Matthew chapter 25, making some progress. This is good. All right. Matthew chapter 25, let's just open up in prayer and get right into it. Heavenly Father, Lord, we thank you for this day, Lord. I pray that you'd be with those that are out, maybe sick or or traveling, just visiting family, whatever the case might be, Lord, I ask, Lord, that you just keep them all safe and bring them all back safely to us, Father. Lord, I pray that you just be with this church here today, Father. Lord, the crowd size may be small, Lord, but I know every individual that's here, Lord, wants to be here and wants to hear something from you, Father. Lord, so I ask that you just help me not to fail in that, Lord. Just give me the right words to say. Lord, I ask that you teach us something, show us something from your word, Father. Open up our hearts to be able to understand it, And Lord, I ask that you just be pleased and honored by this Bible study here to come, Lord. And Lord, we just thank you for the time. We love you. We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen. All right. So Matthew 25, still part of the Olivet Discourse is what it's commonly referred to as. This is the same kind of A stream of thought and teaching that Jesus has been doing throughout chapter 24. Chapter 24, obviously, was very tribulation, second advent. So same kind of idea, right? So we're going to move into here. First few verses, we're going to read up through verse 13. This is going to be a story or parable of the foolish and wise virgins. But you'll notice here in verse one starts right off, then shall the kingdom of heaven be likened. And it goes on. There are so many, I just was out of curiosity. I looked up on the internet, you know, commentaries, public commentaries that are available online for, for this passage and time after time, after time, after time, it's talking about the church, the church, the church, the virgins are a type of the church. The bridegroom is a type of. of Christ. They got that part right, but then they try to force the church being these virgins, these ten virgins. Some are going to be wise and some are going to be ready and looking for his return. That's you and I that are out soul winning. That's you and I that are trying to do the right thing and have the right walk in relationship with God. We're looking for Christ's return. And then other Christians, the other half are just the back slid and lay to seeing Christians that are out there that have their fire insurance, but they're not really doing anything. It's ridiculous, but that's how they force it in there. We'll see just how ridiculous it is. First and foremost, to intentionally go ahead of myself in my notes, they're meeting a bridegroom who's coming back from the wedding. It's not the church. They got left behind. They're not part of the bridegroom. They're not part of the wedding there. So anyways, we'll get into that here in a little bit, but it's completely different. You can't even spiritualize this aspect and say, this is the church. It's not even possible. So, anyways, let's just get into it. Start in verse 1. So if you've been paying attention throughout the past couple years studying this thing out, that's not you and I today. That's not the kingdom of God. That's not the spiritual kingdom. They that were foolish took their lamps and took no oil with them, but the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps. While the bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered and slept. And at midnight there was a cry made, behold, the bridegroom cometh, go ye out to meet him. Then all those virgins arose and trimmed their lamps. And the foolish said unto the wise, give us of your oil, for our lamps are gone out. But the wise answered saying, not so, lest there be not enough for us and you, but go ye rather to them that sell and buy for yourselves. And 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. Afterward came also the other virgins, saying, Lord, Lord, open to us. But he answered and said, Verily I say unto you, I know you not. Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of Man cometh. One of the other things that I've heard applies to this passage, or one way that it could be construed or understood, is that the wise and foolish virgins, if it is the church, which it's not, but if it is, it would be those that actually possess Jesus Christ versus those that simply profess Jesus Christ. And that's a slippery slope in and of itself. It's kind of a very Calvinistic kind of approach. And another way to do it where you avoid Calvin is simply, you know, the concept of those that come to Christ and say, Lord, Lord, and he says, depart from me, I never knew you. And that could be those that claim they know and believe in Christ. That's your, you know, the Catholics preach and teach Christ, Mormons preach and teach Christ. There are many that acknowledge Christ as the Savior, but it's, number one, it's not the same Christ when you get down to the nitty gritty. It's not the same Jesus Christ that you and I worship, not the same Jesus Christ of the Bible. But, you know, so clearly they say they believe Jesus Christ, but they don't believe in the death, burial, resurrection as their ticket into heaven. So therefore they would say, Lord, Lord, and he would say, I never knew you. You're not one of my children. So there are ways that we could kind of stretch, but we're going to look doctrinally here and we're going to look and see that this very clearly is not going to be the church. Number one, first and foremost, virgins, you'll never find plural virgins anywhere in church-age doctrine, anywhere in the church-age books, the Pauline epistles, things like that. You'll never find them. You'll find them before it, and you'll find them after it in Revelation. But first and foremost, go to 2 Corinthians 11. Very common passage here, but virgins, not a reference to the church, we are a singular virgin, singular body of Christ, okay? When men, when you got married, you married, ideally, one woman, right? You didn't marry many women. We'll just leave that one there, but Jesus Christ is marrying a single woman. singular virgin, okay, the chaste virgin. 2 Corinthians 11, verse 2, for I am jealous over you with godly jealousy, for I have espoused you to one husband that I may present you as a chaste virgin, singular, to Christ. So that's one man, that's one woman. You can run the references over to Ephesians 5, and we'll look at them here in a little bit, but Ephesians 5 where you've got Paul teaching husbands how to be good husbands, wives how to be good wives, and that relationship between a husband and a wife. And he tells you this thing because it's a picture of Christ and the church. Okay, so the church, yes, we're a bunch of individuals, but as a local body of church, we are to be one unit, one body. As the overall body of Christ, the overall body of Christians, we are one body in Christ, collectively. And I don't understand how all that works, which is why it's a mystery. It's a mystery, but we're never gonna fully understand all the nitty gritty details of it and how exactly it works. That's why it's a mystery. Yet we're still supposed to believe it and hold fast to it and protect it. So you believe what the Bible says about it and put the rest that your tiny human brain can't understand. You put the rest on the Lord in faith, right? So we don't really understand what that's going to fully look like when we get up into glory, but we know what the book says and it tells us it's a mystery. So it's, it's okay that your dumb human brain doesn't fully understand what God's got going on. That's okay. Believe the book and protect that. Hold fast those mysteries. That's what, that's what the Bible tells us, right? Virgins are companions to the bride. Turn over to Psalm 45. So in the Old Testament, virgins are oftentimes, not always, but oftentimes, they're a, you know, being able to look back at doctrine, they're a type and picture of the nation of Israel many times, God's servants. But it's their companion to the bride in multiple passages. Look at Psalm 45. And there's no way that David writing this or any of this kind of stuff back then would have known anything about the church age, unless he had special revelation and just didn't share it. They did not know about the church age, this Bride of Christ concept. So they don't understand the types and pictures and the doctrinal teaching that was being put in Psalm 45. But look there in verse 13, Psalm 45, 13. The king's daughter is all glorious within. Her clothing is of rock gold." And I think we've run references in Revelation class recently to these kinds of passages. We've got the bride that shows up in Revelation 19 when she hath made herself ready. She's wearing the robes which are the righteousness of the saints. It's not righteousness to become the bride, it's righteousness to give her self robes that are glorious, that are clean, that are pure. She's prepared herself. And it's the righteousness of the saints. So the teaching of the judgment seat of Christ, that's when you are cleansed. That's when your works will be tried. That's when your robes are made clean. And some people, I believe, there's some that I've heard teach that you could be walking around eternity with very little clothing. Not in an inappropriate sense, but you'll be running around with very little clothing up there because you haven't done much. You're naked and ashamed in God's eyes because of the work that you didn't do for Christ. And then there's going to be others who did a whole bunch for Christ. You know, your Billy Sundays, those heroes of the faith throughout Christianity, throughout the early church history as well. They're going to have all these decked out robes and clothes up there because of their righteousness, the works that they did for Christ after they were saved. But it says here that the king's daughter is all glorious within. Her clothing is of wrought gold. So the clothing is something wrought there means worked. It's something that was worked out. It was something that was done. So when they wrought gold, they hammered it, they beat it, they worked it, they shaped it, they molded it. So her clothing is of wrought gold, but it also says the king's daughter is all glorious within. Okay, so that's you and I. When you get saved, you get Jesus Christ in you, you get the Holy Spirit in you, you are all glorious within. That spiritual circumcision takes place in the works of the flesh, the wickedness there of the flesh. Yeah, you still got to walk around with it, but you're all glorious within. And her clothing is of rock gold. Here's the verse I wanted to point you out to, verse 14. So the daughter of the king there, the bride there, It's different than the virgins there, her companions. So they go with her, they follow her. You can see that in type and picture as well, real good in the book of Esther. Esther chapter 2, when you've got Vashti, the Gentile bride of the king. that gets put away. She gets taken away, taken off the scene. And then the king there, King Ahasuerus, the type of god in that story, then looks to the Jews and pulls... What does he look for? He looks for Jewish virgins, not just Jewish, but he looks for the virgins there and a Jewish virgin gets selected. But that Jewish virgin, Esther, she follows the Gentile bride that departs the scene, that leaves the scene there. Look at Song of Solomon, chapter 1. Song of Solomon, chapter 1. In verse 3, Song of Solomon 1.3, because of the savor of thy good ointments, thy name is as ointment poured forth. Therefore, do the virgins love thee? This is the wife. This is the bride, the picture of the church here in Jesus Christ being Solomon. This is her speaking about him. OK, so the bride is talking. The virgins are different, are separate from Her, okay, she's not talking about herself, but she says, therefore, do the virgins love thee? So they're separate things. Stay in Song of Solomon, go to chapter six. Chapter six and verse eight. There are three score queens and four score concubines and virgins without number. My dove, my undefiled is but one. That's you and I, is but one, and the virgins are separate. So just pointing all that out to say when virgins are represented even in Old Testament prophecy and Old Testament doctrine of things that they didn't know about to include the church age and to include Christ's bride, never is virgins a picture or a representation of the church, never. You have a singular bride even in the Old Testament, okay? All right, so don't try to conflate it, don't try to force the church into this parable here in Matthew chapter 25. Virgins show up in the tribulation. So we looked at times beforehand where virgins were there. Virgins are going to show up again in the tribulation, not the church age. Revelation chapter 14. You got the 144,000 here. Revelation chapter 14. Verse 12 no not yet verse 1 Revelation 14 1 and I looked and lo a lamb stood on the Mount Sion and with him in 140 and 4000 having his father's name written in their foreheads and they heard a voice from heaven as the voice of many waters and as the voice of a great thunder and I heard the voice of harpers harping with their harps and And they sung, as it were, a new song before the four beasts and the elders, and no man could learn that song but the hundred and forty and four thousand which were redeemed from the earth. These are they which were not defiled with women, for they are virgins. These are they which follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth. These were redeemed from among men, being the firstfruits unto God and to the Lamb. And in their mouth was found no guile, for they are without fault before the throne of God." All right, so virgins show up before, virgins show up after the church, not during the church age. Singular, that's what you and I are, single body. Next, these virgins here in verse 1, these virgins go to meet the bridegroom, not to marry him. In Matthew 25, it says they went forth to meet the bridegroom, okay? If you turn to Luke chapter 12, you'll see the parallel passage here, but this bridegroom you'll see is he's already married. Luke chapter 12, verse 20, no 36, sorry. Luke 12, 36. And ye yourselves like unto men that wait for their Lord, when he will return from the wedding. that when he cometh and knocketh, they may open unto him immediately. That's kind of the same teaching here. But these servants, these men here, they're coming, they're waiting for the bridegroom to return from the wedding. That wedding has already taken place. So these virgins here in Matthew 25, they're not waiting and meeting their groom. They're not waiting to meet the man who's going to marry them from a spiritual sense. He's already married. They're waiting for that. So this whole thing, we'll look here later as well, but this whole passage and teaching here, we talked about it last week and the week before, but it would support that idea of a post-tribulation rapture, a split rapture, if you will, of tribulation saints. Now, I don't know who that would be if it's only the 144,000 that get raptured out. We know that there's something to do with them and the two witnesses as well. So even if it just applies to them, it still lends credence to the fact that there's some sort of a rapture of sorts that happens if they're ready, if they're watching. Ready is the key word there. If you look ahead at verse 10, it says, while they went to buy, the bridegroom came. So the foolish virgins are out now. bridegroom shows up and says, they that were ready. So there's some preparation that has to be done. There's some watching, some waiting, some working that has to be done for them to be considered ready and allowed in. The invitation went to all 10 of them. They were all invited. They were all allowed into this kingdom here. They're all allowed into this to meet this bridegroom. But when he shows up, only half of them were ready. So they get allowed in. All right, it also pictures the, if you go back to Revelation 14, they picture the Jews in the tribulation that have works tied into their salvation. So back at Revelation 14, but now look at verse 12. Revelation 14, 12 says, here is the patience of the saints. Here are they that keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus. So I don't know, it kind of looks to me as though these foolish virgins, they didn't really have the faith that Christ was going to come back, that this bridegroom was going to come back at any point in time. They didn't have faith in that. And they also didn't do the work to ensure that they had the proper amount of oil on hand in the event that he did come back. So there's works involved and there's faith involved in both of this. It's not just, oh yeah, we put our faith in Christ, And so, therefore, it doesn't matter if we're ready or not. It doesn't matter what we've got going on. He's going to allow us in. I don't know. He says there at the end there, verse 12, he says, "'Verily I say unto you, I know you not.' He did not open the door to these foolish virgins." So, again, all pointing to the fact that this is not the church. They're also not saved the same way that you and I are saved. You all know that here, but the teaching is still important to make sure that it's put out. All right, so they picture the Jews in the tribulation that have works tied to their salvation. This bridegroom, very obviously we hit it already, but this is Jesus Christ. That's who this bridegroom represents. Now we can turn over to Ephesians chapter 5. Ephesians chapter 5, and we'll just start in verse 25. Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church and gave himself for it, that he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, that he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that it should be holy and without blemish. So ought men to love their wives as their own bodies. He that loveth his wife loveth himself. For no man ever yet hated his own flesh, but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the Lord the church. And then jump down to verse 32. This is a great mystery, but I speak concerning Christ and the church. So the bridegroom is Jesus Christ. The church, you and I, the body of Christ, we are that bride, even here in Matthew 25. So we are present, we the church are present in the fact that we are absent from being specifically called out. But the bridegroom here is not inviting these virgins to get married to him. The bridegroom has already gotten married to the bride, and these virgins are companions, they are friends. Look over also in Joel 2. Joel, Ezekiel, Daniel, Hosea, Joel 2. Verse 16. Joel 2.16, gather the people, sanctify the congregation, assemble the elders, gather the children and those that suck the breasts. Let the bridegroom go forth of his chamber and the bride out of her closet. Let the priests, the ministers of the Lord, weep between the porch and the altar and let them say, spare thy people, O Lord, and give not thine heritage to reproach that the heathen should rule over them. Wherefore should they say among the people, where is their God? And then it goes right into verse 18, where the Lord shows up and he's jealous for his land. He has pity on his people. But notice there he's saying, gather the people. The people are being gathered. There's something different going on. Second Advent hasn't quite yet happened, right? There's still people, the priests there, the ministers of the Lord. Notice they're weeping. Didn't we look at passages there in Matthew 24 where it says that there's going to be mourning? There's going to be weeping for those that are on the earth, the Jews that are looking for Christ, but they're still on the earth. When he shows up, they're going to see him. There's going to be some weeping and mourning because times are getting tough and they're afraid that they're going to get stamped out by these heathen here. And so the Lord shows up and he's jealous for his land. He has pity on his people. But I want to point out that the bride is different from the gathering of the people. The bridegroom and the bride come out of their chamber. The wedding has taken place. Now there's going to be a celebration. There's going to be a feast. Gather all the people. Gather those that have been invited. They're all going to come together and have some semblance of a celebration or a feast. And then Then the second advent is going to happen. Then Christ is going to come back. Then they're going to stomp out. He's going to have pity on his people. They're going to get rid of the heathen and all that kind of stuff. And then the great supper of our Lord, the last portion of that wedding, feast, ceremony, party, whatever you want to call it, will happen there on the earth. But it's interesting. All those things are tied together there and connected. And then also look at Revelation chapter 19. Revelation 19. And verse 7, let us be glad and rejoice and give honor to him for the marriage of the lamb is come and his wife hath made herself ready. We looked at that last weekend or the week before, but there's some celebration going on there. Here's the lamb. Here's his wife. She hath made herself ready. She's already his wife. There's some celebration going on there, some joy, some gladness. that takes place, and then he comes down on his white horse, right? So just laying out the timing here. But that bridegroom is very clearly, all throughout Scripture, that bridegroom is Jesus Christ. Even before they knew who was going to be that bride or what that was going to be a picture of or represent, you know, the prophets, most of them didn't even see it, but they They still preach it, still believe it, put it in the book, obviously. But that bridegroom is Jesus Christ. And now we can see having the whole canon of scripture, having everything, you know, that we've got so far revealed to us is that that bridegroom and that bride, that's that's you and I, and that's Jesus Christ. All right. These virgins here are not the church. All right. That horse is dead. Verse two. And five of them were wise and five were foolish. They that were foolish took their lamps and took no oil with them. But the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps. while the bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered and slept." Now, very easily, and even when I took classes on this and that kind of stuff, we get to verse 5 and say, oh, they're sleeping in the night. They're not watching. I don't think that's what this is saying, that this is a bad thing, because it says even the wise servants, or the wise virgins, were slumbering. It says they all slumbered and slept, not just the foolish ones, they all. So you can draw some cross-references there and say, hey, don't be sleeping in the night, you should be watching and waiting. The watchmen of the night, they're the ones that are supposed to be observing, waiting for the thieves, waiting for the enemies to come in, all that stuff. I don't think that's what this particular verse five is teaching here. Because it talks about verse 2, five of them are wise, five are foolish, it lumps them all together. Anyways, the point here is verse 2, excuse me, verse 3, they all have oil to start with. We're going to run a few references, but oftentimes throughout the Bible, the oil is a type of the Holy Spirit. Many, many times. This means even when you run, I think Brother Tyler Quigley, when he did a study on the tabernacle here several months back, That oil there was a picture and a type of the Holy Spirit. And so that's why they had to keep the fires burning. They had to keep all the lamps lit and burning. So if the oil is a type of the Holy Spirit, that means that works are required here. And why do I say that? They all had the oil. They all had the Holy Spirit. But then all of a sudden, some of them lost it. The oil went out, the fire went out. And therefore they had to do something to regain or resupply, get a renewed supply of the Holy Spirit. But works would be required here. You see that in verse seven and eight. All those virgins arose and they trimmed their lamps. And the foolish said unto the wise, give us of your oil, for our lamps are gone out. So those lamps were burning all night long. They were both watching. They were both ready-ish in terms of, you know, burning the midnight oil. They had their lamps going, but they weren't prepared for all the what-ifs. They didn't actually believe that the bridegroom was coming that night. Otherwise, they would have renewed their supply of the oil earlier. But instead, they let their fire burn out. We'll run a couple of references, but in the Old Testament economy, that Holy Spirit could come and go from individuals. You get wicked, that Holy Spirit departs from them. So that's a picture of the exact same thing happening even in the tribulation, where that Holy Spirit, that oil, is going to run out. And if they don't do something to renew that Holy Spirit, to renew that oil supply, it will run out and it will depart from them. and they will not be able to rely on someone else's supply, someone else's relationship with the Holy Spirit, just as you and I can't rely on someone else's relationship. I think the pastor said it Wednesday night. One of the best ways I've heard it laid out is you cannot rely on pastor's relationship with the Lord to help you in your walk with Christ. It's got to be a personal thing. That is not going to change for these folks in the tribulation. There is still a personal application, a personal requirement that these folks maintain their own level of faith, maintain their own level of obeying the commandments of Jesus Christ. And they cannot rely on someone else's supply of oil to help them relight their lamps. But it's interesting, they have to renew their supply of the Holy Spirit. Look at Psalm 51. Psalm 51. And there's so much in Psalm that can be spiritually applied to you and I, but doctrinally it is heavy Jew, heavy Jewish, heavy, heavy tribulation, second advent, kingdom, millennial. There's so much involved in Psalm, the whole book of Psalms. But look at Psalm 51 verse 10. Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me." That spirit has to be renewed for these folks. David knew it. The Old Testament folk, they knew that the spirit of God had to be renewed. I forget if I put it in my notes, so if we hit it later on, we'll just hit it again. But that other passage where David is talking about, you know, take not thy spirit from me, he knew that that spirit could depart from the individuals there. He knew that it could come and go. And so he wants the Lord to renew that right spirit, keep that oil, keep that supply fresh and new. Don't let it run out. Don't let it, you know, get all used up and never renew. He says, renew a right spirit within me. You and I can apply that to ourselves spiritually all day long. You know, you got to have the right spirit, be kind, be sweet, have the right, you know, you know, pleasing the Lord, don't let the devil get in and, you know, all that kind of stuff. And it's good, right? And preach it all day long. It's absolutely correct. But doctrinally, I think there's something else going on here in this passage in Psalms. And then look at Proverbs 21. Proverbs 21 and verse 20, there is treasure to be desired and oil in the dwelling of the wise, but a foolish man spendeth it up. So that foolish, those foolish virgins there in Matthew 25, they spended it up. It was all, it was all lit. They had oil. They had their lamps burning. and then they let the supply run out and they didn't think twice about having to get it renewed and having to get it refilled and resupplied. But there's this idea of sleeping in the night, slumbering in the night. You can run references to 1 Thessalonians. We've seen those before, chapter 5. We are not of the night, but it says to be watching, be waiting, don't be sleeping. Turn over to Mark chapter 13. Mark chapter 13, verse 35. This is, "'Watch ye therefore, for you know not when the master of the house cometh, at even, or at midnight, or at the cock crowing, or in the morning. Lest, coming suddenly, he find you sleeping. And what I say unto you, I say unto all, watch.'" Right? So there's some requirements to be watching. There's some requirements to be ready. But I think this teaching here goes beyond just simply Hey, have your eyes open and be no kidding watching constantly for Jesus Christ to return. There's some readiness aspect that's required. So watching is more than, like I said, more than just simply, I can't sleep, I can't do anything. There's no rest in that. And the Lord wants them to rest. He wants them to be ready because when He comes, they have to be ready to get up and go. The same kind of teaching when it comes to when the abomination of desolation shows up, they have to be ready to just get up and go. And if they've been, you know, if you take it from and apply it physically and literally, they're going to be watching. They'll have zero energy whatsoever, and they won't be able to just get up and go. They won't be thinking clearly and all that kind of stuff. So I believe that the teaching of watching is more than just simply, you know, having your eyes Taped open and not going to sleep and just waiting for the Lord on that thing. There's a there's more to it There's more readiness required to that thing To put out like a simple kind of military illustration for it military folks if they're even in medieval times when they're they had guards in a tower or on a wall that were watching and looking out and It was more than just their eyeballs that were watching. They had other things, they had other signals that they could set up, whether that be traps out in the wood line before the field where they could set off, modern day, you could set off a trip flare, you could set off a noisemaker kind of deal. They had other kind of indicators and traps that they could set up that would be an early warning system for those guards on the tower. so that they could hear that, even if they didn't see it, they were ready just in case. And even if they snoozed or something like that, oh, hey, they're up and at them because, you know, off in the distance. When we would do training, I never did it, you know, from a combat standpoint, obviously, but from a training standpoint, we would get trained on these different kinds of trip flares or noisemakers, poppers, basically, that weren't intended to cause harm or damage to the enemy. But simply, it was intended to alert us that they were coming. And so you set up a little trip wire between there. And of course, you can do it with flash bangs or actual grenades or whatever. If you set up a trip flare it just simply they walk through it and they're creeping through the woods nice and quiet and then all of a sudden they trip that thing and it, you know, loud noise, big bright light shoots up into the sky and everyone knows the enemy's coming and they know exactly where they're coming from. So sometimes some of those signals are part of that readiness factor. So keeping the lamps burning, being ready, doing the work of the Lord goes beyond just simply sitting and watching and hoping. There's some readiness aspect that they have to be doing. All right, verse 6 says, "'And at midnight there was a cry made, "'Behold, the bridegroom cometh. "'Go ye out to meet him.'" So they're going out to meet this bridegroom. But an announcement is made there, similar to an announcement that you and I will hear, come up hither. So there's an announcement made that says, hey, come on up, the bridegroom's ready, the bridegroom's waiting for you. That gets made to these folks right here as well. An announcement is made. Probably almost similar to the sound of the trumpet. I don't know, just a thought. But the bridegroom cometh. If Jesus Christ is the bridegroom and he's coming, what is this event? This event is obviously, this is the second advent or just prior to the second advent, if in fact it's teaching a post-tribulation rapture right before the Battle of Armageddon, which that's kind of what I personally subscribe to. Verse seven says, then all those virgins arose, all of them, wise and foolish, all the virgins arose and trimmed their lamps. And the foolish said unto the wise, give us of your oil for our lamps are gone out." So you see there, the foolish virgins were just as watchful as the wise ones. So this is more than just simply hoping and having faith in Jesus Christ for these guys. It goes beyond that. There's some work, obviously, that had to be done. When they got up, they weren't ready, even though they were and all of a sudden, they basically were ready to get up and go. They weren't ready, they weren't prepared because their lamps did not have oil. The Holy Spirit was not with them. They didn't have what they needed and the Bible says that they were not considered ready, verse 10. But trimming the lamps is needed because they've been burning all night. So if any of you guys have ever burned, I haven't done it very often, but when I was a kid we had some oil lamps, some kerosene kind of lamps. I always liked to go into Cracker barrel because they had the kerosene lamps and all that kind of stuff set up on the tables But always wonder like why do you have to trim the wick? Why do you have to trim the lamps down? Well, you guys probably already know but if not when you let the lamp burn Eventually, it's gonna number one It's gonna burn up all the oil because it will get sucked up through the wick and then it burns the oil but eventually once the oil runs out that that fire starts burning away a lot more rapidly at the wick itself. And so you have the black charred section at the top. That flame becomes a lot dimmer. It's not as bright and helpful in terms of finding your way around when you don't trim it. But it also, it puts out a lot more of a smoke. And then the lamp casing itself could start getting sooted, colored in like a black kind of coating there. And it, even furthermore, diminishing the power of that lamp, that light there. So you have to trim it back. You have to maintain that lamp so that you don't get the soot covering and then so that the lamp, the light itself is actually, you know, nice and bright and helpful to guide your steps, to guide your walk there. So there's some work that's required in trimming of the lamps, but trimming of the lamps is also necessary. Look back at Luke chapter 12 again. Luke chapter 12. Verse 35, let your loins be girded about and your lights burning. All right. So the expectation is that the loins girded, we've studied that out as well. The, you know, the, the, the men that would wear those big, uh, the kind of the robes, right. To, to gird them about and have their loins girded, they would, they would grab that rope, the rope there, and they'd pull it up between their legs and they'd tie it off so that they could run faster. So they could be more, more nimble and agile. Um, and, uh, but it's also, you know, having everything girded and just secured and ready to go. But the lamps have to be burning. You might not have time to figure out, where's my lighter? How do I get this thing started? The lamps are to be burning and that oil can be refilled while the lamp is burning. So they're not supposed to allow that lamp, that light to go out. But these foolish virgins here are a picture of those who rely on other spirituality. and relationship with the Lord for their own spiritual growth and relationship. They see someone else, oh, I go to this church that's, excuse me, that's alive and I feel the Lord and I can tell, you know, the pastor's got, you know, the Lord's really speaking through him and he's guiding, directing this church well, I'm gonna be a part of that work and rely on the Lord working in that work there for me. And what you're doing is you're being a foolish virgin there. And from a spiritual sense, you're relying on someone else's supply of the oil to help and resupply and refill your supply. And we can't do that. They themselves, the wise servants or the wise virgin said, no, not so. Lest there be not enough for you and for us. Then we're both out of luck here. There's no point in it. So they can't rely on someone else's. They think that they can get the Holy Spirit from someone else. So you apply it to today. You go out there and maybe you're soul winner. Maybe you're just talking to individuals out there about the Lord. Oh, my grandmother took us to church when I was a kid. So I'm good. I went to church with my grandma or my parents were Baptist. Or I'm Catholic or I'm Lutheran, so we were kind of born into it and we're good to go because I have this heritage and it's never been made a personal thing. It's never been their own responsibility. Look at Acts chapter 8. Similar idea here with Simon in Acts 8. We'll start in verse 18. Acts 8.18 says, And when Simon saw that through laying on of the apostles' hands the Holy Ghost was given, he offered them money, saying, Give me also this power that on whomsoever I lay hands he may receive the Holy Ghost. But Peter said unto him, Thy money perish with thee, because thou hast thought that the gift of God may be purchased with money. Thou hast neither part nor lot in this matter, for thy heart is not right in the sight of God. Repent, therefore, of this thy wickedness, and pray God, if perhaps the thought of thine heart may be forgiven thee. For I perceive that thou art in the gall of bitterness and in the bond of iniquity. Then answered Simon and said, Pray ye to the Lord for me, that none of these things which ye have spoken come upon me." Even by verse 24, he's still saying, hey, you do it. You pray to the Lord for me. You try to help, you know, see if the Lord will have mercy on me. It's not been made a personal thing. It's got to be made an individual decision and choice there. Even with these foolish virgins, even with the tribulation Jewish saints there, they're going to have to make it a personal thing. And they cannot rely on anyone else, but you'll notice also that that buying for yourselves here in verse. I think it was verse It says, buy for yourselves, that in Acts 8 there, he couldn't buy the Holy Spirit. So this buying here, even in typology, there's more than just simply cash and check for this thing. There's work that's got to be done. There's a readiness factor that has to be done. There's a personal thing that has to be done for these folks. Money will not buy it. Before we get to that point, it says there that, it says, our lamps have gone out. So verse 7, then those virgins rose. Verse 8, foolish said unto the wise, give us of your oil for our lamps have gone out. Shows that they lacked faith that Christ would return and they're not enduring unto the end. Okay, so it's all tied together there. So they have to endure to the end. That's continuing to work. continuing to have faith, continuing to keep the commandments of Jesus Christ unto the end. And they failed to get it unto the end, and because of that, they missed out on something big. Because they were out trying to fix it, and it was too late at that point. There will be Jews in the tribulation that fail to keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus. They'll not be able to get it based on the works and faith of others. All right, so buying here, the concept of buying for yourselves, and we'll probably close on this thought, but buying here seems to be referring to works. Look over in Isaiah 55. Isaiah 55, so it's not just a one-time transaction that now you, that you can make and that, you know, they have it now. But Isaiah 55, look at verse 1. Ho, everyone that thirsteth, come ye to the waters. And he that hath no money, come ye, buy and eat. So how do you buy with no money? So there's something else going on with that buying. Yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price. Wherefore do you spend money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which satisfies not? See there, now you've got money and labor being tied together. So they're spending money when they should be spending labor. Harken diligently unto me, and eat ye that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness." So it's just drawing a connection there between buying and a labor that's involved. And then back in Matthew, just one chapter back from where we're at now, Matthew 24, verse 13. He that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved. There's something that they must be doing and continue to do. They can't just start off well. They can't, you know, like these guys, they started out with the Holy Ghost, they started out with the oil, and then it expired, and they didn't keep doing. So it's a continual renewing of that, keeping those commandments. And then last reference we'll probably run to, look at Hebrews chapter 3. Hebrews chapter 3 verse 14 says, I heard it put this way, next time you read through the book of Hebrews, look at all the ifs that are in the book of Hebrews. It's an iffy book. If we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast unto the end. If, there's no if with you and I. We get saved, we get Jesus Christ, there's no ifs, ands, or buts about it. It's it, it's over, it's settled. But they have it if they hold fast, if they keep the confidence, if they keep the faith and works. We already looked at it, but Revelation 14.12 talks about the faith and works that's required. And then Acts 8, we looked at it as well, but Acts 8.20 specifically says that the Holy Spirit cannot be purchased with money. And that transcends. No one has ever been able to purchase God with any money, any money at all. It would do no good. Everything's his in the first place. So you would just simply be given something to him that he already owns, but it cannot be purchased with money. So therefore it must be purchased, procured with something else. So this purchasing is tied and connected with a labor that's involved there. All right, we're just gonna read the last three verses, or four verses, 10 through 13. While they went to buy, so they went to make that purchase, the bridegroom came, and they that were ready went in with him to the marriage, and the door was shut. Afterward came also the other virgin, saying, Lord, Lord, open to us. But he answered and said, Verily I say unto you, I know you not. Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of Man cometh. The command is to watch, but there's more to watching than just what you and I understand as just watching with your eyeballs and watching with your attention. Watching here is tied directly to their readiness level. So this bridegroom came, which represents the second advent or that rapture just prior to the battle of Armageddon. But the reason why I think it's prior to, and this isn't the Second Advent, the other passages that we ran to in Matthew 24, where we looked at those, you know, two were in the field, one was taken, one was left, we ran the references, where were those taken to? They were taken to the Battle of Armageddon. They were taken to where the eagles are gathered, where all their carcasses are going. These ones who are taken, who are allowed to leave where they're at, are not taken to the battle unless it's like a U-turn up in heaven where they go up there, get their glorified body, hey, join the ranks of the army and come on back down. That's possible. That's why I think there's more to this than just simply Second Advent being granted access into the kingdom from a physical standpoint. There's that split rapture, for lack of a better term, because at this point it's too late to get themselves ready. The door closes while they're out trying to work to get right with the Lord. It's too late. They did not endure to the end. So in summary, in closing here, these foolish virgins, they had access. And they lost access. You can run references to Judges 16 with Samson where the Holy Spirit departs from him. That's why he wasn't able to break the bands. But with him, the Holy Spirit came back upon him. Then you can run also to 1 Samuel where you got Saul, the Holy Spirit, the Lord took his Holy Spirit away from him and gave him an evil spirit from the Lord instead. And he never got, there's no evidence in the Bible that Saul ever got that Holy Spirit back. Psalm 51 11 with with David there is where that's where he says, you know, let not thy spirit depart from me So there's something different there the last reference we will run. I promise. I know I already said it. I'm already breaking it Look at John 14 though John 14 something happened at Calvary something happened when Jesus Christ came down and that had never happened before. You cannot say anyone was saved the same way before Christ, and it's going to go back to where it was in the tribulation as well. John 14, verse 16, and I will pray the Father, and He shall give you another comforter, that He may abide with you forever. even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth Him not. Neither knoweth Him, but ye know Him, for He dwelleth with you and shall be in you." That is a spiritual transaction that takes place where the Holy Spirit no longer is going to come and go. He will dwell with them forever. And it's a future sense in Jesus' eyes here because it wasn't never that way before. It never was before. And then, without running the references, you can run, we've looked at them before, but their lack of readiness is considered iniquity. The idea of continuing, enduring to the end, keeping the faith and the confidence in the commandments of Jesus Christ, that's their righteousness. Well, in Luke chapter 13, the same wording is used where he says, depart from me, I never knew you, ye that work iniquity. Says it again in Matthew chapter 7, ye that work iniquity. Those are the ones that are departing. So not being ready when Christ returns. is likened and is the same picture and idea as being working iniquity, the sin involved in their lives. So there's a personal, physical, literal righteousness that they have to maintain and sin will break that away from them or break them away from it rather. All right, watch therefore. The Jews are waiting for the Son of Man. You and I are not waiting for the Son of Man. You see that there in verse 13 of our text, the Son of Man is who's coming for them. We are waiting for the Son of God to return. And anyways, let's close in a word of prayer, then we'll be dismissed. Heavenly Father, Lord, we love you. And Lord, I know this last bit was a bit rushed, Father, but I pray that it still was clear enough, Lord. And Father, I pray that you just be with the rest of today. Father, help pastors as he brings your word to us. Father, I ask that you give him wisdom, give him discernment, Lord, and how to present it to us, Father. Pray that you'd open up our hearts and minds to understand it and be able to apply it to our lives, Father. I'm thankful, Lord, just for this church. I'm thankful for the book that you've given to us, Lord. I love these people here, Lord, and I just pray that you'd just do work here in the lives of individuals here today. And we'll just thank you and praise you for it. We love you. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.