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Posts Tagged ‘Wise Virgins’

The Five Wise and the Five Foolish Virgins

Posted in Time of the End, tagged , , , , on June 19, 2019| Leave a Comment »

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Scripture reading: Matthew 25:1-13

Matthew 25 tells us that there were ten virgins. The number ten speaks of Divine rulership. These ten were appointed to be divine rulers of God’s business, God’s work. Five of them were foolish and five of them were wise. The difference between the foolish and the wise was one little point. They were dressed alike and were clothed properly. They had oil in their lamps and their lamps were lighted. Oil in their lamps means the Spirit of God in their spirits, because the Bible says that the spirit of man is the lamp of God (Proverbs 20:27). That is where it is supposed to be. This Spirit power is supposed to fill the soul. If the soul is empty at midnight, it means that you did not store the oil in your soul, which is the place that God wants the oil anyhow. For the soul is the vessel and the vessel is the person and the person is his mind, his emotions, his will, and his desires.

If when you are in church, when you are reading the Bible, when you are among Christians, while things are all right, you have a lot of God and you can sing and pray and you can quicken people with the power of God, and yet HAVE NOTHING IN YOUR SOUL WHEN TRIBULATION HITS, YOU WILL NOT BE ABLE TO SURVIVE. This is what we mean by MIDNIGHT. At midnight, there was a cry made “Behold, the bridegroom cometh” and the virgins that were wise got up and trimmed their lamps, because at midnight people’s lamps are low. When you are in trouble, when you are in distress, your lamp is low and you need a resurgence of power coming from the oil you have stored up in your soul nature. THE OIL IN THE SOUL IS WHAT MATTERS. This the foolish virgins did not have. At midnight when the bridegroom came, they were left outside.

Matthew 25:10, “And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came; and they that were ready went in with him to the marriage: and the door was shut.” Now remember, these people were there waiting for the bridegroom. They were patiently waiting and ready and well-equipped but something happened. They heard the following cry: “Behold, the bridegroom cometh.” They ALL heard it. That means the whole church is going to hear, “Behold, the bridegroom cometh” and THEY WILL BELIEVE IT. They will turn around to get themselves ready for the bridegroom for their lamps were out, their vessels were out, and they have to rush outside to the store to see if they can get oil to buy. “And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came; and they that were ready went in with him to the marriage: and the door was shut.” A very sad note: “the door was shut.”

Verses 11 and 12, “Afterward came also the other virgins, saying, Lord, Lord, open to us. But He answered and said, Verily I say unto you, I know you not.” In other words, He was saying that He had not had intimate relationship with them. They are not known to Him. This word “know” here suggests intimate relationship.

The Lord concludes, “Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh.” God is telling us to WATCH. Whom do we watch? We need to watch ourselves. God wants every man, every woman, every child to begin to watch his own thoughts, his own mind, because only you and God know what you are thinking. Sometimes very weird thoughts come into people’s minds who are supposed to be sanctified and you had better know these weird thoughts (hidden from everyone else) should not be entertained. These thoughts will come to you and if you entertain them, because nobody knows, you will come back again and get into the same line of thinking. I want each of us to go to God and ask Him to take away these weird thoughts or else teach us how to handle them.

(Excerpt from The Book of Revelation, Volume 1, pages 141-142)

Thought for today: Let us be watchful with our thoughts in our mind. Let us store up oil in our soul so that we are of the wise virgins ready to meet our Lord at the midnight hour.

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Repair Your Vision

Posted in Overcoming, tagged , , , , on August 6, 2018| Leave a Comment »

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Scripture reading: John 9:1-7

One night the Lord came to me and began to teach me a lesson, which went through the whole night. He was talking about our ability to see, about our vision. He showed me that something is wrong with our vision. The Holy Spirit gives us vision and lets us see, but different things in our lives interrupt the sight and the vision so that we see half-way or wrong in some way. God is saying to us that we need to repair our vision.

The Lord began to show me certain things. When Jesus met the blind man, He spat on the ground, mixed it and put it on the blind man’s eyes. Very unusual. It was as if God used the way He had created Adam to recreate eyes in the man. You know we have a little song that we sing – Create in me a clean heart, O God and renew a right spirit within me. Somehow or the other, I can see God saying to us that some of us have such damage to our eyes that we are totally blind and need a new creation. We need to allow God to create new eyes in us. Hallelujah. Jesus said yet to another blind man, “Receive thy sight,” and he received his sight.

Then there was Samson who got himself involved with the harlot. He was so blind to the fact that she wanted to kill him and was kind of assisting her. It went on and on until she finally got him to tell her the secret that if his hair was cut he would lose his strength. Now, you would ask the question, “Why would he tell her that?” Let us look at the story. Samson had a problem with women and it disturbed his ability to see God. Judges 16:4, “And it came to pass afterward, that he loved a woman in the valley of Sorek, whose name was Delilah.”

I want you to understand, your Bible is a very peculiar book. When you see that it mentions that the woman lived in a valley, immediately something should rise in you as you read your Bible. “He went to a woman in the valley of Sorek.” The moment you see that it said that it was in a valley, you know that the man was going down, stepping down from the standard of righteousness which God had given him, which God has created that man should live in. In other words, every man must have a certain amount of control over his own body.

Now, what made Samson always go after harlots? Did you notice it? This was not the first one. Every one he went after was a harlot. He had a problem. I am saying that this problem exists in the church, in the Body.

We know that the Outer Court will soon be trampled under foot. This means everything carnal, everything natural will be under judgment. Now, if I am a spiritual man but am carnal, I am under judgment. I might believe I am in the Holy Place because the Holy Spirit is in me. NO! The Holy Spirit can be in me and I am not in the Spirit. You can have the Holy Spirit and not be in the Holy Spirit.

The five foolish virgins had everything as far as equipment was concerned that the five wise had, and one little detail that was major. The detail is to have the God that is in the universe, the God that built the universe, the God that you have in your spirit, to have Him in your soul. This is the same God that speaks in tongues, that delivers His Word, and that manifests Himself to us as we sing.

The man Samson had a problem and the problem was one that would make a person be in the Outer Court, though your place is in the Holiest of All. God gives us the ability to be in the Holiest of All with Christ Jesus Himself and we choose to be in the Outer Court because of our carnal appetite! Brethren, do you know why God leaves your carnal appetite with you? God could take it away and kill it and just leave you happy and free. But He left your carnal appetite with you to give you an opportunity to kill it, to control it, to exercise the power of life over the power of death, the power of the love of God over the power of the love of the world. Do you hear me? He leaves you free to exercise the power that God has given you over the carnal realm. We know He said to Adam, “Take charge of the carnal realm. This is your duty, this is your power, and this is your privilege. You take charge of the carnal realm.” Did you hear the word that He used? Dominion! God didn’t say that we should have dominion one over another. You must not dominate another human being. God said to Adam, “Dominate nature! Dominate the world.” Glory to God. “Dominate the circumstances!”

(Excerpt from Keeping in Touch, May 2009, pg. 24-25)

Thought for today: God left your carnal appetite with you to give you an opportunity to kill it, to control it, to exercise the power of life over the power of death, the power of the love of God over the power of the love of the world.

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And the Door Was Shut

Posted in Time of the End, tagged , , , , on April 26, 2018| Leave a Comment »

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Scripture reading: Matthew 25:7-13

Come and listen to Matthew 25. The virgins arose and trimmed their lamps, “…AND THE DOOR WAS SHUT.”  

What door are we talking about? In Scripture, words have a very strong connotation and power on different levels. You read a word down here and then read a word up here, and the word carries a greater power. The “door” means Jesus Christ. He said, “I am the door.” In this verse, the door into Christ was shut. That means that Christ has had His full amount of people (those who will reign and rule with Him) and He shut that door. It was shut!

We don’t really understand what it means. No matter how much we feel that we understand, we have no idea. I often make fun and say, “Well, you will be in charge of Champaign, and the other one will be in charge of San Francisco,” and so on, but what God is talking about is much, much more than that. There are some things of God’s divine plan for the ages that we never even dream about. God wants people. He is recruiting people now for that position! You are going to be part of that according to what you are now, because this is the proving ground! Do you understand it? I put you on the proving ground, and you go taking it easy! You need to understand! Rise up now, and do what God wants you to do now! Because we are the people of the end, and we are at the end. Hallelujah.

We are talking about “The coming of Christ.” Young people, some of you have never heard the gospel right, and you need to know what is meant when we talk about the coming of Christ. Christ is first coming in His temple; then He will come out there for everybody to see Him. In other words, CHRIST coming in His Temple, and JESUS CHRIST coming out there.

Matthew 25:10 says, “And while they (the foolish virgins) went to buy (oil for their vessels), the bridegroom came; and they that were ready went in with him to the marriage: and the door was shut.”

Do you know what “fool” means? “Fool” means that they have said in their hearts that “there is no God” (Psalm 53:1). You can be fools for a while and wise afterwards, but when you are wise too late then you find yourself outside in the darkness seeking oil.

The whole idea that God is showing us is that there is an elect people. There is an ekklesia—a Church—a “called out” people, and out of the “called out” God is calling out. God is calling out a people to be “excellent,” to be “diligent,” to be the “top”; and I believe that everyone who is reading this article has that privilege right now.

When we speak of a person who is not going to make it, we are only speaking about those who do not WANT to make it! That’s right! You say you want to make it, but if you never make the effort, you will not make it! God wants people who are diligent: who will lay down their life for God and for what they think God is saying that they should do, and what they should be.

It says in Matthew 25:13, “Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh.” 

What am I saying? Why would He tell you to watch if you did not have a chance? So then, the destiny is not a fixed destiny (that you must go to heaven, or you must go to hell, and you must…). No! If you do not understand God, then you will believe that; but if you understand God, you will know that God has given us a race to run; and He said, “All of you—RUN!” (Ref. 1 Corinthians 9:24, Hebrews 12:1).

Furthermore, God gives you everything. He gives you everything possible to make you all winners! Some will win and some will lose, because those who lose do not have the heart to win. “Watch ye therefore, for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come.” Yet, there will be some outside in the darkness seeking oil.

(Excerpt from The Omega Message, December 1997, pg. 26-27)

Thought for today: If you understand God, you will know that God has given us a race to run; and He said, “RUN!”

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The Secret Coming of Jesus Christ

Posted in Time of the End, tagged , , , , , on April 11, 2018| Leave a Comment »

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Scripture reading: Revelation 16:15

Revelation 16:15 is another one of the warnings that there is going to be a secret coming of Jesus Christ. He will come secretly without fanfare, without noise, quietly, and many men will not know. As a matter of fact, some of the Christians today will not know that Jesus comes because He is coming to a prepared people at a special time.

Remember the parable of the wise and the foolish virgins? The bridegroom came and the foolish did not see him because they were gone to seek oil. May God help us to be part of that bride class so that we will be ready and waiting for the bridegroom, having oil at midnight. The oil represents the Holy Spirit, and the wise had oil in TWO PLACES. One place was in the vessel, and the other place was in the lamp. The vessel replenishes the lamp. The vessel is the SOUL (Acts 9:15), and the lamp is the SPIRIT OF MAN. Proverbs 20:27, “The spirit of man is the candle (lamp) of the LORD…”

The thief-in-the-night coming of Jesus is well established in Scripture that it is going to be a secret coming. There are also many scriptures that say He is coming, “and every eye shall see him,” Revelation 1:7. There is no way that He could come secretly, “and every eye (shall) see him.” These are two separate things. He is coming in the church, to the church, inside of humanity, to fill those who are prepared with His presence. That is why Jesus taught His disciples to pray, “Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.” The will of God will be done in my earth, and in your earth, before it is done in the earth outside. Jesus is speaking of this secret coming, when He will be coming in the believers, in those who are ready, in the wise virgins.

“Lest he walk naked, and they see his shame” means on that day many Christians will be ashamed of the doctrines they preach. One of these doctrines is definitely the rapture doctrine – that we are going to fly away. God wants us to overcome the world here. We cannot fly away and at the same time overcome. We must overcome at the darkest part of time. This is what God is training us for – TO OVERCOME EVERYTHING. First of all, we are to overcome the sin that is within us, the devil that is within us, to cast him out completely, to overcome the flesh, to overcome the mind, the emotions, the will, and the desires. We must be an overcomer, then we will begin to overcome the devil himself, until finally we will overcome death.

(Excerpt from The Book of Revelation, Volume 2, pages 110-111)

Thought for today: Jesus is speaking of a secret coming, when He will be coming in the believers, to those who are ready.

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Diligent and Obedient

Posted in The Firstfruits Company, tagged , , on April 6, 2018| Leave a Comment »

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Scripture reading: Matthew 25:1-10

Let us go once again to Matthew 25. Some time ago, we brought the thought about “dead men walking.” It means people who are in the church (they seem to be alive and yet they are dead), but who will be out of the church at a certain time. We have already talked about people losing their salvation, but there is another set of losers in the church who will not lose their salvation, but they will lose their calling. I will tell you why.

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 bridegroom. 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.”

Verses 7-8, “Then all those virgins arose, and trimmed their lamps. And the foolish said unto the wise, Give us of your oil; for our lamps are gone out.” You cannot give anybody the Holy Ghost, no matter what you do. There are some people today laying hands on other people and saying they can give them the Holy Ghost so that many talk in tongues; but they do not have the Holy Ghost.

Verse 9, “But the wise answered, saying, Not so; lest there be not enough for us and you: but go ye rather to them that sell, and buy for yourselves.” Who is it that sells? Well, somebody says, “Jesus,” but in this sense here, they were going out into the darkness to get hit; that was going to bring them to their knees and give them the necessary deliverance they needed.

Verse 10, “And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came; and they that were ready went in with him to the marriage: and the door was shut.”

I want you to understand what we are talking about. We see people—some of us—who will not be included in the firstfruits company. A lot of people feel that I use that as a baton over their heads, as a weapon. I do not use it as a weapon. I would, however, love to frighten you into doing the right things. Oh, yes! I am not above frightening you. You see, I have tried everything, but you will not get frightened.

God is saying that some of us will not be included in the firstfruits company because the ones who are included in the firstfruits company are those who are diligent and obedient!

That is very simple. You do not need any great spirituality. All you need is humility to obey God. Yes! When the Lord speaks, you obey; and if you will obey God’s Word, God will put you in, because it says about the wise virgins (those who obeyed and gave themselves to God’s purpose) that they had oil in their lamps and OIL IN THEIR VESSELS.

Let me explain that to you: “Oil in your lamp” is “the Spirit of God in your spirit.” Proverbs 20:27 says that “…the spirit of man is the candle (lamp) of the LORD…” That means that man’s spirit is a lamp (because lamps hold oil) that holds the oil of the Holy Ghost; and when there is oil in your spirit, the Holy Spirit moves into your soul (vessel). When you are in the Spirit you can prophesy, you can do great things, you can dance, you can sing, you can tell people what is going to happen tomorrow—but all that does not pay you if you do not have this movement of God in your own soul. It is only when the Spirit of God is working in your conscious mind, making you to be conscious of sin and walk right and holy, and that same Spirit working in your emotions, in your will, and in your desires, that it is adding oil to your vessel that is going to be able to sustain you in the hour of the greatest darkness.

(Excerpt from The Omega Message, December 1997, pg. 24)

Thought for today: The ones who are included in the firstfruits company are those who are diligent and obedient.

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