it. You need oil? Yes. I'll tell you where to get
it. There's a marketplace. full of
it. And I heard him say, and it's
only one person's got it, remember? I heard him say, come unto me. Come buy wine and milk without
money. It won't cost you anything. Just
go to him and ask him. He'll give you. How much will
he give you? All you need. Too busy. By the truth, sell it not. Preachers, pastors, you know,
are in the truth business. We're not selling it, per se. Because it's free. You don't sell what's free, do
you? Do you sell what's free? No, no, no. You just tell people
where you get it. That's all a gospel preacher
is, one beggar telling another beggar where he got bread. Where you got bread. Well these foolish finally woke
up a little and they didn't see their need. They didn't really
need oil. They saw their lack. Something's
missing. I'm in trouble. And while they
went to buy, verse 10, they finally got a little interested and went
back to buy, verse 10, the bridegroom came. And they that were ready Went in with him to the marriage. I wish I could. We could talk
about this another hour. They went in with him. Who? The
bridegroom. The altogether lovely bridegroom.
Whom the friend of the bridegroom rejoices to hear his voice. John
said. They went in with him. He took
them on there. He took these five women. One
man. Five women. And everybody was
happy. and went into the marriage. All
five of them felt less than the least didn't deserve to be with
the bridegroom, but they were just happy to be one of the five. Went in with him to the marriage.
Oh, and was there joy and rejoined the marriage supper of the Lamb.
They went in and there's not enough time to be with him. This
is a door shut. Well, verse thirteen. 11. Afterward came also the other
virgins, saying, Lord, Lord. I love Jesus. I love the Lord.
And here's salvation, people. He said, verse 12, Verily, truly,
I say unto you, I know you not. Salvation is for Christ to know
us, to remember us like the thief
on the cross. Lord, I'm just a thief and a robber. And I'm getting what I deserve.
If you leave me alone, leave me to go to hell. I'll get what
I deserve. I don't deserve it. But Lord,
you're coming into a kingdom. You're coming into your glory.
It's your kingdom. It's yours to dispose of as you will, to
whom you will. Lord, it's your kingdom. You're
coming into it. You reign, you rule. I'm in your
hands to do with as you please. But Lord, I sure would appreciate
it. If you'd remember me, just think on me when you come into
your kingdom. I will. This day you'll be with
me in paradise. This day you're walking in with
me in the glory. That's how he got in. That's
why he got in. The Lord said he would. He knew him. Fore knew him. For whom he did foreknow, he
did predestinate. Whom he predestinated, he called. The Lord called that man. That's
the reason he saw his predicament. Whom he called, he justified.
He believed. Justified by faith. Whom he justified from a thief
and a robber to the Son of God. He glorified. What shall we say to these things? So he says, in closing, watch
therefore. Watch. You know not what hour
the Son of Man cometh. Watch. Watch. Watch. Behold, the Bridegroom cometh. That's what I've been saying
all morning. He's coming, more surely than I'm standing here.
He's coming. Watch. Got oil? It's not too late. buy by the
truth and sell it and not forsake all that you have. For this or. Be wise. All right okay.

The Ten Virgins

What does the Bible say about the parable of the ten virgins?

How do we know that salvation is like a marriage?

Why is the Holy Spirit compared to oil in the Bible?

How can we be certain we are part of the wise virgins?

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The Ten Virgins

What does the Bible say about the parable of the ten virgins?

How do we know that salvation is like a marriage?

Why is the Holy Spirit compared to oil in the Bible?

How can we be certain we are part of the wise virgins?

Sermon Transcript

About Paul Mahan

Comments

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