Wise and Foolish Virgins - Part 1

Praise God. Please turn with me here this morning to Matthew chapter 25. Matthew 25 in the word of God and I started on something on Wednesday night on our Zoom Bible study. I was doing a real Bible study then and it's overflowed into this morning and it's going to overflow again into Wednesday night as we go back to another Bible study. But I do want to read from Matthew 25 here but let me just read the scripture we dealt with on Wednesday night and my message on Wednesday night was the rapture of the church. The rapture of the church and I read from 1 Thessalonians chapter 4 concerning the coming of the Lord and listen this very carefully. It says in 1 Thessalonians chapter 4 and it says there the Lord himself talking about the coming of the Lord, the return of Jesus Christ. It says the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout with the voice of the archangel and with the trump of God and the dead in Christ shall rise first and notice this then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds. It's actually saying those who are resurrected when the Lord comes again he is going to descend from heaven literally to the clouds. That's what he's going to do and when that happens there is going to be a catching up of those Christians that are still alive with those who have been resurrected from all generations since that is often in our generation called the rapture of the church. The snatching away but you know what the word rapture is a Latin word and I don't like Latin and I don't like Romanism in the church. What the Greek language says is there is coming a time when the Lord comes again that he is going to descend from heaven. Heaven is a real place. He is going to descend from heaven to the air in the clouds of heaven and at that time we are going to be caught up. We are going to be snatched away and in fact the scriptures teach that in Matthew and Mark and Luke that where Christ is we are going to be gathered together with him. In other words he's going to snatch us away to be with himself all in one place literally in the air. We are going to gather unto the Lord. He is coming from heaven. We are going to leave the earth and meet together but only a certain type of person is going to be caught up. It won't be everybody who calls himself a Christian. It won't be all of those who say I believe in God. It won't be. Absolutely not. It's in this context that I want to bring you to this morning's message. Turning to Matthew chapter 25 verse 1 to verse 13. My message this morning is the wise and foolish virgins. Can I ask you this morning are you ready for the coming of the Lord? Because it's about to happen. Are you ready to be caught up? If the Lord comes are you going to be one of those that gather to him? Are you going to be found lost? Bankrupt? Naked? An outcast? It's going to be one or the other. Reading from Matthew 25 in verse 1. Then shall the kingdom of heaven be likened unto ten virgins which took their lamps and went forth to meet the bridegroom and five of them were wise and five were foolish. Then they that were foolish took their lamps and took no oil with them but the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps while the bridegroom tarried they all slumbered and slept and at midnight there was a cry made behold the bridegroom cometh go ye out to meet him. Then all the virgins arose and trimmed their lamps and the foolish said unto the wise give us of your oil for our lamps are gone out but the wise answered saying not so lest there be not enough for us and you but go ye rather to them that sell and buy for yourselves and while they went to buy the bridegroom came and they that were ready what a word went in with him to the marriage and the door was shut forevermore no second opportunity. Afterward came also the other virgin saying lord lord open to us and he answered and said verily I say unto you I know you not watch therefore for you know not neither the day nor the hour wherein the son of man cometh. Let's pray together father we do pray lord god in this world crisis in this hour lord god of unexpected things this hour when every prophecy in the bible nor god that precedes the coming of the lord is suddenly and quickly and very visibly coming to pass my god I pray that this church would make itself ready that every person in this room today nor god would prepare themselves would awaken from their sleep would turn their eyes upon the lord jesus christ my god we are asking of you that you bring an awakening to your church in this hour my god that there be a call in this hour behold the bridegroom cometh my god I do pray for that urgency nor god that would grip us this morning to awaken us out of any sleep or slumber in the mighty name of jesus be gracious saved by your mighty power this morning nor god let your holy spirit have a real dealing with every single life in the name of jesus christ amen amen my message wise and foolish virgins what are you this morning are you a wise virgin or a foolish virgin you may say oh i'm a virgin i'm a christian but i'm not asking do you claim to be a christian i'm not saying do you believe in god do you believe the bible do you believe these are the last days i'm not asking that i'm not saying oh i'm going to trust on the forgiveness of christ i'm not asking that i'm actually asking are you a wise or a foolish virgin and i'm going to explain this here this morning do you know in matthew 24 and matthew 25 is a part of remarkable teaching by christ himself about his coming again about his return for his church it is very clear teaching in matthew 25 and mark chapter 13 and luke 21 jesus gives very clear and accurate teaching about his second coming or his return again what does he say in 24 and verse 44 listen carefully he says therefore be ye also ready for in such an hour as ye think and underline that word think haven't we done a whole series on the mind on the battle for the mind and as a man think as so is he what the thoughts that dominate your mind are all those thoughts how you think all those things in your heart that's what you are that's what you are that's who you are and what does it see say here it says in an hour that you think not the son of man cometh you know what it's talking about it's talking about many in the church of our generation and they're thinking in their mind they actually have thoughts and they say i'm i'm fine i'm okay the lord isn't coming just yet and in fact i'll be all right life is going to continue i can keep acting the way i'm acting i've got lots of times i'll have other opportunities and yet jesus himself teaching this says therefore be ye also ready for in such an hour as ye think not the son of man cometh in other words there's going to be a lot of people in our world i mean vast multitudes who their thinking is i'm okay the lord isn't coming yet their actual thinking is going to be destroyed they believe in him and yet they're not ready for him you know what their thinking has had an effect they have such a manner of thinking that they don't make themselves ready do you realize the thoughts of your mind the attitudes of your heart can nullify being ready for the coming of the lord do you know what jesus says be ready but he says if you're not ready then you have a mind that says sure i'm okay sure i'm fine the lord will accept me as i am there's no urgency in this there's no crisis but you know what this word ready means and christ gives a command be ye also ready the word ready there the greek word means to adjust yourself in other words bring about changes to prepare yourself or to literally put yourself in a position of being at the hand of the lord in other words i'm ready lord here am i lord i'm in the right position at the right time and my eye is upon you jesus is saying be ye ready i want you to adjust yourself you see if you're not changing if you're not changing your life god isn't going to change for you well god i just want you to change and accept me as i am it will never ever happen never you know what he says he says i want you to change i want you to adjust yourself i actually want you to maneuver yourself into the right position for my coming again because i am going to come and you know what lots of people are going to say not now not at this hour not on this day i want to tell you they're going to be deceived and caught out they haven't made the changes here in matthew 25 we read about two groups of people two very different groups of people and yet they themselves think they all look the same they think they act the same they believe the same and that they're all ready for the coming of the lord they all believe it they all think it and yet half of them are utterly deceived i mean utterly deceived only half of them are ready look what it says in verse one then shall the kingdom of heaven and this is christ speaking be likened unto ten virgins do you know in the bible he likens the kingdom of god to many things a great many things one of the things is to ten virgins so he wants to describe to you the kingdom of heaven he doesn't say church he says the kingdom of heaven do you when christ tries to describe the kingdom of heaven in this hour in this generation before he comes back do you know he speaks about wheat and tares the kingdom of heaven is like wheat and tares growing in a field do you know what wheat and tares are like they look the same they grow the same they grow together in the same field and the poor angels are looking in saying master please let us go in and separate them out and he says no not yet no not yet the angels are saying that because they can see there's something wrong these are not the same and yet they grow together they look the same and you know what he says it's only at the end at harvest time that the angels go forth and separate the wheat from the tares now let's talk about those in the kingdom of god or what about the sheep and the goats you know in israel sheep and goats look exactly the same not in our western world but if you go to israel and i showed you a sheep and i showed you a goat you'd say well which is it they are they both goats are they both sheep i i don't know but you know what a shepherd can tell the difference you've got to inspect them you've got to look at them do you know what the kingdom of heaven is like it is like goats and sheep that are going to have to be divided by the great shepherd that's what he's literally talking about or the kingdom of god is like a man that builds his house upon a solid rock and another man builds his house upon sand and then the storm comes you see until the storm comes i don't know what you built your life on but let the storm come and we're going to see what you built your life on are you building on obedience to god's word or are you just doing your own thing you could all look the same oh we're all building oh i'm getting my house ready but what are you building on you know even in revelation we have the contrast of a harlot worldwide church and a spotless bride called the bride of christ they are in contrast both are women that present themselves as the worldwide church of god and yet they are radically different notice with me in matthew 24 jesus talking about the kingdom of heaven he likens it to 10 virgins in other words all those who claim to be christians he is liking them to be the kingdom of heaven look with me at how similar these two groups are very very similar two groups in the kingdom of god and yet they're not the same but let me show you how similar they are first of all it says they are all virgins the wise are called versions virgins and the foolish are called virgins even those who are foolish in the kingdom of god actually look like virgins what i mean by virgins it says in revelation chapter 14 and verse 4 about virgins it spiritually defines what a virgin in the church looks like and it says these are they which follow the lamb what is a virgin in the kingdom of heaven it is someone who claims or who looks like they follow the lamb of god they are a follower of the lord jesus christ notice here they're presented when you look upon them they are virgins they are morally pure they are outwardly pure they are separated and by themselves you know who they are do you know who these virgins are they are professing christians they are members of local churches they sit under preaching they watch messages on youtube all across our world and in fact they are in close association with god's chosen people to such a degree you cannot tell them apart they associate with them they meet with them they pray with them and yet they are not the same as them and yet they are all called virgins the foolish and the wise they are all outwardly visibly virgins they have come out from the world they are separated onto the lamb they have heard the call of the lamb of god they believe that jesus has died for sinners so they're all virgins also in verse 1 notice that they all had lamps the wise and the foolish even the foolish have lamps in their hand do you know what it says there in verse 1 they took their lamps that means they take them they hold them they seize them that is a strong word they literally grab a hold of the little lamp because it's dark outside you know what that word lamp means in the greek it's the greek word lampos meaning to beam or radiance that's what it means so when you have a lamp you are radiating something outwardly that can be seen in the darkness you are literally beaming because of something that you have in your hand do you know what those lamps were that they used in the first century it was like a hollow cup with a saucer or a bit like a flat milk jug and in the middle it had an open top where you poured the oil in and then it had a little spot where the oil would get burnt and the light or the flickering flame was right at the end and you kept pouring the oil in and trimming the the wick to keep the lamp burning what does the lamp represent foolish virgins have lamps do you hear what i'm telling you and wise virgins have lamps in their hand they have grabbed it they have seized it they hold it fast and they're in a world of darkness but they're holding forth this burning lamp do you know what the lamp represents that both the wise and the foolish have is our outward testimony they both do good works they both have good words both of them have a right message both of them can evangelize both of them can speak about christ both of them can pray both of them can be involved in ministry all of them can be involved in social activity so you have the wise and the foolish virgins and they are literally holding forth the lamp if you see them you'll say this is a virgin you're not looking at whether they're wise or foolish you're saying they're an actual virgin and they've got a lamp burning in the darkness of night notice as well it says they all went forth to meet the bridegroom both evil and good both wise and foolish they are all going out to meet the bridegroom they all believe in christ they all believe that he died on the cross they are all going through the right actions they believe he's a bridegroom and that the church should be a bride a bride making herself ready they all call on the name of the lord they all believe in true salvation they all believe that christ came to save them and deliver them from sin even the foolish virgins believe it and you know what they are going forth they say i'm getting ready for a marriage feast that's what the foolish virgins say they actually get up and begin to move and prepare for the coming of the lord they say i believe jesus is coming you see they all expected a sudden return of jesus christ all of them believed that jesus was coming again even the foolish virgins if you talk to foolish virgins do you believe it's the last days oh yes i do do you see the signs of the times yes i do do you believe this is a very evil day yes i do do you believe we must be getting near the end absolutely i am convinced of it and yet they're a foolish virgin you see i'm saying the wise and the foolish they're all going out preparing for the bridegroom they all expect that jesus is coming again and notice with me carefully it says that all slumbered and slept the wise as well as the foolish they all begin to slumber you know what jesus is talking about that time just before he comes back when it begins to get dark when the hour is very late when a lot of time has passed by and the wise and the foolish begin to slumber you know what slumber means just now and again your head droops oh you're still awake yes your mind is still alert yes you know what's going on in the room around about you but you just begin to slumber now and again your head hits the window or the back wall or it begins to hit your chest that's what slumbering is oh of course you're not asleep you know i i've seen people before they try to convince themselves i'm not asleep i'm just resting a little yes i know where you're going as well just a little sleep a little slumber a little folding of the hands i can assure you you are going to become a sleeping christian slumber is the stage before sleeping but notice here it wasn't just the foolish that slept it was the wise the prepared the ready those that were going to meet the lord and be in the right place at the right time they all began to slumber you know why because of the hour the darkness the generation of what is happening in our world politically and socially and economically and morally and educationally because of the change of climate it has an effect on the wise as well as the foolish nobody escapes this the danger of sleeping in this hour is extraordinary i want to tell you never have i seen an hour where the church real believers are in danger of sleeping like this we are closer than ever before all the signs are before us like never before everything is happening and changing fast and yet this is the hour that i see the church sleeping not like 10 years ago or 20 years ago or 30 years ago i see everyone falling asleep the wise and the foolish it absolutely astonishes me that never have the signs been so real never has the hour been so late never has the coming of the lord been so close and yet the church is ill prepared for it here this morning i showed you how similar they all are with their lamps they're sleeping they're all virgins but let me look closer at the foolish virgins here for a moment who are these foolish virgins they're in the kingdom of god and i believe they're not in the world they're not in the pubs they're not out on the high street this morning they're in churches right across our world who are the foolish virgins they're going to be sitting in churches or watching some sermon on internet today i promise you that's who the foolish virgins are look at this word in verse 2 and verse 3 foolish foolish what does it mean to be a foolish virgin the word foolish there means dull you're actually dull you're stupid you're heedless the greek word means like with a knife when it has a flat edge you have lost your edge you're blunt you're absolutely blunt you're heedless in other words you don't take heed you know everything you've heard the preaching you could tell everybody else about this but you yourself do not take heed to the simple commands of the word and yet you could tell everybody in this city exactly the word means to be thoughtless or to be mindless to not to use your brain or your intelligence not to have your mind engaged i'm telling you who the foolish virgins are who are not going to be ready for the coming of the lord they're in churches all over our world they are called born again christians and yet you know what they're heedless they're mindless they actually don't use their brain they don't engage their brain as far as the word of god do you know what the greek word is for foolish it's the word moros where we get our word moron from when i was young it was a crime to call anyone a moron in our house you'd be hit over the ear i i'm sure these guys have never been cuffed over the ear they weren't like me but you dare not call anybody a moron that that was as grievous as you could get that that is a terrible name but you know what the name moron means it means lacking a grip upon reality it means to be brainless or without any intelligence and yet jesus is saying here look at these foolish virgins they are senseless they are morons they have lost a grip of reality they're in the church they're singing the songs they're praying they're worshiping they believe it all and yet somewhere they have lost a sense of reality i mean they're living in another world their brain isn't engaged they're actually dull in their senses they're dull in their mind they're not getting it they hear the preaching and go amen yes i believe that oh yes i believe jesus is coming but something has broken down within them where it just doesn't click do you know jesus also said in matthew 5 and 22 he says whosoever shall say thou fool it's the same word shall be in danger of hell fire calling someone a fool is so bad that if you in this room call anybody out there a fool you yourself could be in danger of hell fire jesus said that you say how could that be i tell you when i was a kid i used to tremble over the thought of even calling someone a fool you know why the word fool means your past salvation you're beyond grace there's no hope of redemption you're an apostate you're utterly hopeless you're beyond the pale that's what the word fool means and you know what jesus says don't you dare call a man a fool don't call a moron don't don't say that he's so brainless that he cannot receive salvation that's how serious it is and yet what does christ do he says see these five of these ten five of the ten they're actually foolish they are brainless they have lost touch with reality they have gone to such a stage there's no hope for them and yet they sit in church believe in everything knowing everything understanding everything and yet they've gone so far sitting in a church environment that it's almost impossible for them let's look at these foolish virgins here in verse three it says they took lamps but no oil why are they so different from the wise what sets them apart look at it this thoughtlessness again the mind do you think your mind the attitudes of your heart affect who you are and what you do yes absolutely it says here in verse three that these foolish are brainless virgins they took lamps but no oil notice this carefully please i want you to have this written on your hearts here this morning they had their lamps in their hand they seized the lamp they carried the lamp they had a sense of urgency about the lamp they would not let go of the lamp but they had no oil for the lamp listen what does this represent they thought the lamp was sufficient the outward testimony the activity they thought ministry was enough but they had no real thought or understanding about the oil yet it was the oil that was the source of all fire and of light it should have been the oil that they were seeking but they weren't interested in the oil the oil was a secondary thing an unimportant thing they wanted the lamp and they held the lamp fast in their hand they thought of the present and of the outward life of the life of the church but not the future and inward life they weren't thinking about the coming of the lord they weren't preparing for the coming of the lord they weren't thinking of that day although they believed all this they weren't preparing themself otherwise they would have took oil with them how do i know someone who doesn't believe jesus is coming you do not take oil you don't care about the oil you're not trying to have oil in your vessel but look at them they had no they had so much right but the important thing was wrong oh they were right they were virgins they had a vessel they were going forth to meet the bridegroom they were expecting the coming of jesus they were there with real believers and yet you know what they had no oil with them they didn't take oil they didn't take oil saints can i ask you are you taking oil do you have oil this morning do you have oil or do you just have an outward lamp is your lamp empty do you have any source are you taking pains to make sure that you have oil here this morning do you know what this oil of the foolish virgins looks like i call it outward oil not inward oil the wise virgins have inward oil the foolish virgins have some oil but it's only called outward oil in other words it's used for the outward life not the inward life the oil they have is used for gifts and for serving in the church but it doesn't affect their character in their home or their personal private communion with the lord they don't have enough oil to make them go alone with god and pray but they have enough oil to make them rise up in the church it is oil for power the anointing of the holy spirit the baptism in the holy ghost the gifts of the spirit but they have no oil for genuine regeneration and sanctification of the life you say is there such people yes there always has been do you remember king saul in the old testament god anointed him to be king of israel god anointed him of the holy spirit and raised him up in the nation he was a very humble man and he stayed in that position for 40 long years only two years did he walk with god you see the outward oil makes you walk temporarily with god you come in you get excited you believe it all you want to be a part of it all and you can even get raised up of god god can give you a position or a gift or a ministry god can actually do that and then you spend 38 years amidst god's people you're a rebel you're a backbiter you're spiteful you're angry you're jealousy 38 long years i'm talking about foolish virgins king saul was a foolish virgin the oil could come upon him he's out trying to kill young david he wants to destroy him and yet david hasn't done anything wrong but you know what happens the spirit of god can come and saul and he begins to prophesy with the prophet he's trying to kill a young man he is angry he's got a spear in his hand and yet the holy spirit comes on him and he begins to prophesy the word of god what about balaam in the old testament a prophet of god with the ministry from god and all of his prophecies come to pass and yet he brought compromise in amongst god's people or what about judas in the new testament chosen by god you know who judas was he was a foolish virgin he walked with the master he saw the miracles he was sent out to preach on the high street can you imagine hey what are you doing out here jesus sent me to preach on the high street really yes in fact he commanded me to go heal the sick to cast out demons and do you know what i prophesy in jesus name really you must be a wise a wise virgin no if only you knew if you really knew you would find out they're a foolish virgin you see these with outward oil they use up their oil in outward performance for their own benefit but they don't use it for their inward spiritual benefit to prepare them for the coming of the lord they don't do that they have outward oil no inward oil notice what happens these foolish virgins they would have carried on the same but something happened to reveal what they are in verse five it says while the bridegroom tarried they all slumbered and slept do you see that while jesus christ tarried there is a prophecy here that everything we find in matthew 24 and the coming of the lord and our gathering onto him you know what's going to happen the lord's going to tarry jesus is going to delay his coming there is going to be a long time lapse you see jesus isn't going to come early as expected the bridegroom isn't going to come during the day when the gospel is burning across the nations unhindered and evangelism is moving forward like it did in the 16 17th and 18th centuries and further you know what there's going to be a delay until a midnight hour jesus has delayed his coming and it says in this parable that he delayed until midnight what happens at midnight it begins to get very cold it gets very dark it's a time where everybody begins to sleep that's what the midnight hour is and it says here in verse five while the bridegroom tarried they all slumbered and slept do you realize slumbering and sleeping for a genuine christian it's very serious we must not fall asleep and yet you know what it only affects our outward testimony in this world and we must not sleep if you have lost your testimony if you're not having an influence in this world if you're not holding forth your lamp then you are asleep this morning i want to tell you oh no i'll get to it someday you are asleep do you evangelize like you used to then you're asleep do you have a desire like you used to then you're asleep do you fast do you pray like you once did then you're asleep you're slumbering oh but i know i'm a genuine believer yes but you're asleep and you know what you've lost your outward testimony if there's things you used to do and you can't even make yourself to it you are in a serious condition of slumbering and sleeping but you think your condition is serious oh it's far worse for the foolish virgins you see you're slumbering and sleep means a loss of your testimony they when they slumber and sleep it means the loss of their eternal soul that's how serious it is this morning until there's going to be a delay of jesus until the beginning of sorrows darkness is going to engulf the world many in this hour do you know what they're saying this isn't going to happen to us christians not going to happen in america in ireland and britain and europe and they're saying we're not going to be here for this we actually see a climate in our world turning against us and persecution is arising everywhere from england all the way through to america there has been a change in the past several years i mean a radical change and now all of a sudden all these christians are going hold on god won't let me suffer god won't let me go through hard days of trial it's not god's will for me to face persecution oh really oh really do you realize the church has fallen asleep it is a midnight hour we are getting very close to midnight and the beginning of sorrows all the signs are there all around us in a very real way notice what it says in chapter 25 13 watch therefore for you know not neither the day nor the hour wherein the son of man cometh you don't know the hour or the day and you know what you better watch you better watch or you are not going to be ready for the coming of the lord do you realize that will be the greatest crisis in any person's life to have believed everything and not to be ready not to be watching do you know what it means to watch this word watch that jesus says he says keep awake be vigilant stir yourself you need to shake yourself out of your slumber and sleep you say i can't that's a lie that's an absolute lie you know what that's a condition of your mind of your attitude you've allowed thoughts to come in that now have become attitudes and now it affects your actions and you're paralyzed in your actions you know where that started it started with thoughts in your mind and now you're paralyzed i can't do it why not actually why not jesus says watch therefore he doesn't say just stay watching he says if you're falling asleep i want you to waken yourself up i want you to be vigilant you know very few people i've met have fallen asleep standing up very few people very few people as they walk to fall asleep i've done it i got so tired in the army we'd be out for weeks on end days and in the middle of night to drag you out about two and say we're gonna go attack the enemy and i can remember this vividly i was so tired we were walking and i would sleep as i walked i i mean i'd close my eyes and just wake up and the guy's still in front of me a few feet and i could gauge this i i managed to do that believe it or not i can remember digging the hole where the sergeant said before you go to sleep you're gonna dig a five foot four deep trench it's all stone it's all stone everyone else got nice soft ground me and my mate man we had this ground that was thick solid stone and he says you're not going to bed you're not gonna sleep until you dig this i can remember up past midnight we are digging clunk clunk dig dig we were so sweating i was there with my pick elf canada said uh just recently says you're so good with that pick elf i said i know i had a lot of practice in my past life uh all those years ago and you know what somewhere after midnight i begin to hallucinate i'm awake i'm actually i've taken no drugs at all i'm just taking water and suddenly i begin to hallucinate that all the guys are getting up and sitting down beside me and talking to me i have got so tired that my mind begins to imagine things you know what an awful lot of people are in a state of slumber and sleep oh how dangerous it is oh how dangerous it is to fall asleep in the hour where we should be most awake we see all of the signs these are the very last days you know what it says about the beginning of sorrows it says because of matthew 24 because iniquity begins to abound do you know what iniquity is it's the greek word for lawlessness no law in other words jesus says see it at midnight hour as we approach midnight the darkness the coldness engulfs our world and he actually prophesies and says one of the signs that i'm about to come and that it's midnight hour and you should be ready you should be adjusting yourself you ought to be awake you ought to be alive you ought to be alert you know one of the signs that it's approaching the midnight hour is that lawlessness iniquity abounds that word abounds means it bursts its bank you say sure there's always been iniquity i know you say but there's always been lawlessness i know there's always been homosexuality i know there's always been abortion i know so how is it different in this hour i'll tell you how it's different never in world history was homosexuality instituted in any law in any country in world history that i know of unless you can enlighten me never once did it happen but it's all happened in my lifetime in my generation it's swept through even the nations that refuse to vote it in it's been imposed upon them that's what happened in northern ireland all these things have broken loose since i'm telling you something has happened in our generation that has never happened in any other generation what did jesus say lawlessness is going to abound it's going to abound it's going to burst its banks do you realize in six thousand years of history and equity and lawlessness it's always been there in every nation in every city in every culture it has always been flowing like a river but our generation it's going to abound the greek word means it's going to burst its banks do you know what the banks of a river do they create a boundary they steer it in a direction it's always been there yes it has but our generation is going to change that it's going to be radically different how is it going to be different there's going to be no restriction no limitation no confining do you know what's going to happen lawlessness and equity is going to spread everywhere into the schools it was never there it wasn't there 50 years ago it wasn't there 100 years ago there was things that 20 years ago they wouldn't put on the lips of a teacher and now the flood of inequity in our schools to little children do you realize we are approaching the midnight hour and let me close with this i i i only preach half my message or a third of it here but i'm talking i'm speaking about the wise and the foolish virgins in such a serious way jesus says these foolish virgins are going to be exposed during this tarian period as they sleep a condition is going to come to them that reveals who they are and what they are listen jesus speaking before this in matthew 24 in verse 48 those who are not going to be ready for his coming he calls evil servants evil servants but if that evil servant shall say in his heart my lord delayeth his coming do you realize the foolish virgins begin to say he's delaying his coming i can sleep i can fall asleep i can slumber everything is going to be okay they begin to say within their heart it's the evil servant who is the evil servant it means worthless bad or harmful can you imagine if you're a farmer and you had an evil servant they're not going to be up on time they're not going to do their job they're going to leave things half done even if they begin to do it they're not going to turn up on a day where it's sunny they're not going to give their best they're not going to understand your commands you'll give them instructions they go i didn't hear you say it they are going to begin to make excuses that's what an evil servant is they say they're a servant they say you're my lord my lord my lord you're my lord i'm your servant bless me pay me preserve me but yet do you know what see see these here they say my lord delayeth is coming he won't come and check on the work he won't check what i've done he won't see have i actually obeyed him and done the job of his servant it says they shall say in his heart he doesn't say it with his lips i haven't met many christians who say you know what the lord's not coming the lord's delayed is coming hey it's not going to come in my day but you know what this person begins saying it's not going to happen i'm not going to have a face-to-face encounter with the consuming fire who's going to test all my words all my thoughts all my attitudes all my actions how i treated every individually it'll never happen i've met lots of christians who live like that i can say this and it won't catch up with me i can do this oh i'm under the blood i'm fine you you can't point anything out wrong with me and yet jesus says they say in their heart my lord delayeth his coming this is thoughts that create attitudes that work out in actions what are the actions of these foolish virgins do you know what it says in verse 49 begins with the thought he's delaying his coming jesus isn't coming he probably won't come in my lifetime what effect does it have verse 49 he begins to smite his fellow servants notice the attitude towards fellow servants and towards sinners in verse 49 he smites his fellow servant but then read on he eats and he drinks with the drunken so his fellow servant and drunkards he treats differently he abuses his fellow servants those who are faithful in god's house he actually smites them he gets angry against them he lies about them he has attitudes towards them he uses words and actions against them saying my lord delayeth his coming this will never catch up with me he smites those in the house of god and yet he begins to eat and drink with the drunken with drunkards with men and women who love to get drunk you know what they become his best friends he treats them well he doesn't smite them you know what most christians would be scared to lie on a sinner you know why that sinner will burn your house down or he'll come bust your door in you know what but they'll do it on a christian they'll steal your money you know why you can't take me to court you can't take me to court let's just call it all equals i'll take your money and you've got to love me we're all christians i have met them in this city they steal the money out of your pocket and say sure god bless you brother sure it's all fine isn't it after all we're all christians i want to tell you those christians wouldn't dare do that on a sinner they wouldn't dare you know why they know that that sinner isn't under any obligation they will eat and drink with the drunkard they will fellowship with them they will party with them they will ignore their sin they're going to drink their drink oh they don't get drunk oh i'm not like them i'm not a drunkard but you'll drink their drink and you'll sit at their table and you don't rebuke their sin and you don't smite them isn't that right i'm talking about those in the house of god who are not prepared for what is coming you see he believes he can drink he can think and act like the world yet have a relationship with christ and yet be ready for the coming of the lord but all of this continues hidden you say i believe the what the foolish virgins they don't look like drunkards it's not obvious they're preaching they are weeping in the house of god they are worshiping with tears coming i'm talking about personal experience my experience through nations i know sinners are going to hell i know hypocrites are going to hell but you know what these people think they're going to heaven they call on the lord they say i am arrayed like a virgin i've got my lamp my ministry my prophecy and yet jesus says you don't realize what's just about to hit you you are about to get revealed you've fallen asleep in the beginning of sorrows i believe we're in the midnight hour it's approaching we are in the beginning of sorrows it is the darkest hour in history that we're facing ahead and you know what most of the church is not ready to say we're going to get out of here where god won't look at any of our sins i'm going to be a fine i'm getting ready for a marriage feast you don't realize what's just about to hit you the lord of that servant shall come in a day when he looketh not for him and in an hour that he is not aware of and what is he going to do to him he shall cut him asunder and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites and there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth i'm giving you here this morning we believe it's the last hour we believe that jesus is coming prophecy is being fulfilled and i'm telling you here this morning i believe the parable of the wise and foolish virgins is for this hour and i'm only beginning on this saints of god i'm giving you a warning you better make sure you're not a foolish virgin you're dull in your mind you're heedless in your mind you've destroyed your mind and you're caught up in doing the right thing believe in the right thing saying the right thing and yet your mind has lost touch with reality since this is an hour where we must get a hold of the oil do you have oil in your lamps do you see the importance of being filled with the holy spirit do you see the work of the holy spirit on the inward man of the heart and quiet devotional life with the lord jesus christ please stand with me here this morning let's lift our hands lord god