Blog Comments

So, Sunday after church my wife and I had to run some errands. We were both very hungry since we had not eaten since breakfast. There are very few options out there for people on SB diet. There are fewer options if you want it fast. Anyway, we stopped at Subway. No, they don't have SB food there but it was a better option with the amount of time we had than stopping at a sit down restaurant. Cheaper too. I had a 6" roasted chicken on wheat. I also had the apple slices along with the diet pop. Sometimes when you are out and about you just have to try to make the best choice available to you even if it is not part of "The Diet". One meal or I should say one part of a meal will not make that much difference in the long run.

Dear Quest, while I appreciate what you wrote concerning President Obama, realize this. The man is antichrist by his actions and on his way to Hell. We who are Christian have a responsibility to tell the Truth. Every Christian is a watchman before God. God says: "Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel; so hear the word I speak and give them warning from Me. When I say to a wicked man, 'You will surely die,' and you do not warn him or speak out to dissuade him from his evil ways in order to save his life, that wicked man will die for his sin, and I will hold you accountable for his blood. But if you do warn the wicked man and he does not turn form his wickedness or from his evil ways, he will die for his sin; but you will have saved yourself.
Again, when a righteous man turns from his righteousness and does evil, I put a stumbling block before him, he will die. Since you did not warn him, he will die for his sin. The righteous things he did will not be remembered, and I will hold you accountable for his blood. But if you do warn the righteous man not to sin and he does not sin, he will surely live because he took warning, and you will have saved yourself." (Ezekiel 3:17-21)
It is not complaining to call evil, evil. The wicked call good, evil and evil, good. That is what President Obama is doing. We pray for his soul's sake, that he will repent.

I was discussing this whole concept of a partial rapture with a friend a few years ago and his response to me was, "it doesn't seem to line up with the central message of GRACE in the New Testament". I understood his concern. The answer I believe is; The scriptures that clearly show a conditional rapture in no way diminish God's GRACE (unmerited favor) or "unconditional LOVE" for all people. Neither do they imply some type of legalistic, "whipping ourselves into shape", self works or self-righteousness. It is all about relationship, not religion. The picture of the Bride and the Bridegroom is one of intimate relationship. Shaking sleep and praying always also pre-supposes relationship. Holding on to His Word and His Name and not giving up implies a strong faith filled relationship. Being "ready", being "prepared"; these terms infer a relationship with Jesus in that you're preparing to meet Him face to face. And finally, having "extra oil", not just being filled with the Holy Spirit initially, but walking in the Spirit, living in the Spirit, praying in the Spirit, ministering in the Spirit, and worshipping in the Spirit; all speak of our relationship with Him and not self- works. Jesus is coming back for a bride that loves Him.
I believe the church is not always going to look the way it does today. Things can change drastically very quickly. September 11th, 2001 taught us that. A catastrophic earthquake, a nuclear attack, an economic meltdown can change the spiritual landscape of the world instantly and usher in true worldwide revival. ("at midnight a cry was heard") Today we see a visible church, but inside the womb of the visible church is an invisible church, growing, maturing, waiting to be brought forth. When it is birthed, the world will finally see the "manifestation of the Sons of God". They will see a church that has "come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ" (Eph. 4:13) And then this church, made up of individuals from every nation, ethnicity, denominational background, and every strata of society will enter into the door of the wedding with the Bridegroom, and the door will be shut.

The Parable of the Ten Virgins

In Matthew 25, Jesus taught his disciples the Parable of the Ten Virgins. This was in response to their question in the previous chapter. "Tell us, when will these things be? And what will be the sign of your coming, and of the end of the age" (Matt. 24:3)

1. Then the kingdom of heaven shall be likened to ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. 2. Now five of them were wise , and five were foolish. 3. Those who were foolish took their lamps and took no oil with them. 4. But the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps. 5. But while the bridegroom was delayed, they all slumbered and slept. 6. And at midnight a cry was heard: Behold the bridegroom is coming; go out to meet him! 7. Then all the virgins arose and trimmed their lamps. 8. And the foolish said to the wise, Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out. 9. 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. 10. 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. 11. Afterward the other virgins came also, saying, Lord, Lord, open to us! 12. But he answered and said, Assuredly, I say to you, I do not know you. 13. WATCH THEREFORE FOR YOU KNOW NEITHER THE DAY NOR THE HOUR IN WHICH THE SON OF MAN IS COMING.

Actually the interpretation of the parable is really quite simple.
The Bridegroom is Jesus. The door to the wedding is the rapture. The ten virgins are the entire church . The number 10 represents "the fullness of this world" in scripture. The ten virgins represent all the Christians alive at this period of time. We know they are all born-again Christians for the following reasons.
1. They are all virgins. Virginity speaks of purity, innocence, and being undefiled. When we are born-again we become legally righteous and pure. All of our sins, (our defilements) are cleansed and the righteousness of Jesus Christ is imputed to us.
2. All ten virgins went out to meet the Bridegroom. Non-christians, atheists, agnostics, people from various other religions, etc., are not interested in going out to meet Jesus. They aren't looking for a rapture.
3. They all had lamps. This speaks of the light of God shining through us (Christians) in a spiritually dark world. Jesus said, "Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven".
4. They all had oil. Oil is symbolic of the Holy Spirit. In Luke 4, Jesus read, "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me because He has ANOINTED ME...". In the Old Testament, kings, priests, and prophets were anointed with oil at the beginning of their ministry. Oil was actually poured on their heads and ran down their beards symbolizing the anointing of the Holy Spirit on them to perform their ministry. In 1 Jn. 2:27, John writes, "But the anointing you have received from him abides in you". It's the Holy Spirit within you that allows the light of God to shine out from you into the darkness. (the oil in the lamp)
5. Jesus was speaking exclusively to his disciples here. He ends the parable with a warning to HIS DISCIPLES (that's you and me). Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour in which the Son of Man is coming". This parable is applicable to us disciples. The warning is for US! He's telling us don't be like the foolish virgins and run out of oil. Be like the wise virgins and be prepared with extra oil! THIS IS THE PURPOSE OF THE WHOLE PARABLE!

OK, to continue on with the parable. They all slumbered and slept because the Bridegroom took soooo long. This speaks of spiritual sleepiness in the church. Then a cry goes forth at midnight (the darkest hour) "Behold the Bridegroom is coming, go out and meet Him!". They all get up and trim their lamps and the foolish virgins realize their lamps are running out of oil. The five wise virgins (being very wise) know that if they give some of their oil to the foolish virgins there won't be enough for any of them. So they tell them to go buy some more oil. While they are gone the five wise virgins ("those who were ready") go in with Jesus to the wedding and "the door was shut", and the five foolish virgins were left outside.
The five foolish virgins then came back and cried out to the Bridegroom, "Lord, Lord, open to us". And his response is, "Assuredly I say to you, I do not KNOW you". This word translated "KNOW" in the Greek is OIDA. This is what Vine's Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words says about OIDA. "OIDA, from the same root as EIDON, to see, is a perfect tense with a present meaning, signifying, primarily, to have seen or perceived..." So possibly what Jesus is saying here is "I did not SEE you". Perhaps because they ran out of oil and their lamps were going out . It fits with the parable. Or if the intended meaning actually was that He did not KNOW them (which is a secondary meaning for OIDA), He possibly meant "I do not know you intimately". In other words they were saved, they were born again, but they did not have an intimate relationship with Him in the Spirit (which is not uncommon).

I would like to emphasize one more time; Jesus was speaking here exclusively to his disciples. This parable is for disciples. The parable means SOMETHING. It's not just sort of a general story to the whole world to be prepared for the return of Jesus. The symbols used are very explicit and significant; The Bridegroom, the virgins, the lamps, the oil, the wedding, those that were ready, the door was shut, the sleepiness, and midnight.

The five wise virgins are described by Jesus as "those that were ready" A parallel passage in Revelation uses the wording "his wife has made herself ready". Rev. 19:6-8 "And I heard as it were the voice of a great multitude as the sound of many waters and as the sound of mighty thunderings, saying "Hallelujah! For the Lord God Omnipotent reigns! Let us rejoice and be glad and give him glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come and His wife has made herself ready. And to her it was granted to be arrayed in fine linen, clean and bright, for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints." The most important part of preparation (or getting ready) to be married is coming to a place where you love the other person with all your heart.

In the parable the virgins all slumbered and slept. There's a parallel passage to this in Lk. 21:36. The King James Version doesn't do a great job translating this verse. A more accurate translation would be; "SHAKE SLEEP (agrupneo) and pray always that you may gain sufficient strength to escape all these things that will come to pass, and to stand before the Son of Man." Notice this is a promise of the rapture. It's about escaping all these things that will come to pass and standing before the Son of Man. But very clearly here Jesus places conditions on "going". 1. Shake sleep. Meaning shake spiritual sleepiness. 2. Pray always. 3. Gain sufficient strength (spiritual strength). This is one of the very clearest pre-tribulation rapture scriptures in the whole Bible but it is often skimmed over by the pre-trib pastors and teachers. The reason is because it's clearly conditional; and a conditional rapture is not part of their theology. A conditional rapture presupposes a "partial rapture".

When the five wise virgins entered into the wedding, in verse 10, it says "the door was shut". This is a word key that ties this parable with the message to the Church of Philadelphia in Revelation chapter three. "He who opens and no one shuts, and shuts and no one opens; I know your works. See I have set before you an open door and no one can shut it for you have a little strength and have not denied my name." Rev. 3:7-8 The open door he is referring to is the rapture of the Bride of Christ. Two verses later Jesus promises the Church of Philadelphia, "Because you have kept my command to persevere I also will keep you from the hour of trial which shall come upon the whole world to test those who dwell on the earth" Rev. 3:10 Again, another EXTREMELY clear pre-tribulation proof text and again it is conditional. "BECAUSE you have kept my command to persevere" and also in the previous verses "you have a little strength and have not denied my name". The Philadelphian Church age is the Spirit-filled Bride Church that is synonymous with the five wise virgins. Philadelphia is promised the rapture and also a new name, "The New Jerusalem" which John saw in Rev. 21:2 "Then I John saw the holy city, the New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, PREPARED as a BRIDE adorned for her husband." The five foolish virgins become the Church of Laodicea to face martyrdom under the anti-christ world government. "It was granted to him to make war with the saints and to overcome them. And authority was given him over every tongue, tribe, and nation." (Rev. 13:7)