MATTHEW LESSON 51

     This lesson begins in Matthew 25:1 "Then shall the kingdom of
heaven be likened unto ten virgins, which took their lamps, and went
forth to meet the bridegroom."

     We know that the Lord is coming back for a church that is a
chaste virgin. This means they have no other Gods. So we see by this,
that all these girls were part of the church, because all ten were
virgins. We know that the number ten has to do with world. All ten of
them were in the world. It appears that they had light because they
"took their lamps."  We also see, that all ten were looking for Jesus
("....went forth to meet the bridegroom....").

     Matthew 25:2 "And five of them were wise, and five [were]
foolish." Matthew 25:3 "They that [were] foolish took their lamps, and
took no oil with them:" Matthew 25:4 "But the wise took oil in their
vessels with their lamps."

     Here, we see a division. Now remember, all ten were believers in
Christ. It seems the extra oil that they took was what created a
separation of the two. The Holy Spirit is the oil. It seems that the
wise Christians had the Holy Spirit, and the foolish did not. We know
over in Acts, that the disciples of Christ were instructed to go to the
upper room and tarry until they be indued with power from on high.
These same disciples, before they were baptized in the Holy Spirit,
could not understand what the parables of Jesus meant. They were so
weak, that one of them denied Jesus, and all but one of them ran when
He was crucified. You can easily see that even though they had walked
with the Light (Jesus), they had no power until they received power on
Pentecost (when they received the power of the Holy Spirit). I believe
that this was the secret of the ten virgins. The other five had the
Holy Spirit (oil) which gave them power.

     Matthew 25:5 "While the bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered
and slept." Matthew 25:6 "And at midnight there was a cry made,
Behold, the bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet him."

     This verse 5 doesn't speak too highly of the church. It shows a
church that was asleep. All ten were asleep. I am sorry to say this a
true description of the Spirit filled, as well as the salvation
purchased churches today. You can hardly even tell that some of them
are churches. They mostly are making people comfortable enough that
they go to sleep (oblivious to the things going on). In the middle of
this sleep of the church, the Lord comes back "midnight". It is
midnight in most churches today. There are very few salvations,
healings, true deliverances, or raising the spiritually dead. The
churches, as a whole, have a form of godliness, but deny the power, as
we read in second Timothy 3. There are a few exceptions, but not nearly
enough. Some churches, for years, preached the return of Jesus. Now,
they have despaired that He has not come, and they have gone to sleep.
They are saying, well, if He is not coming, at least we can have a
good time in the church. Now, their services are appealing to the flesh
rather than building up the Spirit.

     Matthew 25:7 "Then all those virgins arose, and trimmed their
lamps." Matthew 25:8 "And the foolish said unto the wise, Give us of
your oil; for our lamps are gone out."

     Here too, is a sad situation describing of the falling away in
the church. Their light (Jesus) had gone out of their lives. They had
gotten caught up in the world and overlooked the more important thing
of walking daily in their salvation. When they saw the coming of
Christ, they hurriedly wanted to get back in good standing with their
Lord. They wanted to meet the bridegroom (Jesus) because of their
association (membership) with the righteous. The five foolish wanted to
hang on to the coat-tails of the five wise. It was too late.

     Matthew 25:9 "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."

     Salvation is an individual thing. Even if we wanted to, we could
not share our salvation or Holy Spirit with anyone else. We can tell
them where to get it, and how to get it, but they must get it for
themselves.

     Matthew 25:10 "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."

     When the trumpet blows in the sky, those who have been expecting
Him, and have lived their lives accordingly, will enter in with the
Lord. There is just one call. If you do not make the call, the door
will be shut. What a sad thing. Many churches teach salvation, but do
not teach their people that they must walk in that salvation every
day. The only way that it is possible to walk in our salvation daily
is through the power of the Holy Spirit of God.

     Matthew 25:11 "Afterward came also the other virgins, saying,
Lord, Lord, open to us." Matthew 25:12 "But he answered and said,
Verily I say unto you, I know you not."

     This is the same cry that we read about in a few lessons back,
when they stood before Jesus and said, Lord, Lord, have I not cast out
demons, healed the sick, (etc). He said get away from me; I never knew
you. You see, it is very dangerous to have a form of religion without
having a love relation to the Lord Jesus. He not only wants to be our
Saviour, but He wants to be our Lord, if we are His. Not some watered
down religion of "dos and dont's", but a true love relation with Him.
He must be everything to us. We should be happy as any bride who is
waiting for her Groom.

     Matthew 25:13 "Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor
the hour wherein the Son of man cometh."

     This "watch" just means to stay on your toes and don't be caught
up with others whose relation with God has waned away. The Christians
will be able to recognize the signs and know that His second coming is
near, but no one knows the exact day or hour. We just need to live in
anticipation of His coming.

     Lets take one more quick look at all of this before we go on. All
ten of these virgins are symbolic of people who proclaim to be
Christians in this world. What is wrong? He (Jesus) is coming back for
a church that is without spot or wrinkle. Where is this bride without
spot or wrinkle to be found?  There is such an irreverence in Church
today that if Jesus was to visit, the first thing He would do, is
clean house. He did that with the money changers and the dove sellers
once before, because they were defaming the temple. Jesus explained to
them then that the church is a House of Prayer. First of all you
cannot purchase the Spirit. No one can teach you the things of God.
The Holy things of God are an out-pouring from Him. Some minister can
pray, lay hands on you, and you receive from God, the Holy Spirit.  If
you have to repeat what someone else has received from God, that is
their gift from God, not yours. If you desire the Holy Spirit truly,
He (God) will give it to you. It will be yours and yours alone. On the
day of Pentecost, each person was filled individually. Acts 2:1 "And
when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one
accord in one place." Acts 2:2 "And suddenly there came a sound from
heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where
they were sitting." Acts 2:3 "And there appeared unto them cloven
tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them."

     There were different languages spoken that day, as we read in
Acts 2:6 "Now when this was noised abroad, the multitude came
together, and were confounded, because that every man heard them speak
in his own language." You see, God knows every language in the world.
Things of God do not have to be taught {just received).

     One more statement before we close this lesson. Search the
Scriptures daily for yourself. Pray and ask the Holy Spirit to teach
you. Get in a good "Bible believing" Bible study and make the study of
your Bible part of your daily living. God is easily found by those who
diligently seek Him. Ask God to baptize you in the Holy Spirit and
walk in the Light,every day until Jesus appears in the sky to call us
to Him.

     Next lesson will begin in Matthew 25:14














                        Matthew 51 Questions

1.  In this parable, what is the kingdom of heaven likened to?
2.  What does "virgin" indicate here?
3.  What does the fact that there were "ten" indicate?
4.  What do the "lamps" indicate?
5.  Who is the bridegroom?
6.  What kind of a church is the Lord coming for?
7.  How many were wise?
8.  Why were the others classified as foolish?
9.  What does the "oil" symbolize?
10. Why were the disciples to wait in the upper room until they were
    baptized in the Holy Spirit?
11. What weaknesses did they have before they received the Holy
    Spirit?
12. What did these virgins do while the bridegroom tarried?
13. What time did He come?
14. Why does this not speak too highly of the church?
15. What description in Second Timothy 3 describes most churches
    today?
16. What are churches doing today instead of building the spirit?
17. What did the virgins do as soon as they knew the bridegroom was
    here?
18. What did the foolish ask the wise for?
19. What did the wise tell them to do?
20. Explain salvation.
21. When the five foolish went to buy, who came?
22. Who went with Him?
23. What happened next?
24. What is the only way we can walk in our salvation every day?
25. What did the five foolish cry out to Jesus?
26. Who else have we heard cry this?
27. What two things will the believer not know about His coming?
28. If Jesus were to visit our churches today in person, what would He
    do with most of them?
29. On the day of Pentecost, how were they filled?
30. Who did the cloven tongues of fire sit on?
31. How did every man from all these different countries hear them?
32. What are four things we should practice to be ready?