The Ten Virgins Asleep as the Midnight Cry SoundsBible World
25:5Matthew 25:5
While the bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered and slept.
While the bridegroom tarried, all ten attendants waiting through the night for the wedding grew weary and slumbered and slept because his arrival was delayed. The all who slept means the wise and the foolish together, one company of professed believers waiting for the Lord, who sleep until the midnight announcement arouses them to go out to meet him. The tarrying was fulfilled when the expected time of Christ's coming in 1843 and 1844 passed and brought disappointment, with the interval to the autumn of 1844 giving time for the error to be searched out and the midnight cry to be proclaimed in the summer of 1844. The sleep did not mean doubt that he will come but failure to reckon how long he would tarry, showing a loss of zeal and devotion in even sincere believers, yet it did not distinguish the classes, for all had lamps and expectation and the difference was that the wise had stored extra oil. That oil is the Holy Spirit and the grace and righteousness of Christ, which each must secure for himself by daily connection with God through prayer, Scripture, obedience and consecration because it cannot be borrowed, and therefore the delay calls for watchful working, watching and praying with trimmed and burning lamps today rather than postponing preparation.
Words and Wedding Setting
Matthew 25:5 belongs to the parable of the ten virgins in Matthew 25:1-13. It is part of the discourse given shortly before Gethsemane, which includes the parable of the talents and teaches readiness for the second coming. The parable calls for serious reflection on how it applies to each person and for earnest prayer to be led into all truth. Its imagery of lamps and oil applies to spiritual preparation, in which the soul's lamp is to be trimmed and replenished with the Spirit's oil.
The bridegroom tarried and his arrival was delayed. While waiting through the night for the wedding procession, all ten attendants grew weary, became drowsy, and slumbered and slept. The delay wore them down and lasted long enough for all to fall asleep while awaiting his arrival. Christ spoke this while looking upon a party waiting for the bridegroom, and the tarrying and the slumbering and sleeping illustrate the experience of the church that shall live just before His second coming.
The all who slept includes both the wise and the foolish together. They form one party of professed believers waiting for the Lord in the evening of this earth's history before His second coming. That company includes both real Christians who have life in themselves and spurious professors who lack the oil of grace. For a time no difference is seen, since all have lamps and vessels, knowledge of Scripture, have heard the message of Christ's near approach, and confidently expect His appearing. The wise have oil in their vessels with their lamps, unseen principles, open communion with God, and are known by the Lord, possessing the character that will give entrance into the marriage supper of the Lamb, while the others profess without possessing that character.
The sleep lasts until the midnight announcement, Behold the bridegroom cometh, which arouses the waiting company to activity and to go out to meet him. That cry, proclaimed in connection with the second angel's message and under the first and second angels' messages, spread widely and aroused thousands to prepare and to go out to meet Him. It led them to seek a living experience of their own, because they could not rely on one another. The wise awaken at the message that He is approaching, their spiritual life is replenished, their discernment remains, and they respond with renewed service, set against the present call in song that the Bridegroom is near.
The wedding setting reflects a marriage that takes place in heaven before the return to earth. The bridegroom's coming is to the marriage and represents a change in the position and work of Christ, the great High Priest, in heaven in relation to the marriage of the Lamb. The delay is applied to the time when Jesus leaves the throne, goes to the Father to receive the kingdom, and promises to return from the wedding, while those who follow Him are to wait, keep their garments spotless, and remain fixed on Him. Marriage is a divine institution and a fitting setting for illustrating important truths about Christ's work and return.
Advent Fulfillment in 1844
The tarrying of the bridegroom was fulfilled when the expected time of Christ's coming passed in 1843 and 1844 and disappointment came, while believers still held that the event was near. The sleep of all the virgins describes their failure to understand how long the coming would tarry and their uncertainty about its timing, not doubt that Christ would come. The delay was the apparent delay of the vision because the prophetic periods had been misreckoned and had not yet ended, and because it had not been taken into account it came as a sad and unexpected surprise. The trial of waiting was necessary to test, develop and strengthen sincere believers, framing their need for patience and a genuine experience of acceptance with God. After going forth to meet the Bridegroom in 1844, believers in the tarrying time slumbered and slept by being deceived by false shepherds until they did not know where they were or what they believed, and those sleepers are among souls afterward coming out upon the truth.
The delay corresponds to the interval between the spring date first thought for the end of the 2300 days and the autumn of 1844 to which the period was afterward found to extend. The midnight cry announcing the bridegroom was proclaimed midway between those dates, in the summer of 1844. The reckoning rests on the discovery that the decree of Artaxerxes for the restoration of Jerusalem, the starting point of the 2300 days, went into effect in the autumn of 457 B.C. and not at the beginning of the year. Reckoning 2300 years from the autumn of 457 brings their termination to the autumn of 1844. October 22, 1844 was regarded as the time of the Lord's coming to cleanse the sanctuary, with the waiting and sleep followed by the bridegroom's coming and the midnight cry.
The awakening and the cry to meet the Bridegroom were fulfilled in the seventh-month movement as the renewed message to wake and meet him. That cry arose under the first and second angels' messages as believers proclaimed Christ's second coming. Prophetic and typological arguments led to the midnight cry, which awakened the waiting believers and stirred them to prepare to meet the Lord. Proclaimed in connection with the second angel's message, it spread widely and aroused thousands to go out to meet him and to go out from the churches and seek a living experience. The virgins' trimming of their lamps accompanied this renewed expectation of his coming.
The bridegroom's coming in this application is his coming to the Ancient of Days in heaven to receive the kingdom and to work in the most holy place to cleanse the sanctuary. It is distinct from his later second advent to earth to deliver his people, for the marriage takes place in heaven before his return and represents a change in the position and work of Christ as great High Priest in relation to the marriage of the Lamb. This coming to the holiest settles that the door was shut, when Jesus rose from his mediatorial throne and entered the Most Holy Place to receive his kingdom. The delay and sleep precede that heavenly coming, during which the faithful waited patiently and searched Scripture for clearer light and followed Christ by faith in his sanctuary work. Those prepared with the Spirit and grace of God are distinguished from those with only a theory of truth who lack that grace.
During the tarrying time the error in the prophetic periods was discovered by earnest prayer and searching, and prophecy was traced down through this tarrying time. Fanaticism arose among some professing the faith, and some were misled by false shepherds and lost understanding of what they believed. Some at first concluded probation had closed before seeing a new ministration of pleading for sinners. The third angel's message was still needed to join the first and second as the final testing message and the last message of mercy, and many who had accepted the earlier messages refused it. Further light including the seventh-day Sabbath was revealed in this period. The vision of the midnight cry came first in December, and the Bridegroom's coming was shown later in the following February, at a time when the coming had been placed in the past by most of the Advent band though some thought it might still be future.
Meaning of Tarrying Time
The delay is the waiting time that comes between the message of Christ's soon coming and His actual appearing, in which faith is tried and patience is required. It belongs to the church living just before the second coming, pictured by ten virgins who all go out with lamps and vessels, all have a knowledge of the Scriptures, all have heard the message of His near approach, and all confidently expect Him, so that for a time no difference is seen between them. The wait exposes who has oil in the vessel with the lamp and who is destitute of the Holy Spirit, without whom knowledge of the word cannot quicken the soul, sanctify the heart, transform character, enable distinguishing truth from error, or keep from falling under temptation. Right waiting in this interval is not idle expectancy that refuses to plant or build, nor all bustle and excitement to the neglect of personal piety, but working, waiting, watching, and praying blended together, with the needs of the soul supplied with the oil of grace and constant increase in spiritual power.
The sleep during the delay does not mean doubt that Christ will come, but failure to understand how long the coming would tarry and uncertainty about its timing. That tarrying came as a sad and unexpected surprise because it had not been taken into account in the joyful expectation, when after the expected time in 1843 the vision seemed delayed because the prophetic periods had been misreckoned and had not yet ended. The unprepared had not expected the wait and lacked the grace of God in their hearts to keep their lamps shining until the call came, giving way to the temptation of long waiting to think He is not coming because they had no supply of grace to stand the test. By earnest prayer and searching the error in the periods was discovered and prophecy was traced down through this tarrying time, and the renewed seventh-month message became the cry to wake and meet the Bridegroom.
The delay is purposeful, for God takes time to test and prove who has the real, genuine righteousness of Christ and who can bear with patience, to develop and strengthen sincere believers while the wise are later roused by the message of His approach and replenish their spiritual life through His grace. It also gives opportunity to hear the last message of mercy before the second coming, while the first and second angels' messages are joined with the third, the final testing message which some who had accepted the earlier messages refused. The waiting period of probation must therefore be spent with lamps kept trimmed and burning, and it will seem short when viewed in eternity beside unmeasured glory with the redeemed.
The delay comes from long-suffering, because He does not want anyone to perish but wants all to come to repentance and have eternal life. The tarrying time is now, the peculiar and momentous time of the end in which we are living, when many claim the Lord delays His coming and all things remain as from creation. His coming must not be treated as though indefinitely postponed, and no device or reckoning of figures, symbols, or types can fix its definite period; believers can only study the signs that show He is at the door. To slumber and sleep now is to let love of amusement and stubborn self-will divorce the soul from God, to build for time rather than eternity, to join eating and drinking and sacrificing health and life to appetite and sinful practice, to refuse to follow on to know the Lord, and to let selfishness and gatherings for pleasure eclipse the light of heaven instead of ascending heavenward to become a refined, sanctified channel of light for the saving of souls.
Meaning of Slumber and Sleep
The slumber belongs to the passing of the time when Christ was expected, with disappointment and seeming delay testing all who waited. In that trial some grew unconcerned and abandoned their faith, while those whose faith rested on personal knowledge of Scripture waited patiently for clearer light. Even the faithful seemed to lose some of their zeal and devotion, yet they continued to believe the event was near.
The sleep itself did not separate the wise from the foolish, for all ten grew weary after watching hour after hour and all fell asleep. For a time no difference was seen, since all went out to meet the Lord, all had lamps and vessels for oil, all had knowledge of the Scriptures, all had heard the message of His soon approach and confidently expected Him. The difference lay in preparation for delay, for the wise had stored extra oil to replenish their lamps when the call came while the foolish had made no provision and were destitute of the Holy Spirit. During this tarrying time the two classes look alike so that no human can distinguish or pronounce who is wise and who is foolish, for those holding truth in unrighteousness appear outwardly like the wise and the human heart cannot be read, as tares closely resemble wheat. Separation is not given to human beings but to the angels of God, who know character by fruits, counterwork those who fight against the truth, and will make no mistake in gathering the wheat from among the tares before the door is shut.
Spiritually the sleep is cold, senseless, weak, waning and fading piety among people who have received great light and knowledge, like the five virgins with lamps but no oil. It is accompanied by confused judgment, strange doubts, and loss of firm hold on faith, leaving the soul unready and prompting the question who has oil in vessel and lamp. Their lamps burn dim and flicker out in darkness without being recognized until too late, in contrast with God's people receiving new life, light and power from above as the final crisis approaches. This condition is marked by pride and weakness of faith and calls for awakening and trimming of lamps and steadfast resistance to the powers of darkness.
In daily life the sleep is resting in theory without close, vital connection with the pure sacred springs from which life and inspiration must be derived. It is carelessness and indifference with marked want of integrity and uprightness and no growth in spiritual understanding and power, feeling no burden to keep the soul in the love of God by earnest diligent daily use to the utmost of ability of entrusted talents, neglecting self-denial and cross-bearing. It is absenting from religious services and prayer and praise meetings, laying off spiritual garments, failing to assemble as active workers, failing to keep lamps trimmed and burning so only feeble light is reflected, making the Sabbath merely cessation of physical labor rather than a sweet foretaste of the Sabbath above, letting religion degenerate into form, running very low in spiritual temperature, having a name to live while dead, and living in the lukewarm Laodicean condition. It is robbing God of time belonging to Him, stealing time that should be given to prayer and gaining spiritual strength in order to gain extra time for temporal business. It is lightly regarding warnings and going far into worldliness in dress and practice until left outside as a foolish virgin with the door shut.
It is also letting love of amusement and stubborn self-will divorce the soul from God and marry it to another instead of remaining the bride of Christ with an abiding Christ. It is building for time rather than eternity, associating with those whose order is eating and drinking and sacrificing health and life to lustful appetites and sinful practices, refusing to follow on to know the Lord, and letting selfishness and interest in gatherings for pleasure eclipse heaven's light and separate the soul from God instead of ascending heavenward to become a refined sanctified channel of light for saving souls. It is being busy with human calculation and imaginings, exalting self instead of the Lord, leaving God out and dropping precious principles instead of sending up earnest prayers and humbling the heart. It is being overwhelmed by perplexities and cares while failing to be sanctified by truth, to hold truth in righteousness with deep sense of its value and sacredness, to make obedience meat and drink, to pass light to others in highways and byways, to be separate from the world, to examine self, to pray constantly, and to accept positive reformation.
The sleep leaves the churches generally slumbering while the signs of the times fulfill in the world, in danger of having no oil when the call to go out and meet the bridegroom comes, so that while some go to buy oil the wise go in to the marriage supper and the door is shut and the foolish are answered with I know you not and left outside in darkness. Asleep at their post, they fail to recognize danger while deception draws them away from the message they should proclaim, representing people under deception who have been drawn away and left unprepared. Spiritually inactive, they do not keep lamps trimmed and shining, lack love and sympathy for the lost, fail to work for those seeking truth, and do not recognize how many hunger for truth. Spiritually unawake as the time of trouble draws near, they must awaken, recognize the trial ahead, and seek Jesus' help to endure it, lest they sleep the sleep of death.
Many who heard that Jesus is coming and that the great day of God's wrath is just upon them lost interest because time went on a little longer than they expected. Stupidity crept over them so that they slumber never to awake again. They ought to have watched, and then they would have seen the angels.
Oil Lamps and Two Classes
The ten virgins represent the church of professed Christians watching for the Lord's appearing in the closing period of earth's history, about half ready and half unready, five wise and five foolish, all with a call, a name, a lamp, and apparent watchfulness. They are called virgins because they profess a pure faith, and the division shows how few are truly ready compared with those who are not, for only a small number of those with great light and abundant opportunities have more than a theoretical knowledge of the truth. All had lamps and vessels, knowledge of Scripture, heard the message, and confidently expected him, yet the wise had stored extra oil to replenish their lamps when the call came, possessing unseen principles, open communion with God, and the character that will give entrance into the marriage supper of the Lamb. The time is one of great events soon to open, when the invitation Come, for all things are now ready has sounded with heaven's light on justification by faith and the imputed righteousness of Christ, and those making excuses for neglecting to respond have lost much, while those worked by the Holy Spirit do not rest in hearing more and more but search the Scriptures, walk in the light received, and bear living testimony to others.
Their lamps are the word of God, a knowledge of the truth, and an outward semblance of religion, and having the lamp means the church as depository of truth with light imparted to its members. That light must be sent forth individually in clear steady rays, never growing dim or burning low, with works corresponding to privileges and opportunities through being sanctified through the truth, which is being set apart for special service. All ten have lamps meaning outward show, but five only have inward piety, and without oil all outward preparation is worthless, for the highest profession, ordination for the ministry, or appointment as superintendent or teacher in the Sabbath school does not give grace or heavenly light. To have just enough religion to deaden the conscience, deceive the senses, and ruin the soul is to have just enough outward show to have the name to live while dead, so those who might be laborers together with God but are not yoked up with Christ and go their own way to do their own pleasure are unready. The lamps are also taught to represent God's remnant people needing a constant supply, with those who supply the lamps representing God's servants laboring in the harvest, and people shown carrying oil and filling the lamps.
The oil in vessels with the lamps is the Holy Spirit and the grace of Christ, continually supplied through a living connection with Christ, including his righteousness, faith and love working by love to purify the soul, heavenly love, truth, and character that gives entrance to the marriage supper. Readiness to meet the Lord requires more than knowing the truth: faith, patience, and love must grow through Christ's grace, maintained day by day and not postponed until his arrival is announced, nourishing a living experience whose light shines through good works. The wise and foolish are alike in outward appearance, but the foolish lack this oil, professing faith without genuine conversion, and readiness to enter with the bridegroom depends on having that grace, not merely making a profession. The foolish are workers who have the lamp, the form of the truth, but have failed to supply themselves with the holy oil, so lacking connection with heavenly agencies the Holy Spirit is not represented in their labors, the power of a godly example is lacking, and there is no living experience to give power to the truth presented. Without the Spirit of God accompanying the worker to correct every unsanctified way, zeal and presentation of truth are worthless, superficial and weak.
The oil must be secured during probationary time by depending on God every hour as a branch grafted into the living Vine drawing sap and nourishment every day to bear fruit, and it must continually supply the soul or the light grows dim and goes out. The wise keep the oil of grace in their vessels by prayerfully studying God's Word and choosing obedience, keeping the soul's lamp trimmed and its vessel filled, so they are ready to respond to the midnight cry and the day of the Lord does not come unexpectedly like a thief. Having oil in vessels with lamps is the great daily necessity for every soul in the tarrying time, a work weighty with eternal results that cannot safely be neglected. Spiritual life and prosperity require time for prayer and Scripture and abiding in God's presence, living in hourly contact and conscious communion with the principles of truth, righteousness, and mercy that reveal the attributes of God within the soul. This means binding up with God as the deep Source of all moral and intellectual power and cooperating with Him, beholding the cross of Calvary as the guarantee that through Jesus Christ there is spiritual efficiency and skill and understanding in the Scriptures to represent the truth in its attractive, powerful principles by precept and example. Without that daily supply lamps go out, and those without oil come up belated and are left outside in the darkness and gloom and despair of midnight in hopelessness, while those with oil enter in to the marriage supper.
Each person must obtain the oil for himself because grace, character, and spiritual experience cannot be borrowed, transferred, or communicated from one person to another, and Christ is ever wanting to supply what cannot be given by another. The foolish had not gained an experience of Christ's grace before it was urgently needed and then tried to obtain that experience from others, but faith and grace must be nourished beforehand, and the oil taken by the two anointed ones and emptied as golden oil into clean, pure, sanctified souls prepared to receive it cannot be communicated from one to another. Each individual must prepare his own soul through humbleness of mind by wearing Christ's yoke and learning of Him, growing into knowledge through earnest prayer and faith in Christ, for nominal religion is not enough. The delay leaves the foolish without the grace needed to discern and accept the light when it comes; they cannot borrow the wise virgins' character, light their lamps, or join the procession to the marriage supper of the Lamb. They are those who have had light from heaven and rejected the messages God sent, refusing the pleadings of Infinite Love and the offers of pardon and forgiveness, so they have no oil of grace to discern the clear light or to accept it, and when the sins that have been hidden are proclaimed and the woes are pronounced upon those who did not heed the light, they will feel them but will have no power to act.
During the tarrying time the wise and the foolish look alike and sleep together, so no human can now distinguish or have authority to say who is wise and who is foolish, for those who hold the truth in unrighteousness appear outwardly like the wise, the human heart cannot be read, and tares closely resemble wheat. Separation is not given to human beings but to the angels of God, who know character by fruits, counterwork those who fight against the truth, and will make no mistake in gathering the wheat from among the tares before the door is shut. Outward watchfulness and an apparent readiness for Christ's coming do not prove genuine preparation, for all the virgins slept yet five were found without oil and unready when the bridegroom came. All ten claim to be Christians, five true and five false, all having a name, a call, a lamp, and all claiming to do God service and apparently to watch for His appearing, yet five are wanting and in the delay are found surprised and dismayed, without oil, outside the wedding banquet with the door shut. A Christian profession alone is not enough; followers must live as he commands rather than assume God's promises belong to them, for profession is nothing and no one is to take for granted that he is saved. Sanctification is the work of a lifetime, requiring denying self and taking up the cross daily and following Christ, breaking none of the least commandments but doing and teaching them, with a righteousness exceeding that of the scribes and Pharisees, pressing on in the refining, purifying process until the dross is consumed and true gold of character appears, and readiness is shown by a life of good works and inward grace, not merely by profession or baptism.
The foolish virgins are professed believers and church members, not open sinners who make no profession of loving God and keeping His commandments, but those who claim to be children of God while not practicing the truth. They assent to truth without practicing it, know the theory of truth but lack a living connection with God, neglect Scripture, cherish hidden sins, retain traits of character that misrepresent Christ, and fail to obtain the wisdom and grace from God to make them complete in Jesus Christ. They have no burden for souls, do not deny self and do not lift the cross of Christ, seek an enjoyable time with the world while claiming to be Christians, wear a mask, refuse to yield to any authority, do great harm to others, and by worldly principles seduce many into dissension as by strange fire. They neglect the day of salvation and when the final emergency comes the door to the marriage supper may then be shut, for Bible truth must be practiced to make people wise unto salvation, and receiving the Holy Spirit is a positive necessity. By contrast, Christians in deed and in truth live and work to restore the moral image of God in man and labor on Christ's side to convince men of every class that a consecrated life is a power for good, while sin results only in weakness and eternal ruin, letting light burn in good works, remaining at the feet of Jesus, and being transformed by his power.
The foolish include workers and ministers with the form of truth but no living experience to give power to their labors, teachers and Sabbath school officers without grace, people active in God's work yet unconverted, and those weaving in false theories exalting Sunday and opposing God's law. They have lamps but lack oil, showing that outward profession and words are not enough without heartfelt piety and devotion, and such a false religion does not practice Christ's lessons in daily life or show his meekness, gentleness, tenderness, sympathy, and love. Their failure continued year after year: they did not take in and live the truth despite receiving its privileges, and applied to ministers, their persistent lack of Christlikeness and inability to pass on the truth means they should be removed from ministry. Mere theory is not enough to be ready; the oil of grace must be used so the lamp shines and the world takes knowledge of fellowship with Jesus and learning from Him. While waiting Satan watches for an unguarded moment to get possession of the mind, so ignorance of his devices and being overpowered by them must both be avoided, for he has intelligence, having once been an angel of light, and those who trust in their intelligence will be led to think they can correct the Scriptures.
Some people from other churches accept the truth at the eleventh hour because they have lived according to the light they had, while people who received greater light and opportunity but failed to live by it lose their light, and their lamps go out for lack of the oil of grace. Having a lamp of religious knowledge is not enough to be ready, for those who indulge in harmful habits may possess religious knowledge yet lack the grace needed for a sound spiritual life; when the bridegroom comes, they are unready and discover too late that their character is diseased. The presence of foolish virgins together with the wise does not mean that God has no church, for the church includes both faithful members and those lacking what they need. To be without oil is to deem the ordinances of grace not of vital importance, to see no necessity for the instrumentalities God employs to keep lamps burning, and to feel no need for the mediatorial work of Christ that illuminates the understanding and warms the heart and keeps the spark of faith alive. This empty condition comes from making science everything, making much of the powers inherent in man and nature, wandering in the mazes of skepticism, and failing to exalt the power and glory of God.
Call to Watchful Preparation
The delay before the Bridegroom comes is a call to watch and stay sober rather than to sink into spiritual stupor, with the inner lamp trimmed and the vessel kept filled so the light keeps burning. That burning depends on a living connection with God, for without lamps trimmed and burning there will be no readiness for his coming and no added grace in times of special need. The oil that keeps the lamp alight through the night of waiting is the supply that lets the light shine steadily, and that light is to reach others and guide them toward the Bridegroom's home and the marriage feast. The wise keep that supply so their lamps continue to shine through the whole night until he appears, and his appearing can then be welcomed with joy.
Right waiting is not idle expectancy, nor is it all bustle and excitement to the neglect of personal piety, but working, waiting, watching and praying blended together. The present is trading time in which God-given capabilities and talents are to be used for the Master, put out to the exchangers with self-denying, self-sacrificing zeal for the salvation of souls. Each one who has denied self and purified the soul through belief of the truth will at once do missionary work for those perishing in their sins, circulating publications and entering cities and towns to bid men to the marriage supper. Personal piety must therefore be joined with the most earnest and energetic warnings and appeals, clearing the King's highway and preparing a people for the Lord, being not slothful in business but fervent in spirit, keeping the lamps of the soul filled and burning. To fold the hands in neutral inactivity while waiting for the grand and awful scene that will close earth's history is to sleep like the foolish, and sleeping and haphazard work bring spiritual declension until that day overtakes the sleepers as a thief.
Readiness means grace today, a living and complete connection with God today and every day, not being surfeited and drunken with the cares of this life lest that day come unawares and find one not ready. The delay gives time but does not remove the need to be ready, and the oil of grace must not be left to be obtained later, for lamps without oil will go out and it may then be too late to prepare. The tarrying time is ending and the end is very near, so there is no ground to assume there will be years to prepare; Christ the Bridegroom will come suddenly and unexpectedly, and unless believers watch they will slumber and sleep with lamps going out. That preparation cannot be postponed until the time of trouble, the final conflict, Armageddon or the plagues, when every form of evil springs into intense activity and all the world takes one side or the other; that day must find none of God's people sleeping, but wide awake as wise virgins having oil in their vessels with their lamps. The oil is grace, the power of the Holy Ghost sustaining faith and courage while the Captain of the Lord's host stands at the head of the angels of heaven to direct the battle, and the lamps must be trimmed and burning because he will not wait.
The warning therefore calls each person to close, critical self-examination of how opportunities have been used and how the Lord's talents are traded, considering whether he is among the wise or the foolish, since true condition is made evident by conduct and conversation. It calls to awake from slumber and examine whether there is oil for the lamp, because faith and light are in danger of failing. With the end near, readiness requires giving up erroneous ideas and defects of character, repenting, confessing, cleansing from selfishness, humbling the heart, and being clothed with the garments of Christ's righteousness and the wedding garment, which is faith and love, Christ abiding in the soul, a faith that works by love and purifies the soul with solemn burden for souls and much prayer. Profession is nothing and no one is to take for granted that he is saved, for sanctification is the work of a lifetime, requiring daily denying self, taking up the cross and following Christ, breaking none of the least commandments but doing and teaching them, pressing on in the refining, purifying process until the dross is consumed and true gold of character appears.
Having a name in the church book, church membership, or outward display will not secure entrance into the kingdom of heaven. Those who live for display and self-pleasure, for self-pleasing, or who neglect their talents may have lamps but lack the inward preparation and the oil and character needed to meet him when sickness, death, or his coming finds them unready. The delay is no reason to count on years to prepare, for the time is short and readiness must be maintained at every moment. Those who let their lamps go out and make no provision will seek too late to replenish them when he comes, and will be surprised and disappointed to find the door shut, themselves left outside in outer darkness and despair; yet the present state, where the oil is almost consumed and has not been replenished, has not yet reached that desperate position, so remedy is still possible.
While the bridegroom tarried, all ten attendants waiting through the night for the wedding grew weary and slumbered and slept because his arrival was delayed. The all who slept means the wise and the foolish together, one company of professed believers waiting for the Lord, who sleep until the midnight announcement arouses them to go out to meet him. The tarrying was fulfilled when the expected time of Christ's coming in 1843 and 1844 passed and brought disappointment, with the interval to the autumn of 1844 giving time for the error to be searched out and the midnight cry to be proclaimed in the summer of 1844. The sleep did not mean doubt that he will come but failure to reckon how long he would tarry, showing a loss of zeal and devotion in even sincere believers, yet it did not distinguish the classes, for all had lamps and expectation and the difference was that the wise had stored extra oil. That oil is the Holy Spirit and the grace and righteousness of Christ, which each must secure for himself by daily connection with God through prayer, Scripture, obedience and consecration because it cannot be borrowed, and therefore the delay calls for watchful working, watching and praying with trimmed and burning lamps today rather than postponing preparation.
Words and Wedding Setting
Matthew 25:5 belongs to the parable of the ten virgins in Matthew 25:1-13. It is part of the discourse given shortly before Gethsemane, which includes the parable of the talents and teaches readiness for the second coming. The parable calls for serious reflection on how it applies to each person and for earnest prayer to be led into all truth. Its imagery of lamps and oil applies to spiritual preparation, in which the soul's lamp is to be trimmed and replenished with the Spirit's oil.
The bridegroom tarried and his arrival was delayed. While waiting through the night for the wedding procession, all ten attendants grew weary, became drowsy, and slumbered and slept. The delay wore them down and lasted long enough for all to fall asleep while awaiting his arrival. Christ spoke this while looking upon a party waiting for the bridegroom, and the tarrying and the slumbering and sleeping illustrate the experience of the church that shall live just before His second coming.
The all who slept includes both the wise and the foolish together. They form one party of professed believers waiting for the Lord in the evening of this earth's history before His second coming. That company includes both real Christians who have life in themselves and spurious professors who lack the oil of grace. For a time no difference is seen, since all have lamps and vessels, knowledge of Scripture, have heard the message of Christ's near approach, and confidently expect His appearing. The wise have oil in their vessels with their lamps, unseen principles, open communion with God, and are known by the Lord, possessing the character that will give entrance into the marriage supper of the Lamb, while the others profess without possessing that character.
The sleep lasts until the midnight announcement, Behold the bridegroom cometh, which arouses the waiting company to activity and to go out to meet him. That cry, proclaimed in connection with the second angel's message and under the first and second angels' messages, spread widely and aroused thousands to prepare and to go out to meet Him. It led them to seek a living experience of their own, because they could not rely on one another. The wise awaken at the message that He is approaching, their spiritual life is replenished, their discernment remains, and they respond with renewed service, set against the present call in song that the Bridegroom is near.
The wedding setting reflects a marriage that takes place in heaven before the return to earth. The bridegroom's coming is to the marriage and represents a change in the position and work of Christ, the great High Priest, in heaven in relation to the marriage of the Lamb. The delay is applied to the time when Jesus leaves the throne, goes to the Father to receive the kingdom, and promises to return from the wedding, while those who follow Him are to wait, keep their garments spotless, and remain fixed on Him. Marriage is a divine institution and a fitting setting for illustrating important truths about Christ's work and return.
Advent Fulfillment in 1844
The tarrying of the bridegroom was fulfilled when the expected time of Christ's coming passed in 1843 and 1844 and disappointment came, while believers still held that the event was near. The sleep of all the virgins describes their failure to understand how long the coming would tarry and their uncertainty about its timing, not doubt that Christ would come. The delay was the apparent delay of the vision because the prophetic periods had been misreckoned and had not yet ended, and because it had not been taken into account it came as a sad and unexpected surprise. The trial of waiting was necessary to test, develop and strengthen sincere believers, framing their need for patience and a genuine experience of acceptance with God. After going forth to meet the Bridegroom in 1844, believers in the tarrying time slumbered and slept by being deceived by false shepherds until they did not know where they were or what they believed, and those sleepers are among souls afterward coming out upon the truth.
The delay corresponds to the interval between the spring date first thought for the end of the 2300 days and the autumn of 1844 to which the period was afterward found to extend. The midnight cry announcing the bridegroom was proclaimed midway between those dates, in the summer of 1844. The reckoning rests on the discovery that the decree of Artaxerxes for the restoration of Jerusalem, the starting point of the 2300 days, went into effect in the autumn of 457 B.C. and not at the beginning of the year. Reckoning 2300 years from the autumn of 457 brings their termination to the autumn of 1844. October 22, 1844 was regarded as the time of the Lord's coming to cleanse the sanctuary, with the waiting and sleep followed by the bridegroom's coming and the midnight cry.
The awakening and the cry to meet the Bridegroom were fulfilled in the seventh-month movement as the renewed message to wake and meet him. That cry arose under the first and second angels' messages as believers proclaimed Christ's second coming. Prophetic and typological arguments led to the midnight cry, which awakened the waiting believers and stirred them to prepare to meet the Lord. Proclaimed in connection with the second angel's message, it spread widely and aroused thousands to go out to meet him and to go out from the churches and seek a living experience. The virgins' trimming of their lamps accompanied this renewed expectation of his coming.
The bridegroom's coming in this application is his coming to the Ancient of Days in heaven to receive the kingdom and to work in the most holy place to cleanse the sanctuary. It is distinct from his later second advent to earth to deliver his people, for the marriage takes place in heaven before his return and represents a change in the position and work of Christ as great High Priest in relation to the marriage of the Lamb. This coming to the holiest settles that the door was shut, when Jesus rose from his mediatorial throne and entered the Most Holy Place to receive his kingdom. The delay and sleep precede that heavenly coming, during which the faithful waited patiently and searched Scripture for clearer light and followed Christ by faith in his sanctuary work. Those prepared with the Spirit and grace of God are distinguished from those with only a theory of truth who lack that grace.
During the tarrying time the error in the prophetic periods was discovered by earnest prayer and searching, and prophecy was traced down through this tarrying time. Fanaticism arose among some professing the faith, and some were misled by false shepherds and lost understanding of what they believed. Some at first concluded probation had closed before seeing a new ministration of pleading for sinners. The third angel's message was still needed to join the first and second as the final testing message and the last message of mercy, and many who had accepted the earlier messages refused it. Further light including the seventh-day Sabbath was revealed in this period. The vision of the midnight cry came first in December, and the Bridegroom's coming was shown later in the following February, at a time when the coming had been placed in the past by most of the Advent band though some thought it might still be future.
Meaning of Tarrying Time
The delay is the waiting time that comes between the message of Christ's soon coming and His actual appearing, in which faith is tried and patience is required. It belongs to the church living just before the second coming, pictured by ten virgins who all go out with lamps and vessels, all have a knowledge of the Scriptures, all have heard the message of His near approach, and all confidently expect Him, so that for a time no difference is seen between them. The wait exposes who has oil in the vessel with the lamp and who is destitute of the Holy Spirit, without whom knowledge of the word cannot quicken the soul, sanctify the heart, transform character, enable distinguishing truth from error, or keep from falling under temptation. Right waiting in this interval is not idle expectancy that refuses to plant or build, nor all bustle and excitement to the neglect of personal piety, but working, waiting, watching, and praying blended together, with the needs of the soul supplied with the oil of grace and constant increase in spiritual power.
The sleep during the delay does not mean doubt that Christ will come, but failure to understand how long the coming would tarry and uncertainty about its timing. That tarrying came as a sad and unexpected surprise because it had not been taken into account in the joyful expectation, when after the expected time in 1843 the vision seemed delayed because the prophetic periods had been misreckoned and had not yet ended. The unprepared had not expected the wait and lacked the grace of God in their hearts to keep their lamps shining until the call came, giving way to the temptation of long waiting to think He is not coming because they had no supply of grace to stand the test. By earnest prayer and searching the error in the periods was discovered and prophecy was traced down through this tarrying time, and the renewed seventh-month message became the cry to wake and meet the Bridegroom.
The delay is purposeful, for God takes time to test and prove who has the real, genuine righteousness of Christ and who can bear with patience, to develop and strengthen sincere believers while the wise are later roused by the message of His approach and replenish their spiritual life through His grace. It also gives opportunity to hear the last message of mercy before the second coming, while the first and second angels' messages are joined with the third, the final testing message which some who had accepted the earlier messages refused. The waiting period of probation must therefore be spent with lamps kept trimmed and burning, and it will seem short when viewed in eternity beside unmeasured glory with the redeemed.
The delay comes from long-suffering, because He does not want anyone to perish but wants all to come to repentance and have eternal life. The tarrying time is now, the peculiar and momentous time of the end in which we are living, when many claim the Lord delays His coming and all things remain as from creation. His coming must not be treated as though indefinitely postponed, and no device or reckoning of figures, symbols, or types can fix its definite period; believers can only study the signs that show He is at the door. To slumber and sleep now is to let love of amusement and stubborn self-will divorce the soul from God, to build for time rather than eternity, to join eating and drinking and sacrificing health and life to appetite and sinful practice, to refuse to follow on to know the Lord, and to let selfishness and gatherings for pleasure eclipse the light of heaven instead of ascending heavenward to become a refined, sanctified channel of light for the saving of souls.
Meaning of Slumber and Sleep
The slumber belongs to the passing of the time when Christ was expected, with disappointment and seeming delay testing all who waited. In that trial some grew unconcerned and abandoned their faith, while those whose faith rested on personal knowledge of Scripture waited patiently for clearer light. Even the faithful seemed to lose some of their zeal and devotion, yet they continued to believe the event was near.
The sleep itself did not separate the wise from the foolish, for all ten grew weary after watching hour after hour and all fell asleep. For a time no difference was seen, since all went out to meet the Lord, all had lamps and vessels for oil, all had knowledge of the Scriptures, all had heard the message of His soon approach and confidently expected Him. The difference lay in preparation for delay, for the wise had stored extra oil to replenish their lamps when the call came while the foolish had made no provision and were destitute of the Holy Spirit. During this tarrying time the two classes look alike so that no human can distinguish or pronounce who is wise and who is foolish, for those holding truth in unrighteousness appear outwardly like the wise and the human heart cannot be read, as tares closely resemble wheat. Separation is not given to human beings but to the angels of God, who know character by fruits, counterwork those who fight against the truth, and will make no mistake in gathering the wheat from among the tares before the door is shut.
Spiritually the sleep is cold, senseless, weak, waning and fading piety among people who have received great light and knowledge, like the five virgins with lamps but no oil. It is accompanied by confused judgment, strange doubts, and loss of firm hold on faith, leaving the soul unready and prompting the question who has oil in vessel and lamp. Their lamps burn dim and flicker out in darkness without being recognized until too late, in contrast with God's people receiving new life, light and power from above as the final crisis approaches. This condition is marked by pride and weakness of faith and calls for awakening and trimming of lamps and steadfast resistance to the powers of darkness.
In daily life the sleep is resting in theory without close, vital connection with the pure sacred springs from which life and inspiration must be derived. It is carelessness and indifference with marked want of integrity and uprightness and no growth in spiritual understanding and power, feeling no burden to keep the soul in the love of God by earnest diligent daily use to the utmost of ability of entrusted talents, neglecting self-denial and cross-bearing. It is absenting from religious services and prayer and praise meetings, laying off spiritual garments, failing to assemble as active workers, failing to keep lamps trimmed and burning so only feeble light is reflected, making the Sabbath merely cessation of physical labor rather than a sweet foretaste of the Sabbath above, letting religion degenerate into form, running very low in spiritual temperature, having a name to live while dead, and living in the lukewarm Laodicean condition. It is robbing God of time belonging to Him, stealing time that should be given to prayer and gaining spiritual strength in order to gain extra time for temporal business. It is lightly regarding warnings and going far into worldliness in dress and practice until left outside as a foolish virgin with the door shut.
It is also letting love of amusement and stubborn self-will divorce the soul from God and marry it to another instead of remaining the bride of Christ with an abiding Christ. It is building for time rather than eternity, associating with those whose order is eating and drinking and sacrificing health and life to lustful appetites and sinful practices, refusing to follow on to know the Lord, and letting selfishness and interest in gatherings for pleasure eclipse heaven's light and separate the soul from God instead of ascending heavenward to become a refined sanctified channel of light for saving souls. It is being busy with human calculation and imaginings, exalting self instead of the Lord, leaving God out and dropping precious principles instead of sending up earnest prayers and humbling the heart. It is being overwhelmed by perplexities and cares while failing to be sanctified by truth, to hold truth in righteousness with deep sense of its value and sacredness, to make obedience meat and drink, to pass light to others in highways and byways, to be separate from the world, to examine self, to pray constantly, and to accept positive reformation.
The sleep leaves the churches generally slumbering while the signs of the times fulfill in the world, in danger of having no oil when the call to go out and meet the bridegroom comes, so that while some go to buy oil the wise go in to the marriage supper and the door is shut and the foolish are answered with I know you not and left outside in darkness. Asleep at their post, they fail to recognize danger while deception draws them away from the message they should proclaim, representing people under deception who have been drawn away and left unprepared. Spiritually inactive, they do not keep lamps trimmed and shining, lack love and sympathy for the lost, fail to work for those seeking truth, and do not recognize how many hunger for truth. Spiritually unawake as the time of trouble draws near, they must awaken, recognize the trial ahead, and seek Jesus' help to endure it, lest they sleep the sleep of death.
Many who heard that Jesus is coming and that the great day of God's wrath is just upon them lost interest because time went on a little longer than they expected. Stupidity crept over them so that they slumber never to awake again. They ought to have watched, and then they would have seen the angels.
Oil Lamps and Two Classes
The ten virgins represent the church of professed Christians watching for the Lord's appearing in the closing period of earth's history, about half ready and half unready, five wise and five foolish, all with a call, a name, a lamp, and apparent watchfulness. They are called virgins because they profess a pure faith, and the division shows how few are truly ready compared with those who are not, for only a small number of those with great light and abundant opportunities have more than a theoretical knowledge of the truth. All had lamps and vessels, knowledge of Scripture, heard the message, and confidently expected him, yet the wise had stored extra oil to replenish their lamps when the call came, possessing unseen principles, open communion with God, and the character that will give entrance into the marriage supper of the Lamb. The time is one of great events soon to open, when the invitation Come, for all things are now ready has sounded with heaven's light on justification by faith and the imputed righteousness of Christ, and those making excuses for neglecting to respond have lost much, while those worked by the Holy Spirit do not rest in hearing more and more but search the Scriptures, walk in the light received, and bear living testimony to others.
Their lamps are the word of God, a knowledge of the truth, and an outward semblance of religion, and having the lamp means the church as depository of truth with light imparted to its members. That light must be sent forth individually in clear steady rays, never growing dim or burning low, with works corresponding to privileges and opportunities through being sanctified through the truth, which is being set apart for special service. All ten have lamps meaning outward show, but five only have inward piety, and without oil all outward preparation is worthless, for the highest profession, ordination for the ministry, or appointment as superintendent or teacher in the Sabbath school does not give grace or heavenly light. To have just enough religion to deaden the conscience, deceive the senses, and ruin the soul is to have just enough outward show to have the name to live while dead, so those who might be laborers together with God but are not yoked up with Christ and go their own way to do their own pleasure are unready. The lamps are also taught to represent God's remnant people needing a constant supply, with those who supply the lamps representing God's servants laboring in the harvest, and people shown carrying oil and filling the lamps.
The oil in vessels with the lamps is the Holy Spirit and the grace of Christ, continually supplied through a living connection with Christ, including his righteousness, faith and love working by love to purify the soul, heavenly love, truth, and character that gives entrance to the marriage supper. Readiness to meet the Lord requires more than knowing the truth: faith, patience, and love must grow through Christ's grace, maintained day by day and not postponed until his arrival is announced, nourishing a living experience whose light shines through good works. The wise and foolish are alike in outward appearance, but the foolish lack this oil, professing faith without genuine conversion, and readiness to enter with the bridegroom depends on having that grace, not merely making a profession. The foolish are workers who have the lamp, the form of the truth, but have failed to supply themselves with the holy oil, so lacking connection with heavenly agencies the Holy Spirit is not represented in their labors, the power of a godly example is lacking, and there is no living experience to give power to the truth presented. Without the Spirit of God accompanying the worker to correct every unsanctified way, zeal and presentation of truth are worthless, superficial and weak.
The oil must be secured during probationary time by depending on God every hour as a branch grafted into the living Vine drawing sap and nourishment every day to bear fruit, and it must continually supply the soul or the light grows dim and goes out. The wise keep the oil of grace in their vessels by prayerfully studying God's Word and choosing obedience, keeping the soul's lamp trimmed and its vessel filled, so they are ready to respond to the midnight cry and the day of the Lord does not come unexpectedly like a thief. Having oil in vessels with lamps is the great daily necessity for every soul in the tarrying time, a work weighty with eternal results that cannot safely be neglected. Spiritual life and prosperity require time for prayer and Scripture and abiding in God's presence, living in hourly contact and conscious communion with the principles of truth, righteousness, and mercy that reveal the attributes of God within the soul. This means binding up with God as the deep Source of all moral and intellectual power and cooperating with Him, beholding the cross of Calvary as the guarantee that through Jesus Christ there is spiritual efficiency and skill and understanding in the Scriptures to represent the truth in its attractive, powerful principles by precept and example. Without that daily supply lamps go out, and those without oil come up belated and are left outside in the darkness and gloom and despair of midnight in hopelessness, while those with oil enter in to the marriage supper.
Each person must obtain the oil for himself because grace, character, and spiritual experience cannot be borrowed, transferred, or communicated from one person to another, and Christ is ever wanting to supply what cannot be given by another. The foolish had not gained an experience of Christ's grace before it was urgently needed and then tried to obtain that experience from others, but faith and grace must be nourished beforehand, and the oil taken by the two anointed ones and emptied as golden oil into clean, pure, sanctified souls prepared to receive it cannot be communicated from one to another. Each individual must prepare his own soul through humbleness of mind by wearing Christ's yoke and learning of Him, growing into knowledge through earnest prayer and faith in Christ, for nominal religion is not enough. The delay leaves the foolish without the grace needed to discern and accept the light when it comes; they cannot borrow the wise virgins' character, light their lamps, or join the procession to the marriage supper of the Lamb. They are those who have had light from heaven and rejected the messages God sent, refusing the pleadings of Infinite Love and the offers of pardon and forgiveness, so they have no oil of grace to discern the clear light or to accept it, and when the sins that have been hidden are proclaimed and the woes are pronounced upon those who did not heed the light, they will feel them but will have no power to act.
During the tarrying time the wise and the foolish look alike and sleep together, so no human can now distinguish or have authority to say who is wise and who is foolish, for those who hold the truth in unrighteousness appear outwardly like the wise, the human heart cannot be read, and tares closely resemble wheat. Separation is not given to human beings but to the angels of God, who know character by fruits, counterwork those who fight against the truth, and will make no mistake in gathering the wheat from among the tares before the door is shut. Outward watchfulness and an apparent readiness for Christ's coming do not prove genuine preparation, for all the virgins slept yet five were found without oil and unready when the bridegroom came. All ten claim to be Christians, five true and five false, all having a name, a call, a lamp, and all claiming to do God service and apparently to watch for His appearing, yet five are wanting and in the delay are found surprised and dismayed, without oil, outside the wedding banquet with the door shut. A Christian profession alone is not enough; followers must live as he commands rather than assume God's promises belong to them, for profession is nothing and no one is to take for granted that he is saved. Sanctification is the work of a lifetime, requiring denying self and taking up the cross daily and following Christ, breaking none of the least commandments but doing and teaching them, with a righteousness exceeding that of the scribes and Pharisees, pressing on in the refining, purifying process until the dross is consumed and true gold of character appears, and readiness is shown by a life of good works and inward grace, not merely by profession or baptism.
The foolish virgins are professed believers and church members, not open sinners who make no profession of loving God and keeping His commandments, but those who claim to be children of God while not practicing the truth. They assent to truth without practicing it, know the theory of truth but lack a living connection with God, neglect Scripture, cherish hidden sins, retain traits of character that misrepresent Christ, and fail to obtain the wisdom and grace from God to make them complete in Jesus Christ. They have no burden for souls, do not deny self and do not lift the cross of Christ, seek an enjoyable time with the world while claiming to be Christians, wear a mask, refuse to yield to any authority, do great harm to others, and by worldly principles seduce many into dissension as by strange fire. They neglect the day of salvation and when the final emergency comes the door to the marriage supper may then be shut, for Bible truth must be practiced to make people wise unto salvation, and receiving the Holy Spirit is a positive necessity. By contrast, Christians in deed and in truth live and work to restore the moral image of God in man and labor on Christ's side to convince men of every class that a consecrated life is a power for good, while sin results only in weakness and eternal ruin, letting light burn in good works, remaining at the feet of Jesus, and being transformed by his power.
The foolish include workers and ministers with the form of truth but no living experience to give power to their labors, teachers and Sabbath school officers without grace, people active in God's work yet unconverted, and those weaving in false theories exalting Sunday and opposing God's law. They have lamps but lack oil, showing that outward profession and words are not enough without heartfelt piety and devotion, and such a false religion does not practice Christ's lessons in daily life or show his meekness, gentleness, tenderness, sympathy, and love. Their failure continued year after year: they did not take in and live the truth despite receiving its privileges, and applied to ministers, their persistent lack of Christlikeness and inability to pass on the truth means they should be removed from ministry. Mere theory is not enough to be ready; the oil of grace must be used so the lamp shines and the world takes knowledge of fellowship with Jesus and learning from Him. While waiting Satan watches for an unguarded moment to get possession of the mind, so ignorance of his devices and being overpowered by them must both be avoided, for he has intelligence, having once been an angel of light, and those who trust in their intelligence will be led to think they can correct the Scriptures.
Some people from other churches accept the truth at the eleventh hour because they have lived according to the light they had, while people who received greater light and opportunity but failed to live by it lose their light, and their lamps go out for lack of the oil of grace. Having a lamp of religious knowledge is not enough to be ready, for those who indulge in harmful habits may possess religious knowledge yet lack the grace needed for a sound spiritual life; when the bridegroom comes, they are unready and discover too late that their character is diseased. The presence of foolish virgins together with the wise does not mean that God has no church, for the church includes both faithful members and those lacking what they need. To be without oil is to deem the ordinances of grace not of vital importance, to see no necessity for the instrumentalities God employs to keep lamps burning, and to feel no need for the mediatorial work of Christ that illuminates the understanding and warms the heart and keeps the spark of faith alive. This empty condition comes from making science everything, making much of the powers inherent in man and nature, wandering in the mazes of skepticism, and failing to exalt the power and glory of God.
Call to Watchful Preparation
The delay before the Bridegroom comes is a call to watch and stay sober rather than to sink into spiritual stupor, with the inner lamp trimmed and the vessel kept filled so the light keeps burning. That burning depends on a living connection with God, for without lamps trimmed and burning there will be no readiness for his coming and no added grace in times of special need. The oil that keeps the lamp alight through the night of waiting is the supply that lets the light shine steadily, and that light is to reach others and guide them toward the Bridegroom's home and the marriage feast. The wise keep that supply so their lamps continue to shine through the whole night until he appears, and his appearing can then be welcomed with joy.
Right waiting is not idle expectancy, nor is it all bustle and excitement to the neglect of personal piety, but working, waiting, watching and praying blended together. The present is trading time in which God-given capabilities and talents are to be used for the Master, put out to the exchangers with self-denying, self-sacrificing zeal for the salvation of souls. Each one who has denied self and purified the soul through belief of the truth will at once do missionary work for those perishing in their sins, circulating publications and entering cities and towns to bid men to the marriage supper. Personal piety must therefore be joined with the most earnest and energetic warnings and appeals, clearing the King's highway and preparing a people for the Lord, being not slothful in business but fervent in spirit, keeping the lamps of the soul filled and burning. To fold the hands in neutral inactivity while waiting for the grand and awful scene that will close earth's history is to sleep like the foolish, and sleeping and haphazard work bring spiritual declension until that day overtakes the sleepers as a thief.
Readiness means grace today, a living and complete connection with God today and every day, not being surfeited and drunken with the cares of this life lest that day come unawares and find one not ready. The delay gives time but does not remove the need to be ready, and the oil of grace must not be left to be obtained later, for lamps without oil will go out and it may then be too late to prepare. The tarrying time is ending and the end is very near, so there is no ground to assume there will be years to prepare; Christ the Bridegroom will come suddenly and unexpectedly, and unless believers watch they will slumber and sleep with lamps going out. That preparation cannot be postponed until the time of trouble, the final conflict, Armageddon or the plagues, when every form of evil springs into intense activity and all the world takes one side or the other; that day must find none of God's people sleeping, but wide awake as wise virgins having oil in their vessels with their lamps. The oil is grace, the power of the Holy Ghost sustaining faith and courage while the Captain of the Lord's host stands at the head of the angels of heaven to direct the battle, and the lamps must be trimmed and burning because he will not wait.
The warning therefore calls each person to close, critical self-examination of how opportunities have been used and how the Lord's talents are traded, considering whether he is among the wise or the foolish, since true condition is made evident by conduct and conversation. It calls to awake from slumber and examine whether there is oil for the lamp, because faith and light are in danger of failing. With the end near, readiness requires giving up erroneous ideas and defects of character, repenting, confessing, cleansing from selfishness, humbling the heart, and being clothed with the garments of Christ's righteousness and the wedding garment, which is faith and love, Christ abiding in the soul, a faith that works by love and purifies the soul with solemn burden for souls and much prayer. Profession is nothing and no one is to take for granted that he is saved, for sanctification is the work of a lifetime, requiring daily denying self, taking up the cross and following Christ, breaking none of the least commandments but doing and teaching them, pressing on in the refining, purifying process until the dross is consumed and true gold of character appears.
Having a name in the church book, church membership, or outward display will not secure entrance into the kingdom of heaven. Those who live for display and self-pleasure, for self-pleasing, or who neglect their talents may have lamps but lack the inward preparation and the oil and character needed to meet him when sickness, death, or his coming finds them unready. The delay is no reason to count on years to prepare, for the time is short and readiness must be maintained at every moment. Those who let their lamps go out and make no provision will seek too late to replenish them when he comes, and will be surprised and disappointed to find the door shut, themselves left outside in outer darkness and despair; yet the present state, where the oil is almost consumed and has not been replenished, has not yet reached that desperate position, so remedy is still possible.