The Daniel Fast

The Rainbow Pen!

 

Preparing Your Soul for Christ

 

 

Then the Kingdom of Heaven will be like ten virgins, who took their lamps, and went out to meet the bridegroom. Five of them were foolish, and five were wise. Those who were foolish, when they took their lamps, took no oil with them, but the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps...... The foolish said to the wise, "Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out." But the wise answered, saying, "What if there isn't enough for us and you? You go rather to those who sell, and buy for yourselves." ..... and those who were ready went in with him to the marriage feast, and the door was shut..... Watch therefore, for you don't know the day nor the hour in which the Son of Man is coming.  Matthew 25:1-13).

Oil is at the center of understanding the meaning of this parable. It represents several significant things. First of all, it represents holy consecration. The oil was used to consecrate or sanctify people and things for a holy purpose. If you are not continually setting yourself apart for a sanctified purpose through living the precepts of Scripture, then your oil of consecration needs refilling. Second, the oil represents the Holy Spirit. Isaiah, Saul and David received the Holy Spirit upon being anointed with oil. The Holy Spirit is only given to those who obey Almighty God. Lastly, the oil represents the Name of God. Because of the fragrance of God's good ointments, God's name is ointment poured forth; therefore the virgins love God.

This parable teaches us that it is not enough to be consecrated. It is not enough to have the Holy Spirit. And, it is not enough to know God's Name. If you are to gain the Kingdom you must have extra oil stored back for your lamp so that you are prepared to light the way for the bridegroom. Where there is no oil, there is no light. Where there is no light there is insufficient truth to be prepared to meet the bridegroom. For nearly two thousand years the pure spiritual virgins of true worshipers have waited for the bridegroom Jesus Christ to return. Their once brightly burning lamps of the Word of God have gone out for lack of oil. Only the wise virgins have the extra oil of sacred consecration, the Holy Spirit, and Christ's Name. The foolish virgins have no oil; they have lost their consecration, the Holy Spirit, and Christ’s Name. The wise virgins were ready. They entered into the wedding banquet with the bridegroom and the door was shut.

The difference between the wise and the foolish virgins and why they could not share the oil is not selfishness or unkindness. The kind of oil that is needed to illuminate the way and light up the darkness is not shareable. How can one share obedience to the principle of tithing; a mind at peace from righteous living; an accumulation of knowledge? How can one share faith or testimony? How can one share attitudes or chastity. Each individual must obtain that kind of oil for themself. In our lives the oil of preparedness is accumulated drop by drop in righteous living. Fasting, family prayer, control of bodily appetites, preaching the gospel, studying the Scriptures - each act of dedication and obedience is a drop added to our store. Deeds of kindness, payment of offerings and tithes, chaste thoughts and actions, marriage for eternity - these too contribute importantly to the oil with which you can at midnight refuel your exhausted lamp.

It said that the oil in your lamp is your testimonies, and that is why you cannot “share” your oil with others. It is the intense pressure that extracts the oil and gives you the purest oil. It is the pressure  of the struggles and challenges that you go through that extract the best in you - that makes you pure and creates your oil?  If that is the case, it is your challenges and pressures that create your oil and  make you pure enough to see Christ.  This is the reason you cannot “share” your oil.  Your trials are your own.  It is through overcoming them and becoming pure that you have ‘oil’ and you cannot share that.  Each person must go through this individually. The trials and challenges you go through are truly blessings.  It is the Lord’s way of purging the impurities from your soul and creating a pureness so that you will be able to stand in His presence and live with Him again.  When I see someone going through a trial, in my mind I think they must be special because the Lord is giving them a gift and helping them create oil for their lamps.

Therefore keep watch, because you do not know the day or the hour that Christ will return. It is evident to all True Worshipers that we are living in the time of the end. The signs are all around us. Midnight is very near. Soon the cry will ring out to come meet the bridegroom. Are you spiritually pure and undefiled? Do you have the extra oil to fill your lamp and let your lamp shine before the bridegroom? Are you consecrated? Do you have God’s Holy Spirit? Are you sealed with Christ’s Name? If you answered yes to these questions then you are a wise virgin who is ready to meet Christ when He returns. Watch and be ready. Christ will only recognize the wise virgins when He returns to establish God’s Kingdom on this Earth.