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The greatest need in the Church in this hour is to have intimacy with God. Here is what Jesus had to say about it.
 Jesus, in one of His last messages before He went to the cross, gave a parable that contains one of the most relevant messages for the generation in which the Lord returns. Now I am not the official spokesman, but I am convinced that this generation is the generation that will see the Second Advent of Jesus. And if not this one, most certainly the next. Let’s look at what Jesus had to say.
1 “Then the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom. 2 Five of them were foolish, and five were wise. 3 For when the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them, 4 but the wise took flasks of oil with their lamps. 5 As the bridegroom was delayed, they all became drowsy and slept. 6 But at midnight there was a cry, ‘Here is the bridegroom! Come out to meet him.’ 7 Then all those virgins rose and trimmed their lamps. 8 And the foolish said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’ 9 But the wise answered, saying, ‘Since there will not be enough for us and for you, go rather to the dealers and buy for yourselves.’ 10 And while they were going to buy, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the marriage feast, and the door was shut. 11 Afterward the other virgins came also, saying, ‘Lord, lord, open to us.’ 12 But he answered, ‘Truly, I say to you, I do not know you.’ 13 Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour. (Matthew 25:1-13)
THE PARABLE OF THE TEN VIRGINS: OVERVIEW
According to Israel’s customs, the ten virgins in this parable were like bridesmaids that welcomed the bridegroom. They would accompany the bridegroom when he came suddenly to the bride’s house to get her. For this reason, the bridesmaids were to be ready and alert with oil in their lamps.
Jesus spoke this parable as a continuation of His teaching from Matthew 24 in which he characterized the last generation to live before His return. While this parable has been applicable throughout the Church age, Jesus was speaking in particular of the generation in which He would return.
Jesus is a King with power and a Bridegroom with desire. It is in the last days that the Holy Spirit will emphasize this revelation of Jesus as the Bridegroom King. During this time, all ministries will be focusing on Jesus as a bridegroom God. That has never yet happened in history.
The Spirit and the Bride say, “Come.”…(Revelation 22:17)
The primary message of this parable is that we need oil in our lamps. Throughout the Scriptures oil is used both literally and symbolically. It is used symbolically of the unction of the Holy Spirit (Ps. 45:7; 89:20; Zec. 4:12), The preaching of the gospel (Isa. 61:3) and the kind reproof of a friend (Ps.141:5).
In this passage Jesus uses oil as a symbol of a believer’s personal encounters with God at the heart level. It represents our secret history in God – that part of our life that only God can see and assess accurately. Our inward life in God is like the foundation of a great mountain, without which there can be no great height. It can be compared to the analogy of building a skyscraper. We can only up to the depth that we have built our foundations. And the foundation of our spiritual well-being is intimacy with God.
In the Scriptures lamps refer to several different things. In this parable Jesus uses lamps to represent our ministries. Jesus referred to the ministry of John the Baptist as a burning and shining lamp (John 5:35). In our families, in our workplaces, in our schools, and in our churches - wherever God has assigned us for the present season of our lives, whether official or unofficial, that is our place of ministry, that is where we are to let our light shine (Matt. 5:16).
One of the deadliest pitfalls that many believers fall to is neglecting a dynamic relationship with the Person of the Holy Spirit by becoming primarily focused on their ministry. Whether our ministry is being established, growing, being maintained, or anywhere in between, we must always keep the oil of intimacy as primary. We can only maintain a vibrant life in God to the degree that we personally invest our time, money and resources in the ongoing relationship of intimacy with God with a spirit of obedience. No matter how busy our schedules get, we must take time to refuel and strengthen our relationship with the Lord.
WISE AND FOOLISH BELIEVERS
The wise and foolish virgins in this parable are sincere believers.
For I feel a divine jealousy for you, since I betrothed you to one husband, to present you as a pure virgin to Christ. (2 Corinthians 11:2)
All born-again believers are referred to in the Scriptures as virgins. We are not virgins because we are spiritually mature or because we are free from all defilement or because of our dedication to Jesus. Born-again believers are referred to as virgins no matter what we have done in the past - because of Jesus’ sacrifice. Jesus has given us the gift of righteousness, resulting in our being made pure and clean in God’s sight.
A lamp shines light into darkness so that people can walk on the right path. All of the believers in this parable have active ministries that are bringing spiritual light to others.
14 “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. 16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven. (Matthew 5:14-16)
Five of these believers were wise and five were foolish. Notice that Jesus did not call them righteous and wicked, or committed and uncommitted. None of the believers in this parable reject Jesus. They all love Jesus and they all have a revelation of Jesus as a Bridegroom. There are whole segments of the Body of Christ that do not have a revelation of Jesus as the Bridegroom or of themselves as the Bride of Christ. But before the Lord returns the whole Body of Christ will walk in this revelation (Rev 22:17).
The foolish believer is defined by Jesus here as one who takes their lamps (works in ministry), but neglects to get oil (personal intimacy with God). They have lost their intimacy with God. They are foolish because they allow their inward life in God to diminish in the midst of their ministry. The foolish forfeit their inward life in God for the sake of their ministry.
I was having lunch once with several pastors. In the midst of our conversation I mentioned how the Holy Spirit is desirous to lead believers in to doing the right things for the right reasons and in the right manner. Did you know that you can be doing the right thing for the wrong reason, or in the wrong manner, and miss out on the benefit of what you are doing?
One of the pastors stated that they disagreed with what I had stated. They said that they believed that God looked at people’s sincerity and He would meet them where they are, even if they are doing it wrong. This is a common misconception among many today that God blesses us based on our sincerity. Sincerity does not automatically lead to wisdom. We must add to our sincerity revelation from the Word so that we are lining up with the Word more and more day by day. Zeal for righteousness is something that the Holy Spirit imparts to us to the degree that we stay in fellowship with Him.
Beloved, it is possible for a sincere believer to be committed to the Lord, have a ministry that is blessed by the Lord (anointed) and that is successful in man’s eyes; and still live a life disconnected at the heart level from the Holy Spirit. It is not that the Holy Spirit leaves, but our awareness of connection with Him decreases significantly from neglect.
Jesus defines the wise believer as one who gets oil (maintains a personal intimacy with God) while they are shining their lamps (fulfilling their ministry functions. Their inward life in God is their primary focus. A wise virgin will have as his primary focus in life to connect with Jesus and a have a vibrant life in the Holy Spirit. It is from that place of intimacy that they minister to others. The only way we can stay steady is through connectedness with the Lord on the inside, at the heart level.
However, the wise do not take oil only. As we give ourselves wholeheartedly to pursuing intimacy with God in a primary way, the Holy Spirit will always compel us to shine our lamp to others. If we go deep inwardly, it will always result in our shining outwardly.
37 And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. 38 This is the great and first commandment. 39 And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. (Matthew 22:37-39)
And those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the sky above; and those who turn many to righteousness, like the stars forever and ever. (Daniel 12:3)
As I have heard preachers and teachers expound on this text over the years, a vast majority push the point that Jesus was rebuking the virgins because they fell asleep. The negative element in this parable is not their slumber. Both the wise and the foolish slumbered while the Bridegroom delayed His coming. There are other parables where slumbering is negative and refers to compromise and sloth and spiritual passivity. However, in this parable the slumber refers to the day-to-day rigors of life. Both the wise and the foolish believers are subject to the natural processes of life.
When the lamps (ministries) of the foolish start to go out, then they ask for oil from the wise. When their ministry models start to falter, when the sermons from yesteryear no longer draw the crowds; when the programs they kept people involved no longer work – the lack of oil will become apparent to all.
Oil is something that by its very definition is personal. It is only the movements of our own heart that develop oil we can use. It cannot be given away to or received by another. Our personal life, or secret history, in God cannot be transferred because it must be cultivated individually. God wants love from your heart and only you can give it to Him.
According to Revelation 9:21, the four primary areas of sin Satan will press are murder, sexual immorality, theft and witchcraft (occult activity). God’s gift to the world during this time in human history will be a generation of prophetic believers with the oil of intimacy in their spirit.
BUYING OIL
Though Jesus tells us here to buy oil, He is not saying that we can earn it. We do buy oil, in a spiritual sense, because there is a cost. We must invest our time and energy in the process of developing our relationship with God. The Kingdom of God is realized in time and space. This is the God-ordained way to acquire oil that the Scriptures prescribe in the grace of God. We “pay the price” by giving ourselves to Him and tearing our hearts away from the areas of darkness that have a hold on us.
The believers in Revelation 3:18 were born again, they were virgins, but they were still living lives that were disconnected from God. Their love for God had cooled to mediocrity. Jesus still enjoyed them personally, but He was not in agreement with what they believed or the lifestyles they were living. He counseled them to buy from Him. Again, He is not saying that they could earn anything from Him. To go and buy means we acquire it in the God-ordained way – and that is by investing ourselves to God.
I counsel you to buy from me gold (oil) refined by fire, so that you may be rich, and white garments so that you may clothe yourself and the shame of your nakedness may not be seen, and salve to anoint your eyes, so that you may see. (Revelation 3:18)
THE MIDNIGHT CRY: OUR CALL TO WATCHFULNESS
But at midnight there was a cry, ‘Here is the bridegroom! Come out to meet him.’ 13 Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour. (Matthew 25:6, 13)
Jesus is saying here that at the midnight hour of human history, often in Scripture midnight represents the darkest hour, a cry will go forth to go out and meet the Bridegroom. This is a prophetic call to the virgins to shake off all compromise and passivity, and rise up out of our busy, oversaturated lives in order to encounter the Bridegroom God.
The conclusion Jesus draws for this parable is that even if we are virgins, even if we are sincere, even if we have lamps that shine for others to see, the very busyness of our ministry can cause us to slumber, to lose our connectedness to Him; even while seeing success in ministry. And His answer to that dilemma is that we should be watchful because the Son of Man is coming. To watch is essentially to develop our prayer life with God.
Pray before you work. Pray while you work. Pray when your work is done. Prayer (intimacy) with God is THE definition of a successful Christian life.
Beloved, watch, for the Bridegroom is coming!
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