The Wise and the Foolish Virgins
The Wise and the Foolish Virgins
“At that time the kingdom of heaven will be like the ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. Five of them were foolish and five were wise. The foolish ones took their lamps but did not take any oil with them. The wise however, took oil in jars along with their lamps . The bridegroom was a long time in coming, and they all became drowsy and fell asleep.
At midnight the cry rang out : ‘Here’s the bridegroom ! Come out to meet him!’
Then all the virgins woke up and trimmed their lamps. The foolish ones said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil ; our lamps are going out.’
‘No’, they replied, ‘there may not be not enough for both us and you. Instead, go to those who sell oil and buy some for yourselves.’
But while they were on their way to buy the oil, the bridegroom arrived. The virgins who were ready went in with him to the wedding banquet. And the door was shut.
Later others also came.’Sir ! Sir! they said . ‘Open the door for us.’
But he replied, ‘I tell you the truth , I don’t know you.’
Therefore keep watch , because you do not know the day or the hour.
Matthew : 25 : 1- 13
The coming of the Son of Man is likened to a great wedding feast. The bridegroom is no other than the Lord JesusChrist . The bride is His glorious church. There are two kinds of bride. The wise and the foolish virgins. The wise virgins took oil in jars along with their lamps while the foolish ones took their lamps but did not take any oil with them.
The oil represents the anointing of the Holy Spirit. The wise virgins are the true bride of Christ and possess the anointing of the Holy Spirit. They experienced the mighty infilling of the Holy Spirit upon surrendering completely their lives to Christ. They have completely renounced their sinfulness, self-centeredness, wordliness. They made a total surrender and consecration of their lives to Christ, that’s why they experienced the mighty infilling of the Holy Sprit. Total surrender and consecration of one’s life to Christ is a major requirement in order to experience the mighty infilling or baptism of the Holy Spirit. You cannot separate baptism of the Holy Spirit from a life of total surrender and consecration. Only by being filled with the Holy Spirit, a Christian can have power to live the Christian life victoriously. Without being filled with the Holy Spirit, a professing Christian will just live carnally and will struggle in living the supernatural life of a believer in Christ.
The foolish virgins are professing Christians who did not experience the mighty infilling or baptism of the Holy Spirit because they have not made a total surrender and consecration of their lives to Christ. They have no power nor strength to live the supernatural life of a believer in Christ. So they live carnal lives without power over sin and without holiness. So they are not victorious christians. They cannot be part of the true Bride of Christ who will be with the Lord at the time of His second coming. So you cannot separate true Christianity from total surrender to the Lordship of Christ.
One great way of preparing for the coming of the Lord is preparing ourselves to be counted among the true bride of Christ just like what the wise virgins did. Instead of building our earthly empires we must pursue to be in the center of God’s will. Many are preparing for a great career here on earth or many are preparing for great retirement years but are so careless about preparing for the coming of the Lord. We must make a total surrender and consecration of our lives to the Lord so that we will receive the mighty infilling of the Holy Spirit and so that we will possess power to live the Christian life victoriously and be counted among Christ true bride.
The Kingdom of God has no room for half-hearted followers. Following Christ is an all out commitment to JesusChrist and His cause. Only by receiving the mighty anointing of the Holy Spirit we can have power to conquer our sinfulness, our self-centeredness and our worldliness. To receive the mighty infilling of the Holy Spirit we must strive hard to achieve the following :
· Total repentance from our sinfulness, self-centeredness and worldliness
· Total surrender of our lives to the Lordship of Christ
· Dethroning of the self-life
· Total consecration of our whole being to God
· Total commitment to holiness
We must desire it earnestly daily in our lives to possess power for living. A carnal professing Christian will never become part of the true bride of Christ. True Christianity has no room for carnality. As you eagerly await for the coming of the Lord , seek earnestly to be mightily filled with the Holy Spirit in order to receive power to live Christian life victoriously. Only in possessing Spirit-filled life we will be able to do the works of the Kingdom mightily. Apart from the power of the Holy Spirit everything will be in vain as it is written in Zechariah 4 :6; “It is not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the Lord Almighty.”