Now, I'd like for you to open
your Bibles to the book of Matthew, chapter 25. This morning, and
then next Sunday morning, I'm going to be dealing with this
subject, words of preparation. We've been studying the Lord's
parables in which He describes the kingdom of heaven, what it's
like, what that kingdom is like. And as you know, the kingdom
of heaven that he's describing is his rule and reign through
his church here on earth in the last days. And the last days
referring to the time of his first coming and finishing the
work of redeeming his people and up until the time of his
second coming. We're living in those days now,
the last days. And so he's been describing in
these parables what the kingdom of heaven is like and what its
subjects are like. Who's in the kingdom of heaven?
Who's truly in the kingdom of heaven? Who are truly subjects
of the king? Citizens of the church, the citizens
of the heavenly city, Jerusalem, citizens of heaven itself. And then he's described in these
parables how this kingdom will work out through the process
of the last days until his return, what it's going to be like as
time goes on. And as we near the time of his
second coming, we don't know when he's coming again. We know
that he is, but we can study the scriptures. We can enter
into the word of God to find out what it's going to be like.
And one of the main reasons these parables are given to us, especially
to those of us who profess to be saved, who profess to be citizens
of the kingdom, that's what that means. You say you're saved,
you're a sinner saved by grace. You profess that Christ is your
only hope, that He's your Savior, and that when He comes again,
when the Bridegroom comes, Matthew 25, in this first parable that
we studied a couple of weeks ago, the parable of the ten virgins,
which I call the parable of preparation. That's what it's about. That's
what the theme of it is. That's what the lesson of the
parable is about. Be prepared. You know not what
hour the Lord cometh. He'll come as a thief in the
night. That doesn't mean He'll take us by surprise, because
we who know Christ live ever living, expecting Him to come.
We know He's coming. We don't know the exact day and
hour, but be prepared. And so one of the main reasons
these parables are given to us, especially to those of us who
profess to be Christian, who profess to be saved, is so that
we can study them, not just read them, not just admire them, not
just walk away being emotionally affected. I mean, those things
are okay now, don't get me wrong, but that we can study them and
learn them. I want to learn in my heart what
these parables are about and what they mean and how they apply
to me, not just generally to the economic atmosphere or the
government at the time or what's happening over in Palestine. I want to know how they, right
here in Ashland, Kentucky, the man standing behind this pulpit.
And I want you to think about it, about the person sitting
right there in your place in the pew. You. And examine ourselves
by them. That's a key thing. You see,
if we go through these parables and we just miss the lesson and
we don't stop and examine ourselves, not examine everybody else now.
but examine ourselves according to these parables and seek to
live our lives by the grace of God in Christ and in the power
of the Holy Spirit according to what these parables teach.
Not only the parables, but the whole word of God. This is what
we are studying now. Then what good has it done us?
We read here about ten virgins, ten young unmarried women who
were attendants at the bridegroom's wedding. Five of them were foolish. Five of them were wise. They
both had lamps. I'm not going to read the whole
thing again. That lamp represents a profession of faith. What do
you claim? What do you say? What do we testify
of? We say, I say I am a gospel preacher. I'm a sinner saved by grace.
That's the lamp, you say. And it says, five of them were
wise, five of them were foolish, and while they slept, that is,
while they continued everyday living, business as usual, which
we all do and should do, at midnight the cry was made, Behold, the
Bridegroom cometh. Remember who the Bridegroom is?
That's Christ. He's the Bridegroom. He's the
Bridegroom. We were God's church, chosen
before the foundation of the world, were betrothed to Him
in the everlasting covenant of grace. And then there's the engagement. That's when we come to know Him
by faith, by the power of the Spirit. And then there's the
wedding feast coming. That's when He comes to receive
us in glory. And so, behold, the bridegroom
cometh, go ye out to meet him, it says in verse 6 there of chapter
25. And it says in verse 7, then all those virgins, now that's
the five foolish and the five wise, all of them arose and they
trimmed their lamps." In other words, they were checking out
their profession, you might say. They trimmed them. They wanted that profession to
look good. And then verse 8 says, "...and
the foolish said unto the wise, Give us of your oil, for our
lamps are gone out." The foolish didn't have any oil in their
lamps. That was the difference. The wise had oil in their lamps. Well, now, what I'm saying about
this whole thing is this. Now, you may say, well, preacher,
I'm expecting the Lord to come back at any moment, and I'm expecting
to go out and meet Him, and I'm expecting to be received. But it says here that if you
don't have any oil in your lamp, you're not going to be received.
It says down here, look, the door was shut to them, in verse
10. There was no hope of salvation.
And I believe, as I said a couple of weeks ago, that this can apply
to our death, too. When we die and go to meet the
Lord, it is too late then. If we are not saved by then,
we won't be. Or if we are alive when the Lord comes back, then
there is no salvation. That is the door shut. Look at
verse 11 of Matthew 25. Afterwards came also the other
virgins, saying, Lord, Lord, Lord, open to us. That is the
five foolish virgins. But he answered and said, Verily
I say unto you, I know you not. Now, he knew who they were. He
knew their names. He knew their frame. He knew
their comings and goings. He knew their heart. But he didn't
know them in sovereign, electing, redeeming love and salvation. That's what that means. He didn't
know them in that personal relationship that the bridegroom knows his
wife. That love relationship, that
godly love here. And so, it says in verse 13,
now look at this. Watch therefore. Now, there's
the lesson now. Don't miss this. I don't want
to miss this. Do you? Watch therefore. Now, are you
watching? We're going to find out in two
messages, if you are. Actually, it will be more than
that. But you ought to be glad I divided it up into two. But
watch therefore. For you know neither the day
nor the hour wherein the Son of Man cometh." You just don't
know. You know he's coming. You know we've got to face the
judgment. In a sense, now, the declarative
judgment. I'm not going to get into all that. But you know he's
coming. So you watch. Now, think about
this. It's possible that you might
read and study one of these parables and find out that you're a false
professor. But now our hope is that you'll
read and study them to find out that you're a child of God, a
true believer in the Lord Jesus Christ, and be motivated and
inspired to grow in grace and in the knowledge of Christ. But
let me say this now. If you read and study these parables
and you come to a realization that you are a false professor,
realize several things. Number one, it's God who showed
you that. And number two, it's better to find it out now Isn't
it? Then find it out when the bridegroom
comes. Isn't it? So don't be upset about that.
Rejoice and run to Christ. Flee to Him. That's the lesson.
So watch. Now, none of us want to hear
the Lord say to us what He said to these five foolish virgins
in verse 12. None of us want to come before
Him and hear Him say, Barely, I say unto you, I know you not.
You know, over in Matthew chapter 7, He said that to a group of
preachers who claimed to have prophesied in His name, who claimed
to have passed out demons and done many wonderful works. And
He said, Depart from Me, ye that work of iniquity, I never knew
you. Over in 2 Timothy chapter 2 and
verse 19 it says, "...the foundation of the Lord stands sure, the
Lord knoweth them that are His." I want Him to look at me and
say, I know you. That's the foundation in His knowledge of us. So none
of us want to hear those words of verse 12 spoken to us, and
so if you're really serious about this now, some people aren't,
but I hope you are, I hope I am. If you're really serious about
this, then heed the words of the Lord in verse 13. Watch,
therefore. Watch. And as I said a couple
of weeks ago, that means be prepared. If you're not prepared, get prepared.
Well, how do I prepare? Now, if we walk away from this
parable not knowing what it is to be prepared and not knowing
how to get prepared, what have we gained? Nothing. You just read a good story, and
it sounds nice, and maybe somebody might be impressed sometime.
But that's not what this is about. This is salvation, friend. This
is about saved or lost. This is about eternal blessedness
or eternal damnation. That's what this is about. This
is serious business, you see. How can I be prepared? Now, I
want you to start with me. Turn back to Jeremiah chapter
17. I want you to see this. This is so important. I read
this passage to you. Verse 5 of Jeremiah 17. I want
to start there today. And listen to this. He says in
verse 5, Thus saith the Lord. See that? Jeremiah 17, 5. Thus
saith the Lord, Cursed be the man that trusteth in man. And
that includes himself now. and make a flesh his arm and
whose heart departed from the Lord." You cannot trust in man
for salvation. You cannot trust in man's works
for salvation. And listen to me now, you cannot
even trust in man's will for salvation. Now listen, anybody
who is religious wants or wills to be saved. The problem with
man by nature is we don't want it. God's way. We want it our
way. We want it in a way that exalts
us, that sets us apart from other people as if we had something
to recommend us unto God. That's why the flesh, false religion,
loves to hear salvation by works, salvation conditioned on the
sinner. Because, you see, that makes
a person feel good. That's self-righteousness. That's unbelief. And, you know,
give me something to do that I can ultimately bring salvation
down to me. In other words, that I make the
difference. That's what man wants. Well,
you can't do that, God's Word says. You can't trust in me.
You can't trust in self. You can't trust in the arm of
the flesh. The arm of the flesh means the works of man. You say,
well, I'm saved because I decided for Christ, and He's lost because
He didn't. Well, what makes you think you're
better than Him? Because that's exactly what you're saying, whether
you realize it or not. So don't trust in self. You can't
do it. Verse 6, it says, He shall be
like the heath in the desert and shall not see when good cometh,
but shall inhabit the parched places and the wilderness in
a salt land and not inhabit it. What he means there is this is
going to be a very dry, dead place. That's what salvation
by works leads to. That's eternal damnation. But
verse 7, blessed is the man that trusteth in the Lord. Now the
word Lord, the name Lord there is Jehovah or Yahweh. That's
Jehovah our Savior. That's the covenant God of grace. My friend, that's the great I
am. That's Christ. and Him crucified and buried
and risen again. In other words, salvation is
not by my works, it's by His. Salvation doesn't come by my
suffering. Have you ever heard a preacher
say at a funeral about an individual, they say, I know they're in heaven
because they suffered so much in this world. Now listen, I
hate human suffering. I don't like to see anybody suffer. But all the suffering that a
person can go through in this life will not save you. It takes
the suffering of Jehovah, the suffering of the Lord of Glory. That's why He came to suffer.
Because it's His suffering that saves His people from their sins.
Not our suffering. We may suffer greatly, but that
won't pay for us. That won't satisfy the justice
of God. Only Christ's suffering did that.
the shedding of His precious blood that cleanses me from all
my sins, His righteousness alone that gives me a right and complete
and eternal standing before a holy God. That's it. So blessed is
the man to trust in the Lord and whose hope, that hope there,
is an assurance and expectancy, expectation of glory. Like these
virgins. You see, they expected that when
the bridegroom come, that they would be received. They had a
hope. Now, everybody's got some kind of hope. What is your hope
based on? If your hope is based upon the
fact that you've lived a good life, you've got no oil in your
lamp. If your hope is based on you've
joined the church, Now, every true believer ought to unite
with a true gospel church. But uniting with a true gospel
church will not save you. In fact, if you're not already
saved, you've got no business uniting with a true gospel church.
Yes, should we obey the Lord? Yes, but our obedience will not
save us. You see, our obedience ought
to be the fruit and the effect, the result of grace and gratitude
to God. And so that's what he's saying.
Our hope is in the Lord. My hope is built on nothing less
than Jesus' blood and righteousness. I dare not trust the sweetest
frame, but wholly lean on Jesus' name. On Christ the solid rock
I stand. All other ground is sinking sand. And so he says in verse 8, For
he shall be as a tree planted by the waters, and that spreadeth
out her roots by the river, and shall not see when heat cometh,
but her leaves shall be green, and shall not be careful in the
year of drought, neither shall cease from yielding fruit. That's
life there. That's blessedness, you see,
in the Lord. Now look at verse 9. He says,
Now the heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked,
who can know it? Now, what he means by that, listen
to me now, you cannot go by your own judgment on these things.
I've had people tell me that, I had a lady tell me one time,
she said, I know I'm saved because I feel it. I read her this verse, the heart's
deceitful. Above all things. You know that's
the most deceptive. You thought it was Satan, didn't
you? That he was the most deceptive thing in the world. Oh, no. The
fallen, depraved human heart is above all things. Right here
it says. Yes, Satan is a deceiver. Don't
get me wrong. He's a great deceiver. But the
human heart is in alliance with Satan. That's man by nature right
there. That's fallen in Adam. Ruined
by the fall. There it is. The heart. is deceitful
above all things. You can't even know it. You can't
judge your own self by your own standard in these things. And being that that has already
been said, you can't trust in men. You can't trust other people's
judgments. So somebody says, well, where
do I go? Well, look at verse 10. Now, he says this. He says,
I, the Lord, search the heart. God's got to search my heart.
God's got to tell me about me. Who I am, and what I am, and
how wicked I am, and what I need, and what He's provided. You see,
God won't deceive you. Man will. Your own heart will. But God won't. He will not deceive
you. He said, I try or I test the
reins. That is what moves you and what
motivates you. What turns you left and right,
and forward and backward. Even to give every man according
to his ways. What is your way? What's my way?
Christ said, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man cometh
unto the Father but by me. If you've got any other way,
he's going to test you according to your ways, and you're going
to be found wanting, lacking, and according to the fruit of
his doings. So the Lord's got this. Now, turn to Hebrews. Let me think here. Hebrews chapter
4. I thought I had that written. Yeah, I've got it written down.
Turn to Hebrews 4. Now, here's the question. How
does the Lord search my heart? How does he do it? Because, you
know, it's easy for a person to say, well, the Lord's going
to search my heart. And then they're just talking
about some fantastical, mystical thing out here that you can't
put your finger on. And that's not the way it is
now. Somebody said, well, I got on my knees and I prayed for
four hours last night and the Lord searched my heart. Now,
you hold on. I want to show you what God's Word says about that
subject. Now listen to this. Look at Hebrews
4 and verse 12. Now the issue there in verse
4 is this, resting in Christ. That's what chapter 4 is about. Hebrews chapter 4. Resting in
Christ. Believing in Him means to rest
in Him. That means if I have faith in Christ, I'm resting
in Him for my whole salvation. I'm not looking to me, or you,
or anybody else. I'm looking to Christ and Him alone. Over
in chapter 12, I believe it is, he talks about it this way, he
says, looking unto Jesus, that is, looking unto Jehovah our
Savior, as the author, the beginner, and the finisher, the completer
of our faith. That's how we run the race of
grace. And so now that's what he's talking about, resting in
Christ. Now what I want to know about myself is, am I truly resting
in Christ, or am I just deceiving myself, am I just fooling myself
and trying to fool others? Well, he says in verse 12, look
at this, now remember what the Lord said, I the Lord search
the heart, how does he do it? He says, for the word of God
is quick, that means it cuts to the quick and it means it's
life-giving and powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword,
piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit and
of the joints and marrow and is a discerner of the thoughts
and intents of the heart. Now, where am I going to go to
find the truth about me without being deceived? The Word of God. That means I've got to take some
time out of my busy life to look into the Word of God. That's
exactly what I mean. Because if you don't, the heart
will deceive you, man will deceive you, religion will deceive you.
Only the Word of God by the Holy Spirit. And that's the only way
that we're not going to be deceived in this business. Look on verse
13. Neither is there any creature
that is not manifest in his sight, but all things are naked and
open unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do. Now, you
might get along in this world with other people, with religion,
going along your merry way, thinking what you want to think, But ultimately,
you've got to deal with God. Ultimately, I've got to stand
before God. You say, well, I don't want to
make so-and-so mad at me. Well, I'd rather make so-and-so
mad at me than God. How about you? A man told me one time about
another man. He said, I just can't tell him
no. Well, what if he told you to go jump in a lake? I saw on
paper where a bunch of preachers jumped into a high river. I've
been wanting to tell them to jump into a lake for a long time. Can you imagine such stuff? They
ought to come out of there embarrassed. That's not how God does business.
He does it through his Word and the preaching of the Word. That's
the only way I'm not going to be deceived and you're not going
to be deceived. The Word of God. And then look at verse 14. Where
does He direct us immediately when He talks about this Word
that is quick and powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword
that cuts asunder to the dividing of soul and spirit and discerns
the thoughts and the intents and the thoughts and the motives
of the heart? Where does He direct us to go?
Look at verse 14. Seeing then that we have a gray
high priest. That's Christ. He immediately
drives us to Christ as our high priest, our representative, our
substitute, our shin-bearer, our atonement, our righteousness. Seeing them, we have a great
high priest that's passed into the heavens, or literally passed
through the heavens. That means he finished the work,
he accomplished what he set out to do, and he's now seated at
the right hand of the Father, ever living to make intercession
for us. He's Jesus. He's Jehovah, our Savior, the
Son of God. Now let us hold fast our profession. What is our profession? Seeing
them, we have a great high priest. My profession is the greatness
of my high priest, the greatness of my Savior, the greatness of
Christ. And he says, for we have not
a high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our
infirmities, but was in all points tempted like as we are yet without
sin. He passed all the test. Let us,
therefore, come boldly, confidently unto the throne of what? Of grace,
that we may obtain what? Mercy, and find what? Grace, to help in time of need."
Now, most people say that refers to prayer, and it does. But I
want to tell you something. That refers to the whole life
of a believer. That refers to what you're doing
right now, sitting there worshiping God and studying His Word. You
see that? Now go back to Matthew 25. You
know, the scripture says, 2 Corinthians 13, 5, Examine yourselves whether
you be in the faith, prove your own self, know you not your own
self, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except you be reprobate. Now how am I going to do that?
The Word of God. I've got to get myself into this
Word. And I'm talking about the whole
Word of God, Genesis to Revelation. I've got to become a student
of the Word. You know what that means? You
know they say when you, quote, get saved, unquote, what do you
become? You become a disciple of Christ. You know what a disciple means?
You know what the word, we think of discipline, and that's true,
but to be a disciple means to be a learner. A learner. And so, If I'm not going to be
deceived, I've got to be a learner in God's Word. I've got to be
a student of the Word. And that's my only hope now.
I don't want to be like this foolish virgin who showed up
with no oil in the lamp. Well, how do I prepare then?
What do I need? How can I be prepared? Well,
let me give you two things. And I want to refer back to a
former parable. Look back at Matthew 22. I told you to turn
to Matthew 25. We'll go right back there. Matthew
22. Now, every one of these parables
that we study has essentially said the same thing in this area
concerning how we prepare. You remember back here in Matthew
22, this was the parable of the king who gave a marriage supper
or a marriage feast for his son, the prince. The king being God
the Father, the son being Christ, the Son of God. And you remember
he sent out his servants to go bid them to come, and they refused
to come. That was a picture of the Jewish
nation during the time of our Lord when He came, and they persecuted
the prophets. They killed the prophets, and
ultimately they killed the Son of God. But He sent out others. He sent them out to the Gentiles.
But here's the point. Look at verse 11 of Matthew 22. What do I need to be prepared?
Verse 11 says, When the king came in to see the guest, he
saw there a man which had not on a wedding garment. And he
saith unto him, Friend, how camest thou in here, not having a wedding
garment? And the man was speechless. He
didn't have the wedding garment. Then said the king to the servants,
Bind him hand and foot, take him away, and cast him in the
outer darkness. There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
For many are called, but few are chosen. The calling of the
gospel goes out all over the world. But few are chosen. Only those who have the wedding
garment. So what do I need to be prepared for? Well, you need
a wedding garment. Simple. You need the right garment. I
need the right garment. If I don't have the right garment
on, I'm not going to be received. Is that right? And what that
parable says? Now, what is that garment? My
friend, that garment is the righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ given
to His people. It's the righteousness of Christ.
It's the merits of His obedience and His death that is accounted,
charged, given, imputed to His people. That's what I need. That's
why I had Brother Jim read this in Isaiah chapter 61. It speaks
of the two things we need. And it says there in verse 10,
of Isaiah 61. It says, I will greatly rejoice
in the Lord, my soul shall be joyful in my God, for he hath
clothed me with the garments of salvation, he hath covered
me with the robe of righteousness. As a bridegroom decketh himself
with ornaments, and as a bride adorneth herself with jewels.
I need to be decked out in that beautiful, white, perfect, spotless
robe. of Christ's righteousness, His
merits, the merits of His death on the cross, washed clean in
His blood, clothed in His righteousness. That's why He's called Jehovah
Sidcanu two times in the book of Jeremiah, the Lord, our righteousness. If I'm not found in His righteousness,
I will perish. Look at Philippians chapter 3. Look at Philippians chapter 3
and verse 7. The apostle writes here. But what things were gained to
me, those I counted lost for Christ." Now, what did he think
was gained to him? What did he think would save
him and recommend him unto God? He thought the fact of being
a Jew. He thought the fact of being circumcised. He thought
the fact of his works under the law, his dedication, his zeal
in religion. He thought all those things.
You see, he spent his life weaving his own robe of what he thought
was righteousness. That's what people do who are
trying to work their way into God's favor. They spend their
life doing what they see as good works. What they're doing is
trying to weave their own robe to put on so that they can be
found before God in what they've done. And you know what the Bible calls
that kind of robe? Filthy rags. Isaiah 64, 6. And it's not pleasant. It's how
God sees. It may look good to men, and
it may look good to you, but the heart's deceitful. He said,
desperately wicked. I've got to be found in Him.
This is what Paul says, verse 8, you ain't doubtless, and I
count all things but loss. Now, can you say that? All things
but loss. What are all things? I'll tell
you exactly what it is. All things. All things but loss for the excellency
of the knowledge of Christ Jesus, my Lord, for whom I suffered
the loss of all things, and do count them but dung. that I may
win Christ and be found in him, not having mine own righteousness
which is of the law by my works, but that which is through the
faith of Christ, his faithfulness to do what he agreed and came
to do." The righteousness which is of God by faith. Now look
at Romans chapter 10. I know I'm having you turn to
a lot of scripture, but this is important now. Somebody says, well, how can
I have that robe? Well, what you're going to find
in Scripture is that if you have that robe, you've always had
it. But you're just going to find
out about it. And look at Romans chapter 10 and verse 1. Brethren,
my heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel is that they
might be saved. For I bear them record that they
have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge. For they being
ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about to establish
their own righteousness. They're trying to work their
own righteousness, you see. They have not submitted themselves
unto the righteousness of God. My question for me and for you,
have we submitted to the righteousness of God? Well, how do you do that? Well, look at verse 4. For Christ
is the end, the fulfillment, the finishing of the law for
righteousness to everyone that believeth. Do you believe in
Him? Are you resting in Him? Is He all my righteousness? All I need. We've seen that.
All I need. Wisdom, righteousness, redemption,
holiness. Christ is my all and in all. And I'm glad to have it that
way. How about you? Huh? Now, some people say, well,
wait a minute, preacher. I've got to do something. I've
got to do something to make it certain, or I've got to get baptized."
Well, if you're a believer, you should be baptized. But if that's
part of your righteousness before God, you're denying Christ. See, you've got to have the right
garment on. And it's nothing of your making or my making.
It's totally what Christ did on the cross of Calvary in shedding
His precious blood as the full payment for all my sins. before
a holy God. Now, go back to Matthew 25 now. Here's the second thing. You need oil in your lamp. You've
got to have oil in your lamp. That's what he says. These five
foolish virgins, they said up here in verse 8, And foolish
said unto the wise, Give us of your oil, for our lamps are gone
out, our professions have faded. If you just have nothing but
an outward profession, even of the truth, when the bridegroom comes, it's
going to fade out. It's gone out. The fire's gone
out. What is the oil? The oil is the
oil of grace in the heart. It is the work of the Holy Spirit
in the new birth. You must be born again. Christ
said that to Nicodemus. You must be born again. This
is salvation. Paul wrote in Romans 8 and verse
9, But you are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that
the Spirit of God dwell in you. You have to have the Holy Spirit
dwelling in you. And he says, Now if any man have
not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his. It is to have
the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit. And to have that,
we must be born again. Now, because of some present
heresies, I have to say this. The reason we need the oil of
grace, the oil of the Spirit, the presence of the Spirit within
us, is not because the righteousness of Christ is not enough. I've
heard preachers say that. It's not enough just to have
Christ's righteousness alone. You've got to have the Holy Spirit's
work, too. Now, wait a minute. That's not a good way to put
it. That's a deceptive way. Yes, you need both to be prepared. Both are necessary in salvation. But you need the oil of grace
in the heart, not because Christ's work is not enough. You need
it and must have it and will have it because His work on the
cross is enough. The blood is enough. And because
the blood of Christ is enough, all for whom he shed his blood
will be born again. If you have his righteousness
upon you, you will have his Spirit within you. And do you know this? Remember what it said in Romans
10? For Christ is the end, the fulfillment of the law, for righteousness
to everyone that what? Believing. That's a work of the
Holy Spirit within us. That's called sanctification
of the Spirit and belief of the truth. It takes a sovereign,
powerful work of the Holy Spirit to give us the oil of grace within
our hearts. He does it in the preaching of
the gospel. And that's how the gospel is the power of God and
the salvation to everyone that believeth. Of his own will beget
he us with the word of truth that we should be kind of first
fruits of his preachers. You see, that's the oil of grace
in the heart. There's a verse of Scripture.
Let me just give you these things in closing. There's a verse of
Scripture, and I'm going to continue this next week now with words
of preparation. I'm going to go through some
Scriptures here, and I'm going to show you what it means to be prepared
now. I'm talking about it today, too. But here's the issue. There's a verse of Scripture.
When the Lord, after His resurrection, He walked on earth, spoke to
disciples. And he met a group of them on
the way to Emmaus. And he taught them the gospel
in the Old Testament of his death, burial, and resurrection, his
glorious reign and return. And in Luke 24 and verse 32 it
says this. Now this is a good verse to gauge
ourselves to see. whether we have the oil of grace
in our hearts. They said one to another, this
is Luke 24, 32, you can read the whole passage yourself. They
said one to another, did not our heart burn within us while
he talked with us by the way and while he opened to us the
scriptures? Now that doesn't mean they had
heartburn and needed a Rolaid. That means their hearts were
so drawn out to the words of grace that they had to hear. What are we to do? Get under
the preaching of the Gospel, the Word of God, where the Bible
is preached. Seek the Lord as a dying sinner. Lord, have mercy. Show me Christ. I must have Him. Seek and pray
earnestly for the salvation of the Lord. Are you thirsty for
the water of life? When you're thirsty, you go get
you a drink of water, don't you? Are you spiritually thirsty?
Or can you take it or leave it? I'm telling you, if you can take
it or leave it, you don't have the oil in your lamp. Are you
hungry for the bread of life? You have to have it. It's my
life, you see. Are you labored and heavy laden?
Christ said, come unto me, and I'll give you rest. Do you need
to rest in Him? That's the issues of the oil
and the land, and we'll continue with that next week. But I hope
that's been helpful to you.