The Parable of the wise and foolish virgins

He shared 8 things believers are called to. 1. Read the Word ( Deut 17:10 , 1 Timothy 4:3) 2. Hear the Word (Revelation 1:3) 3. Study the Word (2 Timothy 2:15) 4. Meditate on the Word (Psalm 1:1-3; 119:15,23,48) 5. Remember the Word (Numbers 15:37-41) 6. Learn the Word (Psalm 119:71,73) 7. Preach the Word (2 Timothy 4:1-4) a. But most important of all... 8. Obey the Word (Ezekiel 33:30-33; Luke 6:46-47; Revelation 1:3; John 13:17; Matthew 23:1-3; 7:24-27)

A key verse he taught out of was Luke 6:46 when Jesus said, ““But why do you call Me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do the things which I say?” The question stood out to me so strongly in the message.

Jesus’s statement, But why do you call me Lord, Lord? has a greater significance than we might expect. The double use of the name Lord is in itself significant. Repetition of a name is used for emphasis, and repeating a name implies intimacy with the person. I want to briefly explain what Lordship is.

The greek word used in the passage for Lord is the word Kyrios (Koo-ree-os) and it comes from the root word kuros which means supremacy. The word Kyrios translates to the word Lord or Master.

It’s contextual usage is:

he to whom a person or thing belongs, about which he has power of deciding; master, lord

the possessor and disposer of a thing

the owner; one who has control of the person, the master

in the state: the sovereign, prince, chief, the Roman emperor

is a title of honour expressive of respect and reverence, with which servants greet their master

this title is given to: God, the Messiah

The statement by Jesus in Luke 6:46 “But why do you call Me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do the things which I say?” brings definition to the totality of the parables. Jesus came to reveal the Father and the nature of the kingdom of God. His inaugural message to repent because the kingdom of heaven was at hand reveals the nature of His Lordship.

He was and is the person to whom things belong. He has the power of deciding. He is the master who has control of the person, and is due the respect and reverence of his servants because He is God, and the Messiah (Savior) of His people.

The entrusted leaders of God’s house and the people were serving their own interest. They were serving God by their own ideals. The clashing nature of His message illustrated the truth that they had elevated themselves to a faulty position in their minds which ultimately was displayed in outward actions through opposition to his Lordship. They did not respect or reverence Him. They rejected Him.

They had forgotten that everything was the Lord’s. They were to multiply and increase what was entrusted to them through good stewardship. In the end their stewardship would be brought into account. Good stewards would be rewarded, and bad stewards given eternal punishment.

The parables of Jesus were and are course correcting directives from the owner/master to the servant.

In todays parable, we will also see the phrase Lord, Lord used by the bridegroom. As we read it remember that the double use of a name implies intimacy with the person.

Open your bibles with me to the book of Matthew 25:1-13.

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Submit:

Matthew 25:1-13 ““Then the kingdom of heaven shall be likened to ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. Now five of them were wise, and five were foolish. Those who were foolish took their lamps and took no oil with them, but the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps. But while the bridegroom was delayed, they all slumbered and slept. “And at midnight a cry was heard: ‘Behold, the bridegroom is coming; go out to meet him!’ Then all those virgins arose and trimmed their lamps. And the foolish said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out. But the wise answered, saying, ‘No, lest there should not be enough for us and you; but go rather to those who sell, and buy for yourselves.’ And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the wedding; and the door was shut. “Afterward the other virgins came also, saying, ‘Lord, Lord, open to us!’ But he answered and said, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, I do not know you.’ “Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour in which the Son of Man is coming.”

This parable gives reference to the end times and the second coming of Christ. Remember in John 14:3 Jesus said, “And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also.”

Jesus being a master communicator uses the picture of an eastern wedding to illustrate his second coming.

In Eastern weddings the bridegroom goes to the home of the bride and with gladness brings the bride to his own home. The bride is accompanied from her father’s house by her young companions. Most marriages in the East took place at night time. The virgin bridesmaids accompanied the bride with torches (or lamps), amidst much rejoicing. A key element of this illustration is that they did not know when the bridegroom was coming so they had to continually be ready.

Something imperative to note is the location of this parable in scripture itself. Remember, context is key. This parable is preceded by Jesus explanation of the signs of his coming, the great tribulation, no one knows the day or hour, and the faithful and evil servant. It is followed by the parable of the talents.

The location of this parable within the greater context is a key to understand it.

A few key elements that stand out:

The virgins. (Virgins in scripture represent purity, those who have kept themselves from immoral defilements and corruptions.)

The Specific number of Ten virgins. The number ten is used in symbolic sense. Ten in the scripture is the number of responsibility and accountability. Ten is also the number of law and order. These ten virgins would be held responsible before the bridegroom to be watching and waiting with their lamps burning brightly. Jesus conveys that five were wise and five were foolish.

The Lamps. Lamps in scripture often represent the Holy Spirit Rev. 4:5, “And from the throne proceeded lightnings, thunderings, and voices. Seven lamps of fire were burning before the throne, which are the seven Spirits of God.”, the Word of God Psalm 119:105 “Your word is a lamp to my feet And a light to my path.”, or man’s spirit Proverbs 20:27, “The spirit of a man is the lamp of the Lord, Searching all the inner depths of his heart.” In this parable it is speaking of the spirit of man.

The Lamps and Oil Vessels. Oil in the scripture is representative of the Holy Spirit.

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Apply:

Jesus thankfully clarifies the difference between wise and foolish in the parable. The foolish took their lamps, but took no oil with them. The wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps.

A key component of the condition of the lamps centers around the delay of the bridegroom. Like many of the other parables it says that the master or owner went into a far country and was delayed in His return.

This parable is the same. The bridegroom was delayed in his coming.

The result is that all the virgins slumbered and slept. In the waiting period, the spirit of slumber and sleep fell on them all. This was not a sleep of rest, but a spirit of lethargy. It was the sleep and slumber of spiritual drowsiness along with an inattentiveness to watching for the bridegroom.

The midnight cry speaks of a time that would not be expected for a bridegroom to come.

The timing of it had the potential to catch people off guard. When the cry went out from the bridegroom the virgins arose and trimmed their lamps.

Trimming a lamp is a foreign concept to us because of modern electricity, but to the hearers of that time they would have understood clearly. Aaron, the high priest had to trim the seven lamps on the golden lampstand and supply oil, morning and evening, in the tabernacle of Moses. It was the same in Solomon’s temple.

Jesus says that 5 were ready. Their lamps were trimmed and they took plenty of oil. The other 5 had a lamp but no oil. The request to give us some of your oil by the foolish is telling. The parables have consistently pointed to the truth that all are individually accountable for their life to God.

The foolish asking for some of their oil speaks of a lack of personal relationship with God. They did not have oil of their OWN. They were trying to get it from someone else.

The Oil of the spirit in a persons life comes only from personal relationship. It is the result of their personal history with God. The careful investment and attention in the relationship has produced revelation and anointing (oil).

The lamps of the foolish going out reveals a lack of care and attention. Aaron provided oil for the lamps morning and evening, he trimmed the lamps daily. This picture shows us the consistent nature of relationship.

An intriguing element of this parable is that all 10 are referenced as virgins. As I stated earlier, this is a reference to purity, one who has kept themselves from immoral defilements, and corruptions. How is it possible to be referenced as pure and yet be told in the end to depart?

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Closing:

George Whitefield a minister from the 1700’s in a message on this same parable we study today shares great insight into that very question, As he speaks of true believers first He says,

“Nor is there the least doubt of the state of true believers. For though they are despised and rejected of natural men, yet being born again of God, they are heirs of God, and joint heirs with Christ. They have the earnest of the promised inheritance in their hearts, and are assured that a new and living way is made open for them, into the holy of holies, by the blood of Jesus Christ, into which an abundant entrance shall be administered to them at the great day of account.

The only question is, what will become of the Almost Christian, one that is content to go, as he thinks, in a middle way to heaven, without being profane on the one hand, or, as he falsely imagines, righteous over-much on the other? Many there are in every congregation, and consequently some here present, of this stamp. And what is worst of all, it is more easy to convince the most notorious publicans and sinners of their being out of a state of salvation, than any of these. Notwithstanding, if Jesus Christ may be our judge, they shall as certainly be rejected and disowned by him at the last day, as though they lived in open defiance of all his laws.

George Whitefield, Selected Sermons of George Whitefield (Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc., 1999).

Selected Sermons of George Whitefield Sermon 25: The Wise and Foolish Virgins

By the ten virgins we are to understand, the professors of Christianity in general. All are called virgins, because all are called to be saints. Whosoever names the name of Christ, is obliged by that profession to depart from all iniquity. But the pure and chaste in heart, are the only persons that will be blessed as to see God. As Christ was born of a virgin, so he can dwell in none but virgins souls, made pure and holy by the cohabitation of his holy Spirit. What says the apostle? “All are not Israel that are of Israel,” all are not Christians that are called after the name of Christ: No, says our Lord, in the 2nd verse, “Five of those virgins were wise,” true believers, “and five were foolish,” formal hypocrites.

Selected Sermons of George Whitefield Sermon 25: The Wise and Foolish Virgins

They that were foolish took their lamps of an outward profession. They would go to church, say over several manuals of prayers, come perhaps into a field to hear a sermon, give at a collection, and receive the sacrament constantly, nay, oftener than once a month. But then here lay the mistake; they had no oil in their lamps, no principle of grace, no living faith in their hearts, without which, though we should give all our goods to feed the poor, and our bodies to be burnt, it would profit us nothing. In short, they were exact, nay, superstitious bigots as to the form, but all the while they were strangers to, and, in effect, denied the power of godliness in their hearts.

In 2 Timothy 3 it speaks of the conditions of the last days. Much of which is easily discerned, but the last verse in the description says something easily overlooked.

2 Timothy 3:1-5 “But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come: For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people turn away!”

The foolish virgins had a form of godliness. Outwardly they seemed righteous, but they denied the power of the Holy Spirit to work in them. 2 Timothy 3:5.

The one who knows Him walks according to his ways. We deepen our relationship with Him, by learning and knowing His ways. Moses prayed in Exodus 33:13 “Now therefore, I pray, if I have found grace in Your sight, show me now Your way, that I may know You and that I may find grace in Your sight. And consider that this nation is Your people.””

We know Him through knowing His ways. The ways of God reveal the nature of God and His kingdom.

My prayer today is that we all would be a people that know Him intimately.

Let’s Pray.

Lord Speak to our hearts. You know us. You know where we stand. (open the altar for those who are convicted by the Holy Spirit that they have form without sincerity).