Incomparable Matthew 25: Give Me Oil In My Lamp

Father in heaven as we look back over the things you've been doing this church Lord we we realize that you have so many more things in store for this church in the future and I just pray that as we go through what is arguably one of the the more more possibly one of the most important chapters of Scripture Matthew chapter 25 I just pray the lessons that you have embedded in these stories in these parables that they would be clear to us today may your spirit be here in our myths working upon my heart and my mind as I communicate gifting me with the ability to share this message Lord and may your Holy Spirit be here also working upon each person's hearts and ears that are listening so that each person can clearly understand this message understand how to apply it to their life mhm person be drawn more closely to you as a result as my prayer in Jesus name Amen last week Pastor David was sharing on Matthew chapter 24 and Matthew chapter 24 that the grand theme of this chapter is the second coming and as we're going through there was a and I thought really looking at it this week there was an observation that I made which is I want to sort of draw out and show to you which is really going to create a bit of a foundation for our study today and this is here we go this is the observation that I want to present you and that is Matthew 24 presents a tension between two things and this tension is between knowing and not knowing okay it's a tension between knowing and not knowing now what do I mean about this now to give you for those who weren't here maybe last week Matthew 24 is basically an extended answer to a question that is given to Jesus by His disciples and it's found in Matthew 24 verse 3 where the disciples they left the temple and they were pointing out to Jesus the the the grandeur and the majesty of the Jewish temple and Jesus looks at them and says and he tells them this prophecy that ever that whole building is going to be destroyed and not one stone will be left upon another and the disciples came to him privately and this is the question that they asked Jesus they said tell us when will these things be and what will be the sign of your coming and at the end of the age now they thought these two things were all wrapped up together where as we learned last week in fact these are two separate events and they thought they are asking one question when in reality they were asking two questions and so Jesus gives this this this elaborate answer which is you know in a masterful way he combines two answers into one answer and one of the challenges that were wrestling with last week is how do we decipher this structure of Matthew 24 because in order to properly understand that we need to know when is Jesus referring to the destruction of of Jerusalem in the temple when is Jesus referring to the the second coming and the end of end of the age as it says there and when is jesus referring to both of these things and one of those sections was in the first the first fourteen chapters we get a series of signs and we learned last week that these signs refer primarily firstly and primarily to the distrupt to the destruction of Jerusalem and then in a sort of type of logical sense in a secondary sense they are also going to be fulfilled in the lead-up to the grand climax of this world's history in that it's the second coming of Jesus and so those signs are things like false Christ's wars famines earthquakes persecutions increasing wickedness and finally the worldwide gospel Proclamation and now it's not my job to give a detailed sermon on Matthew 24 today but I wanted to just point it bring out just one of these signs an example of how these are being fulfilled around us today and that is the one of earthquakes I'm not sure if you've been following the news recently but what in the last few weeks I've noticed a huge amount of earthquakes happening in just completely different parts of the world just let me give you a few examples of this in the last four weeks November 14 in New Zealand there was an earthquake a 7.8 earthquake which caused all sorts of damage and cost billions of dollars they reckoned of damage over in New Zealand November 22 in Japan Earthquake at on the Richter scale of 6.9 El Salvador November 25 7 on the Richter scale December 1 in Peru 6.3 December 7 in Indonesia 6.5 this one has left tens of thousands of people homeless many people died in this earthquake December 8 now this is just in the last couple days there's one big one off the northern the coast of Northern California 6.5 also in December 8 there was one in China 6.2 on the Richter scale December 9 a huge one in the Solomon this is yesterday huge one of the Solomon Islands 7.8 on the Richter scale these are these are not little earthquakes these are these are just gigantic shattering earthquakes and this morning they had another one in the Solomon Islands at a 6.9 and so that's just taking one of these little signs out of the the sequence of signs that we be seeing Matthew 24 and it just shows how these things are being fulfilled all around us and the way that we understand these things in Matthew 24 verse 33 it says so also when you see all these things you know that it is he is near at the very gates and last week remember that these things refers primarily again to the the lead-up to the destruction of Jerusalem but also this is how we ought to understand these signs leading up to the second coming and when we see that all these these things happening around us the text is saying that we should be able to be aware and have a knowledge of the Souness and the imminence of jesus' second coming and so there is this tent I said this is tension between knowing but also not knowing so after sharing these signs we get us a series of verses which seem to when we just think oh we're gonna know exactly when Jesus is going to be coming we get a series of verses that seems to be saying almost the opposite in verse 37 Jesus says but concerning that day in hour no one knows not even the angels of heaven nor the son but the father only that's not knowing another one in verse 42 therefore stay awake for you do not know on what day the Lord is coming verse 43 but know there so if the master of the house had known what hour the thief would come he would have watched and not allowed his house to be broken into therefore you also be ready for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect here we see this this is element of not knowing when Jesus is going to be coming and these are really set in tension in Matthew chapter 24 there's a tension between knowing and not knowing when the answer to the wind or when Jesus is going to return and there's a number of sort of practical things that we can draw out of this and in regards to the knowing I'd like to suggest that knowing is to fill us with a sense of urgency when we see these things around us is it to make its it should make us realize the seriousness of the times that we're living it should urge us into a deeper walk with God it should earn us urge us into a renewed passion for the lost and into being involved in God's mission on this earth but not knowing should create in us a consistency the fact that we don't know and that Jesus is coming is going to be like a thief should create a nice a realization that we can't just be able to watch the science and know when to get ready but we need to have an attitude of readiness today tomorrow in a week next year and for our entire life we need to have a consistency of readiness and finally as David pointed out last week as well Jesus is to be our primary motivator the Souness of Jesus second coming is not to be the main reason why we are we are getting ourselves ready to meet Jesus but it needs to be our love for our Savior and our recognition of what he has done for us in in me in making available His grace and His salvation when we realized that that should be the thing that just more than anything lights a fire in our hearts to serve God and to be a part of his mission in this world and that brings us and I want that to create a bit of a foundation for chapter 25 in which we have a series of three stories and these three stories two parables and the final one is more of a description of what's going to happen then exactly a parable but these are really these question Matthew 24 really deals with the question of when and in what which is the second coming will be a lie will be like but master 25 looks at the practical question and the application of okay in the light of what's going to happen and a lot of these things happening around us how should we live today how do we prepare for these things that are coming our way and so the title of our message today is give me oil in my lamp I premiere Bibles meets you Matthew chapter 25 Matthew chapter 25 and we're gonna start in verse verse 1 it says then the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom now I want you to notice that Worthen okay this is a connecting verse this is connecting word that connects chapter 25 with chapter 24 so as we learn about this we need to realize that the the broader context is the soon return of Jesus Christ so then so so when Jesus comes back when when we're in regards to the return of Jesus it says the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom now to understand this this parable we need to understand a bit of the the way in which weddings were done back in the time of Jesus in today's weddings and this is surely what's going to happen in in you know in nine days time the bride is the focus of the wedding and everyone is waiting for the bride to show up and often it in that bride the bride is in the wedding's up in the past can be fairly late to those weddings I don't know if it's gonna happen when I get married or not but in Bible times the focus wasn't so much on the bride of the wedding but the bride groom and what the the groom would do was the groom would start at his his house and the bride and the wedding party would be at the the parents house of the of the bride and often this would happen after dark and that the groom would go on it on a journey over to the the bride's house and when he gets there he would meet his bride and then together with all of the the wedding party and all the people celebrating with them they would form this this group of people that with but with lamps and torches that would make the journey back to to the the groom's the husband's bees home and when they get there they would have a feast that is ready for them and the celebration would would would begin and so in this and Jesus looks at this these these weddings and he sees in this this in in this way in which the weddings a an awesome little picture of an opportunity to explain what is going to be like when Jesus comes back and it's a cool picture Jesus in heaven he goes down to this earth in order to get his bride and take it take them back take her take the church take his believers back with him to back to his place to spend eternity with them it's this beautiful little picture and so the parable of the ten virgins is really the parable of another name that I like to use for this is the parable of the ten Adventists okay and what is an Adventist the word Advent just simply means arrival it's the arrival of a person or a thing and so we we accord seventh-day adventists because we are people who are waiting and we are longing for the arrival of our Savior Jesus okay so we're Adventists and so here these these women they're are symbolically representing a group of people who were waiting for the arrival the advent of their Savior and so these people not just represent everyone in the world but these are representing those who in them at least in their minds they they have position in their life where they are looking forward to anticipating and waiting for their savior and waiting for the second coming these this is the parable of a 10 ad Venice and it's not just the 78 minutes for anyone who is awaiting the return of Jesus now let's keep reading on verse 2 it says five of them were foolish and five were wise for when the foolish took their lamps they took no oil with them but the wise took flasks of oil with their lamps now the word lamps there could either mean like a little lamp or could be like a torch and if it was the torch version it would be like a stick with a with these rags dipped in oil and they'll wrap it around the top of stick and then they'll light it and that would sort of lead the way either way it was a lamp or or a torch what is required here is is oil in order to keep that that light burning and there's a distinction between the wires Adventist or wise people who are looking forward to to the the bridegroom and the foolish ones the distinction that we see here is whether or not they have extra oil with them verse five it says as as the bridegroom was delayed they all became drowsy and slept but at midnight there was a cry here is a bridegroom come out to meet him here we see a new sort of contrast remember how we had this tension between knowing and not knowing what we're going to see here is a tension that is between delay and surprise okay so they're waiting for the bridegroom to come and they're they're eager and they're looking forward to it but the time goes on maybe the the hours went on and they groped their lamps go out they fall asleep and there is a delay but then at midnight there's a cry that's given and quick quick quick the bridegroom is here and there's this panic that takes place in in the story verse verse 7 then all those virgins arose and trimmed their lamps and the foolish said to the wise give us some of your oil for our lamps are going out but the wise answered saying since there will not be enough for us and for you go rather to the dealers and buy for yourselves and while they were going to buy it the bridegroom came and those who were ready went in with him to the marriage feast and the door was shut so here we see in this panic the one group joins the the procession another group is unready unprepared and they will go off to try and find this oil verse 11 afterward the other virgins came also saying Lord Lord open to us but he answered truly I say to you and here we have some of the possibly some of the saddest words that you'll hear in Scripture I do not know you watch therefore for you know neither the day nor the hour since we are like these these ten women we are a group of people who are awaiting the return of Jesus it means that this parable is of supreme importance for us to understand it means that it is exceedingly important for us to know what is this oil what is this representing how can we be a part of the the wise group of people and not be a part of the foolish group of people and so that's really the the goal of my message today is to unpack these things and I want to unpack the following three questions number one what is the oil number two how do we get the oil and number three what will be the result of the oil so let's start with the first one what is the oil let's unpack a little bit of the symbolism here now we've already looked at the ten women represent those who are awaiting Christ's return but there's a couple other important symbols that we need to understand and the second symbol that we need to understand is what is the lamp represent in here now we have to be a little bit in court a little bit cautious when we interpret parables because historically there commentators through throughout history who have tried to ascribe a a symbolic meaning to every single little detail in the parables okay when there's no textual basis to do so so what we need to do is actually look at the the symbols and ask ourselves a question when we try to understand these is there actually a biblical textual basis for for the things that we are ascribing to these are these symbols and I believe there is for the lamp in in psalm 119 verse of 105 we have this little Psalm written by David in in a in a chapter there's a largest chapter of the Bible which is all about the beauty of God's Word and in this he says these words your word speaking about the scriptures and the work the Word of God is a lamp for my feet and a light to my path so here we see biblical precedent for giving the the symbol of a lamp the meaning of the word of God now even just that probably isn't quite enough to really lock in is this what it means and is probable we have to look back at the parable and say is the con is does it actually fit the context within the parable itself and let's think about it if these 10 women are representing people who are waiting her in darkness are awaiting the return of their Savior Jesus what role does that lamp play in the parable well the the lamb is that which gives them light in their dark in the dark world is the thing that guides them on their path towards their salvation and is that a fitting symbol for the Bible the Bible is that is is that which shines light into our darkness it reveals to us what's really going on and more than anything it it lights our paths on the path to salvation and so the lamp in this parable represents of the Word of God now this is interesting and that is that the five foolish virgins all had the Word of God what warning does that tell us isn't the word of God enough let's cast our minds back to a story of Jesus in John chapter 5 verse stirring away he is deal he's interacting with the Pharisees there now the Pharisees in the time of Jesus they were the ones that knew the Bible the best ok they'd memorize huge portions of it they had discussed and debated all sorts of questions in relation to the Bible and yet when Jesus shows up they reject his ministry has a very interesting interesting thing that Jesus says to the Pharisees he says you search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life and it is they that bear witness about me yet you refuse to come to me that you may have life so here we see a group of people that has the Word of God and yet it is inadequate because there is a stubbornness there is refusal on their behalf to really to actually welcome in Jesus's ministry and come to him and obtain the eternal life and the things that the Bible is supposed to give them and so the Word of God is not enough we need oil as well so what is what is the oil represent well there's a couple of ways we can sort of look at this and look at looking at the wider imagery of oil in in Scripture and the first one we need to understand the oil was used to anoint people ok whether it was often for Kings Kings would be anointed with oil and was and it was a symbolic way of of sort of initiating them into their into their kingdom sick people were anointed with oil and we were instructed to when people are sick to gather their elders around and to anoint them with oil and when Jesus turned up on the scene he was to be the Messiah and the word Messiah means The Anointed One and in the minds of everyone this was their coming king this is the person who would be anointed as their king in their Savior from the problems of the world and their mind was the problem of the Romans and so but what was Jesus actually anointed with in Acts chapter 10 verse 38 it says how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power and he went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil for God was with him so here we see that this this thing that pointed forward to Jesus coming looking of David who was a type of G of the Messiah who was anointed with oil was pointing forward to how Jesus would be anointed but not with oil but with the Holy Spirit oil represents the Holy Spirit now there's another story in a prophecy in Zechariah 4 verse 2 where we see this connection between oil and the Holy Spirit now this is when we read through this it's a little bit hard to sort of picture in your mind exactly how all this works but I want you to try and imagine in your minds this vision that Zechariah is receiving and it says and he said to me what do you see I said I see and behold a lampstand all of gold with a bowl on the top of it and seven lamps on it with seven lips on each of the lamps that are on the top of them and there are two olive trees by it one on the right of the bowl and the other on the left okay so here we see this essentially a contraption which is designed to bring oil from the olive trees down into the lamp so that it can it can burn so this is this is a vision of of how the oil makes it to the lamp and then it goes on to say the interpretation of this this vision says the angel who talked with me answered and said to me do you not know what these are I said no my lord then he said to me this is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel not by might not but nor by power but by my spirit says the Lord of Hosts and so what we see here in Zechariah is vision it was of a contraption that delivers oil from the tree to the lamp and it's message was this success comes by the spirits so the oil in this parable is symbolic of the holy spirit and what that reveals to us is that when it comes to preparing for come back to that one second when it come preparing for the return of Jesus the key thing that we need to have the key thing that will make us prepared is the Holy Spirit up here I have a picture of my friend Ben and does he look pretty prepared for a journey here okay he's got all of his stuff now I want you to just imagine that you're going on a journey okay you you get you spend months and months repairing this you have your tickets booked you have your travel insurance insurance you have your suitcase of all your clothes in it you have maybe a little first first aid kit and something case something goes wrong you have all these these preparations that you've made and you just you just feel so prepared and you go down to the airport you look at your watch and you think I've still got I've still got half an hour's time I've got enough time for this journey and you go down to the check-in section and you go there and you hand them your yeah your ticket and I say oh very good now can I arms can I see your passport and you go oh no I don't have my passport if you have everything else in your possession but you don't have your passport are you prepared to go on that journey are you gonna go on that journey that one thing in that moment becomes the essential thing that you need in order to go on that journey and this is really what we see taking place in this in this parable of the ten virgins we see they have everything they've got their Bibles they're waiting for Jesus but when the time comes they're missing the essential thing and that is the Holy Spirit the Holy Spirit is the most important thing that prepares us for Christ's return as a writer I think is an overstatement I believe it's in the text it's the Holy Spirit that prepares us for the return of Jesus Ephesians chapter 1 verse 13 to 14 says this in hearing you also when you heard the word of truth the gospel of your salvation and believed in him were sealed with what the promised Holy Spirit who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it to the praise of his of his glory now I've just in the last week last couple of weeks we've worked out our where we going to live when we've moved down to the Central Coast and when you when you put in a house application they say they ring you up so we're very good you application has been accepted and we want we want to offer you this contract or to lease this house and they say in order to secure this lease you need to pay a deposit and that deposit is going to guarantee that you're going to actually come through in and leased his house and this is very much what the Holy Spirit is in these verses here God gives us the Holy Spirit and says as the guarantee of our inheritance if you possess the gift of the Holy Spirit you possess the gift of eternal life so what so we looked at what is the oil that's question number one the oil represents the Holy Spirit so how do we get the oil there's no point knowing that we need it but how do we actually get and want to suggest three important things in order to make sure that we are receiving the Holy Spirit into our lives and the first one is this have a relationship with Jesus okay let's go back to the verse that we just read and in this verse is a little sort of clue as to what happens preceding the reception and being sealed with the Holy Spirit says this in him you also when you heard the word of truth the gospel of your salvation okay so that's when you after you've heard the good news about Jesus that he came to this earth that he lived upon pulling this planet and he was died and and he was buried and rose again when he heard the gospel of our salvation and believed in him he was sealed with the promised Holy Spirit it's after we enter into a trusting relationship with our Savior Jesus that we receive the Holy Spirit now go back to your to chapter 25 Matthew chapter 25 and we're going to go to that the end of the parable in verse 11 and let's see if we see elements of this in the parable as well Matthew 25 verse 11 says this after what the other virgins came also saying Lord Lord open to us but he answered truly this is this is symbolic of Jesus and people wanting to to be to be saved and Jesus says imagine Jesus saying there's truly truly I say to you I do not know you so here we see that the the the foolish virgins are not just a void of the Holy Spirit but the devoid of a relationship with God that a void of that relationship with the Spirit and the two go hand hand-in-hand the reception of the Holy Spirit is wrapped up with our relationship with Jesus point number one point number two ask for it is this not just does this not just seem like the simplest thing ever ask for it in Luke chapter 11 verse 9 it says these words I tell you ask and it will be given to you seek and you will find find knock and it will be open to you for everyone who asks receives and the one who seeks finds and to the one who knocks it will be opened here we see a promise by Jesus that in order to if we want to receive the blessings of God the promises of God we have to actually ask for them now why is that a requirement at all if God wants to give it to us why do we have to ask for it well this whole thing that the whole story of the Bible is is is sort of involves in this thing that is central to the whole story of the Bible in the whole story of the great controversy and that is free will when we think of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden God had this beautiful planet for them and that would experience it unless they didn't want to and they chose that they didn't want to and I'll says the human race is chosen we don't want to experience all the blessings of God and so God doesn't just force them back upon us but he says if you want the blessings and the promises that I offer you you need to ask for them the verse goes on to say what father among you if his son asks for a fish will instead of a fish give him a serpent now that's pretty imagined dads who are here someone comes and says can I please have a fish to eat here have a servant okay or if you're asked for an egg we'll give him a scorpion if you then he'll I evil know how to give good gifts to your fart to your children how much more will the Heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him what do we know about God the Father and the Holy Spirit from this verse it's this God wants to give you the Holy Spirit it's unmistakable just as a father wants to give good gifts with children God is in heaven just longing to give us the Holy Spirit but what's the condition it's those who asked for it so if you want to get the oil we need to have a relationship with Jesus and we need to intentionally ask for the Holy Spirit into our lives point number three repentance Acts chapter two verse 37 to 38 says this now this is describing the response of a crowd of people that was listening to a sermon by Peter in the in the sort of days after Jesus rose from the dead and and Peter gave this big sermon he's talking about what Jesus did for them and and he's pointing out how the person they crucified upon the cross was actually their Savior and the people who are listening are just absolutely convicted deep into their hearts and they and they cry out to Peter and they say now when they heard this I'll cut to the heart and said to Peter and the rest of the Apostles brothers what shall we do how do we receive this gift and how do we receive what you've been preaching to us about and Peter said to them repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ and you will receive two gifts for the forgiveness of your sins and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit repent and you receive forgiveness and the Holy Spirit well what is repentance one of my favorite definitions was written in a book called steps across by one of the pioneers of the Adventist Church Ellen White and she wrote repentance includes sorrow for sin and a turning away from it repentance includes sorrow for sin being truly mourning your sinful condition realizing that you don't have it all together but not just wanting to stay in that situation but like the prodigal son who was in the mud actually turn around and walk back to God and say God I need you to change me God I need I'm sorry for the things I've done and I need you to come in and to transform my life repent and be baptized and baptism is just the outward expression of an inward repentance and your receive forgiveness of your sins and the Holy Spirit wasn't forgiveness enough don't we just need forgiveness I want you to imagine that there is a terrible criminal that's loose on the Gold Coast and this criminal is like it is a serial killer and he's just going around and just doing all sorts of terrible crimes unthinkable things in our community time after time after time after get it after again and the police they do this huge big search for him and eventually after so many atrocious things have happened the police capture capture on this criminal and they take him to court and and everyone's just eager for revenge and everyone's so glad that the streets are finally safe again and he goes up in the trial and he and the and the the sentences passed this person is guilty and they're gonna be sentenced to a life of imprisonment at that moment imagine someone walks up to the front of the of the courtroom and says I know that this person has been given a guilty sentence but I would like to take their place I want to experience a life in prison and let this person go now if that happens has the punishment or the punishment have been paid yes well forgiveness have been given yes is that person now safe to go back out into the community you wouldn't want that person back in the community because that person unless there is that transformation that takes place in the heart is not yet safe to be back in the community where everyone else is and the same is true with our salvation Jesus has been given the task and Jesus has been gifted to this world with the task of securing forgiveness of our sins and that deals with the sins of the past but the holy spirit who has also been gifted to this world has been given the role of transforming our lives for the future and qualifying us for being citizens of the heavenly courts above and of the new earth and so here we see repentance is the is the third sort of condition that we need to go through in order to secure the Holy Spirit in our life now why don't why not just asking why do we need repentance as well well I'd like to suggest that to ask for the spirit without the accompanying work of repentance is like taking your car to a mechanic to the mechanic and not giving them the key do you get that and making you take your car down to the mechanic and say I want you to fix my car and say okay but you're kind of my key and you go home okay you want the the the presence of the mechanic in in in working on your car but you don't give them any access to actually do that work well that's kind of like the relationship between asking and repentance when it comes to receiving the Holy Spirit we asked for the Holy Spirit but we have to give the Holy Spirit access to our heart we have to come and and open ourselves up we need to confess our sins and say we don't just want you in a life but we want you to do the work of transformation in our life we want you to change us from being a person who's who's who's got sin as their natural tendency we want you to change our heart give us that heart of flesh that wants to do the things to go out that wants to follow God's God's ways that's how we get the oil have a relationship with Jesus ask for it and have an experience of repentance there's two other lessons in this point before we go into what's the result of the Holy Spirit that I just can't preach on this without making these points and the first one is this the Holy Spirit needs to be sought when there is no crisis okay what's the event that we see up here on the screen 9/11 where the two planes flew into the World Trade Center the two buildings of the World Trade Center and this terrible crisis that took place now I've got I was doing a bit of research on this and I found this article called New York's post 9/11 church boom okay now this is describing what happened at a at a one of the large churches in New York run by Tim Keller and it says this what happened said the following Sunday September 16 so immediately after this this event took place it says churches overflowed with distraught visitors at Redeemer the ordinary attendance of two thousand eight hundred balloons to four thousand five thousand four hundred this is like Apostolic Church growth this is almost three thousand people added to their church after this crisis took place but what are we seeing the text of scripture about when we need to prepare by receiving the Holy Spirit what we see is that the Holy Spirit needs to be sought when there is no crisis let's read again verse six to eight it says in chapter 25 but at midnight there was a cry here is the bridegroom come out to meet him crisis has has happened then all those virgins arose and trimmed their lamps and the foolish ones said to the wise give us some of your oil for our lamps going out panic they're trying to prepare they're trying to get spiritually ready they're trying to find the Holy Spirit but when the crisis hits it's too late and the lesson for us is that we need to wake up and the Holy Spirit says there needs to be sought when there is no crisis lesson number two is that the Holy Spirit cannot be shed it's easy to think as Christians that that the fact that we go to a spiritually on-fire church that we are ready for the coming of Jesus maybe where we're married to someone who has a deep walk with God maybe we are a part of a family that serves God and and does every end is just an example Christian Christian family and we're surrounded by people who have the Holy Spirit burning brightly in their lives is that enough verse 8 in chapter 25 says this but the wise answered saying since there will not be enough for us and for you go rather to the dealers and buy for yourselves the reason they didn't share wasn't because they didn't want to share but our preparation is a personal preparation that needs to take place and there's a really interesting verse back in Ezekiel chapter 14 where we where God is describing to Ezekiel some of the the judgments that are going to come upon this city in and he says son of man if a country sins against me by being unfaithful and I stretch out my hand against it says even if these men Noah was he an example of righteousness Daniel you don't find anything that Daniel did wrong in Scripture he was so on that went into the lion's den he was a own fire person for God and Jobe now he had struggles but he was described as a righteous man even if these three men Noah Daniel and joy were in it they could save only themselves by the righteousness declares the sovereign Lord the Holy Spirit cannot be shared it has to be a personal experience we have to be personally prepared for the soon return of Jesus final point how I'm sorry that's how we have the oil final point is what will be the result result of the oil and I want you to go over to verse 31 of Matthew 25 and here we see a description of the final judgment and I want you to look at what is the thing that determines the result of the final judgment and it says this when the Son of Man comes in his glory and all the angels with him then he will sit on his glorious throne verse 32 but before him will be gathered all the nations and he will separate people from one another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats and he will place the sheep on his right but the goats on his left then the king will say to those on his right come you who are blessed by my father inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world for I was hungry and you gave me food I was thirsty and you gave me drink I was a stranger and you welcomed me I was naked and you clothed me I was sick and you visited me I was in prison and he came to me then the righteous will answer him saying Lord when did we see you hungry and feed you or thirsty and give you drink and when did you see you a stranger and welcome you or naked and clothe you and when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you and the king will answer them truly I say to you as you did it to one of the least of these my brother's you did it for me the deciding factor in the final judgment is the way that we treat the least in our society the hungry the stranger the naked the sick the imprisoned but doesn't this seem to go against everything else we read in Scripture what about verses like this for it is by grace you have been saved through faith and it is not from yourselves it is the gift of God not by works so that no one can boast is our salvation dependent on our works well why then is the judgment being determined by our good works I want you to imagine you're in that scene where the the wedding parties is has come along and it's end that has got the the bride and they're going back through the darkness back to the the house of the husband husband's house how do you know who has oil imagine it darkness how can you see who has the oil in their in their jars we do not see the light shining and they're in their lamps and this is what we see here the people who have the Holy Spirit in their life it will be evident by the light that is shining out from them early on in Matthew chapter 5 it said this let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your father in heaven now in the book cross object lessons which is talking about the parable of the ten virgins Ellen White has these words to say she says Christ has not bid his followers strive to shine he says let your light shine if you have received the grace of God or we could interpret if you've received the oil of the Holy Spirit and the forgiveness that Jesus offers the light is in you you cannot help shining within the range of your influence how beautiful is that having oil in your lamp results in light and having the spirit in your life results in love give me oil in my lamp three points we've looked at is what is the oil the oil is the Holy Spirit how do we get the oil do you remember the three things pursuing a relationship with Jesus asking for it and going through an experience of repentance and what will be the result of of that oil what we will be lights in this world in such a way that that when the Angels go to gather up the people that they don't have to look for who has the Holy Spirit in their life but they'll see the things that they're doing these acts of love that are shining out from them remember the beginning we talked about how Matthew 24 presents a tension between knowing and not knowing it also pretend and Matthew 25 presents a tension between delay and surprise and all this this reveals to us is that we must always be ready are we ready today if Jesus was to come right at this moment would you be suddenly panicking like the foolish the foolish virgins would you be panicking panicking I need to quickly get myself prepared or will you be ready if Jesus came right now how do we apply this to our lives this week and these three points are very practical things that we can do in our life this week and they're based off the three things that are important for gaining the Holy Spirit in our lives number one is this intentionally spend time with God each day in prayer and Bible study remember at the end of the parable there knock on the door he said truly I say to you I do not know you none of us have has to have that experience because all of us has a not have an opportunity to get to know Jesus today through spending that time on a daily basis reading our Bibles and in prayer and if you're not doing that currently I encourage you to intentionally make some plans how are we going to fit this into our daily schedule do I need to wake up an hour earlier do I need to say off an hour later do I need to get an accountability partner who's going to be helped me through that process how can I intentionally in work on my building a relationship with my Savior Jesus point number two intentionally pray for the Holy Spirit in your personal prayer pray that God that until it's all God and say God I want to let you know that the Holy Spirit is welcome in my life I invite the Holy Spirit into my life to do that work of transformation in me pray that individually pray that with your families pray that with your friends pray that as we need to pray that as a church intentionally pray for the Holy Spirit to be an active participant in everything that we do and finally prayerfully confess and turn away from sin the experience of repentance is not a comfortable one that's not one that we often enjoy but it's an essential one it's a sin what we're giving the Holy Spirit the keys to our heart and we're saying this is the problem my heart has obscene problem I'm inviting you to enter into my life and do your work of transformation upon my heart and that's my challenge for you this week let's pray father in heaven we're just so overwhelmed that you have given us all of heaven you gave us your son in order to secure our forgiveness and to die upon the cross you gave us you've given us the Holy Spirit to - not just to leave us at forgiveness law but to bring about an actual transformation in our life and today corporately Lord we are praying and as I'm talking I know that there are many other people here praying in their minds we are praying for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit into our lives we welcome we throw the door open and we say come into our lives take the key we recognize that we have a whole lot of mess Lord we are sinful we do not do the things that we should do and we do the things that we shouldn't do and we can't help it our natural tendencies are towards sin Lord and we just throw up open the doors and then we give you the key of our heart and we say send your Holy Spirit into our life to work a work of transformation in our lives Lord we we ask that you would that you would shine your light out of us the scripture says let your light shine Lord it's not about us to strive and to manufacture this light but we pray that your Holy Spirit would be so powerfully at work in our life that we just simply need to let the automatic and surrender to the process that you were you were leading that you were doing board by making us lights in this world people who who have love flowing out of us love for you and love for the least of these in a in our community and love for everyone Lord and I just pray that you'll help us to apply these things help us to actually spend time with you in the word and be with us and low because we since we pray we're praying this prayer collectively Lord we can say with eagerness that we anticipate and we look forward to your soon returned because we want to see your face and we want to go with you back up into heaven Lord and we want to see the paradise that we have prepared for us we want to be in the crowds of people who are worshiping before you through the ceaseless ages Lord we want to experience an eternal relationship with you we want to experience everything Lord that you have planned and purpose for our life and so be eagerly await for your soon return and we pray all these things in the precious name of Jesus who died on the cross for us who has clothed us with his righteousness we pray these things in his name amen hey greetings from beautiful and sunny kingscliff Australia I want to take just a moment of your time first of all to thank you for tuning in watching the program I trust it was a blessing to you and your soul drawing you closer to God and His will for your life I also want to let you know that we are planning a significant expansion of our existing medium ministry here at the kingscliff Church to find out more about this expansion and how you can get involved go to bring it kingscliff com you can go either to the home page or to the our gifts page to find out how you can come alongside us and support not just with your viewership but also financially and with your prayers hey thanks again so much for watching and take care [Music]

Channel: Kingscliff Church

Views: 3,570

Rating: 4.8666668 out of 5

Keywords: Kingscliff SDA Church

Id: W9yQBSv_cDE

Length: 52min 41sec (3161 seconds)

Published: Sun Dec 11 2016