Jesus was full of comparisons. In Matthew 22:1-14 He compares the Kingdom of Heaven to a wedding banquet (see 6/2/14 blog post) then in Matthew 25:1-13 likens it to ten virgins. Only Jesus could do such a thing and make it work.

So what do we know about these ten virgins? Well, for one, “they took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom.” But not all ten were equal. In fact five were wise and carried an extra flask of oil while the other five were foolish and did not. So when the bridegroom “was slow in coming” they all fell asleep and while they slept their lamps ran low of oil. Finally, when the shout announcing the arrival of the bridegroom is heard, they all quickly rise to tend their lamps. But the foolish virgins realize their oil won’t last and ask their wise counterparts to lend them some. Being sensible and intelligent, the wise virgins know if they share they wouldn’t have enough oil for themselves, so they promptly tell the foolish ladies to “go instead to the dealers and buy for yourselves.”

And so off the five fools go, and while they are away the bridegroom comes. And here’s the sad part, “those who were prepared went in with him to the marriage feast, and the door was shut.” When the other five returned they couldn’t get in and cried, “Lord, Lord, open the door to us!” To which he replied, “I do not know you.”

The parable ends with the admonition to watch carefully and diligently for we don’t know “the day nor the hour when the Son of Man will come.”

So what does all this mean for us? It means that not everyone in the “church” (the virgins) will partake of the marriage feast. Those who are carnal and not guided and empowered by the Holy Spirit (the oil) will miss out. Remember what Jesus said about Laodicea?  That lukewarm church that was neither hot nor cold? He said He would vomit it out of His mouth. Just because a person sits in a church pew every Sunday doesn’t mean he is a follower of Christ. Many will sadly realize that when the “door is shut.” But those who have accepted what Jesus, the bridegroom, did for them, His blood sacrifice, those who remain His disciples by following His word and living by it will enter into the feast.

I believe in the pre-tribulation rapture and I believer that this is just one of the many “types” and “shadows” speaking of it. It will be the true followers of Jesus that will enter into the marriage feast not those who merely fill a pew. But here is where God’s love and mercy comes in. Yes, I believe these carnal pew sitters will miss out in the rapture and have to go through the tribulation, but during the tribulation they can truly come to the Lord and by doing so will be with Him forever and throughout all eternity.

But my question is, “Why wait? Why go through the tribulation at all if we can be spared it by accepting Jesus NOW, by living for Him NOW, but being led by the Spirit and not our carnal nature NOW?

Truly, NOW is the time!

Until next week,

Sylvia

It’s hard to imagine, but yes, there’s a one-world religion in the works and has been for some time. The UN has promoted “religious pluralism” for years, hoping to bring all faiths under one banner. Working closely with them, the World Council of Churches also tries to “unify all religions” while at the same time constantly attacking “Western imperialism and capitalism” but failing to criticizing even brutal Communist leaders or dictators. Another layer was added by Bill Clinton and Tony Blair in their promotion of “Face to Faith” a study course aimed at 12 to 17 year olds, and is currently offered in 17 different countries. It’s purpose? To promote “religious pluralism and interfaith dialogue.” And now the latest—Chrislam, the effort by so-called Christian churches in 32 US states to hold “unity meetings” and place the writings of the Quran and the Bible on equal footing on the premise that both these writings honor Jesus Christ.

Nothing could be further from the truth!

For starters, the Prophet Jesus of the Quran has no resemblance to the Jesus of the Bible. According to numerous surahs or chapters in the Quran, as well as according to Muhammad Hisham Kabbani, Founder and Chairman of the Islamic Supreme Council of America, their Jesus will return with the Muslim Messiah, Mahdi, to establish a New World Order, and when this happens Prophet Jesus will confess that he never died on the cross, that it was all a fake. Then he’ll proceed to destroy all crosses and kill every man, woman and child who refuses to convert to Islam. To say that this Prophet Jesus is the same as the Jesus of the Bible is utter blasphemy.

The Church needs to wake up. Alexander Hamilton said, “He who stands for nothing will fall for anything.” But how can we stand if we don’t even know what our Bible says? And how can we tell a teaching is false if we’re not firmly grounded in Scripture? 2 Timothy 2:15 says “study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.” Lies and distortion swirl all around us. More than ever, Christians need to know the “word of truth.”

The church of Laodicea was lukewarm, thinking it was rich and had need of nothing, when in reality it was poor and naked. Laodicea depicts the end-time church, a church Jesus said He would vomit out of his mouth. I don’t want to be part of that church—comfortable and content and not willing to thoroughly learn the tenets of my faith, then stand for them—do you?

I pray that revival falls on us all, and that the fresh fire of the Holy Spirit ignites us, and stirs us from our complacency before we open our eyes and find the New World Order and One World Religion has invaded our own church. It’s already happened to some.

Until next week,

Sylvia