SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 2/28/2024 10:37 AM
My Worship Time Focus:
PT-3 “The Bridegroom”
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Matthew 25:6-12
Message of the verses: “6 “But at midnight
there was a shout, ‘Behold, the bridegroom! Come out to meet him.’ 7 “Then
all those virgins rose and trimmed their lamps. 8 “The foolish said to the
prudent, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’ 9 “But the
prudent answered, ‘No, there will not be enough for us and you too; go
instead to the dealers and buy some for yourselves.’ 10 "And while they were going away to make
the purchase, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to
the wedding feast; and the door was shut. 11 “Later the other virgins also
came, saying, ‘Lord, lord, open up for us.’ 12 “But he answered, ‘Truly I say
to you, I do not know you.’”
I finished the last SD by looking at Luke 6:47-49, a
story that most people who go to church learned when they were small, the story
of building your house on the firm foundation of a rock as opposed to the soft
sand. People who build their lives on
any other foundation that the Lord Jesus Christ are doomed to destruction,
MacArthur writes “They do not have the necessary grace, imputed righteousness,
resident holiness of God, or transformed character to counter the
destructiveness of sin, whose ultimate consequence is death. In short, they have no spiritual life and
therefore no eternal hope. They may feel
happy about Jesus, admire His teachings, and enjoy the fellowship of His people. They may look as prepared for His coming as
do true believers, having torches like the rest, but they have no oil with
which to light them.”
Let
us talk about verse ten: 10 "And while they were going away to make the
purchase, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the
wedding feast; and the
door was shut.” The tragedy for
sure was there was no more opportunity to make the purchase, and the search for
the oil merchant was in vain, because the shops do not stay open that late so
their search will be in vain. In his
commentary John MacArthur gives another of Jesus’ many illustrations as he
quotes from Luke 13:25-28:
25 “Once the head of the house gets up and
shuts the door, and you begin to stand outside and knock on the door, saying, ‘Lord,
open up to us!’ then He will answer and say to you, ‘I do not know where you
are from.’ 26 "Then you will begin
to say, ‘We ate and drank in Your presence, and You taught in our streets’; 27 and He will say, ‘I tell you, I do not know
where you are from; DEPART FROM ME, ALL YOU EVILDOERS.’ 28 "In that place there will be weeping and gnashing
of teeth when you see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the
kingdom of God, but yourselves being thrown out.
Something
similar will be said to the foolish virgins after returning from trying to buy
oil and they came saying, “Lord, Lord, open up for us” the bridegroom answered from
the house, “Truly I say to you, I do not know you.” These were what could be called shame
attendants who had never belonged to the wedding party but had managed to dress
and act like true bridesmaids. It was
over for the now as they were found out and turned away.
Their
experience will be sheer terror like all unbelievers who think that they are
true believers, but are not. They will
be like the people outside the ark that Noah built and God shut the door, as it
will be too late and all over for them.
MacArthur
concludes “Although the parable of the ten virgins illustrates the time of
Christ’s second coming, its truths apply to an unbeliever’s facing God at death
in any age. At that moment the
opportunity for salvation will be past and all hope gone forever.”
As
you think about this last paragraph think about how many in this world today
will face that experience of dying without Christ as their Savior and Lord and
what they will be going through right now.
You don’t have to go through it!!
Realize that you were born a sinner and that on your own you can do
nothing to please the Lord, but Jesus paid it all so the dept you owe is
already paid and all you have to do is claim that most precious gift of
salvation by telling the Lord that you are a sinner, born in sin and thank Him
for dying for you on the cross 2000 years ago, and invite Him into your life to
not only save you, but to then led you through the gift of the Holy Spirit that
He will give you. By doing this you will
never have to go through what these five virgins went through in this
parable. Please think about this and
then accept the gift of God, the Lord Jesus Christ who did it all for you
because you could not do anything on your own to be saved.
2/28/2024 11:10 AM
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