“Then the kingdom of heaven shall be likened to ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. Now five of them were wise, and five were foolish. Those who were foolish took their lamps and took no oil with them, but the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps. But while the bridegroom was delayed, they all slumbered and slept. And at midnight a cry was heard: ‘Behold, the bridegroom is coming; go out to meet him!’ Then all those virgins arose and trimmed their lamps. And the foolish said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’ But the wise answered, saying, ‘No, lest there should not be enough for us and you; but go rather to those who sell, and buy for yourselves.’ And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the wedding; and the door was shut. Afterward the other virgins came also, saying, ‘Lord, Lord, open to us!’ But he answered and said, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, I do not know you.’ Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour in which the Son of Man is coming.” – Matt. 25:1-13

“Then the kingdom of heaven shall be likened”, Jesus told His Disciples this parable immediately after describing to them the ending days of this age. He described these days as the Days of Noah and the Days of Lot (Luke 21:17:26-28). Days in which people would be so taken up with normal living that they paid no attention to the evil all around them, as in the days of Noah. And days when morality had decayed to the point where homosexuality was blatantly practiced and taught and people accepted it as normal, as in the days of Lot.

The parable of the 10 Virgins paints a picture for us of the Church in the ending days, 5 wise and 5 foolish called ones, virgins. What is the distinguishing character of the two groups? Oil! Now many have taught that oil is a symbol of the Holy Spirit and so it is but, it is more. What is it the Holy Spirit does for us? He gives us the love of God –

“Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.” – Rom. 5:5

Jesus said “If you love Me, keep My commandments.” (Jn. 14:15). He said this as He promised to send the Helper, the Holy Spirit –

“And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever— the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you.” – Jn. 14:16,17

So, the oil is the Holy Spirit which is given to those who love Jesus and who keep His commandments. He is the Spirit of Truth and only those who love the truth can be full of Him. He is the One who spoke the word of God –

“And so we have the prophetic word confirmed, which you do well to heed as a light that shines in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts; knowing this first, that no prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation, for prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit.” – 2 Pet. 1:19-21

The Church today is filled with ‘unwise virgins’, called Christians but, not to be chosen. They have no love for the Word of God and their love of Jesus is only surface. They may go to Church on Sunday but, they are not the Church. They are not connected to the source of the oil in their lamps, the love of the commandments of Jesus, the Word of God. They are part of the world system and therefore cannot call abominable what God calls an abomination.

“The Texas LGBTQ caucus successfully blocked a House bill late Thursday introduced by Republicans to prevent religious discrimination by local governments. Democratic state representative Julie Johnson, one of the five members of the LGBTQ caucus, blocked the bill by twice raising “a point of order” in order to delay a vote until the House’s midnight-Thursday deadline to consider new legislation had passed, according to the National Review.”

One might ask, “What is Texas, a Bible-belt state, doing with a Lesbian-Homosexual Caucus in it’s Congress anyway?” But then, I would have to admit that this country has deteriorated into the abominable so much that there is probably no state that does not have such a caucus. I wonder how many Christians failed to cast their votes in the last election thus allowing LGBT and Muslims to be elected – ‘unwise virgins’.

As Jesus points out in this parable, it is not enough to have a lamp but you must also have oil in it. In other words it must be used! One must not only know the Word of God but one must also obey it and do it.

Are you a wise virgin – or a foolish virgin?