 A fresh look at a familiar story of Jesus. Extra oil makes the difference between the two groups of end-time Christians. How did the wise get extra oil? Jesus was calling our attention to a passage in the Old Testament that tells how to get the extra oil 

A fresh look at a familiar story of Jesus. Extra oil makes the difference between the two groups of end-time Christians. How did the wise get extra oil? Jesus was calling our attention to a passage in the Old Testament that tells how to get the extra oil

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South Bay SDA Church

Phil Mills

How the Wise Get Oil

Never was a week more packed with surprises and suspense in Jesus life than the last week Sunday was the triumphal entry Monday was the second and final cleansing of the temple Tuesday was Christ's final day of teaching in the temple when he left it he would never return Later Tuesday afternoon Jesus sat with his disciples and gave his great prophetic outline of future events there sitting on Mount Olive.

Wednesday Judas finalized his contract to betray and sell Jesus and Thursday evening was the last summer supper in Gethsemane the rest the arrest Friday was Jesus crucifixion and death this morning our attention will be focused on late Tuesday afternoon.

Mark is the only 1 of the gospel writers that tells us some little behind-the-scenes details.

After Jesus left the temple, Peter, James, John, and Andrew climbed the ascent of Mount Olives toward Bethany.

When they got to a private place near the crest, they rested, sitting down in a secluded spot, and they could see the temple and the city of Jerusalem spread out beneath them.

These 4 disciples asked him a question that has interested Christians ever since.

What shall be the sign of thy coming and of the end of the world that was such an important question that Matthew Mark Luke all record Jesus answers each provide details not included in the others account and Jesus answered the question directly summarizing the prophecies of Daniel selecting major events that would serve as milestones over the centuries, unmistakable signals of Jesus approaching, coming, and the end of time.

And then Jesus concluded his answer with several important and familiar in time parables.

We'll focus our attention on 1 of these in time parables this morning.

This parable is not found in Mark and it's not found in Luke.

Remember this parable is part of Jesus' answer to what will be the signs of your coming and the end of the world.

We'll begin our study with verse 1 of Matthew 25, and every word is important.

In the previous chapter, Christ had carried his ears down through the long 2, 000 years of history that would intervene between then and now.

And pulling back the curtain for the 4 disciples he gave a picture of in time Christians.

Then the kingdom of heaven shall be likened to 10 virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom Since many of you are familiar with this parable and its symbols, we'll only briefly review them.

This verse contains 4 symbols, the kingdom of heaven at the end of time, the 10 virgins, a bridegroom, and lamps.

What's the kingdom of heaven Jesus is talking about in this verse is he giving us a peek into the kingdom of glory that he establishes when he comes no Jesus is giving us a glimpse into his kingdom of grace, with its throne of grace.

This is the kingdom of God now functioning on this earth and has been but this is the end time kingdom of grace that Jesus is talking about in this parable Jesus gives us a word picture of these in time citizens making up God's kingdom of grace.

The kingdom of heaven shall be likened to 10 virgins.

Again, the Bible explains its own symbols.

Virgins represent Christians who profess to be faithful to Jesus and Jesus alone.

Writing to his converts in Corinth Paul explains 2nd Corinthians 11 to I have espoused you to 1 husband that I may present you as chaste virgins to Christ who were the chaste virgins that Jesus that Paul was writing to in Corinth please listen carefully to the list Paul gave in 1st Corinthians 6 9 do not be deceived he said neither fornicators nor idolaters nor adulterers nor homosexuals nor sodomites nor thieves nor covetous nor drunkards nor revilers nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God did you hear the list fornicators adult idolaters adulterers homosexuals sodomites thieves covetous drunkards revilers extortioners Paul says that these terrible but popular sins will keep people out of the kingdom of heaven but Paul does not end with this list because he continues in the next verse and such were some of you but you were washed some of the believers in Corinth that Paul was calling chase virgins had once been defined and identified as these sins but now they have been washed The person who was blind but now sees is no longer blind.

And Jesus accepts us as we are, but he does not leave us as we were.

Modern society claims that these sins can never be changed.

Alcoholics Anonymous has a mantra repeated at every meeting, hello I'm Phil or whatever the name is and I'm an alcoholic.

But identifying ourselves by our past sins is no mantra for the Christian.

These sins may have been the prison that kept us in bondage in the past, but Jesus has rescued us from the slavery of our sins.

Yes, some making up the Church of Corinth had been fornicators, some had been idolaters, some had been adulterers, some had been homosexuals, some had been sodomites, Some had been thieves, some had been covetous, some had been drunkards, some had been revilers, and some had been extortioners.

They were no longer controlled by these things.

They were no longer held in captivity, the playthings of Satan.

Paul said, some of you, not all of you, not even most of them, but some of them had been rescued from these sins.

Some of the people that comprised the 10 virgins have been rescued from the same pit of destruction but they have been washed.

They have been on the inside cleansed by the water of the word and by the blood of the Lamb.

On the outside they had been washed by the waters of baptism.

Thus cleansed Paul could now call them chaste virgins.

Therefore if anyone be in Christ, he is a new creation.

The 10 virgins experientially understand the words of David.

Blessed is the man to whom the Lord does not impute iniquity.

That brings us to the third symbol in the parable, the bridegroom.

The bridegroom is a Bible symbol representing Jesus Christ.

John the Baptist used the symbol of a bridegroom to illustrate Jesus in John 3.29.

Jesus expanded on this symbol with John the Baptist disciples in Matthew 9 15 the days will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them that is the time when would come when Jesus the bridegroom was no longer with his people on this earth at his ascension Jesus was taken away but when he was taken away the disciples were left with a wonderful promise this same Jesus acts 111 who was taken up from you into heaven will so come in like manner as you saw him go into heaven.

And as we saw at the start of our study this morning, the Bible says that Jesus will return at the end of the world the bridegroom would be returning and that 10 virgins are part of the wedding party to welcome the bridegroom and his return what is the word we use to describe in time Christians who are looking for the soon return of Jesus that's right Adventist Adventist so the 10 virgins represent Adventist at the very end of time expectantly waiting for Jesus to return.

By their baptism all Adventists profess to be faithful to Jesus and are awaiting his return.

We have looked at the kingdom of heaven the 10 virgins the bridegroom but there's 1 further symbol in this verse lamps Jesus notes that every 1 of the 10 virgins carries lamps Lamps are a Bible symbol for God's Word.

Psalm 119, 105, Thy word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path.

The 10 virgins are people of the book the Bible gives them light for themselves and others they carry their light with them that's what Jesus meant when he said ye are the light of the world but not only did the 10 virgins carry the Bible they carried the commandments and the law Proverbs 6 23 for the commandment is a lamp and the law is a light this makes the 10 virgins not simply Adventist Christians it makes them seventh-day Adventist Christians Since the number 10 is a Bible symbol for completeness, in the few words of Matthew 25 verse 1, Jesus has described every baptized Seventh-day Adventist here this morning.

Matthew 25, 1, then the kingdom of heaven, God's end-time kingdom of grace, shall be likened to 10 virgins, Seventh-day Adventist Christians, who took their lamps, God's word and his law, and went out to meet the bridegroom Jesus who was coming soon Christ's story continues within the 10 virgins were 2 groups now 5 of them verse 2 were wise and 5 were foolish in Jesus parable some of the seventh-day Adventists were wise but sadly some were otherwise by talking about the wise and the foolish Jesus is pointing us back to the book of Proverbs the book of Proverbs was written to teach us how to be wise and how to avoid being foolish and when we understand Jesus parable of the 10 virgins we will read the book of Proverbs differently because wisdom is particularly important at the end of time based on this parable the book of Proverbs is especially written for Adventist at the very end of time and those Adventist carrying the light of God's law and God's Word who are wise will be part of the wedding celebration of the Lamb but those Adventist though they are carrying the light of God's law and God's Word who are foolish will be lost 5 of them were wise and 5 were foolish now I would have liked Jesus story much better if he would have ended it by saying and these 10 virgins were all wise and welcomed the bridegroom they were taken to heaven and they all lived happily ever after but that's not Jesus story I would have liked Jesus parable a little better if he would only said now 9 of them were wise and only 1 of them was foolish but Jesus didn't say that neither did Jesus say now 1 of them was wise and 9 of them were foolish the percentage of virgins who were wise and the percentage of virgins who were foolish is not the point of the story it's not Jesus burden it should not be our burden every Adventist is in 1 of these 2 groups this morning each of us is either wise or we're foolish There is no third group called half-wits.

But let's continue with Matthew 25, 3 and 4 to see what the wise virgins did that the foolish virgins failed to do.

Those who were foolish took their lamps and took no oil with them but the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps Solomon talked to this Proverbs 21 verse 20 there is desirable treasure and oil in the dwelling of the wise but a foolish man squanders it the chief responsibility of the 10 virgins was to let their light shine that was it in those familiar words from Jesus sermon on the Mount Matthew 5 14 You are the light of the world.

A city that is set on a hill cannot be hid, nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house.

Jesus continues the sermon on the mount by telling us what letting our light shine looks like.

Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your father in heaven what are these good works others are to see acts 2620 calls us to do works befitting repentance doing works befitting repentance is not doing pharisaical good works to be seen of men and call attention to ourselves and our goodness doing works befitting repentance are not the good works of the spiritual show-offs works befitting repentance is the true light of Christ within us that shines out inescapably out of us and Christ is within us when His Word is within us and Christ abides in us when His Word abides in us.

God's Word is not a light we hold in our hands it is a light that burns in our hearts as Cleopas and his friend exclaimed after the walk with Jesus to Emmaus, did not our heart burn within us while he talked with us on the road and while he opened the scripture to us?

But the light can only continue burning if there is a continuous supply of oil bringing a continuing and deepening repentance Had the foolish virgins paid attention to the message of the sanctuary They would have known the importance of a continuous supply of oil for God commanded Moses Leviticus 24 to command the children of Israel that they bring unto thee pure olive oil beaten for the light to cause the lamps to burn continually the children of Israel were to continuously bring fresh oil to the sanctuary so that the lights there would never go out.

Like the lamps in the sanctuary, we are a sanctuary for God to dwell in.

And the light in the 10 virgins lamps were never those lamps were never to go out the wise had their lamps and took extra oil to make certain their lights would continuously shine the foolish had their lamps but had no concern for extra oil to keep their lights burning.

The difference between the wise and the foolish virgins was the difference between having and not having extra oil.

But why did the foolish virgins not take extra oil?

They may have thought that they had sufficient.

If you don't need the extra oil it's an unnecessary weight it's an impediment that you have to juggle around they must have been satisfied also with their preparation to meet Jesus they didn't see a reason for further preparation but they were not prepared because they were not prepared for delay continuing our study of Matthew 25 verse 5 tells us the bridegroom was delayed so we must ask the question why has Jesus delayed his coming has he simply overscheduled has he been distracted by other things is he careless and time management is he a procrastinator but all these questions misread the text the text does not say the bridegroom delayed it does say the bridegroom was delayed he didn't delay something or somebody delayed him it's no mystery what delays Jesus the Bible says 2nd Peter 3 9 the Lord is not slack concerning his promises.

The English word slack means slow, sluggish, lazy, negligent.

He, the text continues, is long-suffering toward us, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance notice what delays Christ coming Christ is long-suffering toward us us is the problem the bridegroom is delayed because we delay him he wants to save us but we need a deeper repentance and the bridegroom was delayed because the 10 virgins delayed him should he come they would not be ready and they would perish his compassionate heart longs for their salvation and he gives them more time to get ready he's not willing that any should perish and while the foolish virgins delay Christ's coming the delay they cause tests their commitment to him and reveals their lack of preparation for his coming.

As we have just seen in 2nd Peter chapter 3 verse 9 it tells us we can delay Christ's return but verse 12 tells us that we not only look for but hasten the coming of the day of God.

We shouldn't miss the gentleness of Jesus' story.

The parable contains no harsh denunciation of the foolish virgins delaying his return.

There's only the sad acknowledgement that the bridegroom was delayed.

While the bridegroom was delayed, they all slumbered and slept.

The wise virgins in this parable have nothing to boast about they were sleeping just as soundly as the foolish like the disciples in Gethsemane moments from the crisis at the close of Jesus' life, they were found sleeping when they should have been watching and praying.

So the 10 virgins, moments from the crisis at the end of the earth's history are found sleeping when they should be watching and praying.

I like the clear wording of the ESV, they all became drowsy and slept.

Now instead of the wise trying to arouse and awaken the foolish virgins, the wise join the foolish virgin and following their example they become drowsy and fall sound asleep.

The 10 virgins failed to heed Paul's specific warning not to follow the example of other sleeping therefore Paul says in 1st Thessalonians 5 verse 6 therefore let us not sleep as others do but let us be watchful and be sober In this parable drowsiness and sleep symbolize decreased interest in attention, lack of watchfulness, failure to pray.

The 10 virgins were more affected by the darkness surrounding them in the world than they were by the light shining from their lamps instead of their light scattering the darkness the darkness was smothering their light Isaiah's prophecy reaches its fulfillment here in this parable Isaiah 60 verse 2, for behold the darkness shall cover the earth and deep darkness the people.

That's talking about the people of God but at the moment the world's darkness reaches its darkest time something happens verse 6 of Matthew 25 and at midnight a cry is heard behold the bridegroom is coming go you out to meet him Isaiah exclaimed of this moment in earth's history back to Isaiah 60 verse 1 arise shine for your light has come and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you Jesus parable continues then all those virgins arose and trimmed their lamps This parable shows how alike the wise and the foolish virgins really were.

And they all rised at the same midnight cry, behold, the bridegroom is coming.

But here the great gulf between the wise and the foolish virgins emerges the lamps of the wise were soon burning brightly again they were illuminating the night with the extra oil they brought in their flagons but the lamps carried by the foolish versions emerges they were no longer shining the love of Jesus that once burned in their hearts had grown cold and no longer burned there the truth that once thrilled their hearts no longer seemed clear the gospel message no longer animated them.

And the foolish said to the wise, give us some of your oil for our lamps are going out.

Paul describes the end time Christians and this is a description of the foolish virgins 2nd Timothy 3 5 having a form of godliness but denying the power thereof what had happened they'd run out of oil what does the oil represent Oil is used throughout the Bible as a symbol of the Holy Spirit.

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How the Wise Get Oil

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