Watch And Be Ready For Christ

This is a much used [and abused] phrase in these times. You will find many versions of what this means from pastors in the many churches. Mostly its about talking and professing ones faith, calling the name of Jesus and claiming to love Him. What did Jesus say about it? Jesus said, in the Parable of the Ten Virgins [Matt 25] that the wise were READY and the foolish were NOT READY.

Who is wise? The wise man keeps the commandments of Christ. Who is foolish? The foolish man does not keep the commandments of Christ. Its that simple.

The Wise:
Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock: (Matthew 7:24 KJV)

The Foolish:
And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand: (Matthew 7:26 KJV)

The wise are ready for Christ because they keep the commandments The foolish are not ready because they do other things [none of which Jesus said to do], rather than keep the commandments. They will weep and gnash their teeth for Christ to open the door for them. But the door is shut and only those who keep the commandments will enter.

The parable of the ten virgins. I advise readers first to master the DETAILS of the teaching parable. Then an interpretation of the details can be proposed.

read it

At that time the kingdom of the heavens will be likened to ten virgins, who took their lamps and went forth to meet the bridegroom. And five of them were foolish and five were prudent.

For the foolish, when they took their lamps, did not take oil with them; But the prudent took oil in their vessels with their lamps.

And while the bridegroom delayed, they all became drowsy and slept. But at midnight there was a cry, Behold, the bridegroom! Go forth to meet him!

Then all those virgins arose and trimmed their own lamps. And the foolish said to the prudent, Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out. But the prudent answered, saying, Perhaps there will not be enough for us and for you; go rather to those who sell, and buy for yourselves.

And as they were going away to buy, the bridegroom came; and those who were ready went in with him to the wedding feast. And the door was shut. And latter the rest of the virgins came also, saying, Lord, lord, open to us! But he answered and said, Truly I say to you, I do not know you.

Watch therefore, for you do not know the day nor the hour." (Matt. 25:1-13)

Let's be sure we master the details and then discuss possible interpretations.
Please, everyone, be very familiar with all the details.

Rajk999 wrote -

Jesus said, in the Parable of the Ten Virgins [Matt 25] that the wise were READY and the foolish were NOT READY.

That's right.

"At that time" means at the time of Christ's coming. In verse 44 Jesus said -
"For this reason you also be ready, because at an hour when you do not expect it, the Son of Man comes.".

The difference between the parable of 24:45-51 and 25:1-13 is that the former has its emphasis on service and the latter has its emphasis on love.

Christ is very balanced. He speaks of His people being ready for His return in two aspects.
1.) As servants SERVING their master (45 - 51)
2.) As loving guest to a wedding celebration or virgins expecting their bridegroom ( 25:1-13).

Ie. Be READY for His coming as SERVANTS serving Christ as Master.
Be READY for His coming as LOVERS loving the arrival of the Bridegroom.

In this latter parable of the ten virgins (five being foolish and five being prudent) the Lord's symbolism relates to OIL which is a symbol of the Holy Spirit.

Wise or prudent virgins had OIL and EXTRA OIL.
Foolish virgins had OIL but NO EXTRA OIL.

"For the foolish, when they took their lamps, did not take oil" (v.3).

Foolishly they only had the initial amount of oil to keep the lamp burning for a little while. They had no reserve supply. They had no extra amount of oil.

"But the prudent took oil in their vessels with their lamps." (v.4)

The prudent had the initial oil in their lamps AND a reserve of extra oil stored in their vessels in addition to their lamps.

What then is the lamp which all had?
What is are the vessels with the lamps that the prudent had but the foolish did not have?

Would some of you propose an explanation?
Rajk999?

The bible says "the spirit of man is the lamp of Jehovah" Proverbs 20:27.

Man is in three parts - spirit and soul and body (First Thess. 5:23).

The innermost part of man is the human spirit.
Surrounding that, if you will, is an outer part of man, the human soul.
Surrounding that, if you will, is the physical body.

So man is of three parts all of which require sanctification by the Holy Spirit.

"And may the God of peace Himself sanctify you wholly, and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved complete, without blame, at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ." (1 Thess. 5:23)

All believers in Christ have the Holy Spirit in their innermost human spirit by regeneration. All Christians have the Holy Spirit as one spirit with their human spirit via being born again.

" That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit." (John 3:6) .

To be born of the Spirit of God in the human spirit is to have presently in this age, the Holy Spirit witnessing with our spirit that we are "organically" related to a heavenly divine Father.

"The Spirit Himself witnesses with our spirit that we are children of God." (Rom. 8:16) .

"He who is joined to the Lord is one spirit" (1 Cor. 6:17)

This is a gift of God and means receiving eternal life.
This is the lamp of Jehovah being light with the Spirit of God from being born again.

What then is the vessel and what is the oil stored as extra oil in the vessel?

The vessel is the soul, the personality, the mind and emotion and will. The extra oil in the vessel WITH the lamp means sanctification in the personality by the Spirit of Christ.

This is not a gift in the same way. This has to be obtained with the PRICE of denying your old self and following the Lord in your spirit. To neglect the influence over your soul throughout your Christian live assuming that the Holy Spirit in your new birth was adequate to meet the Lord Jesus is foolish.

The wise Christian receives the gift of regeneration but takes it as obviously wise to store of more of Jesus in their soul, in their personality, in their daily living of the mind and emotion and will.

" I received the Lord Jesus. His Spirit is in my innermost being. But it is foolish for me to continue to live in the old soul. I want to show my love for the Lord Jesus by allowing Him to spread from my innermost being into my soul. That is I want to be sanctified in my soul. I want to be sanctified in my personality manifesting to all around that Christ is moving out into my soul in my practical living."

This represents the attitude of normal Christian wisdom.
The foolish attitude - the not very prudent attitude is to neglect the filling of the soul with Christ. To assume it is sufficient to attend the celebration of His second coming with only the initial gift of receiving Him within.

The exclusion of the foolish virgins for their lack of extra oil in their vessels (their souls) is a temporary exclusion. It is not eternal punishment. It is coming too the wedding celebration foolishly unprepared.

Notice that the foolish STILL had to go LATE and pay the price to obtain extra oil.
But when they did they discovered that they prepared themselves late.
They obtained what was needed. But they obtained it in a late manner, not on TIME and not prudently.

Five is a number meaning responsibility.
Five foolish virgins and five wise virgins does not mean half of the Christians are foolish and half are prudent. Rather it means the responsibility of whether the Christian would be foolish or prudent rests on the Christian.

The lamp of the Lord within the believer is his spirit.

"The spirit of man is the lamp of Jehovah, Searching all the innermost parts of the inner being." (Prov. 20:27)

The ten virgins all had the Spirit of Christ in their human spirit as a lamp.
The searching of the inner being is the illuminating of the conscience that one may know one's self and may know where one stands with God.

From the time you receive Christ then you really begin to know yourself under God's light. He searches all the inward parts of your inner being illuminating your condition with His light. His love and forgiveness is available to cleanse all that we see that is not right.

The blood of Jesus Christ God's Son cleanses us from all unrighteousness.
If we confess our sin He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins.

@sonship said
Rajk999 wrote -

Jesus said, in the Parable of the Ten Virgins [Matt 25] that the wise were READY and the foolish were NOT READY.

That's right.

"At that time" means at the time of Christ's coming. In verse 44 Jesus said -
"For this reason you also be ready, because at an hour when you do not expect it, the Son of Man comes.".

The d ...[text shortened]... e prudent had but the foolish did not have?

Would some of you propose an explanation?
Rajk999?

I think it is clear to everyone reading your posts, that you are just the usual blowhard mouth-worshipper whose aim is to convert others to believe and think like yourself. I bet many here hoped that your absence from the forums would have brought some positive change in the direction of promoting the true doctrine and gospel of Christ. Instead you are just another hopeless sycophant of Witness Lee, boasting and prattling your way to damnation.

You can profess you love for Christ a hundred times an hour, dance and sing all day long about your faith, shout the name of Jesus Christ until your liver string snaps, but its is all worthless if you fail to keep the commandments of Christ.

Jesus explained what he meant. Nobody needs your nonsensical explanation.

The wise man keeps His commandments, and is welcomed into the Kingdom of God. The fool does not, and is cast out.

The ten virgins got drowsy and fell asleep while the bridegroom prolonged his return.

"And while the bridegroom delayed, they a;; became drowsy and slept." (v.5)

This could mean that most of the saints of the church will die in the faith. They must await the resurrection to go forth and meet Christ in His second coming.

The delaying of the bridegroom's coming may be a reiteration and repetition of the delay spoken of in the previous parable.

"But if the evil slave says in his heart, My master DELAYS, and begins to beat his fellow slaves and eats and drinks with the drunken." (v.48)

Many Christians have counted the postponement of Christ's return as an opportunity to mistreat their fellow servants. This would be like the foolish virgins who died never having allowed the Holy Spirit to sanctify them in their soul.

Delay of His coming has been a TEST to many in the church. Believers wisdom or foolishness has been exposed by the delay of Christ's second coming.

Not only did the evil slave begin to mistreat the fellow slaves but he also was drawn into the world. He became drunken, befuddled, and indulgent with the worldly unbelievers.

" ... My master delays, And begins to beat his fellow slaves and eats and drinks with the drunken." (v.49)

How we who love Jesus must take care that the delay of Christ does not become our excuse to mistreat fellow believers. Much more disciples must take care that they do not act just like the befuddled and sinful unbelievers around them, appearing to be no different in behavior from unbelievers.

Rajk999 writes:

The wise man keeps His commandments, and is welcomed into the Kingdom of God. The fool does not, and is cast out.

This is exactly the case. In the parable preceding the servant who began to mistreat his fellow slaves and be drunken along with the unbelievers is disciplined harshly when his master comes upon him.

"The master of that slave will come on a day when he does not expect him and at a hour which he does not know. Abd will cut him asunder and appoint his portion with the hypocrites. In that place there will be weeping and teh gnashing of teeth." (vs.50-51)

What a warning!

In principle the foolish virgins at resurrection realize their folly. Their oil is limited and insufficient for the festivities of the celebration of the return of the bridegroom.

"But at midnight there was a cry, Behold, the bridegroom! Go forth to meet him!" (v.6)

In the end of the age it will be dark morally as wickedness and lawlessness abound. At such a time, at "midnight" Christ comes and the majority of that Christians in history are resurrected to go forth to meet Him.

Then the foolish (like the evil servant in the previous parable) will be struck by their shortage of oil. They will be struck with the reality of the lack of sanctification that should have taken place in their soul.

At this time brotherly sharing and fellowship is a bit too late. In the church age the Spirit was available horizontally between members of the church. But after resurrection it is too late to fellowship one's way into fullness of the Spirit in the soul.

"And the foolish said to the prudent, Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.

But the prudent answered, saying, Perhaps there will not be enough for us and for you; go rather to those who sell, and buy for yourselves." (v.9)

But the celebration of the resurrected ones invited to the wedding feast does not WAIT for them. It commences. It begins on time. It starts without those who were not prepared. And the opportunity to be in that stage of the Bridegroom's return is shut.

The foolish virgins too late realize the commandment to be transformed, conformed, filled in their personality and soul with the Holy Spirit was foolishly neglected during their lives.

@Rajk999

Some readers concerned about the accusations voiced by Rajk999 may
benefit from a series of Fireside Chats like Questions and Answers from
concerned university students and others to co-workers among the local churches.

Examples submitted below:


Fireside Chat # 4

YouTube&t=934s&ab_channel=UniStudents

Fireside Chat #20

YouTube&ab_channel=UniStudents

Fireside Chat # 13

YouTube&t=2833s&ab_channel=UniStudents

@Rajk999

I would go with the thrust of your proposition. Jesus talked about the end of the current worldly system, how you would know that this period was approaching by certain signs; from these one could gauge where they were in time (Matt 24:3) so the wise would be mindful of those times and sayings, the unwise mindless.

The book of Revelation is a vision given by Christ to John (Rev 1:1-2) deals with the end of times. I wonder if we are seeing this being played out before us, possibly dismissed by the unwise?

It’s pretty much an open secret, how Bill Gates wants to implement a digital system on the back of the current corona scare, which would not only be a travel passport but would contain personal financial information. Here in the UK we have been trialling cashless trading in areas (e.g. Manchester) which would seem needed to fulfil the objectives of the Gates “Quantum Tattoo”.

Compare with Rev 13:16-17
16 And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads:
17 And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.

It certainly has me thinking.

@medullah said
@Rajk999

I would go with the thrust of your proposition. Jesus talked about the end of the current worldly system, how you would know that this period was approaching by certain signs; from these one could gauge where they were in time (Matt 24:3) so the wise would be mindful of those times and sayings, the unwise mindless.

The book of Revelation is a vision given by C ...[text shortened]... had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.

It certainly has me thinking.

I think you are misunderstanding me. Or maybe tis the other way around.

Jesus defined
The wise - the ones that keep the commandments. They are wise because God takes care of them and regardless of their knowledge of end time events, or the lack of it, they will be fine, and will be given eternal life.
The foolish - the ones who do not keep the commandments. They are foolish because God is not with them and regardless of how much they know of end time events, and how much they study bible prophecy, they will not fare well, and will be cast out of the kingdom of God.

Knowledge of these times is not a prerequisite for pleasing God, neither is it required for eternal life. Of course these events are unfolding before us and it is easy to see bible prophesy happening in real time. Its nice to have some knowledge. But in the end help will only come for God and His divine guidance, which is reserved for the elect, the chosen ones who KEEP THE COMMANDMENTS and are destined for the Kingdom of God.

Now the Bill Gates story :
- what mark is there on peoples right hand or forehead?
- does that stop non-conformers from buying or selling?

There has been a lot of predictions in the last century about who this beast was and it was all nonsensical drama which had no foundation. From radio and television to the computer and cell phones. Al of these things were blamed at some point. The essential feature of this beast in Revelation is that he requires people to worship him otherwise they will suffer. Worship, that the critical quality which separates him from anything else. Implants, credit cards, is nothing. He requires people to worship him as if he is God. So far I have seen no such beast in the world.