Part 2: Who are the "TEN VIRGINS" in Matthew 25?

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Saints , did you read the book of Revelation of Jesus Christ for yourself? Then ask God.  It's been my experience that revelation does not come until you were ready to ask.

The Ten Virgins

Part 2

The Parable of the Ten Virgins – Matthew 25:1-13

1  Then shall the kingdom of heaven be likened unto ten virgins, which took their lamps, and went forth to meet the bridegroom.

2  And five of them were wise, and five were foolish.

3  They that were foolish took their lamps, and took no oil with them:

4  But the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps.

5  While the bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered and slept.

6  And at midnight there was a cry made, Behold, the bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet him.

7  Then all those virgins arose, and trimmed their lamps.

8  And the foolish said unto the wise, Give us of your oil; for our lamps are gone out.

9  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.

10  And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came; and they that were ready went in with him to the marriage: and the door was shut.

11  Afterward came also the other virgins, saying, Lord, Lord, open to us.

12  But he answered and said, Verily I say unto you, I know you not.

13  Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh.

"Then" is the first word of this parable. It is the only parable beginning with such a word. This word evidently shows that certain activities and events must have already taken place before the events in this parable can come to pass.

 The "then" points back to the prophecies given by our Lord Jesus Christ in answer to the three questions raised by His disciples in Matthew 24 – "Tell us, when shall these things be?" (that is, the destruction of the temple of Jerusalem) "and what shall be the sign of thy coming" (that is, the parousia of Christ), "and of the end of the world?"

The answers that Jesus gave were not in direct answer to each question. They were answered in a general way, starting from the immediate future then to the future and to the distant future, back and forth. Amongst these activities were the appearances of false christs and false prophets; the destruction of the Temple and the City of Jerusalem; the Great Tribulation; the parousia of Christ; wars and rumours of wars; nations and kingdoms rising up against one another; famines, pestilences and earthquakes; Christians being hated, afflicted and killed, even betraying and hating one another; the epiphaneia of Christ; and the fulfillment of the parable of the Fig Tree (which is the birth of Israel as a nation causing the Jews to return to her own homeland in 1948). Note that it is the fulfillment of the parable of the Fig Tree which would "then" bring in the parable of the Ten Virgins into its end time prophetic fulfillment. It provides the perspective as to the time when those prophecies Christ spoke about in His answers would be fulfilled. Christ would return to give Israel her kingdom. This is the reference point that marks the beginning of the end.

Having established the time, we should now realize the parable of the Ten Virgins had begun its fulfillment right from the beginning of the 20th Century, went through the First and Second World Wars, and up to the present time. The parable is about to come to the end of its fulfillment. And the end of its fulfillment is not the Rapture, per se. Many Christians have been taught that the parable is about the Rapture. It is not. 

Like the other seven parables this one is still dealing with the condition and period of change in the Kingdom of Heaven. But this time Christ used the virgins or bridesmaids in the setting of an oriental wedding to portray the condition of the believers in the endtime Church. (The parable itself also portrays a universal picture of the conditions in the whole Church World till the Bride of Christ is sealed in for the Rapture.)

The Kingdom of Heaven is now "likened unto ten virgins, which took their lamps, and went forth to meet the Bridegroom." Why did Christ use "ten virgins"? Why did He not use "ten grains of wheat" since we already know that wheat represents those who believe the Word?

Correct usage of things or objects in the narration of a parable is important. Specific things or objects are used to depict certain fixed concepts of Biblical truths. An object from one parable cannot simply substitute another object used in a different parable.  For example, there are Christians who believe and teach that the "foolish virgins" in the parable are the unbelievers. In saying that, they then project that the "foolish virgins" are "tares". That’s a very serious error. Such substitution would have Jesus Christ saying, "Then shall the kingdom of heaven be likened unto ten grains, five are wheat and five are tares." But He did not. Why? It is obvious because the foolish virgins are not the unbelievers or the seeds of the wicked one.

 

So, why "virgins"?

Concerning the "kingdom of Heaven", there are three parables depicting the various settings of the last Church Age, which began in the early 20th Century. All three parables overlap each other and somewhat converge together. The first parable is the second parable of Matthew 13 – the tares among the wheat. The tares were being gathered from amongst the wheat and tied up in bundles to be cast and consumed in the fiery wrath of God. The tares represent the unbelievers and the false believers, who were being rounded up under the World Council of Churches. The wheat represent the believers who are gathered at the threshing floor of the Word of God and purged before storage at the granary (cf. Matt.3:12).

All wheat grains are wheat grains. However, there are three different kinds of wheat grains – the pollinated, the unpollinated and the worm-eaten. The worm-eaten wheat grains represent those whose names are removed from the Book of Life (Rev.3:5; 22:19). They are the wheat that went bad after worms (spiritual corruption and carnality) devoured them. The unpollinated wheat grains cannot bear fruit and represent those who are saved through the fire (1 Cor.3:15; 5:5). The pollinated wheat grains are the "good" ones that bring forth much fruit. They are a part of the good that are gathered in the second parable.

The second parable is the seventh parable of Matthew 13 – the casting of the great net. As the tares were separated and the wheat gathered and purged, a great net was cast over the sea of humanity. It covered every race, society and religion. It covered even the wheat that were being purged on the threshing floor. The final great Gospel ministry to the world brought in creatures of all kinds in the net. As only the good were the intention of the catch, they had to be separated from the bad in the great net. The good were gathered into vessels while the bad were thrown away. The good refer to those who met the requirements of the Word of God accordingly while the bad are those who did not (cf. Lev.11:9-12). All these sea creatures might wave about in the water, "shout and dance in the spirit", but only the good would satisfy the Lord and His Word and that is why they were chosen to be gathered into the vessels.

Now, the third parable is the parable of Matthew 25:1-13 – the five wise and five foolish virgins. Note that unlike the other two parables, which had two totally different (opposing) objects, the "tares" and the "wheat", and the "bad" and the "good", this parable has only one object, the "virgins". This parable of the virgins (or bridesmaids) goes beyond the wheat that were gathered onto the threshing floor and purged, and beyond the good that were gathered into vessels. It tells of a group of believers in the endtime who are looking excitedly for the Coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. It reveals the preparedness of the true worshippers in their relationship with Christ the Word in the time of His Coming (Parousia), when He will take His Bride in marriage. These virgins comprise both the wheat that were being gathered and purged, and the good that were caught in the net. If there is any believer who is a virgin that is presently in a denominational system, the believer is a virgin even though he has no oil in his lamp as yet. He will surely come to receive the OIL message and come out of the system when the excitement of the midnight cry stirs him up.

At this juncture I need to point out that the parable speaks neither directly of the Rapture of the saints nor of the Bride of Christ being wed though it mentions a wedding taking place. In fact it speaks of a certain category of Christians, who Jesus termed the "virgins" (unmarried maidens or bridesmaids), who "went forth to meet the bridegroom". Only the wise ones went with him into the marriage feast. Many think that the "virgins" are "brides", but they are not. They are not the Bride, per se. The "going forth to meet the bridegroom" is obviously not referring to "going forth into the Rapture" since most Christians, regardless of faith, believe that they are the "wise virgins" and that they would make it to the Rapture. If that is so, then which Christian individuals in the world belong to the "foolish virgins"? Rather, it refers to an event where only the "virgin" Christians know the importance of meeting the Bridegroom and entering into the Marriage Feast. The Bridegroom, of course, is Christ the Word. However, it is not merely the physical Person of Jesus Christ but the glory of Christ the Word. Actually the virgins or bridesmaids (of the Bride) are excited about the marriage and they are eagerly looking forward to receiving and ushering the Bridegroom into the place where the marriage will be held. They want to be a part of this marriage (feast). The virgins are looking forward to seeing and understanding Christ the Word in a very personal and intimate way. Only when a Bible believer has received and understood Christ the Word then can he receive Christ the Person of the Word.

[Note: In the three parables mentioned, there is a connection between certain particular things. The first parable depicts the association between the Sower and His Wheat. The second parable reveals the relation of the Good (fishes) to the Net. The third parable discloses the necessity of the Virgins for the Bridegroom in the Marriage Feast.]

Remember that the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ is a spiritual one and that the Marriage of the Lamb and His Bride is also spiritual. The Marriage or Wedding of the Lamb is to take place spiritually on earth as the Word-Groom claims His Bride. It is an invisible union of the Heavenly Bridegroom (or Word-Groom) and the Earthly Bride (or Word-Bride). When the marriage feast and nuptials are complete and the Word-Groom is satisfied that His Bride-Wife has made herself ready (cf. Rev.19:7) then, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, the Lord Jesus will then sweep His Wife home to His Father's House. This going home to the Father's House is what we call the Rapture. It is there in Heaven that the Grand Marriage Supper of the Lamb will take place. Hence the Bridegroom in the parable does not speak of Christ the physical Person, but rather of Christ the spiritual Word that would come to the spiritual Bride for the holy union.

[Note: It is important not to mix the theme of this parable of the Virgins going forth to meet the Bridegroom with that of the study of the Marriage of the Lamb (that is, the Spiritual Wedlock of Christ and His Spiritual Bride). Though both involve a marriage setting they depict different subject matters. The parable deals with a relationship between the Bridegroom and the Virgins (Bridesmaids) whereas the study of the Marriage of the Lamb is on the relationship of Christ and His Bride.]

And in this endtime, we have only three categories of people in the CHURCH. The first is the wise virgins. The second is the foolish virgins. The third is the tares (or the bad) who have no real passion and are not concerned about the return of Christ. They are spiritually unmoved about it though they may open their mouth and confess that Jesus Christ is coming soon.

The Church started off on the Day of Pentecost with true believers; they were the wheat portrayed in the first and second parables of Matthew 13. But some twenty years later, the spirit of Nicolaitans had begun to work in the Church and by the time all the Apostles had gone to sleep in the Lord, the tares (false believers) became plentiful in the field of Christ. The tares were left alone to grow with the wheat throughout the Church Ages until the seventh and the last Church Age – Laodicea, which is the period of the harvest and the time of separation. The Word clearly shows that only in this last Church Age do we see a category of believers being portrayed by the Lord Jesus as the virgins.

Christ is the Author and Finisher of our faith. He is the Alpha and the Omega. The Church He had started began with a FAITH. It will end with the same FAITH. The Early Church had only pure wheat, born on the Day of Pentecost by the Spirit of Christ. It was the day when the full outpouring of the Holy Spirit, the OIL of the Lord in both Word and Spirit, was upon the believers. The field of wheat, the apostles and the believers, were not contaminated then. The enemy had yet to sow tares. The wheat were as virgins in the FAITH. No false teaching had rubbed upon them yet. Unlike the many churches today with their so-called revelations of GOD and the FAITH, the Church born on the Day of Pentecost had the revelation of Yahweh and His Redemptive Name, Yahshua, which was given to the Messiah. That was the very first doctrine laid down in the Gospel preached by Peter on that Day of Pentecost. That was the revelation given by the Holy Spirit to all who received the baptism of the Spirit. And that is the base criterion, or yardstick, by which all who later received the baptism of the Holy Spirit would be measured against.

Similar to the pure wheat in the Early Church before the tares arrived, the virgins in this last Church Age will have the same revelation as they did. But as the parable shows, some were wise and some were foolish. Because of their attitude, the foolish ones will find themselves in a situation that they least expected that will cause them to miss the marriage (feast). Still, because they are all virgins, they will be saved as unlike the tares, which will be cast away into fire to be consumed for their falsehood.

 

So then, who are these virgins?

Virgins are those who are 'unmarried, pure, and know no man'. These are Christians who are separated from the Church systems formed by the traditions of men. They are "virgins" to the Word. They form the category of believers in these last days who received a revelation that set them apart from other believers in the Church World. A study of Church History shows that the Laodicean Age started near the beginning of the 20th Century after the decline of Methodism. As traditions and cold formal religions had no place in the hearts of Truth seekers, many left the different denominational backgrounds to seek for more of God. And so it began with the outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon certain gatherings of these Truth seekers and true worshippers of different races in America, especially around the years 1903 to 1906. The flame of revival was kindled and it would soon engulf the whole of America, Europe and the rest of the world. To many Christians this revival is called the Pentecostal Revival or the Pentecostal Outpouring of the Holy Spirit resulting in what is known as the Pentecostal Movement.

Now, when the Holy Spirit was poured out upon these believers in the first decade of the 20th Century, the believers spoke in tongues and even prophesied like those in the Early Church on the Day of Pentecost. They experienced the baptism of the Holy Spirit in a unique way that few Christian people ever experience since the tares overran the Church in the Third Church Age. However, to denominational Christians (especially of today) outside of the Pentecostal-Charismatic movement, the glossolalia phenomenon is not real or Scriptural. Their judgement is based on what is happening today in the Pentecostal-Charismatic Movement. It is true that among the hundreds and thousands who speak in tongues, only a handful are genuine. There is much impersonation, not only in the gift of tongues, but also in the other eight gifts of the Holy Spirit.

As we know, the Oracles of God were first given to His chosen people, Israel (Romans 3:1-2). Although the children of Israel believed in ONE GOD, they could not comprehend the Messiah. On the other hand, the Gentiles having received the Messiah (Christ), now believe in a so-called Holy Trinity – a United Godhead of THREE GODS (whom they prefer to refer to as THREE PERSONS). However, look closely at chapter 2 of the Book of Acts (of the Holy Spirit). Peter preached a simple and yet powerful message to his audience. He revealed the scriptures concerning the prophecies of Joel, amongst others, which were fulfilled in Christ Jesus. He concluded by saying, "Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made the same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ" (Acts 2:36). The audience of Jews was pricked in their hearts when they realized that the Man Jesus, whom they had crucified, was actually the Son of the Living God, their very Messiah. In response to their sincere cry to do what was right, let us notice what Peter said in contrast to the commandment which was given unto him and the rest of the apostles in Matthew 28:19. "Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost" (Acts 2:38). 3000 souls received that revelation and took the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ in water baptism. This very truth that the Lord Jesus Christ was God manifested in flesh, was blazed all over the then known world by the apostles – "God in Christ, reconciling the world unto Himself" (2 Cor.5:19). There was nothing about a second Person of the Trinity, or a third of God who became man to save sinners. On the contrary, Paul said that Jesus Christ was the fullness of the Godhead bodily (cf. Col.1:19; 2:9).

Truly these believers in the early 20th Century had received the genuine gift. It was not just the gift of speaking in tongues or any of the other 9 spiritual gifts for they experienced something far greater. It awakened them to a revelation most Christians before them had completely ignored. They had received what the Apostles and the believers had received on the Day of Pentecost, measured by the yardstick given during the first Pentecostal outpouring on the Early Church. When these Trinitarian Christians received the baptism of the Holy Spirit, they had a revelation. They were convinced of the errors in the doctrines of the Trinity and Water Baptism in the triune title of Father, Son and Holy Spirit. They then began embracing the doctrine of One God and Water Baptism in the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Conforming to the Truth, they were re-baptized in the Redemptive Name of God – the Lord Jesus Christ, as taught in Acts 2:38. Hence, we see the Scripture is true: "Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth:…" (Jhn.16:13a, cf. Psa.25:5). The Spirit of God is not given to cause believers to speak in tongues or to demonstrate one of His spiritual gifts. He is given as the gift of Christ upon every born again believer to lead and guide them into all truth. And the first thing He does is to reveal Himself and His Name.

When the "leaven, which a woman took, and hid in three measures of meal, till the whole was leavened" came to be fed to the Church, the OIL was so tamped that the Christians who received it, received not the fullness of what the Early Church had. Most had but a gist of it. Few understood the full value of it. With the Reformers on the scene, God slowly began to restore and show the Church World the Truth about Baptism in the Holy Spirit. It was through Martin Luther that a measure of the meal – JUSTIFICATION, was restored. Then John Wesley restored the second measure with SANCTIFICATION. Because the tares were allowed to mix with the wheat until the Harvest, it did not matter to the Lord which denomination a Christian belonged to during those era. Yes, those who were true believers were born again of the Spirit of God, otherwise they would not have eternal life – "that which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit" (Jhn.3:6). But when the last of the measure of meal, HOLY SPIRIT BAPTISM, came into sight from the beginning of the 20th Century, God began firming up the whole loaf as the tares were severed from the wheat, and the good were gathered into vessels while the bad were cast away. As is Alpha, so is Omega. The Lord must restore and perfect the Church for His Word demands it. And anyone who considers himself a Bible believer ought to seriously scrutinize what he believes for there are many enticing spirits going about telling people, "Doctrines do not matter much as long as you believe that Jesus Christ is your Saviour." Do not be fooled. Jesus said: "Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away" (Mat.24:35). As such, we should not add or take away from the Word of God (Rev.22:18; Prov.30:6; Deut.4:2).

[Note: If you are still not convinced of the Truth of taking water baptism in the Redemptive Name of the Lord Jesus Christ, try this. Pay for a purchase with a bank cheque. Sign your cheque, "Father, Son and Husband" (if you are a man living with your son, father and wife) and see if the cheque is cashable. Even if you are an Owner, President and Treasurer of a company, signing a cheque in those titles could never make the cheque valid. Certainly, you would not be that foolish but to sign your NAME. Yet, almost all churches have been fooled by the Devil to take a worthless triune title of Father, Son and Holy Ghost in water baptism. Some theologians have even argued away Acts 2:38 by teaching that Peter (and the other apostles) commanded the converts "in the Name of Jesus Christ" to be water baptized in accordance to the triune titles given in Matthew 28:19.]

The disciples of Christ could not have done much if they did not tarry for the promise of the Father for they had little knowledge in the way of the fullness of the Word although they were witnesses of Christ and His ministry (Luk.24:46-49). The disciples had been justified by faith in Christ’s Word, and had been cleansed and sanctified (Jhn.13:11; Eph.5:26; Heb.10:10), and had received the Spirit that Jesus breathed upon them (Jhn.20:22). Like those prophets and saints who were before them, they had salvation. But they had not the experience of the fullness of the Holy Spirit flowing in them (John.7:38-39). Hence, they were told to tarry in Jerusalem until they were invested with power from heaven: "But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth" (Acts 1:8). It was this outpouring of the Holy Spirit that endued them with the power (Grk: dunamis) to be witnesses. But the Pentecostal and Charismatic circles believe otherwise. To them the power is what believers want to do or can do in the operation of the "spiritual gifts", such as speaking in tongues, prophesying, healing the sick, casting out of demons, etc.. However, the plain truth remains: it is the power of the Holy Spirit upon believers that leads them as witnesses of Christ Jesus in the Truth (as to Who Christ was and is - Matt.16:15-18; Jhn.14:5-7), as He guides them into all His truth. It is the power to see the Word of Truth and to stand for the Truth, beginning with the Truth that there is but One God who manifested Himself in the Man named Yahshua, who is both Lord and Christ, and it is by His Redemptive Name believers are water baptized in reconciliation to His Creator. Simply, the Spirit reveals Himself and His Name. And that is just what Paul prayed for the believers in Ephesus: "That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him" (Eph.1:17). Truly, many Christians should take heed to the words that Jesus spoke to the Samaritan woman at the well. "Ye worship ye know not what: we know what we worship: for salvation is of the Jews. But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him. God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth" (Jhn.4:22-24).

Therefore, does Truth matter? If it does, then the Truth of utmost importance is the revelation of the Almighty God Himself in Christ Jesus, whose Name was chosen and given to redeem all who believe. Almost all denominations pay no regard to the Truth of the doctrine of One God and His Redemptive Name in the Lord Jesus Christ. If it mattered to all the apostles and believers of the Early Church, then it should matter to all True worshippers of the Living God in this present age. If you have the true baptism of the Holy Spirit, then you should have the oil to power and light up this Truth in your life. The rest of God’s Truths will then follow. Without the true revelation, you have nothing but a denominational spirit to lead you about a religious system.

 

The Oil, Not "Tongues"

With the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the Truth seekers in the early 20th Century, we can see that it was the same OIL that was poured upon the Early Church. The Spirit began to get them out of their traditions and organized systems to lead them into the first and most important Truth concerning the Godhead and His Redemptive Name just like He did with those first apostles of Christ. These believers did not go shooting off their mouth on how "one must speak in tongues or else one did not have the Holy Spirit". They did not proclaim, "Come and get tongues!" No, instead they proclaimed the message, "Come and get oil! Come and receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit!" This message was never preached in the various denominations. Luther, Zwingli, Knox, Calvin and other Reformers had never preached it. Likewise, Wesley, Whitefield, Edwards, Spurgeon and others who followed after the Reformation had never preached it. What the various denominational Christians had then was just a trickle of the oil that the Lord had issued forth on the Day of Pentecost to His disciples.

Now, when one receives the Holy Spirit baptism, he immediately goes into the water to be baptized in the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ. True, there were some who found it hard to shake off some of their old traditional doctrines that were contrary to the Word. This was especially difficult for ministers who were held by staunch upbringing in their denominations. It was this lot of Christian leaders who, in their swaying to and fro over the Truth they had received, became a tool of Satan to cause schism among the believers. Also, instead of shaking off their ties with the religious system of Mystery Babylon and moving toward the spiritual Holy City of Jerusalem to build their homes, they stayed and built them just outside the area of that great harlotry city. When the religious spirit of Babylon wanted to enlarge its boundaries, it simply encircled all suburbia of houses within its reach. This suburbia then became a part of Babylon. In less than a decade, man-made organizations were formed and the erroneous teaching that "speaking in tongues is the evidence of having the Holy Spirit Baptism" propagated. And by the middle of the 20th Century another phenomenon of the "Holy Spirit Baptism" came along and was called the "New Pentecost" or "Charismatic Movement". This movement penetrated many denominations, including Roman Catholicism, and further pushed the erroneous teaching concerning the baptism of the Holy Spirit. In turn this erroneous teaching went off further into extremism to so-called manifestations such as "slain by the Spirit" and "holy laughter". Today, Pentecostalism and Charismaticism have taken new forms that are both radical and extreme.

At the beginning of the Pentecostal outpouring the manifestations were genuine but when it got to the place where intellectual men put more and more emphasis on the "Baptism of the Holy Spirit" (a term so commonly misused and misapplied), their ideas of it soon took priority over the Scriptures. One of those ideas was made a doctrine stating that "speaking in tongues" was the evidence of the having the Holy Spirit Baptism, something that the early Apostles never taught. In fact, Paul’s teaching contradicted that, when he asked "Do all speak with tongues?" (1 Cor.12:30). Today, there is poison in the pot. It is a cauldron of religious emotions. We see Christians learning the "art" of speaking in tongues; they are taught "how to receive the Holy Spirit" by being prompted to utter some gibberish "words" and by imitating others. We see the impersonation of the spiritual gifts, such as learning the "art" of casting out demons and healing the sick, as if God’s gifts could be obtained by learning or imitating. We see preachers looking and acting like movie stars, entertaining the congregation to the tune of "look good, feel good; look rich, feel rich" or that "God wants you to be prosperous". There are many other emotionally charged make-beliefs. Let me say this: Charismaticism is a tool in the hand of the Devil to unite all the churches together to bring them back to Rome (Vatican City). That’s the truth.

Part 3... (Here)

Did you ask God for His revelation? "Ten Virgins" in the Mathew 25.

 Saints , did you read the book of Revelation of Jesus Christ for yourself? 

Then ask God. 

It's been my experience that revelation does not come until you were ready to ask.

The phrase "Take and eat" appears primarily in Revelation 10:9, where an angel commands John to consume a small scroll.  The verse states: "Take it and eat it; it will make your stomach bitter, but in your mouth it will be as sweet as honey." 

This command parallels Ezekiel 3:1-3, where God tells Ezekiel to "eat this scroll" before prophesying to Israel.  In Ezekiel, the scroll tastes "as sweet as honey" in his mouth.  Both passages symbolize the prophet fully internalizing God's message, which is initially pleasing but brings the burden of delivering difficult truths.

The Ten Virgins

Part 1

Introduction

Who are the ten virgins in the parable of Matthew 25:1-13? Who are the wise virgins and who are the foolish virgins?

Remember that a parable is a narration of events to depict a profound spiritual truth concerning the mystery of the Kingdom of Heaven. Many Christians have given the parable different interpretations. But unless God reveals it, one can only guess. And certainly God will never reveal His Truth just to anyone. But I believe, and always will believe, that our Heavenly Father only reveals His hidden Truth to those who belong to Him, those who are His elect and those who have an ear to hear what His Spirit says (cf. Matt.11:25-27; 13:10-17; 16:17; Mk.4:11-12; 1Cor.2:10). That’s the truth. Amen.

There are certain important key words that show the time and the people involved in this parable. Without prayerful and careful examination of the parable, we will miss the hidden truth with which it contains. However, we cannot even begin to look at this parable until we first understand the parable of the SOWER that our Lord Jesus Christ narrated in Matthew 13. In connection to the parable of the SOWER, our Lord narrated six other parables in succession, one after the other (cf. verse 53). These seven parables are unlike most of the other parables, for Matthew is the only Gospel writer to record down these seven parables, as spoken by Christ, in continuous flow and for good reason. Therefore, we need to be mindful to take an overview of these seven parables before we proceed, for denominationalism has distorted their true meanings. The denominations have mainly interpreted each parable as teaching how sinners got saved or would be saved by the Gospel. They are far from the truth. All seven parables show the changes that would take place in the Church of Christ throughout the Gospel Age (or the Seven Church Ages as prophetically illustrated in the first three chapters of the Book of Revelation). Because Christ had won the victory over Satan by His death at Calvary, Satan was undeniably upset. These seven parables show how Satan was to go about hindering the journey of the saints of God, bringing the Church to a crawl, and then how the Church was able to struggle out of it and return to her original position.

The seven parables are broken up into 4 sets. 

The first three deal with seeds – the germ of life. 

The fourth deals with leavening – the corruption of food. 

The fifth and the sixth deal with lost treasures and pearls – things of value that men seek for. 

And the last deals with a dragnet, the fishermen and the good choice – a great work of separation.

The Parable of the Sower – Matthew 13:1-23

1  The same day went Jesus out of the house, and sat by the sea side.

2  And great multitudes were gathered together unto him, so that he went into a ship, and sat; and the whole multitude stood on the shore.

3  And he spake many things unto them in parables, saying, Behold, a sower went forth to sow;

4  And when he sowed, some seeds fell by the way side, and the fowls came and devoured them up:

5  Some fell upon stony places, where they had not much earth: and forthwith they sprung up, because they had no deepness of earth:

6  And when the sun was up, they were scorched; and because they had no root, they withered away.

7  And some fell among thorns; and the thorns sprung up, and choked them:

8  But other fell into good ground, and brought forth fruit, some an hundredfold, some sixtyfold, some thirtyfold.

9  Who hath ears to hear, let him hear.

10  And the disciples came, and said unto him, Why speakest thou unto them in parables?

11  He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given.

12  For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance: but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that he hath.

13  Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand.

14  And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Esaias, which saith, By hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and shall not perceive:

15  For this people's heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them.

16  But blessed are your eyes, for they see: and your ears, for they hear.

17  For verily I say unto you, That many prophets and righteous men have desired to see those things which ye see, and have not seen them; and to hear those things which ye hear, and have not heard them.

18  Hear ye therefore the parable of the sower.

19  When any one heareth the word of the kingdom, and understandeth it not, then cometh the wicked one, and catcheth away that which was sown in his heart. This is he which received seed by the way side.

20  But he that received the seed into stony places, the same is he that heareth the word, and anon with joy receiveth it;

21  Yet hath he not root in himself, but dureth for a while: for when tribulation or persecution ariseth because of the word, by and by he is offended.

22  He also that received seed among the thorns is he that heareth the word; and the care of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, choke the word, and he becometh unfruitful.

23  But he that received seed into the good ground is he that heareth the word, and understandeth it; which also beareth fruit, and bringeth forth, some an hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.

Concerning the mysteries of the "kingdom of heaven" Jesus Christ purposely spoke in parables with good reason. It was to hide the truth of the mysteries from the multitude who heard, for many had ears that were dull of hearing, eyes that were blind and hearts that were hardened. However, to those who were the true disciples of Christ and who had ears to hear, Christ revealed to them the hidden truth. Similarly, He will reveal to His true disciples in this present day.

The disciples initially did not understand the mysteries of this first parable. And Christ said to them, "Know ye not this parable? and how then will ye know all parables?" (Mark 4:13). Until Christ gives the revelation, it is impossible for anyone to understand the truth of all parables concerning the Kingdom of Heaven. That this first parable concerning the Kingdom of Heaven must be first understood is clear for it concerns THE SOWER and HIS SEED. In verse 37 we are made to understand that THE SOWER sows only GOOD SEED, and HE is the SON OF MAN, Jesus the Christ. It is He Who is "the author and finisher of our faith" (Hebrews12:2). And Jesus very clearly expounded His own parable in verses 18 to 23, hence no further explanation is required. There were four grounds upon which the seed fell – the "good ground", the "way side", the "stony places" and "among thorns". Those "that received seed into the good ground" were His disciples. The other three grounds were found among those who were as the rich young ruler, the religious leaders (the Pharisees, the Sadducees) and those who desired only the "bread and fishes" respectively (John 6:26).

Immediately after the parable of THE SOWER, Jesus put forth the second parable.

The Parable of the Tares among the Wheat – Matthew 13:24-30

24  Another parable put he forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is likened unto a man which sowed good seed in his field:

25  But while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went his way.

26  But when the blade was sprung up, and brought forth fruit, then appeared the tares also.

27  So the servants of the householder came and said unto him, Sir, didst not thou sow good seed in thy field? from whence then hath it tares?

28  He said unto them, An enemy hath done this. The servants said unto him, Wilt thou then that we go and gather them up?

29  But he said, Nay; lest while ye gather up the tares, ye root up also the wheat with them.

30  Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn.

Notice that this second parable begins with these words the "kingdom of heaven". This term the "kingdom of heaven" represents Christ as King to His disciples and believers in this present earth. It speaks of a "heavenly" dispensation, the dispensation of His Gospel. No other Gospel writers used this term. Only Matthew used it. And rightly so because Matthew’s teachings deal with the Kingship of Christ. The term the "kingdom of God" used in the other Gospels represents God’s "eternal" kingdom. The two terms are not always interchangeable. A careful reading of Matthew’s usage of the "kingdom of God" in the five instances recorded in Matthew 6:33; 12:28; 19:24; 21:31,43 will provide the answer. The kingdom of God is right in the midst of the kingdom of heaven. When the kingdom of heaven is fulfilled, the kingdom of God will remain eternally with God.

Why is the "kingdom of heaven" introduced in this second parable? In the first parable our Lord Jesus Christ portrayed Himself as the SOWER sowing the SEED of the Word of God. It depicts how different people who upon receiving the WORD of God would react. But only those that grew out of the good ground could yield fruits, some thirty, some sixty and some a hundred fold. The "kingdom of heaven" only began after Christ had accomplished His work of sowing the Gospel and left His field to His servants to care for it.

"But while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went his way." Evil works are usually done in the dark when men are not fully alert or when they are asleep. As shown in the parable, Satan somehow sneaked into the field and sowed tares among the wheat. He sought to destroy the field, if possible, or at the very least to corrupt and hinder those in it. Tares are imitators of wheat, looking like wheat in their early stage of growth. Both are not easily distinguishable until they come to ear.

Not long after the Church had been established on the Day of Pentecost, the Mystery of Iniquity began to work and soon tares were found among the field of wheat around the year 53 AD. More tares were sown as the first generation of the able men of God went to sleep in their graves. By the Second Church Age (Smyrna - Revelation 2:8-11) the tares were many and had become very noticeable. The servants of the Lord in the 2nd Century thought to weed out the tares. However, to prevent harm to the wheat the Master’s advice was to let the tares grow together with the wheat. He had no intention of removing the tares until the Harvest at which time He would send out the reapers to first gather the tares for the burning.

And now we are at the harvest time.

 

The Ten Virgins

Part 1

Introduction

Who are the ten virgins in the parable of Matthew 25:1-13? Who are the wise and who are the foolish?

Remember that a parable is a narration of events to depict a profound spiritual truth concerning the mystery of the Kingdom of Heaven. Many Christians have given the parable different interpretations. But unless God reveals it, one can only guess. And certainly God will never reveal His Truth just to anyone. But I believe, and always will believe, that our Heavenly Father only reveals His hidden Truth to those who belong to Him, those who are His elect and those who have an ear to hear what His Spirit says (cf. Matt.11:25-27; 13:10-17; 16:17; Mk.4:11-12; 1Cor.2:10). That’s the truth. Amen.

There are certain important key words that show the time and the people involved in this parable. Without prayerful and careful examination of the parable, we will miss the hidden truth with which it contains. However, we cannot even begin to look at this parable until we first understand the parable of the SOWER that our Lord Jesus Christ narrated in Matthew 13. In connection to the parable of the SOWER, our Lord narrated six other parables in succession, one after the other (cf. vv.53). These seven parables are unlike most of the other parables, for Matthew is the only Gospel writer to record down these seven parables, as spoken by Christ, in continuous flow and for good reason. Therefore, we need to be mindful to take an overview of these seven parables before we proceed, for denominationalism has distorted their true meanings. The denominations have mainly interpreted each parable as teaching how sinners got saved or would be saved by the Gospel. They are far from the truth. All seven parables show the changes that would take place in the Church of Christ throughout the Gospel Age (or the Seven Church Ages as prophetically illustrated in the first three chapters of the Book of Revelation). Because Christ had won the victory over Satan by His death at Calvary, Satan was undeniably upset. These seven parables show how Satan was to go about hindering the journey of the saints of God, bringing the Church to a crawl, and then how the Church was able to struggle out of it and return to her original position.

The seven parables are broken up into 4 sets. The first three deal with seeds – the germ of life. The fourth deals with leavening – the corruption of food. The fifth and the sixth deal with lost treasures and pearls – things of value that men seek for. And the last deals with a dragnet, the fishermen and the good choice – a great work of separation.

 

The Parable of the Sower – Matthew 13:1-23

1  The same day went Jesus out of the house, and sat by the sea side.

2  And great multitudes were gathered together unto him, so that he went into a ship, and sat; and the whole multitude stood on the shore.

3  And he spake many things unto them in parables, saying, Behold, a sower went forth to sow;

4  And when he sowed, some seeds fell by the way side, and the fowls came and devoured them up:

5  Some fell upon stony places, where they had not much earth: and forthwith they sprung up, because they had no deepness of earth:

6  And when the sun was up, they were scorched; and because they had no root, they withered away.

7  And some fell among thorns; and the thorns sprung up, and choked them:

8  But other fell into good ground, and brought forth fruit, some an hundredfold, some sixtyfold, some thirtyfold.

9  Who hath ears to hear, let him hear.

10  And the disciples came, and said unto him, Why speakest thou unto them in parables?

11  He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given.

12  For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance: but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that he hath.

13  Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand.

14  And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Esaias, which saith, By hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and shall not perceive:

15  For this people's heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them.

16  But blessed are your eyes, for they see: and your ears, for they hear.

17  For verily I say unto you, That many prophets and righteous men have desired to see those things which ye see, and have not seen them; and to hear those things which ye hear, and have not heard them.

18  Hear ye therefore the parable of the sower.

19  When any one heareth the word of the kingdom, and understandeth it not, then cometh the wicked one, and catcheth away that which was sown in his heart. This is he which received seed by the way side.

20  But he that received the seed into stony places, the same is he that heareth the word, and anon with joy receiveth it;

21  Yet hath he not root in himself, but dureth for a while: for when tribulation or persecution ariseth because of the word, by and by he is offended.

22  He also that received seed among the thorns is he that heareth the word; and the care of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, choke the word, and he becometh unfruitful.

23  But he that received seed into the good ground is he that heareth the word, and understandeth it; which also beareth fruit, and bringeth forth, some an hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.

Concerning the mysteries of the "kingdom of heaven" Jesus Christ purposely spoke in parables with good reason. It was to hide the truth of the mysteries from the multitude who heard, for many had ears that were dull of hearing, eyes that were blind and hearts that were hardened. However, to those who were the true disciples of Christ and who had ears to hear, Christ revealed to them the hidden truth. Similarly, He will reveal to His true disciples in this present day.

The disciples initially did not understand the mysteries of this first parable. And Christ said to them, "Know ye not this parable? and how then will ye know all parables?" (Mk.4:13). Until Christ gives the revelation, it is impossible for anyone to understand the truth of all parables concerning the Kingdom of Heaven. That this first parable concerning the Kingdom of Heaven must be first understood is clear for it concerns THE SOWER and HIS SEED. In verse 37 we are made to understand that THE SOWER sows only GOOD SEED, and HE is the SON OF MAN, Jesus the Christ. It is He Who is "the author and finisher of our faith" (Heb.12:2). And Jesus very clearly expounded His own parable in verses 18 to 23, hence no further explanation is required. There were four grounds upon which the seed fell – the "good ground", the "way side", the "stony places" and "among thorns". Those "that received seed into the good ground" were His disciples. The other three grounds were found among those who were as the rich young ruler, the religious leaders (the Pharisees, the Sadducees) and those who desired only the "bread and fishes" respectively (Joh.6:26).

Immediately after the parable of THE SOWER, Jesus put forth the second parable.

 

The Parable of the Tares among the Wheat – Matthew 13:24-30

24  Another parable put he forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is likened unto a man which sowed good seed in his field:

25  But while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went his way.

26  But when the blade was sprung up, and brought forth fruit, then appeared the tares also.

27  So the servants of the householder came and said unto him, Sir, didst not thou sow good seed in thy field? from whence then hath it tares?

28  He said unto them, An enemy hath done this. The servants said unto him, Wilt thou then that we go and gather them up?

29  But he said, Nay; lest while ye gather up the tares, ye root up also the wheat with them.

30  Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn.

Notice that this second parable begins with these words the "kingdom of heaven". This term the "kingdom of heaven" represents Christ as King to His disciples and believers in this present earth. It speaks of a "heavenly" dispensation, the dispensation of His Gospel. No other Gospel writers used this term. Only Matthew used it. And rightly so because Matthew’s teachings deal with the Kingship of Christ. The term the "kingdom of God" used in the other Gospels represents God’s "eternal" kingdom. The two terms are not always interchangeable. A careful reading of Matthew’s usage of the "kingdom of God" in the five instances recorded in Matthew 6:33; 12:28; 19:24; 21:31,43 will provide the answer. The kingdom of God is right in the midst of the kingdom of heaven. When the kingdom of heaven is fulfilled, the kingdom of God will remain eternally with God.

Why is the "kingdom of heaven" introduced in this second parable? In the first parable our Lord Jesus Christ portrayed Himself as the SOWER sowing the SEED of the Word of God. It depicts how different people who upon receiving the WORD of God would react. But only those that grew out of the good ground could yield fruits, some thirty, some sixty and some a hundred fold. The "kingdom of heaven" only began after Christ had accomplished His work of sowing the Gospel and left His field to His servants to care for it.

"But while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went his way." Evil works are usually done in the dark when men are not fully alert or when they are asleep. As shown in the parable, Satan somehow sneaked into the field and sowed tares among the wheat. He sought to destroy the field, if possible, or at the very least to corrupt and hinder those in it. Tares are imitators of wheat, looking like wheat in their early stage of growth. Both are not easily distinguishable until they come to ear.

Not long after the Church had been established on the Day of Pentecost, the Mystery of Iniquity began to work and soon tares were found among the field of wheat around the year 53 AD. More tares were sown as the first generation of the able men of God went to sleep in their graves. By the Second Church Age (Smyrna - Rev.2:8-11) the tares were many and had become very noticeable. The servants of the Lord in the 2nd Century thought to weed out the tares. However, to prevent harm to the wheat the Master’s advice was to let the tares grow together with the wheat. He had no intention of removing the tares until the Harvest at which time He would send out the reapers to first gather the tares for the burning.

And now we are at the harvest time.

 

 

 

"Declare unto us…" – Matthew 13:36-43

36  Then Jesus sent the multitude away, and went into the house: and his disciples came unto him, saying, Declare unto us the parable of the tares of the field.

37  He answered and said unto them, He that soweth the good seed is the Son of man;

38  The field is the world; the good seed are the children of the kingdom; but the tares are the children of the wicked one;

39  The enemy that sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the world; and the reapers are the angels.

40  As therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire; so shall it be in the end of this world.

41  The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity;

42  And shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth.

43  Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Who hath ears to hear, let him hear.

Concerning the Gospel, there are now two kinds of grains in the "field", the wheat and the tares. The wheat, the good seeds, are the true believers of God. The tares, the false seeds, are the make-believers – the children of the wicked ones. Both the wheat and the tares are found growing in the Kingdom of Heaven but only the wheat belong to the Kingdom of God.

The year 1948 saw the formation of the World Council of Churches (WCC). Through it the Lord sent His angels to gather "all things that offend, and them which do iniquity", that is to gather the tares and bind them together ready to be cast into the fiery furnace of the Great Tribulation. Now that the tares are bound up, the wheat are being gathered into the barn (or granary). Remember that the SOWER had sowed only good seeds in His field and would therefore gather only wheat grains into His granary. But before the wheat grains can be gathered and stored in the granary, the wheat are gathered to the threshing floor (sometime referred to as a barn, Job 39:12) to be thoroughly purged of the chaff. The threshing floor is the Word of God. Thus fulfills the words of John the Baptist:

Luke 3:16  John answered, saying unto them all, I indeed baptize you with water; but one mightier than I cometh, the latchet of whose shoes I am not worthy to unloose: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire:

17  Whose fan is in his hand, and he will thoroughly purge his floor, and will gather the wheat into his garner; but the chaff he will burn with fire unquenchable.

Yes, this is the separating time. For "all things that offend, and them which do iniquity", Christ will see to it that they are gathered for the burning. As the seed is not heir with the chaff, so shall the chaff be purged for the burning. The hypocrites, the make-believers and the personality-cult followers are such that must be thoroughly removed from the Kingdom of God.

 

The Parable of the Mustard Seed – Matthew 13:31-32

31  Another parable put he forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is like to a grain of mustard seed, which a man took, and sowed in his field:

32  Which indeed is the least of all seeds: but when it is grown, it is the greatest among herbs, and becometh a tree, so that the birds of the air come and lodge in the branches thereof.

Notice that the man sowed the grain of mustard seed in his garden (not his field where he sowed his wheat, cf. Luke13:18-19). The mustard seed is not the smallest of all seeds (cf. Mark 4:30-32). The phrasal words are Jewish proverbial for smallness. (The word "smallest" is used hyperbolically.) The mustard seed is a very small seed and it cannot be hybrid. The plant, looking somewhat like a tree when fully grown to about 10 feet, is actually an herb. Amongst all the other herbs grown in the garden, the mustard plant would certainly resemble a tree with its branches stretched out in various directions.

Denominational preachers have taught that the parable either represents the sinners, which are the birds of the air, being attracted to the Gospel of the Church or the Gentiles being allowed to enter the Church originally for the Jews. A closer examination tells us that the "birds of the air" has no direct relationship with the life of the "mustard seed". The germ of life in the mustard seed has its roots in the earth. As it grew it manifested its branches, leaves and fruits. The birds were not part of the mustard plant. They were of the air. Though they might perch or rest in the shadow of the mustard tree, they were not part of it.

The MAN who sowed the mustard seed in His own garden represents the Son of Man. He sowed the mustard seed of the Gospel of salvation, which bore life and grew into a small plant, the small group of believers on the Day of Pentecost. As it continued to grow, it produced more branches and more leaves. By and by it came to look like a small tree as the Church grew. Remember that the mustard tree is actually an herb. And like all herbs, it has medicinal value. For that reason the birds were attracted to the mustard tree.

By this time the Church had entered into the Pergamean Church Age (Revelation 2:12-17), the beginning of the 4th Century AD.  Constantine, the then new emperor of Rome, embraced Christianity in 312 AD after his "vision" of the Cross - "in hoc signo vinces " ("in this sign you will be victorious"). By it he had several victories in his battle campaign for the Roman Empire. He pronounced Christianity the state religion. From 320-330 AD, Constantine began to attack paganism through the government but he often persuaded people to follow the laws by combining pagan worship with Christianity. Those who were "converted" to Christianity were safe from persecution. This attracted the men of higher societies and ranks – the rich, the noble, the aristocrat, and even pagan priests and religious leaders – to find shelter in the Church for their personal benefit. These were the birds that came to perch on the branches for shelter and comfort and for protection from the heat (persecution). These birds did not contribute anything to the mustard tree except their weight and their droppings, which soon weighed down and polluted the Church.

With all these strange birds coming together on the tree, there was a constant noisy chirping of the different calls of the birds. This noise was the arguments and debates over certain Church affairs. Through the argument as to whether the Lord Jesus Christ was God or Man, a teaching stirred up by Arius, a priest of Egyptian Alexandria, a council was convened at Nicea, Rome, in 325 AD under the order of Constantine. The product of that council was the false theological understanding of God known as the Holy Trinity, which is accepted by almost all in Christendom today.

During this age of about 300 years there were about 35 men in the Roman Church who were made popes. (As centuries passed, the later popes claimed to be as the God Almighty, "The Pope is of so great authority and power that he can modify, explain, or interpret even divine laws." (Translated from Lucius Ferraris, Prompta Bibliotheca, art. "Papa," (Pope) II, Vol VI, pp. 26-29.) Politics ruled the day and the more powerful birds got to stay a little longer on the mustard tree. But how was the life of that mustard tree to grow as more and more burdensome creatures perched on its branches making it droop and sag and dirty with their droppings causing it to look more and more like a monstrous beast (cf. Revelation13:1-10)? Where was the life of the mustard tree? It simply went right back down into the earth, figuratively speaking. The true elect went "underground".

The Parable of the Leaven – Matthew 13:33

33  Another parable spake he unto them; The kingdom of heaven is like unto leaven, which a woman took, and hid in three measures of meal, till the whole was leavened.

With the true Church going underground, the filthy Church in Rome began to exert her power to do as she wished. In order to rule the Roman Empire, she had to win over the pagans. To make it much easier for the people to embrace Romanism, she took some leaven and hid in three measures of meal until the whole was leavened. (The filthy Roman Church was the "woman" in the parable.) That three measures that God had weighed out to make a meal – a whole loaf, were Justification, Sanctification and Holy Ghost Baptism; all that lie in the Complete Redemptive Work of our Lord Jesus Christ. The Roman Church had to corrupt the very Bread of Life that God provided in Christ. That woman, Mother Harlot (Revelation 17:5), took her creeds, dogmas and rituals and hid them in the three measures of meal making it to rise, making the bread easier to eat. The whole loaf was puffed up with nothing but "hot air". She then fed it to the people who were fooled into believing that they were receiving the Bread of Life. It simply looked good and easy to eat, and so the people bought it, ate it and believed that eternal life was in it. It was a lie, a BIG lie. They were eating but corrupted bread.

The Roman Catholic Church had leavened the Truth of Life in many ways. For Justification, "by grace are ye saved through faith", she substituted it with "faith in the Roman Catholic Church", teaching that there is no salvation outside the Mother Church, as she called herself. For Sanctification, she substituted it with indulgences, penance and the confession. For Holy Spirit Baptism, she substituted it with Mass and Confirmation. But there is two leaven that to this day can be found in her "daughter harlot" churches, and that is, Water Baptism in the titles of Father, Son and Holy Spirit, along with the false teaching of the Holy Trinity. The baptism is even done by sprinkling or pouring of water onto the individual’s head.

Throughout the 1000 years of the Dark Ages (of Thyatira, Revelation 2:18-29), the leavened bread of the Roman Church was fed to the masses. Not only were the majority of the people feeding on the bread of death in ignorance but their natural life throughout that period was sickly, being plagued by diseases and death due to a restrain on knowledge and advancement in the many fields of science by the Roman Church.

The Parable of the Hidden Treasure – Matthew 13:44

44  Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto treasure hid in a field; the which when a man hath found, he hideth, and for joy thereof goeth and selleth all that he hath, and buyeth that field.

As we come into the fifth parable we see the Age of Reformation or the Sardisean Church Age (Revelation 3:1-6). This period began around the 16th Century. Many of the treasures of God’s precious priceless truths were lost to the people during the last 1000-year reign of the woman Jezebel (Revelation 2:18-29). During this period there were many men searching for the treasures in the wrong fields. Martin Luther was just such a man. He searched all over Europe in the monasteries for several fruitless years. In hope of obtaining an indulgence promised by the pope, he went to what was called Pilate’s Staircase in Rome and began crawling up the stairs on his knees. While doing this he was halted by the words of the Scriptures, which came to him: "The just shall live by faith". The voice clearly was God’s.

Martin Luther had found a piece of precious treasure. He silently kept that to himself, hiding it from his fellow priests for a good while as he continued searching. Having gotten all the information he needed, he drafted out a claim, figuratively speaking, his 95 theses. Then he went and nailed it to the Wittenberg Castle door of the Roman Catholic Church. He sold back all the religious things he had gotten from the field of that woman, Jezebel, and bought the field of God from where he had found the piece of treasure. The words from the realm of the Roman Church had nothing to offer mankind but lies, whereas those from the realm of the Lord Jesus Christ had many treasures to offer truth seekers of God. There were men like John Calvin who discovered the treasure of Eternal Security of the True Believer, and John Knox, the treasure of Predestination. It is true that many of the treasures were just nuggets but they produced enough excitement among the true worshippers, urging them to take a closer look in the realm of God. "Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money; come ye, buy, and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price. Wherefore do ye spend money for that which is not bread? and your labour for that which satisfieth not? hearken diligently unto me, and eat ye that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness" (Isaiah 55:1-2).

Just a short time before the Reformation started and Protestantism came into the picture, Christopher Columbus discovered the New World – America. With that discovery, many in Europe were able to find freedom away from the oppression and bondage of the Roman Catholic Church. Not only was that Roman Church wounded by the Reformation, but by about 300 years later, in 1808, Napoleon Bonaparte dethroned the pope, deepening the wound on the head of the monstrous Beast (cf. Revelation13:3).

The Parable of the Pearl of Great Price – Matthew 13:45-46

45  Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a merchant man, seeking goodly pearls:

46  Who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had, and bought it.

With the close of the Sardisean Church Age, we enter into the Philadelphia’s (Revelation 3:7-13). Unlike the man we read in the fifth parable, this man was a merchant by trade. He was in the business looking out for beautiful and valuable pearls. This man was the preacher John Wesley, the messenger to the age of Philadelphia, an age of brotherly kindness.

John Wesley was the 15th of 19 children born to his pious parents. They were from the Church of England, the half sister to the Roman Church. In the period when he was born, the standard of morals in England was ebbing. Gambling, drinking and fighting were common every day events. John Wesley was a well-educated Anglican minister. Desiring to be a missionary and to evangelize the American Indians, he went to Georgia, USA, only to be discouraged. He thought he had something valuable to sell but the American Indians did not want it. After two years, he sailed home to England. He wrote, "I went to America to convert Indians; but oh, who shall convert me?" Despite his good education and serving God, Wesley had no peace with God in his heart. Wesley had every outward appearance of being a marvelous Christian, yet his heart wasn't converted – and he knew it. He belonged to the "Holy Club" in college. He was a pastor. He was a missionary. Yet he wasn't really saved.

On May 24, 1738, at a Moravian Christian gathering, while listening to the reading of Luther’s preface to his "Commentary on Romans", Wesley’s heart was "strangely warmed". He had received a revelation. Then and there he trusted Christ alone for his salvation from sin. With that he began to seek further into the Word and God began to reveal to him the need for a clean lifestyle, a holy living. He began to see a pearl of great price – Sanctification. Yes, John Wesley did not only believe in "the just shall live by faith" but also that "without peace and holiness, no man shall see the Lord". What he once had out of that cold system of the Church of England was nothing short of "having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof" (cf. 2 Timothy 3:5). He sold that which he had and purchased the "pearl of great price".

On horseback, Wesley rode throughout England and preached to many in the mountains and coal mining towns. Many were converted. There was such a great revival in that hour. But most of the bishops of the Church of England were wary and they would not reform. They closed the doors of their churches on Wesley and his teaching. Rejected but undeterred, Wesley declared "the world is my parish".

Wesley’s "pearl of great price" became known as the doctrine of Sanctification, Consecration and Dedication unto God. His followers were taught to approach their religious activities methodically and with a disciplined life. Hence, they were called Methodists. Many of his followers migrated to America with his message and established a strong Methodist Church before Wesley died on 2 March, 1791.

 

The Parable of the Dragnet – Matthew 13:47-52

47  Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a net, that was cast into the sea, and gathered of every kind:

48  Which, when it was full, they drew to shore, and sat down, and gathered the good into vessels, but cast the bad away.

49  So shall it be at the end of the world: the angels shall come forth, and sever the wicked from among the just,

50  And shall cast them into the furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth.

51  Jesus saith unto them, Have ye understood all these things? They say unto him, Yea, Lord.

52  Then said he unto them, Therefore every scribe which is instructed unto the kingdom of heaven is like unto a man that is an householder, which bringeth forth out of his treasure things new and old.

This is the last of the seven parables and it depicts the last of the Seven Church Ages – Laodicea (Rev.3:14-22). Christ was revealing the consummation of the Gospel (Grace) Age. Remember in the second parable (20 years after the start of the Church), the tares that appeared among the wheat were left to grow alongside until the time of the harvest (the end of the Grace Age). They then would be gathered first and bound up, ready for the burning. The seventh parable appears to be similar but only to some degree. What we see here is the final great Gospel revival of preaching the Word of God to the masses of people around the world. In the parable, the fishing net that was cast into the sea was not an ordinary and commonly used cast net.  It was a dragnet, a large fishing net. And when it was full, it took as many fishermen as were required to drag and haul it to shore. On the shore the catch was then separated. When such a great net is cast into the sea, it is inevitable to find every sort of creature from the sea in the net. What the Lord was looking for, in casting the great net, were the fishes – the "good" stuff.

The great net was cast in the early 20th Century. It was so enormous that every religious sort in the sea of humanity found their way into the net. Upon sorting, "spiritual" fishes that were the good (virtuous, beautiful, valuable) were gathered into vessels. The "religious" bad (worthless, rotten), such as jellyfishes, crabs, turtles, sharks, octopuses, eels, crayfishes, sea sluts, etc., were thrown away. (Remember that the Jews understood which sea creatures were lawful, and which were not, to be eaten.)

We are now living in the age where we do not only see the separation of the tares (false seeds) from the wheat (true seeds), but also the gathering of the good (true elect who are beautiful, virtuous and valuable in God’s eye for they conform to the Word) and the throwing away of the bad (make-believers who are rotten and worthless for they do not conform to the Word) in the Kingdom of Heaven.

The revival under John Wesley went on for a good long while in the 19th Century before it began its decline. The movement found itself dividing into many groups, a result of squabbling over certain doctrines. There were also other movements of Christian groups throughout Europe and America. By the end of the century, there were hungry souls crying out for more from God and this caused God to send a wave of revival at the turn of the 20th Century with a great number of souls speaking in tongues. This was the beginning of Christ’s final ministry to gather unto Himself an end time group of true worshippers before His return. Church History marked the year 1906 as the beginning of the revival in which we see the various spiritual gifts of God – prophecies, faith, miracles, divine healing and others, being poured out upon the believers.

"Wherefore tongues are for a sign, not to them that believe, but to them that believe not:.." (1 Cor.14:22a). God was using tongues to draw the attention of the unbelievers and also that of the vast number of nominal Christians. However, by 1913 there was much schism in the movement, which soon led to the teaching that the "initial evidence" of having the Holy Spirit was to "speak in tongues". It was strictly taught regardless of the fact that it was contrary to the Scriptures which states that "tongues" was a sign to the unbelievers, that it was a gift to the church, and that not all believers spoke in tongues (cf. 1 Cor.12).

The evidence of having the Holy Spirit is not in the "speaking of tongues" but the love for the Word of God as He reveals It. Consider the words of our Lord Jesus Christ: "Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come. He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and shall shew it unto you. All things that the Father hath are mine: therefore said I, that he shall take of mine, and shall shew it unto you" (Jhn.16:13-15). It is this love for the Word of God, the love for the Truth, that is the evidence of having the Holy Spirit because God is in His Word. The Spirit and the Word are one. Hence, the Holy Spirit is given to lead and guide a believer into God’s true revelation of His Word. God is also love and if one has the Spirit, he has the love of God. Without that love then all is vanity (cf. 1 Cor.13).

When the Holy Spirit was poured out upon the true worshippers as they sought more from God, they not only spoke in tongues, but they also received the revelation of the One True God and His Redemptive Name in Water Baptism. Like the true worshippers on the Day of Pentecost, they had no difficulty in accepting the truth. They all turned away from the false and pagan doctrine of a Holy Trinity of God to the true doctrine of One God, and from Water Baptism in the triune titles of Father, Son and Holy Spirit to Water Baptism in the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ. They knew that to put on Christ, one had to take His Name in the New Birth. But soon carnality, intellectualism and power struggles appeared, groups began to be formed, and slowly many moved away from those revelations to focus on the so-called "initial evidence" of speaking in tongues as proof of the Baptism of the Holy Spirit.

The outpouring of the Holy Spirit was not to confront the world with the Gospel of Jesus Christ as much as it was to confront those caught in the great net with the complete Word of the Almighty God. Each caught within the net was either good or bad. Jesus said, "If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him" (Jhn.14:23). Every believer must take heed to the doctrines found in the Word. "Take heed unto thyself, and unto the doctrine; continue in them: for in doing this thou shalt both save thyself, and them that hear thee" (1Tim.4:16). For centuries the churches had so misplaced the Truth of God but now every elect must line up with the Word of His Beloved. Everyone’s doctrinal standing would be tested for there would appear a ministry that would take every believer to the Word to determine if they were one with the Word. The last verse in the parable itself revealed such a ministry. "Therefore every scribe which is instructed unto the kingdom of heaven is like unto a man that is an householder, which bringeth forth out of his treasure things new and old." Recall how the two words "man" and "merchant" were used to describe the "minister" in the 5th and 6th parables respectively. Here the word used was "scribe" to denote a particular office. A scribe is a gifted man devoted to the study, writing and teaching of the Scriptures. He is very particular about the "iota" and "tittle" of the Word of God. Notice further in the verse, "every scribe which is instructed unto the kingdom of heaven" denotes that there would be men of God who were specially instructed in the mysteries of the Kingdom of Heaven. They are instructed (taught) by the Spirit of God and not by men. Each of them would be as "unto a man that is an householder, which bringeth forth out of his treasure things new and old", that is, each of them was as an owner of a repository of treasure from which he would show forth new (fresh) and old (familiar) revelations to his household of God’s family.

Now, the ministry began with a little man by the name of William Marrion Branham of Jeffersonville, Indiana, USA. As the great net was being cast, William M. Branham was the man God used greatly to bring about a wave of emphasis on salvation, Holy Spirit baptism, divine healing, miracles and prophecies just after the First World War. He was given not only the gift of healing the sick but also the gift of "discerning the secrets of men’s hearts". The latter gift is not one of the nine gifts of the Spirit known as the "gift of discerning of spirits" (1 Cor.12:10) as many had insisted, but it is actually a gift that had manifested in only one other person – Jesus Christ when He came as the Son of Man. To Bible students, the gift is known as the "sign of the Messiah". The return of this gift fulfilled the words of Jesus Christ in Luke 17:30, cf. 17:22, to reveal once again the ministry of the Son of Man on the earth. [For more understanding, read my message entitled: The Coming of Christ.] The Jews, to whom Jesus Christ first came, had seen the SIGN in action. With the Grace Age closing, the Gentiles were given the opportunity to see the same SIGN in operation (in William Branham) before Christ returns to take His Bride away.

Through the ministry of William Branham, the revival caused many in the divided Church World, including the Pentecostals – the Oneness and the Trinitarians, to leave their denominations when they received the revelation of the Word of God. Christians began to see that God had truly sent a prophet. Many other men caught the vision and joined in the casting of the great net. Unfortunately, the eyes of many of those men were focused on the outward move of God rather then on the inward move of the Holy Spirit in bringing believers closer towards the Word of God. They soon compromised the Word for popularity and wealth, using their ministries to get them further in this world.

As the great net was being hauled onto shore, the catch was being separated – the good from the bad. As the angels of the Lord were sent out (in 1948) to gather the tares (false seeds which formed the false churches) and to bind them together under the World Council of Churches for the burning, so the Lord also sent His angels to separate those caught in the great net. All creatures that came into the great net might have moved and swayed religiously but they certainly were not all the "good". Through the Word each would be tested for his worth. Hence, we see Christ fanning His threshing floor thoroughly (Matthew 3:11-12). Just after the mid-1950, the Lord began then to use the same little man, William Branham, to get the believers to pay attention to the teaching of the Word of God. Christ had a message for the believers and His messenger was the little man.

William Branham began to strike out at the organized churches, at their ideas, at their programs, at their creeds and dogmas, etc., crying out to them to "COME BACK TO THE WORD OF GOD!" He was the first "scribe" to take out from his treasure box things new, such as the revelation of the Seven Seals (which was never revealed in ages past). He also took out things old, such as the individual doctrines that the different Reformers taught in the early years but which they and their followers had trouble accepting those not their own. Branham gathered all of them together and correctly placed them in the Word and told the believers to walk in it. All major apostolic doctrines, that the organized churches had chosen to bury in their archives, were set in order. Branham emphasized ceaselessly on the need to STAY WITH THE WORD to be perfected in preparation for the coming of Christ. He also put great emphasis on the revelation of the One True God and the Water Baptism in the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ. The creatures in the great net were all facing the Word of God as the call for a total separation from unbelief was made. The message was to restore the saints to the Apostolic Faith before a Five-fold ministry comes, according to Ephesians 4, to perfect them. If there were no separation from unbelief, perfecting the Church would be impossible.

No, the majority of the Christendom would never accept the fact that God had sent a little man with a message of restoration to rouse the Church in the Word (according to Malachi 4:5-6) for a Five-fold ministry, which was to come, that would take the Church to perfection. On the other hand, there are a great number of followers of this messenger, running around the world, teaching merely by quoting the oral words of the little man, verbatim, from some two thousands of his sermons recorded on magnetic tapes. They insist that "you have to say exactly what he said or else you are not in the message", something that Branham had never said. This group of people would never believe in a Five-fold ministry of Ephesians 4 that takes and stands upon the Scriptures (the same Bible that the messenger used) and perfects the Church for her translation. In fact, the deceptive and seductive spirits that fell upon the churches in Christendom has also fallen on this group of "believers". These "believers" are not only building up their churches on a collection of statements of Branham, some are also being led into a cultic worship of God’s messenger instead of the Lord God Who sent him. Satan has stolen the Truth that they heard.

With the passing away of William Branham, the ministry of separation continues under the Five-fold ministry of the Apostles, Prophets, Evangelists, Pastors and Teachers (Eph.4:11-16), with certain "scribes" in the Apostolic ministry bringing out more treasures, new and old, as the Lord continues to perfect the "good" (the elect) for His return.

So, it is with this final great revival of the casting of the great net that God set the stage for the parable of the Ten Virgins, recorded in Matthew 25:1-13, which this seventh parable overlapped, just as it was overlapped by the second parable.

Part 2...

"Declare unto us…"       There were men like John Calvin who discovered  the treasure of Eternal Security of the True Believer,  and John Knox, the treasure of Predestination.       Wesley’s "pearl of great price" became known  as the doctrine of Sanctification, Consecration  and Dedication unto God. .   .     The great net was cast in the early 20th Century.  When the Holy Spirit was poured out upon the  true worshippers  they also received the  revelation of the One True God and His  Redemptive Name in Water Baptism.  So, it is with this final great revival of the  casting of the great net that God set the  stage for the parable of the Ten Virgins,  recorded in Matthew 25:1-13, which this  seventh parable overlapped, just as it was  overlapped by the second parable.   Part 2...