The 10 Virgins Bible Study
from Matthew 25
continued...

 PART 2
Watch and Pray Always

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There is a reason that Jesus said what He did.

Luke 21:34-36 " 34 And take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and [so] that day come upon you unawares. 35 For as a snare shall it come on all them that dwell on the face of the whole earth. 36 Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man. "

This is the end of Luke's version of Matthew's chapter 24 discourse of the Tribulation. There is a promise given here to them... that if they watched and prayed always, that they might be accounted "worthy" to escape all of the things coming to pass.

This has nothing to do with soul salvation, but has to do with the catching away of the church and the removal of the authority of the church out of this earth so that Hell can be unleashed unfettered. That is why you see Saints being overcome in the Tribulation, and yet Jesus promised that the gates of Hell would not prevail against the "Church". The body of Christ... the authority of the church shall leave, but saved people... saints will remain.

Hold on... its about to get a bit in-depth:

Matthew 16:18-19 " 18 And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. 19 And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. " - PROMISE TO THE CHURCH

1 Thessalonians 5:6-11 " 6 Therefore let us not sleep, as [do] others; but let us watch and be sober. 7 For they that sleep sleep in the night; and they that be drunken are drunken in the night. 8 But let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for an helmet, the hope of salvation. 9 For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ, - PROMISE TO THE CHURCH
10 Who died for us, that, whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with him. 11 Wherefore comfort yourselves together, and edify one another, even as also ye do. "

YET, the saints of God are definitely overcome during the 70th Week of Daniel... the Tribulation. The Bible is very, very clear about that.

Daniel 7:25-27 " 25 And he shall speak [great] words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High, and think to change times and laws: and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time. 26 But the judgment shall sit, and they shall take away his dominion, to consume and to destroy [it] unto the end. 27 And the kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people of the saints of the most High, whose kingdom [is] an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey him. "

Revelation 6:9-11 " 9 And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held: 10 And they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth? 11 And white robes were given unto every one of them; and it was said unto them, that they should rest yet for a little season, until their fellowservants also and their brethren, that should be killed as they [were], should be fulfilled. "

Revelation 7:12-17 " 12 Saying, Amen: Blessing, and glory, and wisdom, and thanksgiving, and honour, and power, and might, [be] unto our God for ever and ever. Amen.

13 And one of the elders answered, saying unto me, What are these which are arrayed in white robes? and whence came they? 14 And I said unto him, Sir, thou knowest. And he said to me, These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. 15 Therefore are they before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple: and he that sitteth on the throne shall dwell among them. 16 They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more; neither shall the sun light on them, nor any heat. 17 For the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains of waters: and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes. "

Lets look at two examples in Revelation 3 of two last days churches (actually, there are three there, but the church at Sardis belongs more with a discussion of 2 Peter instead of Matthew 25). The two last days kinds of church... Philadelphia the faithful church, and Laodicea the backslidden church. The two ways that Jesus discusses them and gives the revelation of what is going to happen with them says much.

The faithful church:  

Revelation 3:7-11 " 7 And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write; These things saith he that is holy, he that is true, he that hath the key of David, he that openeth, and no man shutteth; and shutteth, and no man openeth; 8 I know thy works: behold, I have set before thee an open door, and no man can shut it: for thou hast a little strength, and hast kept my word, and hast not denied my name. 9 Behold, I will make them of the synagogue of Satan, which say they are Jews, and are not, but do lie; behold, I will make them to come and worship before thy feet, and to know that I have loved thee.
10 Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth.
11 Behold, I come quickly: hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown. "

1. They had been faithful over that which they had been given. They were not super-spiritual giants, but they loved the Lord and had been faithful and were promised an open door of opportunity.

2. The persecution that they suffered would be reversed some day.

3. THE PROMISE IS GIVEN TO THIS CHURCH THAT THEY WOULD BE KEPT FROM THE HOUR OF TEMPTATION THAT WOULD COME ON THE WHOLE EARTH... THIS IS TRIBULATION. They are promised that they would be kept from it. This is they that obeys Jesus in saying that they are to watch and pray always. This is the 5 wise virgins that took care to walk in the Spirit and have enough of the Spirit of God in their lives to let their lights shine.

4. The warning is given to hold fast what they have that nobody take their crown. Which crown? Is it just a crown of reward or the stephanos... crown of victory that the elders get in the next chapter? If so, then they must have that crown of victory if they are caught up just before the opening of the Seals... so that they can cast it at the feet of Yahweh, the Father.

The lukewarm church:

Revelation 3:14-20 " 14 And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write; These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God;
15 I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot.
16 So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth.
17 Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked: 18 I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and [that] the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see. 19 As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent. 20 Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me. "

1. This church thinks that its okay, but Jesus is knocking trying to get in. They are not cold really, and they are not fervent with the fire of God and passion for Jesus, but they are room temperature, and as some piece of food that is supposed to be hot when you put it into your mouth and its just a weak warm, God spits it back up. Actually the word literally means to throw up. It makes God sick and He rejects them.

2. They are told to repent. In other words, turn back and get true spiritual riches instead of the flash and material wealth that they have been counting as spiritual gain.

3. They are spiritually blind but think that they are so wise... but they are foolish.

4. They were Christians for God was chastening them. He only chastens those that He loves and counts as a child. They are being chastened and Jesus is wanting back inside because they have pushed him out through their compromise with sin. There is no fellowship anymore. That does not mean that they are lost... it means that they are like the prodigal son away from God.

But God will reject them... they must repent and get enough oil to get the fire burning again. If not, they will be rejected. This is a view of the 5 foolish virgins.
 

They all had lamps... they all had vessels, but the difference was in wisdom in that the wise had their oil fresh and enough of it to keep their fires burning. The foolish was going and walking in the flesh. They did not take time with God... as Laodicea, they were being chastened, but not doing anything about it when the time came. See, the thing is, we just don't know when the time comes.

We know when the seasons are here (1 Thessalonians 5), and I for one believe that we are in the season and in that generation. Yet, so many are living like Jesus will take another 1000 years before He catches us away. So many are walking unawares just like the world. They aren't the world... they aren't lost, but they act like it as a foolish rebellious child.

What is the oil?   The anointing... the presence of God. Jesus was the Christ... the Messiah... the anointed one, and He anoints us with the Spirit of God. Now understand... the virgins can only be virgins if they have been born again and that means that they have the Spirit of God in them that brings the new birth.  But the anointing shows the covering... the flowing of the Spirit.  Its more than just salvation, but it is the Holy Spirit actively moving in our lives.  The anointing brings the works of God.

Romans 8:9-13 " 9 But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.
10 And if Christ [be] in you, the body [is] dead because of sin; but the Spirit [is] life because of righteousness. 11 But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you. 12 Therefore, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh. 13 For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live. "

If we are born again, then the Spirit is there. But like the example of the vessel or glass of water... or lets say "oil". Is there a little oil, or a lot of oil? Is it overflowing with oil, or is there just enough to bring salvation? 

See, when you read Romans 8 there, there is a call to mortify the deeds of the body so that you shall live. There is the promise of that Spirit raising up your mortal bodies... and that we are debtors to live after the Spirit and not the flesh. How about those who are born again, but do not walk in the Spirit and stay in constant chastening? It happens. In fact, much of the American church is there today... like Laodicea, increased with goods but has become spiritually blind and empty. They are in the hog's pen and do not know it.

They do not have enough to keep their lamps burning which is why they wanted the others to share what they had with them. The others had been filled with the Spirit and walked that way sufficiently... watched and prayed always and when the cry was made, their lamps burned and the Spirit raised them up.

Many problems arise when people take this part and that part and do not explore the verses that the use in context with other ideas that are there as well that go together.

HALF AND HALF... when you consider that the greatest revivals going on right now are in 3rd world countries, where do you suppose the lukewarm, foolish half of the church lives?

Barnes had an interesting notation. He said that the 5 foolish virgins probably expected that there would be no delay and did not prepare for it and did not take extra oil. I think that this is probably an interesting point here.

Many times, Christians start very motivated and on fire, but after a while allow the things of the world to overtake them and entrap them. They grow weary in well doing, and a kind of spiritual laziness sets in as they tend more to the flesh than to the spirit. This is a trap however, and if you have fallen to it at the critical time, you will be left behind.
 

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