Keeping Oil in Your Lamp - Matthew 25 Episode 141

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Well hello there, welcome to this episode of The Burt (Not Ernie) Show. This week I’m going to share from a passage in the New Testament, from the book of Matthew, and it is one of the parables that Jesus taught. There’s a lot of hope in this parable, and we need that, wouldn’t you say? We need faith, we need hope, we need love, because these three will remain, as it says in 1 Corinthians chapter 13. If we apply what Jesus taught in Matthew 25:1-13, I think our faith and our hope will grow, and our love will also increase. Triple threat, coming at ya from the Word of God today. Let’s check it out.

You’re listening to The Burt (Not Ernie) Show podcast, part of the Spark Network, now playing via the Edifi app. This is episode number 141.

So, let me start off by mentioning that Matthew 24, which is one chapter prior to the text I’m referencing today, in that chapter Jesus was sharing about the future. He spoke on the last days, mentioned the book of Daniel, and His return, what we often refer to as His Second Coming. And at the close of chapter 24, the Lord explained pretty clearly what His servants, faithful servants as He put it, ought to be like. A faithful, sensible servant is one the master can give the responsibility of managing his other household servants and feeding them. If he returns and finds that the servants, his servants, not those who serve themselves but those who serve the master, if he finds they’ve done a good job, there will be a reward. But if they have not done what the master finds to be a good job (so, it doesn’t say to do what you or I as His servants consider to be a good job, but to do what He considers a good job…) he will return unannounced and unexpected, and he will cut the servant to pieces and assign him a place with the hypocrites. In that place, there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

See Matthew 24, verses 45-51 if you’d like to read it for yourself. It’s brutal in its honesty, but isn’t that what a good, loving God does? Tells the truth, in its brutal entirety, to those He loves so that they can know exactly what He expects and what the end results will be, for obedience or disobedience? Yeah, it can be hard to read text like this, but it’s a loving reminder of the absolute truth given to us by a loving God who does not want to catch us unawares.

That is the text that comes just prior to the Parable of the Ten Bridesmaids, or the Ten Virgins (depending on which translation you are reading from).

In the NLT, it says:

Then the Kingdom of Heaven will be like ten bridesmaids who took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom. Five of them were foolish, and five were wise. The five who were foolish didn’t take enough olive oil for their lamps, but the other five were wise enough to take along extra oil. When the bridegroom was delayed, they all became drowsy and fell asleep. At midnight they were roused by the shout, “Look, the bridegroom is coming! Come out and meet him!” All the bridesmaids got up and prepared their lamps. Then the five foolish ones asked the others, “Please give us some of your oil because our lamps are going out.” But the others replied, “We don’t have enough for all of us. Go to a shop and buy some for yourselves.” But while they were gone to buy oil, the bridegroom came. Then those who were ready went in with him to the marriage feast, and the door was locked. Later, when the other five bridesmaids returned, they stood outside, calling, “Lord! Lord! Open the door for us!” But he called back, “Believe me, I don’t know you!” So you, too, must keep watch! For you do not know the day or hour of My return.

Reading this directly on the heels of Jesus speaking about the master and the servants and the rewards and punishments that will come at that time opens our eyes to how seriously Jesus wanted the listeners to take this, and us as the readers of the Bible to take it.

We should take it seriously because it is serious.

And today is the day to step up and get real about the fact that Jesus said a lot, quite a lot, about His return. If He talked about it a lot, we should pay attention to it a lot.

Think of it this way: the entire book of Revelation, which is by the way the only book in the Bible that promises a blessing to the reader so that’s pretty substantial, but the entire book of Revelation is 22 chapters of loads of prophecy. It’s a book about Jesus, right? Don’t let the scary parts scare you - because Jesus said in regard to the last days, end times things, not to be afraid. Luke 21, He says that exact thing. When you see these things happening, don’t be fearful. So I really hope you and I can trust Him so much that we will do as He said, and choose not to give way to fear. And it is a choice. If Jesus said not to be afraid, we don’t HAVE to be fearful.

In the parable I just read, there is a depiction of a Jewish wedding. Israeli weddings paint a picture of Jesus and His return. They really do. (Share a few details here)

Isn’t it incredible that thousands of years before He returns the Lord set up this type of wedding and it accurately portrays what His return will be like?

The Bible is always, always pointing to one thing, to One Man, Jesus. It’s Jesus, Jesus, Jesus from start to finish. And the ten bridesmaids, who were they waiting for? The groom. Who is the groom? If we are the Bride of Christ, then Christ is the groom.

We are waiting for our Groom’s arrival, and like a Jewish wedding, it will come with trumpets sounding.

When the parable mentions the bridesmaids falling asleep, because the hour grew late, that’s convicting, isn’t it? These ten were not five who know the Lord and five who don’t. Nope. Not five who go to church a few times a year, the Christmas and Easter services. Nope. These would be the ones who were paying enough attention to know the groom was on His way. All of them, all ten.

So let’s consider that for a moment. How are you and I doing at recognizing the signs of the times and paying attention to the current season we are in? Are we aware enough to grab our lamps and expectantly wait for what is coming? Or do we even know where we are on the Kingdom calendar?

We have to start there. If we totally miss the season we are in, thinking things will go back to normal, not much is going on right now, sure there are some things happening but you know, mostly it’s all okay, still got a whole lot of time left…well, I want to say that in the spring of 2023, even a modicum of head in the sand thinking can be deceptive and dangerous. Based on this parable, like deadly dangerous.

In this era of history, it is important to keep our eyes on Israel. What’s going on over there? You know, in the age of the Gentile church, when those of us who are not Jewish, have the opportunity to come to salvation through the Messiah, Jesus, we have had a long stretch where we haven’t kept our eyes on Israel. But when I read the Bible, in later days, things shift back to Israel. We want to be watching so we notice even the tiniest of shifts, and then we won’t be taken by surprise when things ramp up. You have to look, because our news sources don’t always talk about Israel. Right now, a lot is happening in Israel. Really interesting stuff, and it all lines up with the Word of God.

Important to pay attention to what is happening in Israel, in Palestine, in Iran, in Syria, etc. What’s up with their government currently? Got some heavy duty protesting going on right now. Key members of government resigning. Some working to pass laws that would end up with prison time for those who share Christianity with the Jewish populace. Red heifers that are being moved to Shiloh and are about two years old now. Important stuff that has to do with what Jesus said would take place right up close to the time of His return.

Caveat: I know He said no man, or woman, knows the hour or the day of His return. And that is unarguably true.

I wonder, though, if there are people who maybe reference that one verse and leave out everything else that Jesus said about knowing the signs of the times as His return draws near. He had some strong words for those who could read the sky and know the next day’s weather but had no clue about the things that matter most. What matters more to the church that bears His name than us knowing what season we are in and paying attention so we will not be caught off guard or un-ready when the Groom arrives?

Okay, let’s frame this through the parable.

Ten bridesmaids, all started with oil in the lamp. What’s the oil? Oil is usually representative of the Holy Spirit. Like, always I guess…no need to say usually because it’s always.

Keep your lamp filled with enough oil that if the hour grows late, like the announcement had come and the groom was on his way and he was delayed and they fell asleep in the streets out there waiting for him, so all ten were dialed in, paying attention, acted on the announcement, and none went home back to their own bed when the hour grew late and he hadn’t shown up yet. Asleep in the street while they waited - Jesus didn’t say anything about falling asleep while they waited. He is telling us it will seem like it’s taking so long, even when all the signs are there to announce His soon arrival. Are we gonna hang if it takes a long, long time?

And how are we going to hang in there? Only if we keep oil in our lamps. In that moment, we will not have time to say, “Hang on, I need to get prayed up right quick and make sure I have not been quenching the Spirit by my lifestyle, by my neglect of time with Him in my very own everyday life, I need a sec, almost ready, gimme a moment.” Peter, James, Paul introduce themselves like this: “I, Paul…I, Peter… I, James… a slave to Jesus Christ”. If we do only what we want and just flake out on what the Lord wants us to be about, can we refer to ourselves as slaves to Christ? Jesus is not going to say, “Oh, no worries. Take your time. Go find some more oil. Let me just work around your schedule, how would that be?” That is not what will happen. Delay? No good. Keep your own personal lamp filled with oil. Anything else? That will not work, my friend.

We have to have oil ready for when the moment comes.

Now, don’t shoot the messenger. It’s in your Bible, too. I didn’t write it, I’m just sharing what Jesus point blank, plainly said. He told us what He wants us to know, so we need to just do what He said.

The last week or so I have heard these exact words said over and over and over again by people in a myriad of different places, via email, instagram, and TikTok. These words: Get Your House In Order

And one man, a pastor from Ireland, shared that in conjunction with this parable. Keep oil in your lamp. Most important thing, right there.

When I see or hear or read the same thing again and again, I pay attention. This isn’t random, because our God does not do random.

That's why we can, and should, trust Him completely. Random is not a thing in the Kingdom of Almighty God. That fact right there is enough to give us great hope.

Couple that with this amazing, beautiful warning to keep oil in your lamp for this exact moment and then you will be ready when He returns for His bride, and you will go into the wedding supper of the Lamb. You don’t want to miss that, not for the world.

And it’s clear, you can’t share your oil with anybody else. That’s not God’s way, so it wouldn’t be the right way. You’ve heard it said that God has no grandchildren, that’s true. It’s your relationship with Him, and none other, that keeps oil, the Holy Spirit, filled up in the lamp which is like your life. Be much with the Lord, stay filled up with the Spirit of the living God. Don’t neglect Him, take time to be with Him, carve out that time. Put some effort into it. Pay attention, like if your personal time with the Lord costs you nothing at all, what are you really paying into it? How you can you pay attention if it costs zero of you? Something to think about.

Jesus will return for His church, His bride, His people. We are not alone, orphaned, abandoned. We have hope that extends beyond the reach of death, hell, the grave, illness, lack or loss, stress, poverty, and so on. Should we not be the most hopeful, the most excited, the most looking up with anticipation kind of people in the world? Yes! If you have hope, you should be hopeful. And if you need some hope, I know where you can access it. Be much with the Lord. Therein lies all the hope, the joy, the peace, the love, the comfort, the wisdom, the grace, the favor that you need.

Be much with your Lord. Because I can promise you, He wants to be much with you.

Next week will be a special episode for Easter, for Resurrection Sunday. Join me for that. And thanks for listening today, Lord bless you exceedingly, abundantly and fill you with hope, and fill your lamp with oil.

Thankful for you - see you next time.