Matthew 25:1-4 "Then shall the kingdom of heaven be likened unto ten virgins, which took their lamps, and went forth to meet the bride-groom. And five of them were wise, and five were foolish. They that were foolish took their lamps, and took no oil with them: But the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps."
The parable tells us about the "kingdom of heaven", that is God's kingdom on earth, i.e. the Church. In the last days it will experience a preparation for Jesus' return as Bridegroom of His Church. Everywhere will be heard the cry "Maranatha, Jesus is coming back!"
This coming of the Lord Jesus as Bridegroom of the Churchbride is not His visible return on the clouds of heaven, for this return unto the establishment of the Millennium of Peace will only take place after the anti-christian period. This return will be invisible in and by the Holy Spirit.
The parable tells us about the "kingdom of heaven", that is God's kingdom on earth, i.e. the Church. In the last days it will experience a preparation for Jesus' return as Bridegroom of His Church. Everywhere will be heard the cry "Maranatha, Jesus is coming back!"
This coming of the Lord Jesus as Bridegroom of the Churchbride is not His visible return on the clouds of heaven, for this return unto the establishment of the Millennium of Peace will only take place after the anti-christian period. This return will be invisible in and by the Holy Spirit.
God's great promises
Scripture promises us great things when the Spirit of Jesus Christ has been able to adopt us as members of the Bride of the Lamb, has been able to add us to the spiritual body of the Bride of the Lamb of God.
1. He then will make us blameless, without spot or wrinkle, and holy.
Ephesians 5:25-27 "...as Christ loved the church, and gave himself for it; That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish."
Scripture promises us great things when the Spirit of Jesus Christ has been able to adopt us as members of the Bride of the Lamb, has been able to add us to the spiritual body of the Bride of the Lamb of God.
1. He then will make us blameless, without spot or wrinkle, and holy.
Ephesians 5:25-27 "...as Christ loved the church, and gave himself for it; That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish."
2. This state of holiness, into which the Spirit of Jesus Christ will bring that part of the Church chosen hereunto in the last days, will cause them to escape the grave as they then have become sinless; for people die because they are sinners.
James 1:15 "Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death."
Romans 6:23 “Death is the wages of sin”
As this part of the Church will then have been made without sin, physical death will also escape them, and they will be changed at an appointed time, and put on immortality (1 Corinthians 15:51-52). This is the glorious hope of all, who have been adopted as members of the Bride of the Lamb,
3. Besides the putting on of great divine glory and strength.
But there are wise ones and fools in the Church of the last days. The wise ones, half of the Church, take with them, besides oil in their lamps (for it is a time of spiritual darkness) also oil in their vessels, namely in their hearts. Oil is the type of the Holy Spirit. Taking oil in the vessel, in the heart, spiritually means: preparing oneself for sanctification; the foolish do not do this. They do wash their sins in the blood of the Lamb, and because of this they have become virgins; but they do not seek sanctification and continue to lead worldly lives.
In this time the opposing satanic power puts the Church into a spiritual sleep.
Matthew 25:5 "While the bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered and slept."
The prophecy of Jesus Christ reads: "They all slumbered, the wise… and the foolish virgins, and fell asleep!" And if anyone should know this, Who better than Jesus Christ, the Divine Word of God Himself.
Joel, too, prophesied this spiritual sleep of the Church for the end-times, and of the Church's "locusts" because of the slumbering sin and tolerance due to the spiritual sleep (Joel 1).
Ephesians 5:14-18 "Wherefore he saith, Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light. See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, Redeeming the time, because the days are evil. Wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is. And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit (of Jesus Christ)."
The Word says "Arise from the dead", wake from the sleep of sin, be delivered from the bonds of your sins by the power of Jesus Christ, and by His blood; and be filled with His redeeming Spirit, with His resurrection power.
Matthew 25:6-7 "And at midnight there was a cry made, Behold, the bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet him. Then all those virgins arose, and trimmed their lamps."
This voice that calls out "Go out to meet Him" (Matthew 25:6) means, that we are to rise up from the sleep of death by God's grace, and that we must let His Holy Spirit prepare our hearts and lives for His invisible return as Bridegroom, that He might prepare us for the marriage, and make us blameless, without spot or wrinkle (Ephesians 5:27).
James 1:15 "Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death."
Romans 6:23 “Death is the wages of sin”
As this part of the Church will then have been made without sin, physical death will also escape them, and they will be changed at an appointed time, and put on immortality (1 Corinthians 15:51-52). This is the glorious hope of all, who have been adopted as members of the Bride of the Lamb,
3. Besides the putting on of great divine glory and strength.
But there are wise ones and fools in the Church of the last days. The wise ones, half of the Church, take with them, besides oil in their lamps (for it is a time of spiritual darkness) also oil in their vessels, namely in their hearts. Oil is the type of the Holy Spirit. Taking oil in the vessel, in the heart, spiritually means: preparing oneself for sanctification; the foolish do not do this. They do wash their sins in the blood of the Lamb, and because of this they have become virgins; but they do not seek sanctification and continue to lead worldly lives.
In this time the opposing satanic power puts the Church into a spiritual sleep.
Matthew 25:5 "While the bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered and slept."
The prophecy of Jesus Christ reads: "They all slumbered, the wise… and the foolish virgins, and fell asleep!" And if anyone should know this, Who better than Jesus Christ, the Divine Word of God Himself.
Joel, too, prophesied this spiritual sleep of the Church for the end-times, and of the Church's "locusts" because of the slumbering sin and tolerance due to the spiritual sleep (Joel 1).
Ephesians 5:14-18 "Wherefore he saith, Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light. See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, Redeeming the time, because the days are evil. Wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is. And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit (of Jesus Christ)."
The Word says "Arise from the dead", wake from the sleep of sin, be delivered from the bonds of your sins by the power of Jesus Christ, and by His blood; and be filled with His redeeming Spirit, with His resurrection power.
Matthew 25:6-7 "And at midnight there was a cry made, Behold, the bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet him. Then all those virgins arose, and trimmed their lamps."
This voice that calls out "Go out to meet Him" (Matthew 25:6) means, that we are to rise up from the sleep of death by God's grace, and that we must let His Holy Spirit prepare our hearts and lives for His invisible return as Bridegroom, that He might prepare us for the marriage, and make us blameless, without spot or wrinkle (Ephesians 5:27).
This call of the Spirit will cause a general reveille (awakening).
Matthew 25:7 "Then all those virgins arose, and trimmed their lamps."
They all prepared spiritually for the coming of the Bridegroom, but we read in this prophecy that only half, the wise part, will be adopted as members of the Bride of Lamb, because only they will reach the state of spotlessness.
Matthew 25:7 "Then all those virgins arose, and trimmed their lamps."
They all prepared spiritually for the coming of the Bridegroom, but we read in this prophecy that only half, the wise part, will be adopted as members of the Bride of Lamb, because only they will reach the state of spotlessness.
We must prepare spiritually for this Coming
A child of God once had a vision of an colossal giant. He was lying on the earth and was bound with many worldly bonds of sin by the powers of darkness, and was powerless to get up.
The visionary saw, that he stretch out first one hand, then both hands, to heaven in a cry for help to God. He then received strength and slowly stood up, while the powers of darkness around him fled. He then beat off the dust and the glory of the Lord fell upon him.
He did this in obedience to God's call.
This voice of the Spirit, calling out to us, we also find in Revelation 19 verse 9:
"Write, Blessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb... These are the true sayings of God."
Partaking (in the spirit) of the supper of the Marriage of the Lamb is sharing the death and resurrection of the Lamb of God, that we might take part in the marriage of the Lamb of God, being without spot or wrinkle.
A child of God once had a vision of an colossal giant. He was lying on the earth and was bound with many worldly bonds of sin by the powers of darkness, and was powerless to get up.
The visionary saw, that he stretch out first one hand, then both hands, to heaven in a cry for help to God. He then received strength and slowly stood up, while the powers of darkness around him fled. He then beat off the dust and the glory of the Lord fell upon him.
He did this in obedience to God's call.
This voice of the Spirit, calling out to us, we also find in Revelation 19 verse 9:
"Write, Blessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb... These are the true sayings of God."
Partaking (in the spirit) of the supper of the Marriage of the Lamb is sharing the death and resurrection of the Lamb of God, that we might take part in the marriage of the Lamb of God, being without spot or wrinkle.
This call to participation is personal and one may hear it sooner than the other.
We also see in the prophecy of the prophet Daniel in Daniel 2:31-35 and 44-45 that complete deliverance of the power of sin takes place personally and gradually, namely in the time of the ten kings of the restored Roman Empire (the ten toes of Nebuchadnezzar's statue), in the time of the ten kings of Revelation 17:12-13.
Daniel 2:31-35, 44-45 "Thou, O king, sawest, and behold a great image. This great image, whose brightness was excellent, stood before thee; and the form thereof was terrible. This image's head was of fine gold, his breast and his arms of silver, his belly and his thighs of brass, His legs of iron, his feet part of iron and part of clay. Thou sawest till that a stone was cut out without hands, which smote the image upon his feet that were of iron and clay, and brake them to pieces. Then was the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver, and the gold, broken to pieces together, and became like the chaff of the summer threshingfloors; and the wind carried them away, that no place was found for them: and the stone that smote the image became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth. And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom (God's Kingdom on earth), which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people (except to God's people, His divine Israel), but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever. Forasmuch as thou sawest that the stone was cut out of the mountain (of sin) without hands, and that it brake in pieces the iron, the brass, the clay, the silver, and the gold; the great God hath made known to the king what shall come to pass hereafter: and the dream is certain, and the interpretation thereof sure."
Here one stone is loosed, cut off, completely delivered from sin, from the mountain of sin without hands (without human help). Some think that this one stone is the Lord Jesus Christ, but this is a wrong interpretation, because Jesus Christ, in His life on earth, was never bound to the mountain of sin; moreover, this is an event of the end-time, of the time of the ten kings.
Thus, this stone has to be a sinner from the end-time, who by his faith in the finished work and in the power of Jesus Redeemer, is brought in Jesus' victory; thus overcoming satan and his power of sin, whose heart is cleansed of the chaff of the old person; whereafter he by the power of the Word shares this victory with many others: a mountain of completely delivered Christians, without spot or wrinkle: the Bride of the Lamb of God.
Revelation 12:11 "And they (the victors) overcame him (satan and power of sin) by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony (whereby also others will share this victory); and they loved not their (earthly, sinful) lives unto the death (until it is completely dead, already here on earth; so that they may live without spot or wrinkle, faultless; see Ephesians 5:27, already here on earth)."
We also see in the prophecy of the prophet Daniel in Daniel 2:31-35 and 44-45 that complete deliverance of the power of sin takes place personally and gradually, namely in the time of the ten kings of the restored Roman Empire (the ten toes of Nebuchadnezzar's statue), in the time of the ten kings of Revelation 17:12-13.
Daniel 2:31-35, 44-45 "Thou, O king, sawest, and behold a great image. This great image, whose brightness was excellent, stood before thee; and the form thereof was terrible. This image's head was of fine gold, his breast and his arms of silver, his belly and his thighs of brass, His legs of iron, his feet part of iron and part of clay. Thou sawest till that a stone was cut out without hands, which smote the image upon his feet that were of iron and clay, and brake them to pieces. Then was the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver, and the gold, broken to pieces together, and became like the chaff of the summer threshingfloors; and the wind carried them away, that no place was found for them: and the stone that smote the image became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth. And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom (God's Kingdom on earth), which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people (except to God's people, His divine Israel), but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever. Forasmuch as thou sawest that the stone was cut out of the mountain (of sin) without hands, and that it brake in pieces the iron, the brass, the clay, the silver, and the gold; the great God hath made known to the king what shall come to pass hereafter: and the dream is certain, and the interpretation thereof sure."
Here one stone is loosed, cut off, completely delivered from sin, from the mountain of sin without hands (without human help). Some think that this one stone is the Lord Jesus Christ, but this is a wrong interpretation, because Jesus Christ, in His life on earth, was never bound to the mountain of sin; moreover, this is an event of the end-time, of the time of the ten kings.
Thus, this stone has to be a sinner from the end-time, who by his faith in the finished work and in the power of Jesus Redeemer, is brought in Jesus' victory; thus overcoming satan and his power of sin, whose heart is cleansed of the chaff of the old person; whereafter he by the power of the Word shares this victory with many others: a mountain of completely delivered Christians, without spot or wrinkle: the Bride of the Lamb of God.
Revelation 12:11 "And they (the victors) overcame him (satan and power of sin) by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony (whereby also others will share this victory); and they loved not their (earthly, sinful) lives unto the death (until it is completely dead, already here on earth; so that they may live without spot or wrinkle, faultless; see Ephesians 5:27, already here on earth)."
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By E. van den Worm
By E. van den Worm
