SERMONS - BIBLE TEACHING - SCRIPTURE COMMENTARY - REVELATION
Ten Virgins
August 6, 2023
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, and five were foolish. They that were foolish took their lamps, and 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. And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came; and they that were ready went in with him to the marriage: and the door was shut. Afterward came also the other virgins, saying, Lord, Lord, open to 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.
O, brothers and sisters, who are these ten virgins? These are members of the church (churchgoers). Both the wise and the foolish!
Brothers and sisters, hear me, because this is for you. I might not always be able to tell which one of you is wise and which one of you is foolish (the Lord knows), but I pray, by the grace of God, may he be merciful and anoint your ears to receive the truth.
First, some say that the "kingdom of heaven" phrase pertains to an earthly kingdom and that it is for Jews, mainly. O, be careful, my virgins, because you heard it or read it from another (spirit or person), and not from the Holy Spirit; he did not teach you that. Are you using this as an excuse to ignore doctrinally what the Lord Jesus teaches in the Gospel of Matthew?
Second, notice the numbers. Five and five. The Lord said that five were wise and five were foolish. How is that? Fifty - fifty? At the flip of a coin? (I talk as a man.) Fifty - fifty chance (again using words as a man) that any of you (churchgoers) are of the foolish, which he, the Lord, does not know? He knows which (from the foundation of the world), but do you (know you are his)? Tremble, my virgins (because these numbers are serious).
Why is it that five were foolish? They were deceived. They knew the Lord (they thought), but the Lord did not know them. O, how terrifying! You might say, Lord, Lord, but he might say, I know you not. O, know him, abide in him, so he will know you. Hear his voice. Hear his voice and follow him. Be not of the foolish.
The foolish virgin is one who may have heard the word of God unto salvation, and came to the entrance of it, and looked at it, and liked it for herself. She heard good things coming out from behind that gate, and looked at the door, and did see herself, only herself, in the mirror, and thought, "This is good for me!" And (she) was never called by the Holy Spirit unto salvation, and as such (she) never received that oil - the Holy Ghost - that gives light unto the lamp to enter into that gate where Christ the Lord is, to abide in him.
And it may be that another virgin heard the word from a certain pastor, on how to be saved; or a priest, on how to obey; or a relative, how to come to that certain house of worship. That virgin just followed those, as she perceived that to be good for her. By the "letter" of these followings, and not by and in the Spirit, she came to the door of the Lord and was told by others how good it is to come to the gate (and it is). But (she) never entered by the call of the Spirit of Christ, and did not get to know the Lord Jesus, and did not call upon his name by the Holy Ghost. Between her and the Lord was another (person or spirit of error), standing in her path, even preventing her (the foolish virgin) to enter in and receive the Savior Christ Jesus. As He (and only he), the Spirit of Christ, is that oil, which burns the holy light in you to follow him, and not another (or self decided path).
But these foolish virgins follow after their own selves (what is there for them) or after others.
In their mind, that was their witness (proof) of their salvation. Do not be deceived; examine yourselves (2 Corinthians 13:5). You need another witness (not another person or just yourself being witness to yourself); you need the true witness (the only witness which matters), the Holy Spirit in you:
The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God:
But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.
The wise virgins had the oil in their vessels (the Spirit of God dwelling in them), and were ready to meet the bridegroom (Christ Jesus, the Lord). But the foolish, not having the oil, asked of the wise to give them theirs. And the wise indicated by their answer that the oil (the Holy Spirit) is not to be given by them, but they (foolish virgins) need to "buy" it (obtain it from another source). A virgin does not (directly) save a virgin (by giving them of their own "oil"). God, by the Lord Jesus Christ, saves. A virgin does not get saved by following a virgin, who is saved. A virgin is saved by following Jesus Christ.
The word "buy" is not used in the sense that you can buy salvation for money, God forbid! It is free (Isaiah 55:1). So then, the word "buy" in this parable is used to emphasize your "commitment" (ready heart and mind) to obtain it - that oil - the Holy Spirit in you, your salvation. Jesus Christ made an atonement for it (paid for our sins with his precious blood). And as such, he is the only one from whom you can now receive it (your salvation). Not from another, not by your own, but by the Holy Ghost (Titus 3:5). You are washed and free from sin, in Christ Jesus (Romans 8:2). He is that door to your salvation (John 10:9). He is that Light, and the Holy Spirit is that oil, which you will be given, when you believe that he, Christ Jesus, is the Son of God, and receive him as your Lord and Savior. O, my virgins, hear his voice and enter in. Enter in and abide in him, to be known by him as the shepherd knows his sheep.
I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture.
I am the good shepherd, and know my sheep, and am known of mine.
And so, the foolish virgins, not having the oil, went to "buy," and the bridegroom came, and they that were ready went with him, as it says in verse 10 of Matthew 25. And the door was shut. THE DOOR WAS SHUT! O, virgins, hear that sound of a shutting door! It is a beautiful "sound" for the wise (for behind the door is everlasting peace), but how terrifying for the foolish!
Those who were ready went in. That is to say that they were being caught up alive to meet the Lord.
For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.
The door was opened in heaven, and they who were ready - who had the Spirit of Christ, that light by that oil - went in, and the door was shut. So, when the other virgins came saying, Lord, Lord, open to us, they were not opened to. They thought that they knew him; they called him the Lord (Lord, Lord). They were convinced by themselves or by others that they are his - the Lord's. And as such, do you sense the entitlement in their calling? OPEN TO US! I hear an expectation in that; they thought that for sure they are his. They deceived themselves or were deceived by others. They may even have that day, when they thought they became his, and being persuaded in themselves or by others, they were satisfied with their standing towards God. Please understand, their witness of salvation was just themselves or others, missing that only witness that matters: the Spirit of God in them (Romans 8:16). O virgins, again, do not be deceived: examine yourselves:
Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates?
Lord, cleanse our hearts and renew our minds as to purge us of that which prevents us from truly knowing you and from you receiving us to yourself. O, Lord, do not let us be deceived. Salvation is yours.
So, the parable ends with a warning to the virgins who were not ready. After them calling, Lord, Lord, open to us, he answered, I know you not. They did not go with him to the marriage. They were not ready to be known by him.
And he warns:
Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh.
He, the Lord Jesus Christ, is that Son of man, that Lord, who will appear to the virgins (his church - the body of Christ), and take them to himself. Those who "sleep" with those who are alive: his saints.
In closing, members of the church, I pray you, meditate on this:
The oil is what the five out of ten virgins did not have and as such they were not received by the Lord. The oil is the Spirit of the Lord, the Holy Ghost in you. They did not call Lord, Lord, by the Holy Ghost, but by other followings.
Christ be in you, the hope of glory.
-By Lubomir
Come and Dine
August 13, 2023
Jesus saith unto them, Come and dine. And none of the disciples durst ask him, Who art thou? knowing that it was the Lord.
Brothers and sisters, come and dine. What a blessed invitation! Come and dine with the Lord. You might say, "That was for them, the apostles." You may think that the Lord does not do that anymore, that he is on the right hand of the Father. And he is, but still, "Come and dine!"
Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.
The Lord Jesus is knocking; will you not let him in? Some teach that a saved person can reject that knocking of the Lord. What an off-color teaching that is. Isn't it like saying you can get hired for a job, but you don't have to show up for the work? Isn't it like saying you get to marry but can reject living with your spouse? Isn't it like saying you can have a child but neglect it after the birth? How inspiring - not. Be careful about trying to prove your salvation by what you can get away with, and still be saved. Those thoughts are not of God. God's will is that you move toward him continually. And that is not a work of the flesh, but the Spirit of God drawing you to him. Abide in him, as he is in you (1 John 2:27). If you say that you have Christ in your heart, open that heart to him and pour it out for him.
How can you dine with the Lord? Reading the word of God, that beautiful bread of life, with gladness, and thanksgiving, and an exceeding appetite is a blessed way to dine with the Lord. The Book is opened, and you have the letters in front of you: that milk and honey, and meat. And as the Holy Spirit is teaching you in understanding (1 John 2:27), have Jesus, the Lord, also next to you. Call him to help you to know him:
that I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death;
Call on him to come. Shall you have a true vision? Let him purpose it. Do you have to obtain it? Be content with anything of him, from a thought to a revelation or vision. He gives you in love what you ought to have - what pleases him. Receive it with thanksgiving:
saying, Amen: Blessing, and glory, and wisdom, and thanksgiving, and honour, and power, and might, be unto our God for ever and ever. Amen.
Christ be in you, the hope of glory.
-By Lubomir
Adam, Where Are You?
August 20, 2023
And the Lord God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou?
This is it, brothers and sisters. This is where it all started - that is, salvation of men by the LORD God: Adam, where are you? O that call of the LORD. We know that whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved (Romans 10:13). But did you know that the Lord God calls you first? It is so for every child of God. Scripture says in 1 Corinthians 12:3 that "… no man can say that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost." If your calling of the Lord Jesus is to salvation, it is so because that call was initiated in you by the Holy Spirit. Salvation is of the Lord (Jonah 2:9). We love him, because he first loved us (1 John 4:19). The loving Lord, he comes looking for you. The caring Shepherd, he calls his own sheep by name:
To him the porter openeth; and the sheep hear his voice: and he calleth his own sheep by name, and leadeth them out.
The loving God calling Adam: Where are you? The first words of God to Adam after the transgression, not out of wrath, but out of care. He may also be calling you. Where are you? Hiding from God? Ashamed? Find God, or rather let God find you. Hear his voice, and he will lead you out of your selfishness into his love.
And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.
It was God personally "looking" for Adam. He did not send an angel; he came in person. And it was not that he really did not know where Adam and Eve were. He is an all-knowing God. But by meekly asking Adam where he was, he is forming in Adam a sense of a good conscience toward God, even after the sin. Shame and guilt, and the fear of God that Adam and Eve had, are why they hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God. But by his voice, there was a certain comfort given, and Adam answered God, and a confession was made. Was it unto salvation? It was not unto eternal condemnation. Adam and Eve were driven out of the Garden of Eden, but after Enos, son of Seth, son of Adam, men began (a worship of God) to call upon the name of the LORD (Genesis 4:26).
And you? Where are you? No matter where you are, I mean spiritually - and he knows where that is - call upon the name of Jesus Christ, the Lord! And he will come:
Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.
Christ be in you, the hope of glory.
-By Lubomir
They Profess That They Know God
August 27, 2023
They profess that they know God; but in works they deny him, being abominable, and disobedient, and unto every good work reprobate.
Brothers and sisters, do you hear the word of God? Do you hear the apostle Paul?
There are some verses in the Bible that could be expanded upon in terms of their meaning beyond the context of the section which they are from. I believe this is one such verse. Surely, in the context of that paragraph, the apostle Paul is talking about Jews (Titus 1:10-14), but there is a wider and deeper teaching here, my brothers and sisters.
That is how we are going to approach this verse today. What is the larger teaching of this verse? We can see three parts of it:
First: Paul says, They profess they know God.
Second: … but in works they deny him.
Third: … being disobedient ...
1. They profess they know God
Who are they? We mentioned that in the context of Paul's writing in verses 10 to 14, they were Jews (Cretians). But hear a larger warning there: They profess (they think) they know God. But God does not know them. Brothers and sisters, examine yourselves. You do not only need to think that you know God, the Lord Jesus Christ. He also, and more so, needs to know you.
My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me:
How does he know you? By your following him:
Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.
And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me.
In these days, some people who profess to know Christ "follow" happily after that day of their profession, meaning the day when they think they got saved, rather than following Jesus daily.
Paul wrote:
that I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death; if by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead. Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect: but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus.
"That I may know him" and "I follow after", Paul writes. And you who do not know him, ask the Lord Jesus: Lord, help me to follow you so I may know you and you may know me. And he shall. Call upon his name. The Lord Jesus loves to heal the blind, he loves to show you his light. But here is what our Lord says about those who claim to see:
And Jesus said, For judgment I am come into this world, that they which see not might see; and that they which see might be made blind. And some of the Pharisees which were with him heard these words, and said unto him, Are we blind also? Jesus said unto them, If ye were blind, ye should have no sin: but now ye say, We see; therefore your sin remaineth.
So now to those who might claim that they know God, but:
Do you believe you are demonstrating your knowledge of him by teaching from Revelation 3:20 that a saved man can reject the knocking of the Lord? (This is a wrong way of teaching the word of God.)
Do you believe you know his teachings when you preach that to live after the flesh (Romans 8:13) is not a condemnation to hell? (This is also a wrong way of teaching.)
Do you believe you express to know him by saying to the whole congregation that you hate self-examination? (This is terrifyingly wrong way of teaching the word of God.)
Do that which you hate in the flesh - examine yourself in the spirit, and the Spirit of our Lord Christ Jesus may lift you up by his grace into the light of his mercy.
2. But in works they deny him
When you say that a saved man can reject the knocking of the Lord, don't you, by this teaching, essentially deny him and his works? Your works of teaching are against his works of salvation and fellowship in him. Yes, we all also have the flesh, but do we go to church or to Sunday school to be taught about the flesh and tempt each other into justifying disobedience? And you, when you say in front of the whole assembly that you hate self-examination, are you not denying the works of the Holy Spirit to correction? Will the devil try to correct you?
Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates?
Here is the warning from the Lord:
And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?
Remember this: He is not your Savior if he is not your Lord!
3. Being disobedient
Scripture teaches that we are not under the law:
For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace.
But then it continues:
What then? shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but under grace? God forbid.
Are we becoming children of disobedience to prove to each other that God loves us, and this is an age of full grace? All we are proving is that we are the church of Laodiceans, the last church mentioned in the Revelation. Churches of the people, I say. Some say, of course, of the people! But I say, of people indeed, but yet not of God! Aren't they, some of them? "Rioting" in the daytime (2 Peter 2:13). Is it not rioting in the daytime for a man to come to worship God, he thinks, with three-inch earrings pierced in his ears? The preacher might have brought an otherwise good sermon, but the angel is covering his face. But come as you are, they say. She comes dressed up like she just came from the night club, and do we say, Ah, our sister came to worship, or do we say, This is rioting in the daytime? Another comes like a clown with a Santa Claus hat, and do we say, Oh, he is funny, or do we say, This is a form of rioting in the church? Am I legalistic? No, my friend, but you, if having a pleasure in these, are you not a partaker of things that are not of the Holy Spirit? As many as I love I rebuke and chasten (Revelation 3:19). Remember, a sin does not usually come in full power from the beginning. Sin first lies at the door (Genesis 4:7). Cain did not wake up and out of nowhere kill Abel. Sin was growing in him, until he got a full hold of him. Do not let sin to manifest himself (I say himself because it is he, the spirit of error), even in what seems like a little way to you. He may get a hold of you and your church, as to grow into full rioting, as in the churches, so called, where they fly pride flags and banners.
Now to those who would still say, What's the big deal - it's just a hat. There is a picture in Exodus 3 verse 5 of Moses taking off his shoes while standing on the holy ground. You are preaching works - we do not have to do them, they might also say. Yeah, works of your good conscience towards God and works of the Holy Spirit into the pleasing of God, I preach.
May the Spirit of Christ be present in you and in your church. Amen.
Christ be in you, the hope of glory.
-By Lubomir