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Advent HOPE Sabbath School

Norman McNulty

Modern-day Millerites

Father in heaven, thank you for this Sabbath day.

I pray that your spirit would be with us in a special way as we open up your word.

And I pray that your spirit would speak through me and that hearts and minds would be convicted of your message for this hour.

I pray all these things in Jesus name, amen.

You know, as I said earlier, I do believe we are living in the very last days of Earth's history.

And we have a wonderful Savior, Jesus, who didn't want us to be in the dark as to what would happen down at the end of time.

And Jesus has given us some very clear instruction to know how to live our lives and to know what time we are living in, based on things he has said all through Scripture.

But what I want to look at today is a parable found in Matthew chapter 25 that describes God's last day people.

It's the parable of the bridegroom, the 10 virgins.

Now how do I know that this parable is about God's last day people?

The reason I know that Jesus gave this parable describing the people down at the very end of time is Because in Matthew chapter 24, the disciples came to Jesus and they asked him, when shall these things be and what shall be the sign of thy coming and of the end of the world?

And we know that Jesus mixed the destruction of Jerusalem and the end of the world together and at the end of that description He tells 3 parables that describes God's last day people.

The first 1 is the wise and the evil servant that's the end of Matthew chapter 24 And then when we come to Matthew chapter 25, he elucidates this even more clearly in chapter 25 by saying, then shall the kingdom of heaven be likened unto 10 virgins.

And the pioneers of the Advent movement understood this to be the case, that Matthew chapter 25 was a continuation of Matthew chapter 24.

So when Jesus talked about the bridegroom and the 10 virgins, he was talking about God's last day people.

So that sets the stage for us to understand this parable.

Now if this parable is describing God's last day people, Don't you think it's important that we study it carefully and know the purpose that Jesus had behind this parable when he told it?

And I know some of us have studied this parable before, but I hope as we look at it again, perhaps you'll see something fresh and something new that you've never seen before.

Starting in Matthew chapter 25, then shall the kingdom of heaven be likened unto 10 virgins which took their lamps and went forth to meet the bridegroom.

Now, verse 1 has so much information in it.

First of all, we see that the kingdom of heaven is being described here.

Specifically, they're being compared to 10 virgins.

Now, when you think of a woman in the Bible, what does a woman in the Bible represent?

Revelation chapter 12 talks about the pure woman who represents God's people in the last days.

Revelation chapter 17 talks about a woman who does not represent God's people in the last days.

And the description and how those women are described, the way they dress, The way they appear, you can see a clear difference between God's people and those who are not.

So a woman represents God's people in Bible prophecy.

Now when you think of a virgin, you think of someone who is pure.

And it says, they took their lamps and went forth to meet the bridegroom.

In Psalms 119, 105 it says, thy word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path So here you have a pure church in the last days that are Bible believing They have the Word of God and they're going forth to meet the bridegroom Now if this is the last days and this church is going forth to meet the bridegroom, first of all, who is the bridegroom?

John chapter 3, John the Baptist specifically refers to Jesus as the bridegroom.

So when we say the bridegroom is Jesus, we need to have the Bible to back our answer up.

And John chapter 3 clearly tells us that.

So here we have a pure church that's Bible-believing, going forth to meet Jesus in the last days.

Now if this is talking about God's church in the last days going forth to meet Jesus, what would this be talking about?

They would be coming in their minds to meet Jesus the second time because clearly Jesus is telling this parable after he's come the first time.

So this is talking about a pure church, Bible believing, knowing that Jesus is coming soon, going forth to meet him.

And notice what verse 2 says, and 5 of them were wise and 5 were foolish.

If you know from the Bible that Jesus is coming soon, how is it possible to be foolish?

A Bible-believing, pure church knowing that Jesus is coming soon, and yet there is a group within that church described as being foolish.

Now let's keep reading here the next 2 verses.

They that were foolish took their lamps and took no oil with them, but the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps.

Let's talk about the foolish versions first.

What does it say here that the foolish virgins were lacking in this parable?

Is there a place in the Bible that tells us that?

Zechariah chapter 4 verses 1-6 talks about oil representing the Holy Spirit.

And in the interest of time we're not going to read all these verses But write the verses down and you can go back later if you haven't seen this already.

So think about this There's a group of people in God's Church who have a knowledge of the Bible but they don't have the Holy Spirit to guide their understanding of the truths found in Scripture.

So these people are described as foolish.

Now what does the Holy Spirit do for us in our lives as we study the Bible?

The Holy Spirit enlightens our minds so we can understand what we're reading.

Jesus says the Holy Spirit will guide us into all truth.

So those who are lacking the Holy Spirit, even though they have a knowledge of the Bible, really aren't guided into a complete knowledge of truth.

Furthermore, the Holy Spirit does a work of regeneration and renewal within our hearts.

And so it's possible to have a knowledge of the Bible without being renewed and transformed by the very principles that are found within the scripture.

So the foolish virgins had no oil, lacking the Holy Spirit, And they were not able to discern the truths of Scripture completely.

And we're going to come back to the foolish virgins a little later.

It says, but the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps.

So at the end of time there will be a group of people within God's church who are wise.

They have that transforming experience, transformed by the Spirit of God.

They are loving and lovable Christians and they know the Bible and they are going forth to meet Jesus.

And that's the kind of person I want to be, amen?

I want to have his character, his love, his grace, his mercy.

Now is there a place in the Bible that talks about wise people in the last days.

We've already established that this is a parable of God's church down at the end of time.

But is there another place in scripture that talks about wise people down at the end of time?

Turn with me to Daniel chapter 12 verses 9 and 10.

And he said, go thy way Daniel, for the words are closed up and sealed till the time of the end.

Many shall be purified and made white and tried, but the wicked shall do wickedly, and none of the wicked shall understand, but the wise shall understand." So the wise shall understand something.

Here in the book of Daniel, the angel Gabriel tells Daniel to seal up the words of the vision till when?

And the wise at the time of the end will understand what that vision is talking about.

So God's last day people who are described as being wise, they have a knowledge of the Bible, full of the Holy Spirit, and they understand the prophecies of Daniel, especially relating to prophecies that point to the time of the end.

And we just studied about 1 of those prophecies in our lesson today, the 2300 days of Daniel 8 14.

Now is there any other description of the wise in the Bible?

Well actually in the same chapter, chapter 12 verse 3, it says, they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament, and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars forever and ever." You know, wise people in the last days, they're going to be turning many people to righteousness.

They're going to be turning many people to a true knowledge of what it means to have Christ covering us with his righteousness.

And those people are described as being wise.

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Modern-day Millerites

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