Kilovert Radio, friends, we greet you in the precious name of our beloved Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. We welcome you to the Bible study today and a continuous theme upon the coming again of our beloved Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. For the week of study, we would like to read the parable of the ten virgins from Matthew chapter twenty-five, verse one through verse thirteen. The Lord Jesus, saying, Then shall the kingdom of heaven be likened unto ten virgins, which took their lamps, and went forth to meet the bridegroom. And five of them were wise, five foolish. They that were foolish took their lamps, but took no oil with them. But the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps. While the bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered and slept. And at midnight There was a cry made. Behold the bridegroom cometh, go ye out to meet him. Then all those virgins arose and trimmed their lamps. And the foolish said unto the wise, Give us of your oil, for our lamps are gone out. But the wise answered saying, Not so, lest there be not enough for us and you, but go ye rather to them that sell and buy for yourselves. While they went to buy, the bridegroom came. and they that were ready went in with him into the marriage, and the door was shut. After it came also the other virgin, saying, Lord, Lord, open unto us. But he answered and said, Verily I say unto you, I know you not. Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour, wherein the Son of Man cometh. May God bless the reading and the hearing, of this blessed portion from the lips of our Savior in His precious word. This is the parable of the Ten Virgins. Now a parable is an allegorical representation, representing some great principle. And this parable of the Ten Virgins shows the whole Christian profession, both the true and the false, going out to meet the bridegroom who is coming again. This parable must be looked at as referring, first of all, to the beginning of the Christian age. At the commencement of the church, when separated from the world, they expected the coming of the Savior. Those who accepted Christ as Savior and Lord, in the beginning, they separated themselves from their old associations, and they went forth in spirit and life to meet the bridegroom. Yes, in the early days of Christianity, the believing Jews had to leave the camp of Judaism, and the believing Gentiles. They turned to God from their idols to serve the living and true God, and to wait for His Son from heaven. That was their blessed hope, and it was such a lively hope at the beginning of Christianity, and it ought to be the same today. Now, as we look at verse one, we have the Savior declaring, then shall the kingdom of heaven be likened unto ten virgins, which took their lamps and went forth to meet the bridegroom. First of all, consider with me the fact that the name and the title virgin conveys the thought of separation, separation to the Lord from the world around. The lamp suggests another Christian characteristic. that the Christian is called to give light, spiritual light, within this dark world, to be blameless and harmless, the sons of God without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and a perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world, holding forth the word of life, according to Philippians chapter two and verses fifteen and sixteen. Thus the first verse of this parable gives to us in a few words what was characteristic of Christianity, the Christians' calling, and which was so significant at the very beginning of the Christian age. We read that they went forth to meet the bridegroom, and the going forth to meet the bridegroom indicates their separation from the world, going forth with lamps trimmed to give light and to shine and go forth to meet the coming Lord. Who promised and declared, I will come again and receive you unto myself, that where I am, there ye may be also? Truthfully we can declare. That was the commencement of the church at the beginning of its history. Now as we come to verse two, we find it declared five of them were wise. Five were foolish. Now as we read these words, We have the division of the ten versions given to us. And the meaning should be very obvious. Five were wise, five were foolish, five were true believers, five were false believers. The five wise virgins represent Christians who definitely possessed eternal life, genuinely born again, true believers of whom the Lord could and did say they were wise. The other five foolish virgins, will you not recognize they represent many who are only professing Christians? My beloved, let me please state, tis one thing to be a possessor of Christ, and it can be another to be just a professor of Christ. May I raise the question? My beloved listener, are you a genuine believer? Are you a genuine born again by the Spirit of God, a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ that we can be indeed called one of the wise virgins? Or are you, unfortunately, I hope not, one of those who were the foolish, only professing in an outward form to take the name of a Christian, but not possessing Christ as your Savior. For this can be sadly true. Well, someone might say, did not the foolish virgins go forth to meet the bridegroom? Yes, indeed. In their profession, they acknowledge that they were doing that, but acknowledging it outwardly does not make one a genuine saved person. But now let us look at the next verse. For as we look at verse three, we find the Lord saying, They that were foolish took their lamps, and took no oil with them. They that were foolish, now note, they took their lamps, but they took no oil with them. Now note very carefully, they did possess lamps, but they had no oil. These five foolish virgins are representative of many professors of Christianity, of whom the Apostle Paul writes, and I quote his words, in II Timothy chapter three and verse five, having a form of godliness, meaning an outward profession of Christianity, but denying the power thereof. There is no question of doubt. These five foolish virgins had a lamp, and they also had a wick, which was needed in those days. for the lamps they possessed, but they did not have any oil, even though they may later have tried to light the wick, and it could start burning, but without oil it would only give a puff of smoke and presto go out. Ah, the missing oil was the important factor. Therefore, to interpret the meaning of this, We have to conclude, and may I say this solemnly, as well as regretfully, we must conclude that the great mass of professing Christians in our days in which we live, they do have lamps. They profess an outward profession. They would say, as many have said to me, I'm not a heathen, I'm a Christian. They have never accepted the Lord Jesus Christ as their personal Savior and their Lord. They have never been born again. Within their heart, at no time has the Lord Jesus Christ been received as their Savior. Now let me quote the words of John the Apostle from John chapter one, verse twelve. To as many as received him, to them gave you the power, the right, the privilege, the authority, to be called the sons or the children of God, even to them that believe on his name. John one in verse twelve. My beloved, may I say, the crux of the matter is this. Without Christ in the heart, therefore the oil, which is representative of the Holy Spirit and his power, is lacking. Alas, There are innumerable thousands of people today who are in this condition. Sure, they may say outwardly, I am a Christian, I'm not a heathen. Yet, though they may even be church members, sure they may say, I've been baptized. Perhaps they may say, I'm a church official. None alone that. Some may be even clergymen. And yet, without Christ, This is not improbable. I have within my files the true story of a clergyman who, suddenly, as he was preaching to his congregation on the subject of the new birth from John chapter three, was convicted in his own soul as he preached the message which he was giving in an orthodox manner true to the Scriptures. Yet he was convicted. He had never been born again. But thank God, wonder of wonders, though a clergyman, he was saved by his own preaching, which is very unusual. And the very next Sunday he proclaimed it to all of his congregation. Oh, may God awaken many a man, woman, boy, and girl amongst the unsaved listeners of our program. If you only have a lamp, but you have no oil, you should get saved. for you're only a foolish virgin, and not having the possession of the Spirit of God. Has not Paul written in Romans eight, nine? And if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his. My beloved, with all love and earnestness and sincerity of heart, I beg of you, don't trust to your church membership for salvation. Don't trust to anything but you possess within your heart the Lord Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior. And thus possessing the Spirit of God who is emblematically the oil in this parable. God grant, my beloved listener, don't be a foolish virgin. May God grant you'll be one of the wise. Father, we pray in the name of the Lord Jesus. And by the power of that south-same Blessed Holy Spirit, convict and convert some precious soul. In Jesus' name, Amen.