But he answered and said, Verily I say unto you, I know you not.
In the parable of the ten virgins the Bridegroom answers the five foolish virgins returning too late with the door already shut by telling them he does not know them and leaving them outside in darkness. It is his disowning of professed believers as unknown and shutting them out from the marriage supper and the kingdom when he comes, warning that mere profession of readiness without true spiritual preparation leaves a person unready and rejected. The lack that shuts them out is lack of oil in vessels with lamps, which is lack of grace and the Holy Spirit and Christ's righteousness and the character it forms, without which knowledge cannot quicken, faith cannot live, and the light goes out. That readiness cannot be acquired at the last moment or borrowed from another when the crisis comes, because character and spiritual experience are not transferable and delay until the door is shut is fatal. The shut door represents exclusion at Christ's second coming and the close of probation and the end of mercy with final separation settled, when preparation can no longer be made and pleading afterward cannot gain admission. The Bridegroom's coming represents a change in Christ's work as High Priest in heaven when he rose from his mediatorial throne and went into the Most Holy Place to begin the marriage and receive his kingdom, not coming to earth at that time, and readiness means having his Spirit and grace and following his heavenly work by faith.
Parable Story and Setting
Matthew 25:12 belongs to the parable of the ten virgins in Matthew 25:1-13. The parable presents five wise and five foolish virgins waiting to meet the Bridegroom in the evening of this earth's history. It divides professed believers into the ready and the unready, with the five wise representing those whose hearts are filled with grace and who have perfected Christian character and washed their robes white. Both wise and foolish slumbered while the Bridegroom tarried, illustrating loss of zeal and devotion during the passing of the expected time and the disappointment that followed. The parable is set forth through the customs of an Eastern wedding and is to be studied carefully and prayerfully, and in one setting it frames the lesson that heaven's reward comes through humble, simple faith and love rather than status or self-exaltation.
The verse gives the master of the feast's answer denying the foolish virgins entry after they return too late. When the call to meet the Bridegroom came, the foolish were found with no oil in their lamps and their lamps went out, while the wise had oil in their vessels with their lamps. While the foolish went to buy oil, the Bridegroom came and those who were ready went in with him to the marriage and the marriage supper. Arriving after the wedding party has entered and the door is shut, the foolish are denied admission, told that he does not know them, and left outside standing without in the empty street in the blackness of the night and darkness. Their earlier expectation does not make up for lack of preparation, and their experience illustrates the fate of those in the church who profess to await Christ's second coming but are unprepared when He comes, with works not corresponding to profession bringing solemn warning and cause for trembling to every church.
The marriage setting reflects that a Jewish marriage was a solemn, joyful occasion. Jesus approved innocent happiness, honored marriage as a divine institution, and used the marriage covenant to illustrate important truths.
As part of the parable of the sleeping virgins, the passage is applied as a call to awake from spiritual slumber and take up the work appointed by God while the signs of the times are fulfilling. Its lamp-without-oil image is also applied to minds caught up in speculative beliefs and confusion. Trimming the lamp and replenishing it with the Spirit's oil shows that spiritual readiness requires ongoing attention and the Spirit's sustaining presence.
Lamps Oil and Vessels
In the parable the lamps stand for the word of God and the Bible and a theory of truth, and to have the lamp is to be supplied with truth and ready to shine, as truth received even in confinement later shines more brightly. Many have that lamp of the theory of the truth and even assent to the theory of the third angel's message, yet have no oil in the vessel with the lamp. The light kept burning through the night is God's word becoming a transforming power in the life through the Holy Spirit. Without the oil of grace the light grows dim and will go out in darkness, leaving the holder in despair where no warnings or entreaties can reach.
The oil in vessels with the lamps is grace and the Holy Spirit and God's sustaining power and Christ's righteousness and the character it forms, with faith, love, patience, truth and heavenly love. It alone feeds the lamp and causes the light of life to shine forth to show the way to those in darkness, vitalizing faith, nourishing patience, preventing friction between believers, and keeping the lamp shining. Safety lies in living in hourly contact and conscious communion with the principles of truth, righteousness and mercy, bound up with God who is the deep source of all moral and intellectual power. Without that inward preparation outward appearance, association with the wedding party, and a lifetime of preaching leave truth undiscovered and the light goes out.
The golden oil was emptied from the two olive trees through golden pipes into the bowl and thence into the lamps that gave light to the sanctuary. So from the holy ones that stand in God's presence His Spirit is imparted to human instrumentalities consecrated to His service, through the two anointed ones that stand by the Lord of the whole earth to communicate that heavenly grace which alone can make His word a lamp to the feet and a light to the path. Provision is made for every soul to be abundantly supplied, the oil taken from the two anointed ones and emptied into clean, pure, sanctified souls prepared to receive it through humbleness of mind. But without connection with heavenly agencies workers lack the strong, pure influence God expects, the Holy Spirit is not represented in their labors, the power of godly example is lacking, and the word of truth presented is ineffective and weak. That oil cannot be given from one person to another even to help them, for they would not appreciate it, and character is not transferable.
Five virgins were wise because they anticipated delay and filled their flagons with oil, prepared for any emergency, so their lamps were supplied from their flagons and not left to go out. Their burning light becomes transforming power forming God's character, so that lives shine in the world's darkness and help lead the way to the Bridegroom's home and the marriage supper of the Lamb. Five were foolish because they had not this foresight and made no provision for disappointment or delay. At the end only the wise who have oil in their vessels with their lamps will be ready to meet him.
Readiness for his coming cannot be acquired at the last moment nor borrowed from another when the crisis comes, because character and spiritual experience are not transferable and delay until the door is shut is fatal. Those who have kept Christ apart from their lives are not fitted for companionship with Him in heaven, and lamps going or gone out means faith and love and knowledge of God and the truth have left them, as water leaves a leaky vessel. Those who lack the oil of grace cannot join the procession to the marriage supper, cannot acquire the wise character or discern and accept the light at the decisive time, and the closed door leaves them unable to enter. The midnight cry showed believers must seek a living experience for themselves because they could not rely on one another, and accepting the Holy Spirit through practiced Bible truth is a real necessity for the present time.
Shut Door and Rejection
The words are the Bridegroom's own answer to the foolish virgins, disowning them as unknown and shutting them out from the marriage supper and the kingdom when he comes. Mere profession of readiness without true spiritual preparation leaves a person unready and rejected, for those whose lamps go out for lack of oil have the form and theory of truth but lack the Holy Spirit, the grace of Christ, and the living experience that gives faith and work power and causes the light of life to shine. Those who have rejected heaven's messages and lack the oil of grace cannot join the procession to the marriage supper of the Lamb, for they cannot acquire the wise virgins' character nor discern and accept the light at the decisive time, and the closed door leaves them unable to enter. The waiting time must include watchfulness, faithful work, personal piety, and the grace represented by oil in the lamps, since neglecting these while living for the world leaves a person spiritually unready, and with the Lord's coming near, claiming that he delays risks sharing the fate of hypocrites and unbelievers. When the opportunity to receive the grace needed to be ready has passed it is too late to secure it, as the empty vessels and failing lamps picture those who delay until they have no oil, and readiness for Christ's coming cannot be acquired at the last moment by those who have kept Christ apart from their lives, for they are not fitted for companionship with him in heaven.
The shut door represents exclusion at Christ's second coming and the close of probation and the end of mercy, when final separation is settled. Those unprepared when the Bridegroom comes cannot gain admission by pleading afterward, for although they later call on the Lord to open the door he answers that he does not know them. The parable portrays the spiritual condition of the church at that coming and warns that readiness cannot be postponed until he arrives, calling each person to ask whether he will be among the wise virgins, to watch for his coming, to seek the wedding garment which is the righteousness of Christ, and to make earnest preparation before the time for entry ends. When the door to the marriage supper is shut, those who neglected to prepare during probationary time and failed to secure the oil of grace and develop Christlike character will seek entrance too late and be refused, for that fitness cannot be secured after probation has ended and the time to prepare is now. Trifling excuses and slothful half-hearted effort and self-righteousness cannot supply the wedding garment, preparation cannot be made once the time of trouble or the plagues have come, and delayed preparation brings irreversible loss, while the careless multitude is left in darkness when Jesus leaves the throne and those who rise with him keep their eyes fixed on him and keep their garments spotless as they wait for his return from the wedding.
The final rejection is the working of eternal justice, falling not for revolting crime or open outbreaking sin but for neglect of what might and ought to have been done and for lack of the moral qualifications Christ clothed his divinity with humanity and died to place within reach of every sinner. The foolish had lamps, a knowledge of the truth, and the appearance of giving light like the wise, but they took no oil in their vessels, meaning they received not the grace of God, had no living connection with God, were not vitalized by his Holy Spirit, had no saving faith, did not have Christ as a personal Saviour, supposed themselves wise while wise only in their own sight, did not grow in grace and the knowledge of Christ, and were not doers of his words. Because their works show this character they are unfit subjects for the kingdom of God, members of the royal family and children of the heavenly King, and are left as corrupt transgressors outside the city of God, outside the supper, in outer darkness and despair. The shut door falls on those in the ministry and others who had light and knowledge of the truth yet would not be overcomers, would not restrict appetite and passion or deny themselves for Christ, and walked in darkness despite great opportunities and great light, while many poor outcasts, even publicans and sinners who grasp the hope set before them in the gospel, will enter the kingdom before them. They will hear most startling declarations as injured Deity speaks and proclaims sins that have been hidden, and the woes pronounced upon them they will feel but will have no power to act, just as the priests and rulers fled in terror at the cleansing of the temple. When the trumpet sounds the pardoned waiting people disappear, while the unprepared are left alone in darkness, warning that refuge and confession of sin must be sought before time closes.
The same sentence is spoken at the final day to many who claim admission to Christ's kingdom because they ate and drank in his presence, were taught in their streets, prophesied in his name, cast out devils, and did many wonderful works. The sentence falls because in this life they did not enter into fellowship with Christ, so they do not know the language of heaven and are strangers to its joy. The fellowship of the Spirit which they slighted could alone make them one with the joyous throng at the marriage feast, and without it its light falls on blinded eyes, its melody on deaf ears, and its love and joy awaken no gladness in the world-benumbed heart, so they are shut out from heaven by their own unfitness for its companionship.
Prophetic Fulfillment in 1844
The delay of the bridegroom is the passing of the expected time and the disappointment that followed, during which believers slumbered and lost some of their zeal and devotion. The time of waiting and slumber is followed by the bridegroom's coming, and that sequence belongs to the 1844 Advent movement and its midnight cry. The midnight cry announcing the Bridegroom's coming, "Behold, the bridegroom cometh," calling people to go out to meet Him, was applied to the 1844 proclamation of Christ's soon coming. That proclamation awakened people across all walks of life and called them out, with many leaving the fallen churches, and it was connected to the autumn interpretation of the sanctuary's cleansing. Light on this was given in December, and a distinct further light on the Bridegroom's coming was not shown until February following.
The bridegroom's coming was made under the first and second angels' messages. It represents a change in Christ's position and work as High Priest in heaven, rising from His mediatorial throne and going into the Most Holy Place to come to the Ancient of Days. This is not His coming to this earth to deliver His people on the tenth day of the seventh month, but His coming to the holiest to begin the marriage and receive His kingdom. The marriage represents that reception of the kingdom, the same event described as the Son of man coming to the Ancient of days for the cleansing of the sanctuary. This coming to the holiest settles the shut door, with the door's closing marking exclusion from the marriage, while His return from the wedding and the marriage supper follow afterward.
Readiness at that coming means having the Spirit and grace of God and following Christ by faith in His heavenly work, patiently waiting, watching and working. The foolish virgins represent people who know the truth but lack God's grace, Spirit and sustaining power. Those not ready when the Bridegroom comes are shut out and disowned as unknown. The shut door and the words about not being known were understood to indicate that probation had closed on the tenth day of the seventh month in 1844. Adventists after 1844 thought this might mean that human probation had ended shortly before Christ's return.
Later understanding showed that Christ's intercession for sinners had not ceased, for at the end of the 2300 days He closed one ministration in the heavenly sanctuary and began another in the most holy place, where He continued to present His blood on their behalf. The vision of the Bridegroom's movement to the Most Holy Place to receive His kingdom led many to accept the shut-door teaching. Leading Adventists published this truth that a door was shut in 1844, and most of the Advent people once believed it. Since the door was shut those who break God's holy commandments are in an awful place, and those who received light on the Sabbath and cast it away have no hope, with rejection of light on the fourth commandment bringing greater condemnation than breaking the other nine. A little longer and Jesus' work in the sanctuary will be finished, and republishing those 1844 testimonies rejoices trusting hearts, saves some jewels, causes many to decide for the truth and take a firm stand, strengthens what remains, and builds up God's people in the most holy faith despite Satan's efforts to hinder it.
Long waiting tempts watchers to conclude the Master will not come, and the foolish fail because they have no supply of grace to stand the test and trial of delay. The delay is purposeful, giving time to test and prove who has the real genuine righteousness of Christ and who can bear with patience while waiting and watching and working. His coming is delayed because He is longsuffering and not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance. No device or reckoning of figures or symbols or types can fix the definite period of the Lord's coming; believers are to study the signs that show He is at the door. True waiting is not idle expectancy that stops planting trees or building meetinghouses, but more diligent work to uphold and gather the Lord's sheep, keeping bridal lamps trimmed and burning and being found watching, for those servants are blessed. Those asleep at their post must now awake and trim their lamps, entertain no doubt about present truth, and press toward Canaan, and the present waiting period of probation will seem very short when the redeemed stand before the immensity of eternity.
Who Are Foolish Virgins
The ten virgins portray the spiritual condition of the professed church living just before the second coming, all having lamps and vessels and knowledge of Scripture and expectation, with no difference seen for a time until waiting tries faith. Readiness cannot be postponed until arrival nor borrowed from another at the last moment, and late appeal after the door is shut does not change exclusion. The wise let light shine in good works through prayerful study and obedience to answer the midnight cry, while the foolish cling to old habits and worldly ways and careless indifference and fail to bring truth into daily life and keep the commandments. Baptism alone without inward grace does not save, and some refused the final testing message after the earlier messages. Men cannot now distinguish the classes, for tares resemble wheat and only angels know without mistake by fruits.
A place on the church roll does not secure entrance into heaven, and neither human birth nor descent from Abraham nor membership in any church will save. The highest profession, ordination for ministry, office, talent, outward work, spiritual advantages, solemn truth, service, theoretical knowledge, claim to holiness, appointment as Sabbath school superintendent or teacher, or formal connection does not give the oil of grace to feed the lamp. Without conversion, heart-union, inward grace renewing heart and life, doing the Word and not only hearing it, communion with God and Christ's righteousness, the life remains worldly, self-centered, careless and sinful. Outward association with the wedding party and relying on citizen's garments instead of the spotless robe dishonors the host, and the heart must be changed including removal of envy, evil thoughts and love of self-exaltation. To have just enough religion to deaden conscience, deceive the senses and ruin the soul leaves a person with the name to live while dead, going his own way to do his own pleasure, and whole families are deceived about fitness for judgment.
The foolish are those with interest in the gospel and knowledge of righteousness's standard who claim to know and believe truth, talk the Word all over the world and even utter its highest oracles, yet keep Christ out of the heart, keep truth in the outer court, carry self with them, and cherish traits that misrepresent Christ. Having no oil in vessels with lamps, they have not received the Holy Spirit in the heart which works by love and purifies the soul, have not accepted and worn the robe of Christ's righteousness, are not doers of the Word but hearers only building on sand, and have not represented Christ in character, so they are met as strangers. Since Minneapolis they heard heaven's light on justification by faith and imputed righteousness through messengers at camp meetings and ministerial institutes, received the call that all things are now ready, yet made excuses and neglected to respond and failed to walk, impart and cooperate. About half will be ready and half unready when the great events open, for even among those with great light and continuous privileges only a small number have more than theoretical knowledge, and failure to practice the commandments leaves them unprepared and without a living likeness to Christ.
The warning falls on ease-loving, world-loving professed Christians absorbed in worldly pleasures, relationships, habits and self-pleasing who hide their light and mingle with the world until power to shine is lost. They give only half-hearted service conforming to worldly ways, sacrifice eternal riches for worldly treasure, and fail to receive Christ's righteousness, so they are unfit when sickness and death come and their fate is decided for eternity. Worldly schemes and engrossments crowd God from the thoughts and consume strength needed for His service, leaving lamps without oil and people spiritually unready. Being hushed to slumber and carelessness about light by the peace and safety cry, they cannot enter with the wise because character is not transferable.
Rejection comes as a solemn warning to every church showing the danger of those whose works do not correspond to profession of faith. The foolish are unconverted professors who do not shine in good works but encourage sinners to continue in sin, lack a burden for souls ready to perish, refuse self-denial and the cross, live for self unchanged with empty vessels, and use profession to mislead others. Only safety is living in constant communion with God, taking Him as Counsellor, walking in light of His Word under His yoke with sacred fire from God rather than darkness for light by walking in sparks of own kindling. Sharp underhand dealing and worldly practices misrepresent Him, and talent and outward work with claimed good deeds do not secure recognition when the work dishonors God, nor does deception for gain make fit for heaven without repentance and pardon. Everyone is entrusted with talents and has sacred responsibility to bless others by opening precious truth to those in error, yet many with knowledge of truth are not sanctified through it nor realize there is a day of trust and a day of reckoning, and handling strange fire with unsanctified minds, speech and pride they bear dissension and bitterness while thinking themselves rich and needing nothing and failing to be emptied of self.
He will finally declare He does not know those who sneer at truth and ridicule, revile and misrepresent those who proclaim the Bible alone as authority, while living in harmony with the lawbreaker. Those persecutors suffer no loss now while the godly suffer persecution, but afterward will weep and beg for entrance and be refused. The foolish are minds not in guarded connection with God, open to Satan finding an unguarded moment and getting possession, and believers must neither be ignorant of his devices nor be overpowered by them. Satan hides real intelligence behind foolish pictures of horns and hoofs, for he was once an angel of light, and leads those trusting own intelligence to make believe they can correct the Scriptures, bringing infidelity in high places, including strong men taken by scientific spiritualistic philosophy into criticism and unbelief. Those with oil heed warning messages rather than rejecting or altering them to suit judgment, stand with God and the church against the world, bring religion to the Bible standard, contend for the faith once delivered, keep Christ as model, strive for perfection and maintain warfare against passion and forbidden traits, while those without hate the Bible because it will not let them sin as they please and war against reproof, and those weaving false theories and praising one who tramples the Sabbath, exalts Sunday, voids the law and oppresses God's people are on the side of the foolish even if mixing good with error.
The five sleeping virgins represent many who received great light and knowledge but are cold, spiritually senseless, and marked by weak fading piety. They think themselves full of wisdom and trust human understanding, feel so well supplied there is no room in vessels for heavenly grace, look with pity and disgust on earnest seekers, and awake to find lamps going out with the one thing needed for the marriage supper neglected. Professing to believe truth yet unconverted with hard hearts and blinded minds, they knew God but did not worship Him as God, allowing self to harden the heart and shut the door against Christ so He cannot enter and abide, and will die greater sinners than before profession. Activity in God's work without receiving and living transforming grace, professing religion without practicing Christ's lessons, suiting worldly men and never letting light shine, leaves them unprepared. Continued self-indulgence darkens understanding, blurs vision and makes warnings ineffective until character is found diseased too late, calling each person to examine standing, awake amid last-day perils, and not be caught by surprise.
He who is truth declares He does not know a professedly Christian life of respectable conventionality lacking self-sacrifice. To seek gospel benefits while denying its spirit and rejecting fellowship with Him in service forfeits fitness to share His glory. Training children for self-pleasing respectability instead of self-sacrificing work of giving the gospel leaves them under that verdict, while the self-sacrificing laborer keeps the spiritual lamp trimmed and burning in unselfish service with precious experience of God's presence. Calling Him Saviour is not enough when His holy law is broken and refused. Profession of holiness with corrupt heart and calm pious appearance is hypocrisy met by His frown, and without changed disposition educational advantages and gifts used to disparage others leave a person shut out.
Those who received great light and opportunity but do not live by it may lose it, with lamps growing dim and finally going out for lack of oil if they do not overcome appetite and passion or deny self. Meanwhile people from other churches who lived up to light they had may accept truth even at the eleventh hour, and people rescued from sin may accept the gospel and enter before them. The foolish without oil are the same as the man without the wedding garment who expected to meet the Bridegroom but was not admitted or recognized, and business must not be allowed to bring a person into that condition. Those disregarding warnings or cherishing and excusing sin seal destiny, and when mercy ends He has passed beyond reach so prayers cannot restore what was lost. Nor should hesitation and fear of ridicule delay confession until mercy is past, lest when the trumpet sounds the pardoned are taken away and the unready are left alone in darkness grieving the Spirit away.
Obtaining the Oil
Lack of oil is destitution of the Holy Spirit and of the oil of grace that sustains spiritual life, and theory of truth, outward appearance, lamps without inward preparation, and mere association with the wedding party are not enough. Without the Spirit knowledge cannot quicken, sanctify, transform character, guard from temptation, or keep the light burning, so lamps go out and characters cannot endure the test. Readiness requires a daily living connection with God, growing love, obedience, and good works that glorify God, secured today and renewed continually especially under trial. The refusal to admit the foolish to the feast falls at the crisis of the last call to go out to meet the Bridegroom, when ease-loving, world-loving professors who hid their light and mingled with the world until power to shine was lost ask for entrance after failing to keep a continual supply, hushed to slumber by the peace and safety cry, and cannot enter because character is not transferable. Those absorbed in worldly pleasures and relationships fail to receive Christ's righteousness and are left unfit when sickness and death come, and only true experience with unmistakable evidence of acceptance with God gives safety from being shut out as unknown.
Obtaining the oil requires beginning in earnest without delay to work out salvation with fear and trembling, with repentance and confession, returning to the Bible, true conversion and new birth, falling upon Christ the Rock, and faithfulness to baptismal vows instead of being chilled by formality, worldly ambition, pride and love of self. It requires prayer, Scripture and worship, obedience to all requirements even the least commandments, self-denial and cross-bearing, love of God with whole soul, heart, mind and strength, and a life practicing meekness, humility, gentleness, tenderness, sympathy and love. Many will be surprised and disappointed at the midnight cry because pride and weakness of faith have left hearts unhumbled, holding the lamp of the theory of truth and even assenting to the theory of the third angel's message yet having no oil in the vessel with the lamp. That oil is the grace of Christ that feeds the lamp and causes the light of life to shine to show the way to those in darkness, and without broken repentance, conversion revealing the fruits of the Spirit, partaking of the divine nature and escape from corruption through lust, being born again of the divine Spirit with watchfulness, purified heart, renewed mind, new capacity for knowing and loving God, and willing obedience, eternal life and partaking of the new life in the kingdom cannot be given. The waiting time must therefore include watchfulness, faithful work, personal piety, and grace kept burning so light can shine in the present, for knowing truth without living and sharing it, and profession without practicing Christ's lessons in daily life, is false religion that leaves a person unready and unrecognized when the Lord comes.
Readiness requires vigilance, personal consecration, opening the heart to Jesus, being cleansed from selfish purposes, confessing sin, repentance, pardon through Christ, conversion and faith, and expecting to share the supper is not enough without preparation beforehand. The oil of grace must be obtained beforehand by faithfulness in little things, by sitting at the feet of Jesus, bringing every thought into captivity and obedience to Christ, regulating words and actions by the holy law of God, and strictly guarding small duties and habits to train the affections to act on principle and shape character for Christian consistency. The little foxes that spoil the vines enter the habitual train of thought and destroy delight in real heart service, and grace can bless only where it influences. If undisciplined nature is allowed its will in littles, when great emergencies try the soul the oil will be wanting, the life scarred and warped, preparation in this life to unite with the redeemed will be missing, and the name is in great danger of being blotted from the book of life with exclusion as unknown.
The warning falls especially on ministers and church members with privilege, light and knowledge, showing that profession does not replace conversion and a Christlike life. Foolish virgins with no oil describe ministers who pass year after year unchanged by the truth they teach, especially younger ministers lacking consecration, heart-felt piety and devotion, whose proud unconsecrated hearts are displeased with testimony and fail to accept and obey light given, so that though sent to be a light by good works as well as words and theories they exert no powerful influence for good. Ministers may have lamps yet lack the oil of grace that makes them burn and give light, and need faith that works by love and purifies the soul, for outward profession without grace leaves them unready. In the last great day many in the ministry and others with light and knowledge who would not be overcomers, would not restrict appetite and passion or deny self for Christ, and walked in darkness despite great opportunity, will plead for opening in vain when the door is shut, while many poor outcasts, even publicans and sinners who grasp gospel hope, enter before them. All in the church will be proved as wise or foolish, and those with the lamp of profession but no oil in vessels with lamps will be revealed at last, for the church as depository of truth must send forth clear steady light with works corresponding to privileges, which is impossible unless sanctified through the truth and set apart for service, since profession or outward work without inward preparation is not enough.
Readiness is individual responsibility that cannot be vested in any minister, who may help but can never do the work for another. Keeping vessels filled means keeping the soul in the love of God by earnest diligent daily use to the utmost of ability of entrusted talents, by giving means into the treasury, by self-denial and cross-bearing and working for souls, and by sinking empty vessels into the fullness of God's love to draw freely, steadily, continually, with Christ within as a well of water springing up unto everlasting life. Merely retaining capital without trading and improving talents by putting them out to the exchangers is unfaithfulness that meets rejection at the final reckoning, where God will require each one according to talents received and all improvement that might have been made. Mere profession is nothing, and taking promises and salvation for granted without living as enjoined, without eating his flesh and drinking his blood, denying self daily and taking up the cross, doing and teaching even the least commandments, and having righteousness exceeding the scribes and Pharisees, brings final disowning, for crying peace when there is no peace is most perilous and no one is to presume he is saved. Genuine experience unfolds and intensifies by continual advancement in knowledge and power in the Word from vital connection with God, with holy love growing brighter unto the perfect day, but without oil light grows dim and unless soon decidedly changed will go out in darkness leaving the person in despair beyond warnings, since sanctification is the work of a lifetime pressing toward the mark and allowing vessels to burn dim cuts off blessing.
The wise represent those whose hearts are filled with grace from Christ and whose desire for peace and joy continues to grow, those who have perfected Christian character and washed their robes white in his blood. He gave his life to make it possible for all to become wise, partakers of the divine nature, complete in him, perfect without spot and blameless, again reflecting the moral image of God, and only those making him personal Saviour and becoming true, pure and holy enter the kingdom, for untruthful, impure, unrighteous evil natures cannot inherit it, and if sin is not destroyed it will destroy the sinner. Becoming wise does not release from responsibility but requires cooperation of God with man and man with God, working out salvation with fear and trembling while God works to will and do, resisting all wrong and subduing evil temper, selfishness and pride to attain his righteousness and become one with him, taking hold of his strength to make peace and receive all sufficiency for a self-directed, self-controlled life, because the soul outweighs the whole world. The delay tests whether people have genuine righteousness with grace and truth enthroned awakening thought, arousing conscience, adorning character and renewing nature, supplying grace needed to endure waiting and to patiently wait, watch and work rather than assuming long waiting means he will not come.
Keeping Ready Watching Working
The saying calls for unrelaxed effort, vigilant watching and sanctified waiting, with lamps kept trimmed and burning and vessels kept filled. The end is very near and will come unexpectedly like a thief, the time for preparation is short and the work must be done today, and those who suppose themselves ready while unready will be shut out and disowned. Bridal lamps must be kept burning in watchfulness by staying awake, seeking Christ, learning His will, fearing to offend Him, and receiving His grace with wholehearted consecration. Readiness is required because all the world will stand on one side or the other in the desperate last struggle when evil angels unite with evil men, while trumpet after trumpet indicates His presence pledging to vindicate truth and supply courage, for which the oil sustains faith.
Watching means praying and working earnestly to save others, keeping every entrusted talent and capability in active service and multiplying them continually while the day lasts, for the night comes in which no one can work. Sleeping, slumbering at one's post, growing inactive, folding the hands and standing neutral instead of actively representing Christ in earnest effort for perishing souls must be put away. Sleeping and haphazard work bring spiritual declension and cause that day to overtake the unprepared as a thief, with a sifting among claimants. Readiness therefore requires a strengthened mind that looks deep and discerns the reasons of faith, a soul-temple purified by truth, quiet prayerful communion to learn His will joined to a positive message of warning, and personal piety blended with most earnest and energetic warnings and appeals.
Keeping the lamp trimmed and burning means kindling the taper from the divine altar, living out of spiritual darkness into light, worshiping God in the beauty of holiness, and cherishing the precious light and deep movings of the Holy Spirit. It means daily and hourly beholding Christ to be changed into His image and perfected in character, treasuring the Word, regularly assembling for prayer and praise, maintaining family worship and communion, and overflowing in love, burden and sympathy for lost souls for whom Christ gave His life. Coldness and deadness of heart, grumbling like the Pharisees at time spent hunting the lost sheep, expecting to be nursed like sick babies instead of longing for the sincere milk of the Word, letting temporal interests absorb the mind, absenting from meetings, and contempt for the movings of the Spirit leave lamps dim, weak and unready. Each person must trim his own inner lamp beginning in the home church, with the whole self given without reserve so the root is holy and service is not bound up in self.
Readiness applies in the home circle, where every person must have the lamp constantly replenished with the oil of grace drawn from the divine source, the full and complete love of God. The supply is received by caring for the needs of the soul and treasuring the promises, admonitions, reproofs, warnings, consolations and encouragements of the Word, by uplifting family association, by family worship exerting an upbuilding divine influence, and by habitual communion with God instead of letting temporal interests supply the themes of conversation and absorb the mind. Where the oil is supplied the whole heart becomes a reservoir of divine love and grace, human affection becomes stronger, purer, more elevated, refined and holy, thoughts are brought into captivity to Christ, and hope, sympathy and brotherly love flow forth in words, actions and all associations; where eternal interest is supplanted by earthly things the light fades and goes out and leaves those whom Christ does not know. Parents in particular must humble themselves before God, reform character, pray, and receive faith that works by love and purifies the soul, so their inner lamps shine in faithful work for their children.
While probationary time lasts vigilant work must be combined with faithful waiting, watching and prayer, for the night comes when no one can work. Working alone, bustle and continual activity do not satisfy God; men must rest in the Lord, wait patiently, and not move hurriedly, cultivating personal piety with humble contrite hearts, cherishing the love of God and fearing to walk contrary to His will and way. They must be active in every line of service, not slothful in business but fervent in spirit, improving every opportunity, increasing gifts by use, and representing Christ in active Christlike virtues, which is Christian character and Bible religion. Neglect of personal piety makes even the most splendid endowments and service of no value unless soul, body and spirit are devoted to His service, after the example of Enoch who walked with God in obedience and purity amid impurity while bearing witness to truth and pointing to what fast follows after.
The soul's lamp must be kept trimmed and burning in active obedient service, with earnest work to share truth and save souls joined to fervent prayer. The lamp is fed with holy oil that becomes effective as its light is reflected on the path of others, joined to worship, faithful daily work and cheerful service to souls seeking salvation, and guarded against selfishness and reckless words and actions lest one be unknown. Souls are now deciding for evil or for good while time for work diminishes, so all who know the truth must be burning and shining lights today, working in harmony with truth with wisdom and diligence rather than counting on a long stretch of tomorrow and remaining idle while waiting to be set to work.
Lamps must be kept supplied with holy oil by constantly receiving the grace of the Spirit in order to impart it, bringing light to people in darkness, for each consecrated person is a vessel to be filled to be emptied into other vessels, and as light is shed on souls in darkness and sin new light is imparted. A church that keeps its light to itself becomes a receptacle of darkness, while trimming the lamps means daily receiving grace to impart to the needy and suffering and going forth into the harvest field in practical obedience. The sleeping virgins are called to arise and take up appointed work in view of the Lord coming to dwell in the midst when many nations shall be joined to Him, keeping lamps burning to carry truth to many places rather than leaving it concentrated where many do not improve by it.
Keeping the oil of grace in the vessel with the lamp applies to workers exposed to worldly influences, who need time for prayer and Scripture, access to public worship and personal spiritual care so the world does not draw their hearts from God, and to teachers who must have the oil of grace. Readiness amid moral darkness and unbelief includes the work of circulating publications containing the messages of warning for this time, with truth going forth as a lamp trimmed and burning because filled with heavenly oil and carried everywhere. Believers are to live the truth in commercial work without letting business become all-absorbing, keeping the Lord and His ways ever before the mind in prayer, so lived truth acts as sown seed whose influence touches the ends of the earth and bears the test of judgment.
Those entrusted with management who plead lack of time, absent themselves from meetings and lay off spiritual garments fail to keep lamps trimmed and burning and reflect only feebly. For them the Sabbath becomes merely a cessation of physical labor rather than a sweet foretaste of the Sabbath above, religion degenerates into a dishonoring form, spiritual temperature runs very low, and having a name to live they are dead in the lukewarm condition of Laodicea. God's people now stand on the borders of the greatest event in earth's history like sleeping virgins asleep to the nearness of the time of trouble such as was not since there was a nation, and they are called to awake to the danger, be sure their feet are in the narrow path, seek an experience giving assurance that the God of all grace is a very present help in need, and ask the Lord Jesus to place His everlasting arms underneath and carry them through the trial.
Having no oil means a faith not kept alive through the ordinances of grace and the work of Christ, deeming those ordinances and the instrumentalities He employs as not vital. It means seeing no necessity in His mediatorial work through which alone understanding is illuminated, the heart warmed, access to God given and partaking of the divine nature granted, a lack springing from exalting science and powers inherent in man and nature, wandering in skepticism and walking in sparks of human kindling. Such minds turn from eternal things, grow confused, weak and liable to mistake unless there is daily submission, meekness and lowliness of heart and looking to God at every step, for professing to wait is not enough and the unready will be shut out. Having oil in lamps and vessels means gaining the spiritual life needed to meet Him by overcoming temptation and growing in grace.
Outward profession and responsibility in God's work are not enough, for readiness requires lamps trimmed and burning and a life genuinely changed by conversion and the new birth in which selfishness dies and Christ's life appears in character. Keeping trimmed means loving the Lord supremely and doing His work wholeheartedly and carefully, shown by faith working through love and a life meeting the Bible's test, while half-hearted, deceitful or negligent service brings a curse and leaves one unable to be a light. Ability or outward standing without consecrated surrender is not accepted, while the heart open to receive the oil of grace is sanctified through truth, adorns doctrine by revealing what truth has done, does the Word and moves forward with the mind of Christ drawing together so darkness melts.
Waiting is not idle expectation but vigilant work, for idleness is sin against God whose given power is to bless self, family and humanity, with every man given his work and parents teaching children diligence and faithful stewardship. Keeping the lamp bright and burning means working while it is day, praying the Lord of the harvest to send laborers, gathering with Christ rather than scattering, and serving as a faithful steward employing every influence and money to gather the harvest. The lamp must be tended and constantly supplied with the oil of grace so it continues to shine, possessions used in His work while opportunity remains before mercy ceases to plead, for those not ready when opportunity ends are shut out right upon the day of God. To be known they must give Him the heart to mold character, follow on to know the Lord, and be refined and rightly employed as channels of light for saving souls.
The lamp must be kept trimmed and burning with inner spiritual care, habitual obedience to God's law and faithful work, taking every precaution so its light does not go out. Each person is accountable in proportion to gifts and opportunities, with greatest responsibility on those given most. To be ready means now getting the oil of grace that appears in the conscious and unconscious influence of words spoken in direct positive testimony and in sowing seeds of truth beside all waters, shining as lights with vessels prepared to receive the holy oil He supplies through the distinct message awakening those dead in trespasses to true conversion and relation to His law. Everyone must be ready every moment with the oil and the robe of Christ's righteousness, through humbling at the cross, getting out of self, prayer, the Spirit, active work to seek and save the lost, and sanctification of the whole being, with the trumpet giving a certain sound to sweep back darkness.
The sleeping foolish virgins picture people who know the truth but neglect duty while souls are being lost, and this neglect displeases God. Christians have been given great light to shine in clear steady rays set high above sensuality, yet unjust dealings and indulgence of passion make the light burn dim and many lights burn low and go out for want of oil. The oil is kept by purifying the soul through obeying truth, including obedience to physical law. Each person is called to keep the lamp burning reflecting light received, using the opportunity to find Jesus and renew allegiance, for rejecting greater light brings greater guilt, and the light must be kept shining undimmed by selfishness, wrongdoing, harsh words or anger.
The truth must be in the heart and converting power at work beyond profession, with the call to trim the lamps applying to a life letting truth shine while the world is warned of the approaching end. Readiness for the judgment depends on being connected with Christ, pictured by lamps kept burning with heavenly oil. Workers must keep Him before them so character and work will stand the test.
In the parable of the ten virgins the Bridegroom answers the five foolish virgins returning too late with the door already shut by telling them he does not know them and leaving them outside in darkness.
It is his disowning of professed believers as unknown and shutting them out from the marriage supper and the kingdom when he comes, warning that mere profession of readiness without true spiritual preparation leaves a person unready and rejected.
The lack that shuts them out is lack of oil in vessels with lamps, which is lack of grace and the Holy Spirit and Christ's righteousness and the character it forms, without which knowledge cannot quicken, faith cannot live, and the light goes out.
That readiness cannot be acquired at the last moment or borrowed from another when the crisis comes, because character and spiritual experience are not transferable and delay until the door is shut is fatal.
The shut door represents exclusion at Christ's second coming and the close of probation and the end of mercy with final separation settled, when preparation can no longer be made and pleading afterward cannot gain admission.
The Bridegroom's coming represents a change in Christ's work as High Priest in heaven when he rose from his mediatorial throne and went into the Most Holy Place to begin the marriage and receive his kingdom, not coming to earth at that time, and readiness means having his Spirit and grace and following his heavenly work by faith.
Parable Story and Setting
Matthew 25:12 belongs to the parable of the ten virgins in Matthew 25:1-13. The parable presents five wise and five foolish virgins waiting to meet the Bridegroom in the evening of this earth's history. It divides professed believers into the ready and the unready, with the five wise representing those whose hearts are filled with grace and who have perfected Christian character and washed their robes white. Both wise and foolish slumbered while the Bridegroom tarried, illustrating loss of zeal and devotion during the passing of the expected time and the disappointment that followed. The parable is set forth through the customs of an Eastern wedding and is to be studied carefully and prayerfully, and in one setting it frames the lesson that heaven's reward comes through humble, simple faith and love rather than status or self-exaltation.
The verse gives the master of the feast's answer denying the foolish virgins entry after they return too late. When the call to meet the Bridegroom came, the foolish were found with no oil in their lamps and their lamps went out, while the wise had oil in their vessels with their lamps. While the foolish went to buy oil, the Bridegroom came and those who were ready went in with him to the marriage and the marriage supper. Arriving after the wedding party has entered and the door is shut, the foolish are denied admission, told that he does not know them, and left outside standing without in the empty street in the blackness of the night and darkness. Their earlier expectation does not make up for lack of preparation, and their experience illustrates the fate of those in the church who profess to await Christ's second coming but are unprepared when He comes, with works not corresponding to profession bringing solemn warning and cause for trembling to every church.
The marriage setting reflects that a Jewish marriage was a solemn, joyful occasion. Jesus approved innocent happiness, honored marriage as a divine institution, and used the marriage covenant to illustrate important truths.
As part of the parable of the sleeping virgins, the passage is applied as a call to awake from spiritual slumber and take up the work appointed by God while the signs of the times are fulfilling. Its lamp-without-oil image is also applied to minds caught up in speculative beliefs and confusion. Trimming the lamp and replenishing it with the Spirit's oil shows that spiritual readiness requires ongoing attention and the Spirit's sustaining presence.
Lamps Oil and Vessels
In the parable the lamps stand for the word of God and the Bible and a theory of truth, and to have the lamp is to be supplied with truth and ready to shine, as truth received even in confinement later shines more brightly. Many have that lamp of the theory of the truth and even assent to the theory of the third angel's message, yet have no oil in the vessel with the lamp. The light kept burning through the night is God's word becoming a transforming power in the life through the Holy Spirit. Without the oil of grace the light grows dim and will go out in darkness, leaving the holder in despair where no warnings or entreaties can reach.
The oil in vessels with the lamps is grace and the Holy Spirit and God's sustaining power and Christ's righteousness and the character it forms, with faith, love, patience, truth and heavenly love. It alone feeds the lamp and causes the light of life to shine forth to show the way to those in darkness, vitalizing faith, nourishing patience, preventing friction between believers, and keeping the lamp shining. Safety lies in living in hourly contact and conscious communion with the principles of truth, righteousness and mercy, bound up with God who is the deep source of all moral and intellectual power. Without that inward preparation outward appearance, association with the wedding party, and a lifetime of preaching leave truth undiscovered and the light goes out.
The golden oil was emptied from the two olive trees through golden pipes into the bowl and thence into the lamps that gave light to the sanctuary. So from the holy ones that stand in God's presence His Spirit is imparted to human instrumentalities consecrated to His service, through the two anointed ones that stand by the Lord of the whole earth to communicate that heavenly grace which alone can make His word a lamp to the feet and a light to the path. Provision is made for every soul to be abundantly supplied, the oil taken from the two anointed ones and emptied into clean, pure, sanctified souls prepared to receive it through humbleness of mind. But without connection with heavenly agencies workers lack the strong, pure influence God expects, the Holy Spirit is not represented in their labors, the power of godly example is lacking, and the word of truth presented is ineffective and weak. That oil cannot be given from one person to another even to help them, for they would not appreciate it, and character is not transferable.
Five virgins were wise because they anticipated delay and filled their flagons with oil, prepared for any emergency, so their lamps were supplied from their flagons and not left to go out. Their burning light becomes transforming power forming God's character, so that lives shine in the world's darkness and help lead the way to the Bridegroom's home and the marriage supper of the Lamb. Five were foolish because they had not this foresight and made no provision for disappointment or delay. At the end only the wise who have oil in their vessels with their lamps will be ready to meet him.
Readiness for his coming cannot be acquired at the last moment nor borrowed from another when the crisis comes, because character and spiritual experience are not transferable and delay until the door is shut is fatal. Those who have kept Christ apart from their lives are not fitted for companionship with Him in heaven, and lamps going or gone out means faith and love and knowledge of God and the truth have left them, as water leaves a leaky vessel. Those who lack the oil of grace cannot join the procession to the marriage supper, cannot acquire the wise character or discern and accept the light at the decisive time, and the closed door leaves them unable to enter. The midnight cry showed believers must seek a living experience for themselves because they could not rely on one another, and accepting the Holy Spirit through practiced Bible truth is a real necessity for the present time.
Shut Door and Rejection
The words are the Bridegroom's own answer to the foolish virgins, disowning them as unknown and shutting them out from the marriage supper and the kingdom when he comes. Mere profession of readiness without true spiritual preparation leaves a person unready and rejected, for those whose lamps go out for lack of oil have the form and theory of truth but lack the Holy Spirit, the grace of Christ, and the living experience that gives faith and work power and causes the light of life to shine. Those who have rejected heaven's messages and lack the oil of grace cannot join the procession to the marriage supper of the Lamb, for they cannot acquire the wise virgins' character nor discern and accept the light at the decisive time, and the closed door leaves them unable to enter. The waiting time must include watchfulness, faithful work, personal piety, and the grace represented by oil in the lamps, since neglecting these while living for the world leaves a person spiritually unready, and with the Lord's coming near, claiming that he delays risks sharing the fate of hypocrites and unbelievers. When the opportunity to receive the grace needed to be ready has passed it is too late to secure it, as the empty vessels and failing lamps picture those who delay until they have no oil, and readiness for Christ's coming cannot be acquired at the last moment by those who have kept Christ apart from their lives, for they are not fitted for companionship with him in heaven.
The shut door represents exclusion at Christ's second coming and the close of probation and the end of mercy, when final separation is settled. Those unprepared when the Bridegroom comes cannot gain admission by pleading afterward, for although they later call on the Lord to open the door he answers that he does not know them. The parable portrays the spiritual condition of the church at that coming and warns that readiness cannot be postponed until he arrives, calling each person to ask whether he will be among the wise virgins, to watch for his coming, to seek the wedding garment which is the righteousness of Christ, and to make earnest preparation before the time for entry ends. When the door to the marriage supper is shut, those who neglected to prepare during probationary time and failed to secure the oil of grace and develop Christlike character will seek entrance too late and be refused, for that fitness cannot be secured after probation has ended and the time to prepare is now. Trifling excuses and slothful half-hearted effort and self-righteousness cannot supply the wedding garment, preparation cannot be made once the time of trouble or the plagues have come, and delayed preparation brings irreversible loss, while the careless multitude is left in darkness when Jesus leaves the throne and those who rise with him keep their eyes fixed on him and keep their garments spotless as they wait for his return from the wedding.
The final rejection is the working of eternal justice, falling not for revolting crime or open outbreaking sin but for neglect of what might and ought to have been done and for lack of the moral qualifications Christ clothed his divinity with humanity and died to place within reach of every sinner. The foolish had lamps, a knowledge of the truth, and the appearance of giving light like the wise, but they took no oil in their vessels, meaning they received not the grace of God, had no living connection with God, were not vitalized by his Holy Spirit, had no saving faith, did not have Christ as a personal Saviour, supposed themselves wise while wise only in their own sight, did not grow in grace and the knowledge of Christ, and were not doers of his words. Because their works show this character they are unfit subjects for the kingdom of God, members of the royal family and children of the heavenly King, and are left as corrupt transgressors outside the city of God, outside the supper, in outer darkness and despair. The shut door falls on those in the ministry and others who had light and knowledge of the truth yet would not be overcomers, would not restrict appetite and passion or deny themselves for Christ, and walked in darkness despite great opportunities and great light, while many poor outcasts, even publicans and sinners who grasp the hope set before them in the gospel, will enter the kingdom before them. They will hear most startling declarations as injured Deity speaks and proclaims sins that have been hidden, and the woes pronounced upon them they will feel but will have no power to act, just as the priests and rulers fled in terror at the cleansing of the temple. When the trumpet sounds the pardoned waiting people disappear, while the unprepared are left alone in darkness, warning that refuge and confession of sin must be sought before time closes.
The same sentence is spoken at the final day to many who claim admission to Christ's kingdom because they ate and drank in his presence, were taught in their streets, prophesied in his name, cast out devils, and did many wonderful works. The sentence falls because in this life they did not enter into fellowship with Christ, so they do not know the language of heaven and are strangers to its joy. The fellowship of the Spirit which they slighted could alone make them one with the joyous throng at the marriage feast, and without it its light falls on blinded eyes, its melody on deaf ears, and its love and joy awaken no gladness in the world-benumbed heart, so they are shut out from heaven by their own unfitness for its companionship.
Prophetic Fulfillment in 1844
The delay of the bridegroom is the passing of the expected time and the disappointment that followed, during which believers slumbered and lost some of their zeal and devotion. The time of waiting and slumber is followed by the bridegroom's coming, and that sequence belongs to the 1844 Advent movement and its midnight cry. The midnight cry announcing the Bridegroom's coming, "Behold, the bridegroom cometh," calling people to go out to meet Him, was applied to the 1844 proclamation of Christ's soon coming. That proclamation awakened people across all walks of life and called them out, with many leaving the fallen churches, and it was connected to the autumn interpretation of the sanctuary's cleansing. Light on this was given in December, and a distinct further light on the Bridegroom's coming was not shown until February following.
The bridegroom's coming was made under the first and second angels' messages. It represents a change in Christ's position and work as High Priest in heaven, rising from His mediatorial throne and going into the Most Holy Place to come to the Ancient of Days. This is not His coming to this earth to deliver His people on the tenth day of the seventh month, but His coming to the holiest to begin the marriage and receive His kingdom. The marriage represents that reception of the kingdom, the same event described as the Son of man coming to the Ancient of days for the cleansing of the sanctuary. This coming to the holiest settles the shut door, with the door's closing marking exclusion from the marriage, while His return from the wedding and the marriage supper follow afterward.
Readiness at that coming means having the Spirit and grace of God and following Christ by faith in His heavenly work, patiently waiting, watching and working. The foolish virgins represent people who know the truth but lack God's grace, Spirit and sustaining power. Those not ready when the Bridegroom comes are shut out and disowned as unknown. The shut door and the words about not being known were understood to indicate that probation had closed on the tenth day of the seventh month in 1844. Adventists after 1844 thought this might mean that human probation had ended shortly before Christ's return.
Later understanding showed that Christ's intercession for sinners had not ceased, for at the end of the 2300 days He closed one ministration in the heavenly sanctuary and began another in the most holy place, where He continued to present His blood on their behalf. The vision of the Bridegroom's movement to the Most Holy Place to receive His kingdom led many to accept the shut-door teaching. Leading Adventists published this truth that a door was shut in 1844, and most of the Advent people once believed it. Since the door was shut those who break God's holy commandments are in an awful place, and those who received light on the Sabbath and cast it away have no hope, with rejection of light on the fourth commandment bringing greater condemnation than breaking the other nine. A little longer and Jesus' work in the sanctuary will be finished, and republishing those 1844 testimonies rejoices trusting hearts, saves some jewels, causes many to decide for the truth and take a firm stand, strengthens what remains, and builds up God's people in the most holy faith despite Satan's efforts to hinder it.
Long waiting tempts watchers to conclude the Master will not come, and the foolish fail because they have no supply of grace to stand the test and trial of delay. The delay is purposeful, giving time to test and prove who has the real genuine righteousness of Christ and who can bear with patience while waiting and watching and working. His coming is delayed because He is longsuffering and not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance. No device or reckoning of figures or symbols or types can fix the definite period of the Lord's coming; believers are to study the signs that show He is at the door. True waiting is not idle expectancy that stops planting trees or building meetinghouses, but more diligent work to uphold and gather the Lord's sheep, keeping bridal lamps trimmed and burning and being found watching, for those servants are blessed. Those asleep at their post must now awake and trim their lamps, entertain no doubt about present truth, and press toward Canaan, and the present waiting period of probation will seem very short when the redeemed stand before the immensity of eternity.
Who Are Foolish Virgins
The ten virgins portray the spiritual condition of the professed church living just before the second coming, all having lamps and vessels and knowledge of Scripture and expectation, with no difference seen for a time until waiting tries faith. Readiness cannot be postponed until arrival nor borrowed from another at the last moment, and late appeal after the door is shut does not change exclusion. The wise let light shine in good works through prayerful study and obedience to answer the midnight cry, while the foolish cling to old habits and worldly ways and careless indifference and fail to bring truth into daily life and keep the commandments. Baptism alone without inward grace does not save, and some refused the final testing message after the earlier messages. Men cannot now distinguish the classes, for tares resemble wheat and only angels know without mistake by fruits.
A place on the church roll does not secure entrance into heaven, and neither human birth nor descent from Abraham nor membership in any church will save. The highest profession, ordination for ministry, office, talent, outward work, spiritual advantages, solemn truth, service, theoretical knowledge, claim to holiness, appointment as Sabbath school superintendent or teacher, or formal connection does not give the oil of grace to feed the lamp. Without conversion, heart-union, inward grace renewing heart and life, doing the Word and not only hearing it, communion with God and Christ's righteousness, the life remains worldly, self-centered, careless and sinful. Outward association with the wedding party and relying on citizen's garments instead of the spotless robe dishonors the host, and the heart must be changed including removal of envy, evil thoughts and love of self-exaltation. To have just enough religion to deaden conscience, deceive the senses and ruin the soul leaves a person with the name to live while dead, going his own way to do his own pleasure, and whole families are deceived about fitness for judgment.
The foolish are those with interest in the gospel and knowledge of righteousness's standard who claim to know and believe truth, talk the Word all over the world and even utter its highest oracles, yet keep Christ out of the heart, keep truth in the outer court, carry self with them, and cherish traits that misrepresent Christ. Having no oil in vessels with lamps, they have not received the Holy Spirit in the heart which works by love and purifies the soul, have not accepted and worn the robe of Christ's righteousness, are not doers of the Word but hearers only building on sand, and have not represented Christ in character, so they are met as strangers. Since Minneapolis they heard heaven's light on justification by faith and imputed righteousness through messengers at camp meetings and ministerial institutes, received the call that all things are now ready, yet made excuses and neglected to respond and failed to walk, impart and cooperate. About half will be ready and half unready when the great events open, for even among those with great light and continuous privileges only a small number have more than theoretical knowledge, and failure to practice the commandments leaves them unprepared and without a living likeness to Christ.
The warning falls on ease-loving, world-loving professed Christians absorbed in worldly pleasures, relationships, habits and self-pleasing who hide their light and mingle with the world until power to shine is lost. They give only half-hearted service conforming to worldly ways, sacrifice eternal riches for worldly treasure, and fail to receive Christ's righteousness, so they are unfit when sickness and death come and their fate is decided for eternity. Worldly schemes and engrossments crowd God from the thoughts and consume strength needed for His service, leaving lamps without oil and people spiritually unready. Being hushed to slumber and carelessness about light by the peace and safety cry, they cannot enter with the wise because character is not transferable.
Rejection comes as a solemn warning to every church showing the danger of those whose works do not correspond to profession of faith. The foolish are unconverted professors who do not shine in good works but encourage sinners to continue in sin, lack a burden for souls ready to perish, refuse self-denial and the cross, live for self unchanged with empty vessels, and use profession to mislead others. Only safety is living in constant communion with God, taking Him as Counsellor, walking in light of His Word under His yoke with sacred fire from God rather than darkness for light by walking in sparks of own kindling. Sharp underhand dealing and worldly practices misrepresent Him, and talent and outward work with claimed good deeds do not secure recognition when the work dishonors God, nor does deception for gain make fit for heaven without repentance and pardon. Everyone is entrusted with talents and has sacred responsibility to bless others by opening precious truth to those in error, yet many with knowledge of truth are not sanctified through it nor realize there is a day of trust and a day of reckoning, and handling strange fire with unsanctified minds, speech and pride they bear dissension and bitterness while thinking themselves rich and needing nothing and failing to be emptied of self.
He will finally declare He does not know those who sneer at truth and ridicule, revile and misrepresent those who proclaim the Bible alone as authority, while living in harmony with the lawbreaker. Those persecutors suffer no loss now while the godly suffer persecution, but afterward will weep and beg for entrance and be refused. The foolish are minds not in guarded connection with God, open to Satan finding an unguarded moment and getting possession, and believers must neither be ignorant of his devices nor be overpowered by them. Satan hides real intelligence behind foolish pictures of horns and hoofs, for he was once an angel of light, and leads those trusting own intelligence to make believe they can correct the Scriptures, bringing infidelity in high places, including strong men taken by scientific spiritualistic philosophy into criticism and unbelief. Those with oil heed warning messages rather than rejecting or altering them to suit judgment, stand with God and the church against the world, bring religion to the Bible standard, contend for the faith once delivered, keep Christ as model, strive for perfection and maintain warfare against passion and forbidden traits, while those without hate the Bible because it will not let them sin as they please and war against reproof, and those weaving false theories and praising one who tramples the Sabbath, exalts Sunday, voids the law and oppresses God's people are on the side of the foolish even if mixing good with error.
The five sleeping virgins represent many who received great light and knowledge but are cold, spiritually senseless, and marked by weak fading piety. They think themselves full of wisdom and trust human understanding, feel so well supplied there is no room in vessels for heavenly grace, look with pity and disgust on earnest seekers, and awake to find lamps going out with the one thing needed for the marriage supper neglected. Professing to believe truth yet unconverted with hard hearts and blinded minds, they knew God but did not worship Him as God, allowing self to harden the heart and shut the door against Christ so He cannot enter and abide, and will die greater sinners than before profession. Activity in God's work without receiving and living transforming grace, professing religion without practicing Christ's lessons, suiting worldly men and never letting light shine, leaves them unprepared. Continued self-indulgence darkens understanding, blurs vision and makes warnings ineffective until character is found diseased too late, calling each person to examine standing, awake amid last-day perils, and not be caught by surprise.
He who is truth declares He does not know a professedly Christian life of respectable conventionality lacking self-sacrifice. To seek gospel benefits while denying its spirit and rejecting fellowship with Him in service forfeits fitness to share His glory. Training children for self-pleasing respectability instead of self-sacrificing work of giving the gospel leaves them under that verdict, while the self-sacrificing laborer keeps the spiritual lamp trimmed and burning in unselfish service with precious experience of God's presence. Calling Him Saviour is not enough when His holy law is broken and refused. Profession of holiness with corrupt heart and calm pious appearance is hypocrisy met by His frown, and without changed disposition educational advantages and gifts used to disparage others leave a person shut out.
Those who received great light and opportunity but do not live by it may lose it, with lamps growing dim and finally going out for lack of oil if they do not overcome appetite and passion or deny self. Meanwhile people from other churches who lived up to light they had may accept truth even at the eleventh hour, and people rescued from sin may accept the gospel and enter before them. The foolish without oil are the same as the man without the wedding garment who expected to meet the Bridegroom but was not admitted or recognized, and business must not be allowed to bring a person into that condition. Those disregarding warnings or cherishing and excusing sin seal destiny, and when mercy ends He has passed beyond reach so prayers cannot restore what was lost. Nor should hesitation and fear of ridicule delay confession until mercy is past, lest when the trumpet sounds the pardoned are taken away and the unready are left alone in darkness grieving the Spirit away.
Obtaining the Oil
Lack of oil is destitution of the Holy Spirit and of the oil of grace that sustains spiritual life, and theory of truth, outward appearance, lamps without inward preparation, and mere association with the wedding party are not enough. Without the Spirit knowledge cannot quicken, sanctify, transform character, guard from temptation, or keep the light burning, so lamps go out and characters cannot endure the test. Readiness requires a daily living connection with God, growing love, obedience, and good works that glorify God, secured today and renewed continually especially under trial. The refusal to admit the foolish to the feast falls at the crisis of the last call to go out to meet the Bridegroom, when ease-loving, world-loving professors who hid their light and mingled with the world until power to shine was lost ask for entrance after failing to keep a continual supply, hushed to slumber by the peace and safety cry, and cannot enter because character is not transferable. Those absorbed in worldly pleasures and relationships fail to receive Christ's righteousness and are left unfit when sickness and death come, and only true experience with unmistakable evidence of acceptance with God gives safety from being shut out as unknown.
Obtaining the oil requires beginning in earnest without delay to work out salvation with fear and trembling, with repentance and confession, returning to the Bible, true conversion and new birth, falling upon Christ the Rock, and faithfulness to baptismal vows instead of being chilled by formality, worldly ambition, pride and love of self. It requires prayer, Scripture and worship, obedience to all requirements even the least commandments, self-denial and cross-bearing, love of God with whole soul, heart, mind and strength, and a life practicing meekness, humility, gentleness, tenderness, sympathy and love. Many will be surprised and disappointed at the midnight cry because pride and weakness of faith have left hearts unhumbled, holding the lamp of the theory of truth and even assenting to the theory of the third angel's message yet having no oil in the vessel with the lamp. That oil is the grace of Christ that feeds the lamp and causes the light of life to shine to show the way to those in darkness, and without broken repentance, conversion revealing the fruits of the Spirit, partaking of the divine nature and escape from corruption through lust, being born again of the divine Spirit with watchfulness, purified heart, renewed mind, new capacity for knowing and loving God, and willing obedience, eternal life and partaking of the new life in the kingdom cannot be given. The waiting time must therefore include watchfulness, faithful work, personal piety, and grace kept burning so light can shine in the present, for knowing truth without living and sharing it, and profession without practicing Christ's lessons in daily life, is false religion that leaves a person unready and unrecognized when the Lord comes.
Readiness requires vigilance, personal consecration, opening the heart to Jesus, being cleansed from selfish purposes, confessing sin, repentance, pardon through Christ, conversion and faith, and expecting to share the supper is not enough without preparation beforehand. The oil of grace must be obtained beforehand by faithfulness in little things, by sitting at the feet of Jesus, bringing every thought into captivity and obedience to Christ, regulating words and actions by the holy law of God, and strictly guarding small duties and habits to train the affections to act on principle and shape character for Christian consistency. The little foxes that spoil the vines enter the habitual train of thought and destroy delight in real heart service, and grace can bless only where it influences. If undisciplined nature is allowed its will in littles, when great emergencies try the soul the oil will be wanting, the life scarred and warped, preparation in this life to unite with the redeemed will be missing, and the name is in great danger of being blotted from the book of life with exclusion as unknown.
The warning falls especially on ministers and church members with privilege, light and knowledge, showing that profession does not replace conversion and a Christlike life. Foolish virgins with no oil describe ministers who pass year after year unchanged by the truth they teach, especially younger ministers lacking consecration, heart-felt piety and devotion, whose proud unconsecrated hearts are displeased with testimony and fail to accept and obey light given, so that though sent to be a light by good works as well as words and theories they exert no powerful influence for good. Ministers may have lamps yet lack the oil of grace that makes them burn and give light, and need faith that works by love and purifies the soul, for outward profession without grace leaves them unready. In the last great day many in the ministry and others with light and knowledge who would not be overcomers, would not restrict appetite and passion or deny self for Christ, and walked in darkness despite great opportunity, will plead for opening in vain when the door is shut, while many poor outcasts, even publicans and sinners who grasp gospel hope, enter before them. All in the church will be proved as wise or foolish, and those with the lamp of profession but no oil in vessels with lamps will be revealed at last, for the church as depository of truth must send forth clear steady light with works corresponding to privileges, which is impossible unless sanctified through the truth and set apart for service, since profession or outward work without inward preparation is not enough.
Readiness is individual responsibility that cannot be vested in any minister, who may help but can never do the work for another. Keeping vessels filled means keeping the soul in the love of God by earnest diligent daily use to the utmost of ability of entrusted talents, by giving means into the treasury, by self-denial and cross-bearing and working for souls, and by sinking empty vessels into the fullness of God's love to draw freely, steadily, continually, with Christ within as a well of water springing up unto everlasting life. Merely retaining capital without trading and improving talents by putting them out to the exchangers is unfaithfulness that meets rejection at the final reckoning, where God will require each one according to talents received and all improvement that might have been made. Mere profession is nothing, and taking promises and salvation for granted without living as enjoined, without eating his flesh and drinking his blood, denying self daily and taking up the cross, doing and teaching even the least commandments, and having righteousness exceeding the scribes and Pharisees, brings final disowning, for crying peace when there is no peace is most perilous and no one is to presume he is saved. Genuine experience unfolds and intensifies by continual advancement in knowledge and power in the Word from vital connection with God, with holy love growing brighter unto the perfect day, but without oil light grows dim and unless soon decidedly changed will go out in darkness leaving the person in despair beyond warnings, since sanctification is the work of a lifetime pressing toward the mark and allowing vessels to burn dim cuts off blessing.
The wise represent those whose hearts are filled with grace from Christ and whose desire for peace and joy continues to grow, those who have perfected Christian character and washed their robes white in his blood. He gave his life to make it possible for all to become wise, partakers of the divine nature, complete in him, perfect without spot and blameless, again reflecting the moral image of God, and only those making him personal Saviour and becoming true, pure and holy enter the kingdom, for untruthful, impure, unrighteous evil natures cannot inherit it, and if sin is not destroyed it will destroy the sinner. Becoming wise does not release from responsibility but requires cooperation of God with man and man with God, working out salvation with fear and trembling while God works to will and do, resisting all wrong and subduing evil temper, selfishness and pride to attain his righteousness and become one with him, taking hold of his strength to make peace and receive all sufficiency for a self-directed, self-controlled life, because the soul outweighs the whole world. The delay tests whether people have genuine righteousness with grace and truth enthroned awakening thought, arousing conscience, adorning character and renewing nature, supplying grace needed to endure waiting and to patiently wait, watch and work rather than assuming long waiting means he will not come.
Keeping Ready Watching Working
The saying calls for unrelaxed effort, vigilant watching and sanctified waiting, with lamps kept trimmed and burning and vessels kept filled. The end is very near and will come unexpectedly like a thief, the time for preparation is short and the work must be done today, and those who suppose themselves ready while unready will be shut out and disowned. Bridal lamps must be kept burning in watchfulness by staying awake, seeking Christ, learning His will, fearing to offend Him, and receiving His grace with wholehearted consecration. Readiness is required because all the world will stand on one side or the other in the desperate last struggle when evil angels unite with evil men, while trumpet after trumpet indicates His presence pledging to vindicate truth and supply courage, for which the oil sustains faith.
Watching means praying and working earnestly to save others, keeping every entrusted talent and capability in active service and multiplying them continually while the day lasts, for the night comes in which no one can work. Sleeping, slumbering at one's post, growing inactive, folding the hands and standing neutral instead of actively representing Christ in earnest effort for perishing souls must be put away. Sleeping and haphazard work bring spiritual declension and cause that day to overtake the unprepared as a thief, with a sifting among claimants. Readiness therefore requires a strengthened mind that looks deep and discerns the reasons of faith, a soul-temple purified by truth, quiet prayerful communion to learn His will joined to a positive message of warning, and personal piety blended with most earnest and energetic warnings and appeals.
Keeping the lamp trimmed and burning means kindling the taper from the divine altar, living out of spiritual darkness into light, worshiping God in the beauty of holiness, and cherishing the precious light and deep movings of the Holy Spirit. It means daily and hourly beholding Christ to be changed into His image and perfected in character, treasuring the Word, regularly assembling for prayer and praise, maintaining family worship and communion, and overflowing in love, burden and sympathy for lost souls for whom Christ gave His life. Coldness and deadness of heart, grumbling like the Pharisees at time spent hunting the lost sheep, expecting to be nursed like sick babies instead of longing for the sincere milk of the Word, letting temporal interests absorb the mind, absenting from meetings, and contempt for the movings of the Spirit leave lamps dim, weak and unready. Each person must trim his own inner lamp beginning in the home church, with the whole self given without reserve so the root is holy and service is not bound up in self.
Readiness applies in the home circle, where every person must have the lamp constantly replenished with the oil of grace drawn from the divine source, the full and complete love of God. The supply is received by caring for the needs of the soul and treasuring the promises, admonitions, reproofs, warnings, consolations and encouragements of the Word, by uplifting family association, by family worship exerting an upbuilding divine influence, and by habitual communion with God instead of letting temporal interests supply the themes of conversation and absorb the mind. Where the oil is supplied the whole heart becomes a reservoir of divine love and grace, human affection becomes stronger, purer, more elevated, refined and holy, thoughts are brought into captivity to Christ, and hope, sympathy and brotherly love flow forth in words, actions and all associations; where eternal interest is supplanted by earthly things the light fades and goes out and leaves those whom Christ does not know. Parents in particular must humble themselves before God, reform character, pray, and receive faith that works by love and purifies the soul, so their inner lamps shine in faithful work for their children.
While probationary time lasts vigilant work must be combined with faithful waiting, watching and prayer, for the night comes when no one can work. Working alone, bustle and continual activity do not satisfy God; men must rest in the Lord, wait patiently, and not move hurriedly, cultivating personal piety with humble contrite hearts, cherishing the love of God and fearing to walk contrary to His will and way. They must be active in every line of service, not slothful in business but fervent in spirit, improving every opportunity, increasing gifts by use, and representing Christ in active Christlike virtues, which is Christian character and Bible religion. Neglect of personal piety makes even the most splendid endowments and service of no value unless soul, body and spirit are devoted to His service, after the example of Enoch who walked with God in obedience and purity amid impurity while bearing witness to truth and pointing to what fast follows after.
The soul's lamp must be kept trimmed and burning in active obedient service, with earnest work to share truth and save souls joined to fervent prayer. The lamp is fed with holy oil that becomes effective as its light is reflected on the path of others, joined to worship, faithful daily work and cheerful service to souls seeking salvation, and guarded against selfishness and reckless words and actions lest one be unknown. Souls are now deciding for evil or for good while time for work diminishes, so all who know the truth must be burning and shining lights today, working in harmony with truth with wisdom and diligence rather than counting on a long stretch of tomorrow and remaining idle while waiting to be set to work.
Lamps must be kept supplied with holy oil by constantly receiving the grace of the Spirit in order to impart it, bringing light to people in darkness, for each consecrated person is a vessel to be filled to be emptied into other vessels, and as light is shed on souls in darkness and sin new light is imparted. A church that keeps its light to itself becomes a receptacle of darkness, while trimming the lamps means daily receiving grace to impart to the needy and suffering and going forth into the harvest field in practical obedience. The sleeping virgins are called to arise and take up appointed work in view of the Lord coming to dwell in the midst when many nations shall be joined to Him, keeping lamps burning to carry truth to many places rather than leaving it concentrated where many do not improve by it.
Keeping the oil of grace in the vessel with the lamp applies to workers exposed to worldly influences, who need time for prayer and Scripture, access to public worship and personal spiritual care so the world does not draw their hearts from God, and to teachers who must have the oil of grace. Readiness amid moral darkness and unbelief includes the work of circulating publications containing the messages of warning for this time, with truth going forth as a lamp trimmed and burning because filled with heavenly oil and carried everywhere. Believers are to live the truth in commercial work without letting business become all-absorbing, keeping the Lord and His ways ever before the mind in prayer, so lived truth acts as sown seed whose influence touches the ends of the earth and bears the test of judgment.
Those entrusted with management who plead lack of time, absent themselves from meetings and lay off spiritual garments fail to keep lamps trimmed and burning and reflect only feebly. For them the Sabbath becomes merely a cessation of physical labor rather than a sweet foretaste of the Sabbath above, religion degenerates into a dishonoring form, spiritual temperature runs very low, and having a name to live they are dead in the lukewarm condition of Laodicea. God's people now stand on the borders of the greatest event in earth's history like sleeping virgins asleep to the nearness of the time of trouble such as was not since there was a nation, and they are called to awake to the danger, be sure their feet are in the narrow path, seek an experience giving assurance that the God of all grace is a very present help in need, and ask the Lord Jesus to place His everlasting arms underneath and carry them through the trial.
Having no oil means a faith not kept alive through the ordinances of grace and the work of Christ, deeming those ordinances and the instrumentalities He employs as not vital. It means seeing no necessity in His mediatorial work through which alone understanding is illuminated, the heart warmed, access to God given and partaking of the divine nature granted, a lack springing from exalting science and powers inherent in man and nature, wandering in skepticism and walking in sparks of human kindling. Such minds turn from eternal things, grow confused, weak and liable to mistake unless there is daily submission, meekness and lowliness of heart and looking to God at every step, for professing to wait is not enough and the unready will be shut out. Having oil in lamps and vessels means gaining the spiritual life needed to meet Him by overcoming temptation and growing in grace.
Outward profession and responsibility in God's work are not enough, for readiness requires lamps trimmed and burning and a life genuinely changed by conversion and the new birth in which selfishness dies and Christ's life appears in character. Keeping trimmed means loving the Lord supremely and doing His work wholeheartedly and carefully, shown by faith working through love and a life meeting the Bible's test, while half-hearted, deceitful or negligent service brings a curse and leaves one unable to be a light. Ability or outward standing without consecrated surrender is not accepted, while the heart open to receive the oil of grace is sanctified through truth, adorns doctrine by revealing what truth has done, does the Word and moves forward with the mind of Christ drawing together so darkness melts.
Waiting is not idle expectation but vigilant work, for idleness is sin against God whose given power is to bless self, family and humanity, with every man given his work and parents teaching children diligence and faithful stewardship. Keeping the lamp bright and burning means working while it is day, praying the Lord of the harvest to send laborers, gathering with Christ rather than scattering, and serving as a faithful steward employing every influence and money to gather the harvest. The lamp must be tended and constantly supplied with the oil of grace so it continues to shine, possessions used in His work while opportunity remains before mercy ceases to plead, for those not ready when opportunity ends are shut out right upon the day of God. To be known they must give Him the heart to mold character, follow on to know the Lord, and be refined and rightly employed as channels of light for saving souls.
The lamp must be kept trimmed and burning with inner spiritual care, habitual obedience to God's law and faithful work, taking every precaution so its light does not go out. Each person is accountable in proportion to gifts and opportunities, with greatest responsibility on those given most. To be ready means now getting the oil of grace that appears in the conscious and unconscious influence of words spoken in direct positive testimony and in sowing seeds of truth beside all waters, shining as lights with vessels prepared to receive the holy oil He supplies through the distinct message awakening those dead in trespasses to true conversion and relation to His law. Everyone must be ready every moment with the oil and the robe of Christ's righteousness, through humbling at the cross, getting out of self, prayer, the Spirit, active work to seek and save the lost, and sanctification of the whole being, with the trumpet giving a certain sound to sweep back darkness.
The sleeping foolish virgins picture people who know the truth but neglect duty while souls are being lost, and this neglect displeases God. Christians have been given great light to shine in clear steady rays set high above sensuality, yet unjust dealings and indulgence of passion make the light burn dim and many lights burn low and go out for want of oil. The oil is kept by purifying the soul through obeying truth, including obedience to physical law. Each person is called to keep the lamp burning reflecting light received, using the opportunity to find Jesus and renew allegiance, for rejecting greater light brings greater guilt, and the light must be kept shining undimmed by selfishness, wrongdoing, harsh words or anger.
The truth must be in the heart and converting power at work beyond profession, with the call to trim the lamps applying to a life letting truth shine while the world is warned of the approaching end. Readiness for the judgment depends on being connected with Christ, pictured by lamps kept burning with heavenly oil. Workers must keep Him before them so character and work will stand the test.