"Then the kingdom of Heaven shall be likened to ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. Now five of them were wise, and five were foolish. Those who were foolish took their lamps and took no oil with them, but the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps" (Matthew 25:1-4).
A recurring theme in my thoughts these days revolves around the triumphantly sudden return of the Lord Jesus Christ for His own. This is an event Christians are routinely mocked and disdained for, one that, in the eyes of this world, appears part of science-fiction or fairy tale-fiction. Daily, this world is worsening by the hour, violence erupts and rages in every country on earth and is growing more and more pervasive. The entire world is awash with illicit drug use and the bloodshed it creates. Entire nations throb with political and social unrest, whole peoples are brimming over with anxiety and fury and fear and vice. Syria is still being bombed to rubble; the people of North Korea continue to starve, and the United States and Iran seem poised to embroil the whole world in nuclear conflagration. And speaking of America, she grows ever closer to the brink of ruin brought on by her complete embrace of immorality and fiscal suicide; the Muslim nations surrounding Israel are arming to the teeth; Communist China positions itself to supplant Western powers as the one lone superpower left in the world. The geo-politics of the world are a house of cards. Earthquakes and other natural disasters rock our planet with regularity. All of these are signs of Christ's imminent return, just as He predicted in the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke. His blood-bought Church must be ready and found doing His will.
In Matthew 25, Jesus tells the Parable of the Ten Virgins, five of which were wise and five being foolish. They wise preparation within the Parable was being determined by their possession (or lack thereof) of the precious oil needed to trim their lamps in expectation of the bridegroom's return. And to provide some background, a Jewish wedding ceremony at that time could last up to seven days! The ceremony and consummation would actually only be small parts of the wedding whereas the music, fellowship and singing, food and drinking would be the bulk of that time. After the contract was established between the bridegroom and the father of the bride (and I'm skipping a few things), the bridegroom would leave his bride to go to build (or prepare) the home they would share together in marriage, and he would stay as long as was necessary to make their new abode absolutely perfect. The bride would have to live this unspecified amount of time faithfully, and in constant expectation of her husband's return. The bridegroom could return at any moment, of course adding to the thrill of being betrothed. Her friends would wait with her as well. The implications for the Church are obvious.
I realize that I'm leaving out quite a bit, but my point of emphasis is on the virgins—the ten virgins—all of whom "slumbered and slept" while the bridegroom was delayed. The most likely conclusion one could make, at least a rudimentary one, is that the five foolish virgins are those who are not saved, not ready for Christ's return. I wouldn't argue that assessment but what should be closely examined is the fact that all were dressed as virgins, and all slept, including the virgins that Christ called wise. This is important because if those who slept were unsaved, what about the wise who also slept? The dominant theme of Matthew chapters 24 and 25 is to watch. The virgins who had the oil were not watching. They had oil, which I personally interpret as being emblematic of the Holy Spirit, but the most important thing they had failed to do, which was to just watch.
The five wise virgins who had oil, that were able to trim their lamps to have light to find the entrance to the wedding celebration chamber, were able at least to enter in for the feast. When Christ returns, oh, what shame the Church will have for falling asleep, for having become encumbered with the cares of this world, but having the oil which is the Holy Spirit guarantees entry into the presence of the bridegroom. The five foolish virgins looked like virgins, no doubt acted like virgins, but in reality they were not ready to carry out the purpose of their dress and position. I wonder how many "good" church-goers are dressed like virgins but inwardly have prostituted themselves to the affairs of this world? I wonder how many who fill the pews Sunday after Sunday will experience the greatest shock of their lives when they find they will not be allowed to enter into the presence of Christ while having thought for years that they would absolutely, positively enter Heaven. Like the virgins who were dressed, in the proper place with the bride, possibly hundreds of millions of "Christians" look like virgins but are foolishly self-deceived and headed for an eternal hell. I have no pleasure saying this, but some of the number of "foolish virgins" are evangelists, Sunday School teachers, elders, deacons, even pastors. The dangers are clearly seen in our world today, because without the Holy Spirit sin cannot be mastered, which is why members of the groups just mentioned are enslaved by vile, sinister sins yet in the eyes of the world are honorable men and women. It is these who have the hearts of prostitutes—their allegiance should be to Christ, but with no oil in their lamps they metastasize to whatever false doctrine is popular and financially lucrative and pollute the company of true believers.
Romans 8:8-9 is clear that if one does not have the Spirit of Christ then they do not belong to Him. One of the marks of the last days is a dearth of false teaching and apostasy. Those who are saved must be on guard against the slumber that is just a part of being human; not a physical sleeping as the disciples engaged in in the Garden of Gethsemane, but one of the spirit which comes from allowing one's mind to drift away from the urgency of the things of Christ and onto the things of this world. Virgins keep themselves pure in mind and in body and are watchful the sudden arrival of the bridegroom. Are you watching? Are you ready?
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