The story here in Matthew 25 of the ten virgins is told as
a parable. A parable is just a simple story
given to illustrate spiritual lessons. That's what these parables
are. Something easy to relate to,
something everybody can understand, and something common to identify
with. And the subject of the parable
is the kingdom of heaven, God's kingdom, the kingdom of His dear
Son, the kingdom of light and life and grace. The kingdom is
where Christ was to come and gather together His elect as
He did in Canaan. and establish His throne and
where His elect would be established and find peace and rest and receive
the inheritance promised to them in the everlasting covenant of
grace. And the establishing of this
kingdom, he says, in one place is like unto a certain king who
prepared a marriage for his son. It has to do with this permanent
union of the bridegroom to his bride. It has to do with the
Father's purpose and the Son's willing agreement. It has to
do with the winning of the heart. It has to do with the wooing
of the affections and the gentle conquering of the will. And the
parable that we're about to consider this morning is not here describing
the whole work of God in the heart of a sinner, but just a
specific part of it. Just one facet of that great
work of salvation. There's many parables, and if
we read all the parables, we'll read all the work. There's the
parable of the sheep and the goats, the lost coin, the wedding
supper, the sower who went out to sow, the parable of the talents,
the parable of the wicked husbandmen, and of the two sons, and so on
and so on. The parable of the ten virgins
tells us a story about the kingdom of God concerning the work of
the Holy Spirit. That's what this story is all
about. And in particular, of the revelation
of light in the hand of the believer that enables him to recognize
the Savior and enter in with the bridegroom to the wedding. The appearing of the bridegroom
I think has a kind of a threefold application. When you look at
these virgins here, they all had a working knowledge of the
Lord Jesus Christ. They're all going to the same
direction. You see what I'm saying? They
all had something in common here. They were all hearers of the
word and gospel of Jesus Christ. And then secondly, there's a
day when the ears of both believers and unbelievers hear his voice.
They both hear. I know enough about the kingdom
of God to say this with complete assurance that there are believers
and unbelievers gathered here this morning. I know that everybody
in here is not a believer. I know that so. And I know it
by this parable. And I tell you, it's frightening
what he says. The percentage he gives here
is half. Half of them were wise, and half
of them were foolish. So there's a day when the ears
of both believers and unbelievers hear his voice. That's what it
said. They were all asleep, and they all heard his voice. And
then thirdly, there's a day in which all God's elect shall enter
into the wedding with the bridegroom And the door will be shut forever. It's over. Now I've got three
very simple headings to this message this morning on this
parable. The first is this. It's to point
out to you the general similarities that he gives in the parable.
All ten were virgins. That speaks of believers. You
go to the book of Revelations, or you go to the old prophets
where these things were established, and you'll find out that that's
what he's talking about. All ten were virgins, all claiming
an interest in the marriage of the Lamb. They were all, if you
will, professors of faith. Every one of them. Ask any one
of them. Ask the foolish, ask the wise.
Are you a believer? I'm a believer. Not one of the ten. who did not
expect to go with the bridegroom when he came. They all professed
the same name. They were all identified the
same. They all wore the same dress, the wedding dress. Probably all the same color.
All claimed to be on the same mission. All going to meet the
bridegroom. They all carried lamps. All those
who walk in darkness are going to have need of a lamp. They
all knew that. And they all had vessels for
oil. And all the vessels looked the
same. You couldn't tell whose vessel
had oil and whose didn't. All the vessels looked the same.
And all of them, without exception, lay down to rest. All went to
sleep. All of them slumped. Now everything
the Lord describes in these similarities has to do with external evidences
and signs. Back in the days when I was in
religion, men used to talk about Christians being fruit inspectors. And what they were talking about
is looking at these outward signs and evidences. But I tell you,
you sit around that table where the Lord passed out the bread
and the wine. And every one of them there, every one of them
there, you look at them and they all look the same. In fact, Judas
was the last one that anybody would ever expect because he
carried the bag. He was the only office holder
in the whole outfit. And nobody suspected him. Not
even him. All of these external similarities
have to do with these external evidences and signs, and they're
all given in this parable to teach us that there's a mixed
multitude in God's visible church at all times, and that it's nearly
impossible, nearly impossible to distinguish who's who. Now
I promise you this morning, this is going to be a message that
I hope, I hope will stir your hearts. But I don't have anybody's
face pictured before me. And if it does stir your heart,
I don't want you to think that I spent all night and all day
yesterday preparing this thing with you in mind. I didn't. I
don't have anybody in particular in mind. This thing first struck
me. It struck me. But all these things are given
in this parable to teach us that there's always a mixed multitude
in God's visible church, that it's nearly impossible to distinguish
the difference And the percentage is absolutely frightening. Half. Half. And I tell you, I went
back and looked at several things, both in my experience and things
that I've seen in churches. That huge church up there that
Henry Mahan pastored years ago, when that thing split, nearly
half of them went one way and half went the other. And in my own experience, I can
say that. But I've seen it so many times,
and the things that I've read about when I read church history
describe things just like that. Everything going along, and in
fact, some of the people who stayed up there, I was shocked
that they stayed. And some of the people that left,
I was equally shocked. It's shocking. It is. But it's
a matter of historical and physical fact that in the visible earthly
church assemblies, There's always a percentage there who profess
to know Christ, but in reality, they know Him not. They don't
know Him. The Lord said many are called.
All of them were called, weren't they? Few were chosen. And all those Scriptures, all
through the Scriptures, He tells us that there's tares among the
wheat, goats among the sheep, wolves among the sheep, bad fish
among the good fish, and foolish builders along with the wise
and hypocrites mixed among those who truly believe. You go through
the scriptures, and the scriptures teach us this over and over and
over. And it's never ours to point
out which is what. The five wise virgins didn't
get over there and say, uh-huh, I told you. I told you. They
didn't say that. They didn't say that. God made
that distinction in His call. In His call. It's a horrible thing, as I read
this parable, to be found among lost men. I was thinking about
that in lost women like those in Sodom or those during the
days of the flood with Noah. What a horrible thing it would
have been when the door was shut on the ark and the earth began
to open up and the deep springs turned loose from beneath and
the oceans, those bounds that God set on those oceans, it overrode
those bounds and come in with those great storms and the sky
opened up and the thunder and the lightning and the wind All
of these things came down all at once. It would have been a
horrible thing to have found yourself in that company. But
how much more horrible would it have been to find yourself
like Ham, having got in the ark and survived the flood, only
to be exposed on the other end? Now that's what he's talking
about here, on the other end. He's talking about when Christ
comes back, when Christ comes again. I thought about Lot. What
a horrible thing to have been found in Sodom and Gomorrah when
God rained fire down on there. But how much more horrible would
it have been to have escaped those flames only to be revealed
in the cave? And you can go on and on and
on through Scripture. A thousand times more horrible
to be found among those who truly believe but exposed in the very
end. And isn't that what he talks
about here a little bit later on in Matthew? He said, Many
will say unto me in that day, Lord, Lord, have not we done
many wonderful works in thy name? We preached in your name. We
was with your people. We preached. We did these things.
We gave to the poor. We gave. And when the offering
was passed out, we gave. We was there. We helped. We helped. He said, I never knew you. Called
them workers of iniquity. Is that what he called them? All right. There's some similarities,
but the similarities are all external. They're all external. I can't, I cannot stand in this
pulpit or visit you in your home and tell with my own eyes and
heart who knows God and who don't. I can't tell. I can't see your
heart. But all those external things, I can look at them, but
they're all similar. They're all similar. All right, here's the second
thing I want you to see. The one thing that distinguished
the real from the false, those who were genuine had oil in their
lamps. That's what it says. Oil in their
lamps. I want us, every soul here today,
including myself, to be warned and examine himself in the light
of this parable. All of these virgins had lamps
of profession, but only five had oil. Only five of them had
that oil of grace in their hearts. And the point of distinction
is not in the outward, but it's in the vessel itself, hidden
from the natural eye. Wednesday night, I preached on
the smitten waters down in Egypt. That was the first plague exposing
the curse of God on Egypt and its king, and it was to turn
this water into blood. Water has to do with the work
of the Holy Spirit, and blood has to do with the redemptive
work of Christ. And all false religions substitute
water for blood. They all substitute the work
of the Holy Spirit. What am I talking about? Well,
I'm talking about the decisions that they talk about and your
willingness to come. I don't say that men are not
willing. You have to be willing. God's
not going to drag you into His church, but He's going to make
you willing. Are you going to make a decision? Absolutely. You'll never do anything
without making a decision. Are you going to have deep desires
to change the course of your life? Absolutely. Absolutely. I don't deny those things. I'm
just telling you that only God can do it in reality in your
heart. It's the work of God in you.
It's not of you. It's by you, but it's not of
you. It's God who worketh in you both
to will and to do of His good pleasure. And what they do, it's
the blood and righteousness of Christ that enables God to be
propitious to the sinner, not his willingness. It's not of
him that will. You think that's what the Scripture
said? Well, what's it of? It's of the blood and righteousness
of Christ. And this coming of the Holy Spirit
and this work of the Holy Spirit is the result of this blood and
righteousness of Christ and this reigning King and glory. Therefore,
He sends His Holy Spirit into the world. And so they substitute
the water for the blood. And what God does in conversion,
His first thing in conversion is to expose that. He exposes
that to you, that all your righteousnesses are just a filthy, stinking,
bloody mess. That's what He exposed. That's
exactly what He did to that river. And you know what happened? They
quit drinking. That's right. They quit going
to the river to drink. They couldn't stand the smell
of it anymore. And that's what will happen to you if God ever
exposes it for what it is. It's the blood that enables God
to be propitious to the sinner. And the first work in conversion
and deliverance is to expose those things. God the Father's
work in election and predestination makes salvation sure. The work
can't fail because God can't fail. You see, that's the problem
with all this being saved and then being lost and being saved
again, being lost again and all that. It can't fail because God
can't fail. And salvation is of the Lord.
It ain't of you. It's not of you. It's of Him. And God the Father's
work in election and predestination makes salvation sure. Now listen
to me. But it don't offer any hope to
any man. And you know why? Because it
don't reveal who this covenant is for. It just says he's elect. I was talking to a man one night,
and he just kept saying, yeah, but who is the elect? He said, that's what I want to
know. Who are these elect? Who are these chosen of God?
I said, well, I'm getting to that. And then we talked about
the work of Christ, his redemptive work. All of these things that
Christ did were effectual and final and complete and satisfying
to God. But it doesn't offer any hope
because you don't know who Christ died for. That's why men said
He died for the whole world because they can't find any hope in it.
They're looking at the purpose of God and they're looking at
the death of Christ and the appearance of Christ and they can't find
any hope in any one of them because it doesn't tell them who He died
for. It doesn't tell them who God the Father chose and predestinated. There is no hope for men apart
from the effectual calling of the Holy Spirit of God. He puts
the oil in the lamp. You can't put it in. You can't
go get it. You can't take your pouch and
have it filled. Only God can put that oil in
the lamp. Only God can do it. It's a work
of God. That's why people are so indifferent
toward these things and so callous toward these things. They think
they can get saved anytime they want to. Well, if I'm diagnosed
with something, then I'll go to church. Then I'll get right.
Then I'll turn. I'll get a little older. Get a little older where
all these things don't bother me. Then I'm going to get right
with God. No, you ain't. No, you ain't. This ain't a car
running out of gas. This is a sinner with no grace
in his heart. And only God can put the oil
in the lamp. God can do it. God the Father's work, and God
the Son, and then God the Holy Spirit. Over in John chapter
1, in verse 10, it says, He, that is Christ, was in the world,
and the world was made by Him, and the world knew Him not. And
He came unto His own. He separated some folks and called
them Israel. Separated them over here all
by themselves. And He came to them. He was in
their midst in that tabernacle. It said, and Christ was that
rock that followed them in the wilderness. Christ was with them.
He was the bread that rained down from heaven. He came unto
His own, and His own received Him not. But as many as received
Him, to them gave He power. That is, the ability and authority.
to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His name,
which were born." You see that? Which were born. That's why they
received Him. They were born. That's why they
found Him. They had oil in their lamp. They
had a lamp that gave off light. They had oil in their lamp, and
they found Him, which were born, not of blood, nor of the will
of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God." Look with
me over here to Galatians chapter 4. Galatians chapter 4. And look down here at verse 4. But when the fullness of time
was come, God sent forth His Son, made of a woman, made under
the law, to redeem them that were under the law, that we might
receive the adoption of sons. Now, if you didn't have anything
else to look at, you wouldn't know who the sons were, would
you? You know why He came. You know who He was. And you
knew what He came to do. But who'd He do it for? Huh? You don't know. You don't know. And neither does anybody else
in this world. But that's not the end of it. Look here in verse
6. And because ye are sons, God
has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your heart, crying,
Abba, Father, I tell you, you know you're a son. And that's
the only way you know you're a son. And the real distinction
between professors and confessors is in the heart. It's one thing
to profess faith in Christ. And it's quite another to have
Christ formed in you. There's a big difference. It's
one thing to wear His name, and another indeed to call upon that
name. Whosoever shall call upon the
name of the Lord shall be saved. But not everybody's calling on
His name. It's one thing to be among His people, and it's another
thing to be in Him. And it's one thing to sing about
the blood, and it's another thing to have that blood applied to
your guilty conscience. To be born of God is to have
the oil of God's Spirit in the vessel. All of the virgins had
lamps. What are these lamps? The lamps
is your mind. The lamps is your heart. The
lamps is your understanding. That's what the lamp is. And
they all had lamps. And they were all just alike.
All had the same kind of lamp. All looked just alike. But only five of them had oil
to make them shine. Salvation, my friend, is a heart
work. It's an inward work of grace,
washing and cleansing the sinner from within. He makes that light
to burn. To burn in you. Those disciples,
they They didn't understand anything he said. They heard what he said,
but they didn't understand it. And they was walking there in
total confusion and frustration and going down that road. And
the Lord met with them. And He said, lookie here. He
went back to the book of Genesis. And then He went through Genesis
and Exodus and Leviticus and Numbers and Deuteronomy and Joshua
and Judges. And He just kept right on going
through the Scriptures. And He told them all of those things
concerning Himself. Then opened He their understanding. Then He lit the lamp. And they
understood what all these things were. They understood the value
of them because He showed them that relationship to Himself.
And you know what they said? Didn't our hearts burn within
us as we walked along the way and He opened to us the Scriptures? Your heart's never going to burn
until God puts all in the lamp. It just ain't going to do it.
Any man be in Christ, he's a new creature. Old things are passed
away. Old friends and old ideas and
old traditions and old habits and old motives and old affections,
old things are passed away. They don't have the same value.
They don't have the same attraction. You don't have the same appetite.
And if you do have the same appetite, you're in trouble. You're in
trouble. Behold, he said, all things are
become new. It's not so much the changing
of the things we do as it is the power behind the change,
the reasons, the motives behind the change. Believers truly have an unction
of the Holy Spirit. They're truly taught of Him,
moved by Him. Our Lord said they shall all
be taught of God. Huh? Their call is effectual
because it's God who calls. Their direction is turned because
it's God that turns them. Again, sitting around talking
about turning over a new leaf. Well, all your leaves are off
the same tree. It don't matter which one you
turn over, they're all the same. God has to turn a man. Listen
to what... I'm just going to... You won't
have to turn over there. This is over toward the end of the
book of Acts. And Paul's relating to some folks over there his
conversion and what God sent him to do. Now listen to what
he said. God told Paul that He'd send
him unto the Gentiles to open their eyes and turn them from
darkness unto light. Huh? That's right. and from the
power of Satan unto God, that they might receive forgiveness
of sins and inheritance among them which are sanctified by
faith that is in me." Now, that's what God told Paul. Oil in the vessel causes the
light to burn in the lamp. It makes him to hear the voice
of the bridegroom coming. He expects Him. Why? All the virgins were asleep,
some of them with the sweet sleep of pardon and peace, and others
with the sleep of a depraved indifference and ignorance, deceived
by the God of this world who never mentioned anything to them
about oil in the lamp. And then the messenger came.
And the call was made, behold, the bridegroom cometh. That's
what I'm telling you today. He's coming. He's coming. And they all jumped up. And they
all trimmed their lamps. That's what we're doing here
today. Trimming their lamps. Getting ready for the light.
They all jumped up. They all trimmed their lamps.
But only five had oil to make them light and burn. Their lamps
didn't work, John. They had lamps, but the lamps
didn't work. The man in whom the Holy Ghost
resides has oil for his light. Every man has a mind and a heart.
That's his lamp. But only believers have the oil
to make it light. What's this telling me? This
is telling me that where the oil is, they find their way to
the bridegroom. Everybody had oil found in the
bridegroom, didn't they? Didn't have any trouble finding
the bridegroom. Where the oil is, the Lord recognized them. He recognized them by the light
of the Holy Spirit in them. And where the oil is, the union
is. And where the oil is, the bridegroom
is. I know, as I said before, beyond
all doubt that there's some here today that have spent years and
years going to church, but you've got no peace and you've got no
comfort and you've got no rejoicing and you've got no love and you
have no mercy and you have none of these things because you don't
have any oil in your lamp. It takes more than a professional
faith. It takes the Holy Spirit of God.
A preacher walking out, beg God to give you the oil. That's what
you do. You go and you buy without money
and without price. You go and you buy the oil. It's
not going to do you any good. That's what he's telling you. This head knowledge ain't going
to do you any good without oil in the lamp. I tell you that believers are
distinguished from unbelievers because the Holy Spirit of God
dwells in their heart. That's what moves them and motivates
them and causes them to love and causes them to rejoice and
causes them to long to be here. Huh? Do you long to be here?
Or is this just a duty? Just something you do out of
duty because we know we're supposed to be at church and we've got
to go somewhere and I don't like what... I'll just go down there
and get it over with. That's what somebody said. Let's
go get it over with. Huh? Or do you sit at home and
long to hear from God? Huh? I think those five wise
virgins long. I said they laid there and they
slept that sleep of peace and grace and rest and longed to
hear His voice. Our Lord talked about that all
through the Scriptures. Anybody thirsty, He said, come
and drink. We've got all the outward signs
and none of the inward. We've got a head knowledge of
Christ and no Christ in us. Folks gather with us, but they
never worship. They sing with us, but their
hearts not rejoicing. You listen to preaching, but
you never hear His call. All of God's areas are sealed
with the Holy Spirit of promise. Listen to these scriptures. My
sheep, My sheep, He said, here are My boys, and I know them,
and they follow Me. Huh? And I give unto them eternal
life. What is eternal life? It's to
know God. But you can't know God without
light, can you? Huh? I give unto you the Holy Spirit
of God, and He gives unto you life. Listen to this, over in 1 Thessalonians
1. The gospel of God's saving grace,
Paul said, came not unto you in word only, but it came in
power and in the Holy Ghost in much assurance. That is, it whispered
peace to your conscience and rest to your soul. And the gospel
that comes in the Holy Ghost conquers the hearts and makes
us willing followers of Christ and His servants. And the gospel
that comes in the Holy Ghost makes us examples to all that
believe. We're examples of generosity
and examples of mercy and examples of submission and examples of
willingness. Anybody here can help me? I will. I will. Why? Because God helped you. I try. And the gospel that comes in
the Holy Ghost causes our hearts to support His ministry. Those
who truly hear want others to hear, don't they? And I tell
you, I was talking to Donnie Bell about these ten things that
I've got in the bulletin here this morning, and I was talking
to him about this last one. And I said, this is what Henry
told me 30 some years ago. He said, the man who truly has
heard has no doubt that God can make another hear. He made him
hear. And it was a supernatural act
when he did. And he knows it. He knows what
he was. He knows where he's at. He heard. Why do I doubt that God can speak
to another? The Gospel that comes in the
Holy Ghost causes our hearts to support and those who hear
not in word only. Paul said that they're turned
to God from their idols. What do you worship? What do
we worship? What makes your heart beat faster?
Where's your treasure? What are you hungry for? What
means more to you than anything else? That's your God, whatever
it is. That's your God. What is it? Is it family, job,
friends, recreation, fame, independence, titles? What is it? Those who
have oil in their lamps have only one agenda. They're waiting
for the bridegroom. Huh? That's right. Nothing else. They're waiting on him. And all
the oil in their lamp in this parable is expended for this
cause. You know, the time came and the
unwise virgins didn't have any oil in the lamp. And the first
place they went is to the wise virgins. They said, let me have
some of your oil. They said, uh-uh. I got just
enough. I got just enough. I can't give
it to you. You're going to have to go where
the oil comes from. and get you oil. So there's 10 virgins, 10 lamps,
10 people, all of them in the way. Everything external alike. But in the inside where no eye
could see, there was a distinction made. Five had oil and five didn't. And then thirdly, he gives us
some shocking results. In Matthew 25, verse 10, it said,
while they went to buy, They had opportunity to buy, didn't
they? Well, how do you explain that,
preacher? I'm not going to explain anything. I'm not in the explaining
business. I'm in the declaring business.
And the Word of God declares that you have opportunities of
grace. And you resist them. You waste
them. You pass them by. That's what
He said. It was too late. While they went
to buy, they had opportunity to buy, but they didn't go. They
had something else more pressing. 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. Too late. They had all the outward evidences,
but no oil. They had religion, but no heart
for Christ. They were lost and empty while
the others were full and rejoicing. And they tried to get something
from those, but they didn't have anything to give. I can't give
you what I have. Only God can give it to you. Lost men and women who get in
trouble, they always try to get something from someone who has
nothing to give. They always do. They run down
to the preacher and they want him to give. I don't have it
to give. I can point you to where you can get it. I can point you
there. But that's all at the end of it for me. Only God can
call you out of darkness, give you a new heart, make you willing,
turn you from your idols. But there's a time, my friend,
when the door of grace is shut forever. And that time is when
he comes again. He could come today. He could
come this afternoon. He might come tomorrow. He might
come before I get done with this message. But when he comes, the
door of mercy is shut forever. And that's what he's telling
these folks here. But they came to him afterward, and the door
was shut, and they beat on the door. Don't you imagine folks
beat on the door of the ark? I've never seen a picture, religion's
always picturing things, I've never seen a picture of that,
but I guarantee you there were folks out there beating and banging
on the side of that ark. We believe now. We want in now. It's too late now. Too late. And they beat on that door and
they called him Lord then. Lord, Lord. Let us in. Let us
in. Listen to what he tells them.
He doesn't tell them they can't come in. What's he tell them? I don't know you. I never knew
you. I never knew you. The oil of grace can be bought. Does that sound like a contradictory
statement? The oil of grace can be bought.
Isn't that what he says over there in Isaiah? Come and buy
without money and without price? Well, who bought it? Christ did.
Christ did. Charles Spurgeon said, Grace
is sold in God's marketplace on gospel terms without money
and without price. But when the midnight cry is
heard, the day of grace is closed and the door is shut forever. When the master says, I know
you're not, his meaning is, you're not the object of my love. I
never were. I never knew you. That's what
he told them folks. He didn't say, I don't know you,
as he did here. He said, I never knew you. Never
knew you. You're not the object of my love,
the beneficiary of my will. I never chose you. I never approved
of you. And I never accepted you. But let me give you this thought
in closing. I don't want to close on a negative
point. Let me give you this. What shuts
out, shuts in. It shuts in. There was five wise
virgins, true believers, who had oil in their lamps. And they
entered in with him, didn't they? With him. They entered in and
the door was shut. Shut out all sickness, and death,
and pain, and suffering, and temptation, and sin, and darkness,
and principalities, and doubts, and fears, and unbelief forever. Shut it out. Shut it out. Oh, seek Him. You're not going
to find Him until you seek Him with all your heart, soul, mind,
and strength. I wish I could help you do it,
but I can't. All I can do is tell you. All
I can do is tell you. But don't be satisfied until
there's oil in the lamp. Don't be satisfied with a profession.
Don't be satisfied, well, I've learned the doctrines. Years
ago, there was a thing going around up 13th Street. Folks
were saying, well, I came to the knowledge of the doctrines
of grace. You and a thousand others. It's Christ in you, the hope
of glory.