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The World’s Greatest Revival
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The
Ten Virgins When
reading about the five wise and the five foolish virgins there are many ways a
person could interpret their meanings. One of the things that make a difference
in understanding is whether we believe in grace as the basis of our salvation or
whether we believe that works is the basis of our salvation. Hopefully we will
come to the right understanding of this parable before we are
finished. Matthew
25: There
are several things to consider when reading these
scriptures. When
we see these ten virgins the first thought that comes to us is that of the Bride
of Christ. The fact that the Word says that we are supposed to be as chaste
virgins and the simple fact that these women are waiting on the bridegroom for a
marriage causes us to consider this. There is a little disappointment in not
seeing them as brides but rather they are considered to be bridesmaids. The
reason for this is because we as individuals are not the bride of Christ. The
Church is the bride. We are only a part of the bride and like the bridesmaids we
will attend the wedding. But the Church in its totality is to be considered as
the bride. In this parable the five wise Virgins are the true Church and have
been born again with eternal oil. There
are those in the Church known nowadays as Nominal Christians. There are millions
of these in our land today. Only 47 percent of all who claim to be Christians in
America are truly born again according to Gallup poll. This means that they have
a personal experience and know that they are born again. There are two types of
oil: one is the Holy Spirit that produces the righteousness in the born again
Christian. The other is the oil of self-will and self-discipline. This is what
Paul would call; establishing our own form of righteousness. There are many that
come to Church with this kind of oil. But this oil is only from the human heart
and will run out because it is not eternal. Just as the oil ran out for the
Covenant of Moses this kind of oil in the heart that is not born again will
eventually burn out. The
fact that they were all virgins symbolized that they were all living
righteously. This tells us that there was no difference between the five wise
and the five foolish. When it came to living right, they were
pure. They
all slumbered and slept when the bridegroom tarried. They all believed that he
had delayed his coming so they had gone to bed. Perhaps they thought that he
would come the next day. Of course we know that the cry went out at midnight.
The significance of this is that they all believed that they were ready. I don’t
suppose that any of them believed that he would come in the night. So both
groups of virgins were taken by surprise. The
next point is that they all had lamps. The difference of course was that the
wise had taken extra oil in their vessels; the foolish didn’t take any more than
what they had in their lamps. This is the factor that is going to open our
understanding to what Jesus was teaching these people. And as to what he was
talking about. The Lamps and the oil in them are the answer to the
mystery. These
lamps and their oil could also represent the two covenants and the Spirit of God
that is in them. We must realize that when Jesus came to Israel the Jewish
people were under the Law of Moses. They at the time were the only lights that
God would use to show the world his will. The oil or the Spirit of God was in
this covenant. This covenant, The Law of Moses was the light that they were
showing to the world. The people who sincerely followed and lived by this
covenant were considered righteous by God. It was the only light in the world
until the time that Jesus came. When
Jesus came he gave us a brand New Covenant. Because of this New Covenant, God
would change his method of doing things. When Jesus was crucified he established
his new covenant with all mankind. But, Israel would have a real problem with
this simply because they would not be able to understand. So Jesus in this
parable was trying to reach their minds in order to show them the end results of
not accepting the New Covenant that he had given. One
of the things we must consider is that Israel had been placed in partial
blindness as a judgment for past sins. So the scripture "many are called but few
are chosen" was fulfilled at the time of Christ. They have remained in darkness
for the most part until this day. Many of them are still trusting in the Old
Covenant as the way to get to God. This is the very basis of this parable. The
five foolish virgins are the children of Israel who believe that this is the
way. This is the very basis of this parable. The five foolish virgins are the
children of Israel who believe that this is the way. They live as righteous as
they can. The Lamp they carry is the Law of Moses and they try to celebrate and
share this as much as they possibly can. In fact you can become a Jew if you
want to. They are looking for new converts all the time. They are also looking
for the bridegroom to come. You see Israel believes that the Messiah has never
come. So they are also looking for his appearing. They also to this day believe
that he has delayed his coming. The
five wise virgins represent the Jewish people who were following Jesus at that
time. This also includes the Church, both Jew and Gentile across the earth
today. The lamp that we carry is the New Covenant, or the New Testament that
Jesus has given to us. This lamp is now the light of the World. We call it the
Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. When we witness or share this Gospel we become
a city set on a hill for all men to see. When the bridegroom comes these are the
people who will be ready to meet him. Just like Israel we are looking for the
Messiah, the only difference is that it is his Second Coming, not his
first. When
the veil of the Temple was rent the Spirit of God left the Holy of Holies. But,
I believe that God gave Israel a period of forty years to repent and accept
Jesus. Jesus told them that the Temple would be destroyed. In exactly 40yrs from
the time Jesus spoke those words the Temple was destroyed and Jerusalem was
captured. It was at this time that the oil ran out for the Old Covenant. I
believe that God gave them this space before the oil would run out. Today they
are carrying a lamp without oil. The
message in this parable is to show them and us the futility of trying to be
saved through the Law of Moses. There is only one covenant that will save us,
and that is the New Covenant of faith in Jesus through his blood and
accomplishments at the cross. Paul said that the preaching of the cross was the
power of God unto Salvation. There is absolutely no other way. We can all live
right, be looking for the Messiah, but if we are not in the New Covenant through
faith in Jesus we will be lost. The
extra oil in the Lamp of the Church is the fact that the New Covenant is
eternal. He said that the Holy Ghost would abide with us forever. The oil in our
lamps will never run out as long as we are truly looking for Jesus to
come. The
foolish virgins went to the wise virgins trying to get them to share their oil.
The problem with this was that the wise were unable to do this. All they could
do was point the way to those who could. Go to the sellers. It is symbolic of us
preaching the Gospel. All we can do is to tell others where to go to get it.
Isaiah said it like this. Isa:
55:1: Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no
money; come ye, buy, and eat; yea, come, buy wine
and milk without money and without price. We
cannot give someone else the Holy Spirit. Only God can do that. So it is
necessary for those who are trying to make it to heaven any other way to go to
Jesus to get the oil. The message is to get the oil of salvation from Jesus so
that you can be saved. How do we buy it? With our faith! Believing enough to
come to him and ask. The
Gentile Church needs to have a heart towards Israel and give them the Gospel so
that they will not be rejected when Jesus comes. It is up to us to make the
difference. God has placed this ministry in our hands. Paul told us in the
11th Chapter of Romans that God had placed Israel in partial
blindness so that he could have mercy on us. He did it this way so that through
our mercy they would find mercy. What he was saying was this. God concluded
Israel in blindness so that we could be saved. His plan is that after we have
been saved we would in turn give them the Gospel and then they will be saved. It
is his perfect will for this to happen. I
hope that you have enjoyed this teaching. If you have please share it with
someone you love. Your brother in Christ |
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CCSANI
