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Alright, we're in Matthew chapter 25 and we're going to primarily focus on the first parable that we see there in Matthew chapter 25. The title of the sermon this evening is Rightly Dividing the Ten Virgins. Rightly Dividing the Ten Virgins. Now when you think of that phrase, Rightly Dividing, you often think of the text verse where it says, Rightly Dividing the Word of Truth. What does it mean to rightly divide something? It means to compare scripture with scripture. When you rightly divide the word of truth, you're comparing scripture with scripture. So we're going to compare these ten virgins one with another to basically figure out what is it that God's talking about within this parable. Now this sermon actually came, was inspired by David Rios. He was preaching this sermon on Matthew 25 on Friday for the preaching night. I was like, man, this is a good sermon. This is a good sermon. I'm jacking your sermon, brother, alright? And so I didn't post this sermon because I didn't want people to, no I'm just kidding. His is up. As I was reading, I thought to myself, this would make for a great sermon, a lot of good stuff in here. So we're going to go over. Let's start reading verse number one. It says, 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. 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 tarry, 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 those 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 went in with him to the marriage, and the door was shut. Afterward came also the other virgins, saying, Lord, Lord, open to us. He answered and said, Verily I say unto you, I know you not, watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour, wherein the Son of Man cometh. Now before we get it started as far as explaining what this parable means, let me go ahead and explain what a parable is, okay? A parable is simply a story or an illustration that describes a specific doctrine. It enlightens us. It basically helps us to understand a biblical principle or doctrine a little more further. Now we can't base our doctrine off of parables, because parables are illustrations. They're simply stories to enlighten us regarding doctrine, but we can't go to specific parables to learn doctrine. It simply enlightens us of doctrine. And the problem is, is that a lot of churches, false cults specifically, they'll use parables to teach doctrine, okay? Rather than going to clear teachings of scripture to learn doctrine, they use parables. And to be quite honest with you, a lot of times Christians stumble at parables, okay? Because they'll return parables, and it almost sounds like you could lose your salvation. You know, you have the servant going into outer darkness, there'll be weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth. And they'll say, why is it that the servant of God is being cast down into outer darkness? Or they'll read about the children of the kingdom, who's cast down into outer darkness, there shall be weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth. And a lot of times they don't know how to reconcile these stories as far as what does it mean? How can it be applied to us? Is it talking about Christians? Is it not? What is it? You'll read about the servant who's beaten with many stripes. And then what? He's appointed his portion with the unbelievers, talking about hell, okay? People say, man, well, what is that? I mean, is the servant not saved? Did he lose his salvation? No, you can't, but that's what it seems to allude to. Well, we obviously know that you can't lose your salvation, and we obviously know that that's not what the Bible's teaching, so let's go ahead and reconcile what that means. Well, what a lot of people don't understand is that, or what they stumble at, is often these parables, what confuses people in these parables, are the titles given to the people. You see, they look at something like the servant or the children, and automatically they think, well, it's referring to all Christians. It's referring to all saved people. But what they don't understand, and really what will help them to understand these parables a lot better, is that when it's referring to servants or children, it's often referring to two groups of people, saved and unsaved, or Old Testament Israel, specifically, and New Testament believers, specifically in the book of Matthew. We see parables that uses these phrases and these terms in different gospels, but specifically in the book of Matthew. Now, a lot of people will say, well, yeah, well, Matthew's geared towards the Jews, and they're right, but you know what the problem is with their way of thinking that it's geared towards the Jews? It's not in a good manner that God is talking about the Jews. Now we're going to look this evening at this specific parable. There's many that we can go to, but we're going to specifically study the one in Matthew chapter 25 regarding the 10 virgins. Now we're going to look at the similarities, and then we're going to look at the vast differences between the two. Look at verse number one. It says here, then shall the kingdom of heaven be likened unto 10 virgins, which took their lamps and went forth to meet the bridegroom. Now, right off the bat, let's just go ahead and break this down. It says 10 virgins. Why does it use the phrase, or why does it use the title as virgin? Now go with me, if you would, to Exodus chapter 19. Exodus chapter 19. Now keep in mind that this parable, right off the bat, in context of what we see with the other parables in Matthew, is referring to Old Testament Israel, okay, in comparison to people who are believers, people who are saved, right? But why does it use the term virgin there? Well, a virgin is someone who is pure, okay? More specifically, if you even look at a basic definition of what a virgin is, it's something that's without mixture. It's pure, right? It's what the Bible would call sincere. It's without mixture. It's not being modified or anything. It's something that's set apart. You guys get that? So look at Exodus chapter 19 in verse number 5. It says here, now therefore, if you will obey my voice indeed and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people, for all the earth is mine. Ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, then in holy nation. These are the words which thou shall speak unto the children of Israel. So we see that in the Old Testament, these five virgins that we see in Matthew chapter 25 is a picture of the nation of Israel. Why? Because they were as a virgin. They were set apart unto the Lord, okay? Go to Deuteronomy chapter 14. We see there in Exodus that they were a peculiar treasure. They were a kingdom of priests. The Bible says that they were a holy nation. That's why this Matthew chapter 25 refers to five of those virgins, I mean, excuse me, all 10 of them as being virgins. They're set apart. Look at Deuteronomy 14 in verse number 1. Ye are the children of the Lord your God. Ye shall not cut yourselves nor make any baldness between your eyes for the dead. For thou art a holy people unto the Lord thy God, and the Lord hath chosen thee to be a peculiar people unto himself above all nations that are upon the earth. Now go to Jeremiah chapter 31. I'll read to you from Psalms 135 verse number 4 where the Bible reads here, for the Lord hath chosen Jacob unto himself and Israel for his peculiar treasure. See, no one's arguing that the Jews were not God's chosen people at all. The Jews were God's chosen people. Israel was God's chosen people at one time. But guess what? That was in the Old Testament that they were a chosen nation. They were the peculiar people. They were a holy nation. They were as the Bible would say in Matthew 25, virgin, okay? They were set apart. They were pure unto the Lord. And in fact, in Jeremiah chapter 31 and verse 31, look what it says here, behold the days come saith the Lord, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah, not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, which my covenant they break, although I was a what? Husband unto them, saith the Lord. So you see that picture there that in the Old Testament, God was a husband unto Israel, that virgin, that group of people that was set apart, okay? Now it was a conditional thing though. They were to be God's people if they kept God's commandments. But as soon as they decided not to keep God's commandments, to worship other gods, guess what? That covenant was broken. And in fact, God specifically told Moses regarding Israel, they're going to know my breach of promise. Oh no, it's an everlasting covenant. He's told them, you'll know my breach of promise. You breach my promise. I'll breach the promise as well. You disobey the commandments that I give you in the Bible, I'll go ahead and break that covenant just like that. Now go to Hebrews chapter number eight, if you would. Hebrews chapter number eight. Now I'm going to read to you from Ephesians chapter two, verse number 11, it says, Wherefore remember that ye being in time past Gentiles in the flesh, who are called uncircumcision by that which is called the circumcision in the flesh made by hands, that at the time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ. For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall partition between us, having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances, for to making himself of twain one new man, so making peace. So the first five virgins, who are they? That's Old Testament Israel. Who are the other five? That's New Testament believers. Now Hebrews chapter eight and verse number eight is a reference to Jeremiah chapter 31. Now keep in mind, what does he say? I was a husband unto them in Jeremiah chapter 31. But now look what it says in verse number eight of Hebrews chapter eight, For finding fault with them, he saith, Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah, not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers, in the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt, because they continue not in my covenant, and I regard them not, saith the Lord. So in Jeremiah chapter 31, when they were a virgin, when they were set apart, guess what? He was a husband unto them. But what do we see in Hebrews chapter eight, which is the New Testament according to Ephesians two and Hebrews eight, that he doesn't regard them anymore, as being that virgin, that set apart nation, that peculiar treasure, that holy nation of kings and priests. He doesn't regard them anymore, okay? Now go to Ephesians chapter five, Ephesians chapter number five, Ephesians chapter five. Now what are the similarities here that we see of this parable? Well they're all virgin, all 10 of them. The five were set apart into God in the Old Testament, and there's other five that are set apart in the New Testament as well. Now the five in the Old Testament breach that promise, therefore they're no longer the chosen people of God, but the five in the New Testament, which is all believers, is still set apart. Look at Ephesians 5, 25, husbands, love your wives. Even as Christ also loved the church and gave himself for it, that he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, that he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that it should be holy and without blemish. This is talking about believers, okay? You don't have to turn there, but 2 Corinthians 11, one says, what to God you could bear with me a little in my folly, and indeed bear with me, for I am jealous over you with a godly jealousy, for I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a, what, chaste virgin to Christ. So right off the bat, within this parable, you see the reason he chooses the word, the term virgin, is because they were set apart. Five were set apart in the Old Testament, five are now set apart in the New Testament. And when we refer to five, we're referring to the nations just in general. In the Old Testament, it was the physical nation. In the New Testament, it's the nation of believers, okay? But that's a similarity that they shared one with another. Go to 1 Peter chapter 2. That's a similarity that they both shared. Now in Exodus, we saw that there were a holy people, a chosen generation. Look at 1 Peter chapter 2, verse number 6. We'll start in verse number 7. And unto you therefore which believe, he is precious. But unto them which be disobedient, the stone which the builders disallowed, the same is made the head of the corner, a stone of stumbling, a rock of offense. Even to them which stumble at the word, being disobedient, where unto also they were appointed. But ye, referring to believers, are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, and holy nation of peculiar people, that ye should show forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Verse 10, which in time past were not a people, they were not God's chosen people, but are now the people of God which had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy. So what's the first similarity that we see? The first similarity is they're both virgins, they're both set apart at one point, okay? Now go back to Matthew chapter 25. That's why he uses the phrase, virgin. These 10 virgins, these were both people who were set apart unto the Lord. They were pure at one point. Five were pure at one point, five are still pure. Now look at Matthew 25, verse number one, it says, then shall the kingdom of heaven be likened unto 10 virgins, which took their what? Lamps, okay? Now here's another similar thing that they had, not only were they virgins, both groups had lamps. Now what does that have to do with anything? Well, what is a lamp in the Bible? A lamp is referring to the word of God. In fact, the Bible says in Psalms 119, 105, thy word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path. So what is the similarity between those 10 virgins is that they both had the word of God. Okay, go to Romans chapter three. Romans chapter three, I'm gonna read to you from Proverbs 6, 23, where it says, for the commandment is a lamp and the law is light and reproofs of instruction are the way of life, the Bible says. So over and over again, we see that the word of God is compared to a lamp. That's a similarity that we see in both Old Testament physical nation of Israel and New Testament believers is that they both had access to the lamp. And in fact, look at Romans chapter three and verse number one, it says, what advantage did it have to Jew? By the way, it says advantage, not superiority, amen. Or what profit is there of the circumcision, much every way chiefly because unto them were committed the oracles of God. God gave them the word of God. Skip down to verse 17. Look at verse 17. It says, behold, thou art called a Jew and restest in the law and makest thy boast of God and knowest his will and approves the things that are more excellent, being instructed out of the law and are confident that thou thyself are a guide of the blind. Look what it says, a light of them which are in darkness, an instructor of the foolish, a teacher of babes, which has the form of knowledge and of the truth in the law. Thou therefore, which teacheth another, teacheth not thyself. Thou that preacheth the man shall not steal, dost thou steal? Thou that sayeth the man shall not commit adultery, dost thou commit adultery? Thou that abhorrest the idols, dost thou commit sacrilege? Thou that makest thy boast of the law through breaking the law dishonors thou God, for the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles through you as it is written. So what do we see of these five Old Testament physical nation virgins is that they also had the word of God. You know, it was unto them that God committed these oracles, but what happened? They failed in actually using it to evangelize the world. They became self-centered. They became, it was all about them. And we see that even in the New Testament with the Pharisees and the Sadducees in Judaism, it was all about them. They felt they were superior to everyone else, okay? Now go with me if you would to Proverbs, or go to Matthew chapter 8. Matthew chapter 8. I'm going to read to you from Leviticus chapter 24 and verse number 1 says, And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Command the children of Israel, that they bring unto thee pure oil, olive beaten for the light, to cause the lamps to burn continually. Now we'll look at it later on, but what is the oil picture of? It's the Holy Spirit. So and the Bible says that my words that I speak unto you, they are spirit and they are life, right? And God had ordained them in the Old Testament and said, hey, you need oil to put within the light to cause it to burn continually. Well, what happened with the nation of Israel? Many of them weren't even saved later on in the New Testament. The Bible says that he came into his own and his own received them not. They weren't able to burn continually. It wasn't a continual covenant because they broke God's laws. You don't have to turn to Isaiah 42 verse 6 says, I the Lord have called thee in righteousness, and I will hold thine hand and will keep thee and give thee for a covenant of the people, for a light of the Gentiles. So they were supposed to take those oracles, that lamp that God had given to them and deputized them with to go out and reach the Gentiles. But what did they do instead? They abhorred the Gentiles. Okay, they called them dogs and today they call them goyems or whatever. You know, they have, they despise those who are not Jews. They despise those who are not a part of the house of Israel, whereas the God said, hey, I commit unto you the oracles of God to evangelize the world, not just to keep it within yourself. So the Old Testament, Israel had the lamp. They had the word of God. You don't have to turn to Proverbs 13, 9 says, the light of the righteous rejoiceth, but the lamp of the wicked shall be put out. So what do we see today with Israel? That their lamp has been put out. They don't use the word of God. That's why people say, well, you know, they just believe in the first five books of the Bible. No, their lamp is put out. They don't even use the first five books. They use the black light of the Talmud. You know, they use some light that you can't even see with and they, and now you have, you even have Christians who, who go to these unsaved Jewish rabbis to try to learn the word of God. The veil is over their, their hearts, the Bible says. They can't see anything. Why? Because their lamp has been put out. They know, they can't understand. They don't know the word of God. Don't come at me with Jewish terminologies and you know, Yeshua and all these other stupid terms and phrases that you want to use. Oh, but you know, I learned it from a rabbi. Yeah, he's blind. His lamp has been put out. Okay. Matthew 8 12, it says, but the children of the kingdom, referring to the Jews, children of the kingdom shall be cast down into outer darkness. There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. The Bible says, this is not referring to saved people. Saved people don't go to hell. This is referring to the children of kingdom of Israel. They shall be put out. Why? Because their lamp has been put out. They rejected the Lord. You don't have to turn to Isaiah 62 verse 1 says, for Zion's sake will I not hold my peace and for Jerusalem's sake will I not rest until the righteousness thereof go forth as brightness and the salvation thereof as a lamp that burneth and the Gentiles shall see thy righteousness and all the kings thy glory and now shall be called by a new name which the mouth of the Lord shall name. You see the lamp that we have, the word of God that they had is supposed to go out and be propagated to see people saved. That is the purpose of it. Now go to 2 Corinthians chapter number 5. So five virgins had the lamp, but we see that in the Old Testament they did nothing with those, with that lamp. They kept it to themselves. They rejected the word of the Lord. Well, what about the other five virgins? Well, here we are. You know what we're doing with the lamp that God has given to us? We're propagating the gospel. We're preaching the gospel to every creature. We're making sure that we're fulfilling the great commission to the best of our abilities and our Jerusalem, et cetera. In fact, look what 2 Corinthians 5 19 says, to wit that God was in Christ reconciling the word unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation, the Bible says. So God has committed to us the word of God, not because we're anything special, but because he wants us to propagate it. He wants us to preach the word of God. Okay, go back to Matthew 25. So we see those similarities. And by the way, those are the only similarities that we'll have with the Old Testament Israel. Okay. Oh, we're just like the same people. No, we're not. They're going to hell. We're not. That's like a big difference right there. Okay. The biggest similarities that we have is that at one point they were set apart. They were like virgins. They were set apart unto the Lord. The one similarities that we have is that the oracles were committed unto them just as the word of reconciliation is committed unto us. They had a lamp. We have a lamp. Okay. Now let's look at the differences. Okay. Look at Matthew chapter 25 and verse number 1. It says, then shall the kingdom of heaven be likened unto ten virgins which took their lamps and went forth to meet the bridegroom. By the way, that's Jesus Christ. And five of them were wise and five were foolish. They that were foolish took their lamps and took no oil with them. But the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps. Now, hold your place there and go to Matthew chapter 7. So people will stumble at this and say, man, does that mean like I have to be wise? You know, do I have to be like a wise person to be saved or something because he's going to come and I'm going to miss his second coming? Well, a lot of these Pentecostal churches will teach something like that. You know, you got to make sure you, you know, you're steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord. I find it funny that everyone who believes in a workspace salvation will quote every single commandment, but none of those commandments have a condition of being saved. What about the ten commandments? What about the ten commandments? Well, it says thou shall not bear false witness. Does it say thou shall not bear false witness and thou shall be saved? You know, thou shall not steal, but does it say that thou shall be saved if thou does not steal? No. You see, we need to look at conditions. And by the way, our Baptist brethren have that same error because they think that the Jews are still God's chosen people, but they're ignoring the condition, what it takes to be God's chosen people. Okay. So the five, there's five that were wise. These represent the saved people and there are five that were foolish and these represent the unsaved. Now look at Matthew 7 verse 24 and it'll explain to us why that is. The Bible says here in verse 24, therefore whosoever hear these sayings of mine and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man which built his house upon a rock and the rain descended and the floods came and the winds blew and beat upon that house and it fell not for it was founded upon a rock. And we know according to first Corinthians chapter 10, that rock is Christ. You see what you build upon your foundation are the works that you do. However, the foundation that you lay is in reference to your salvation. Well, we're building our, if you build your house upon the rock, the foundation is Christ. That means you've trusted Christ as your savior. Okay. That's what that means is that you're saved. That's why a person who does that is wise. And that's why the five wise ones have oil in them, which represents the Holy Spirit. Why? Because they trusted in Christ. They trusted in the bridegroom. Okay. Now look further, verse 26 says, and everyone that hears these sayings of mine and doeth them not shall be liken them to a foolish man which built his house upon the sand and the rain descended and the floods came and the winds blew and beat upon that house and fell and grave was the fall of a, you know, I was raped and fell so much and fell right into hell. It's where it doesn't build hazard foundation on the walk, which is Jesus Christ. You're not saved. The foundation is the most important thing. And I preached about that a couple of weeks ago or a little over a month ago in first Corinthians chapter three, where the Bible talks about what our foundation is and what we build there upon are two different things. Okay. It's important that we build upon, you know, make sure we're working, but you got to make sure you have the right foundation, which is going to make sure you're safe. That's why you have all these different religions that are working and the Jehovah's Witnesses are out there dragging their feet for hours on end. They're building something, but guess what? They're building on sand. Foundation of sand. Same thing with the Mormons. Same thing with the Pentecostals. Anybody who's a workspace salvation type of Christianity, they're building their house upon the sand. They can do all they want and build upon that. But eventually their fall is going to be great, so great they're going to fall right and down. Whereas us, those who are saved, though he fall, like I said, he shall not be utterly cast down for the Lord, upholding him with his hand. And it just then falls seven times and what? Rises up again. We're saved. Okay. So five of our wives proved that they were saved. And it's further proven later on in the verses that the foolish ones are not saved. Now look at, go back to Matthew chapter 25 and verse three. It says, they that were foolish took their lands and took no oil with them, but the wise took oil in their vessels with their lambs. Now, I already mentioned this, but the oil in the Bible is often a picture of the Holy Spirit. Okay. And this is a very important doctrine that we understand that when we get saved, when we believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, we're sealed with the Holy Spirit promise that they have redemption. So it's not something like we have to wait for after salvation. You have to wait after you speak in tongues or something. Or you have to wait until you have visions and dreams. The Bible says you're sealed with the Holy Spirit promise unto the day of redemption. And that happens when you believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. So that's the picture there. Now, let me show you something. Go to first Samuel chapter 10. So again, this parable isn't a reference to saved and unsaved, but more specifically, is in reference to Old Testament physical nation of Israel and New Testament believers. Now, if you read the Old Testament, obviously you have two prominent kings that are very famous, very well known. Okay. You have the first king of Israel, which is who? Saul. He was the first one. Okay. Who came after him? David. Right? Now look at first Samuel chapter 10 and verse number one. Saul represents Old Testament Israel. And David represents New Testament believers. Look what it says in verse number one. Then Samuel took a vial of oil and poured it upon his head and kissed him and said, is it not because the Lord has anointed me to be captain over his inheritance? Let's talk about Saul. So he's anointed, right? God has anointed him. Look at verse number six. The spirit of the Lord will come upon me. Thou shall prophesy with them and it shall be turned into another man. By the way, this verifies, this verifies that Saul was saved. He was the saved man because the spirit of God came upon him and he was turned into another man. Verse number seven says, and let it be when these signs are coming to thee, that thou do as occasion serve thee, for God is with thee. Skip down to verse nine. And it was so that when he had turned his back to go from Samuel, God gave him another heart and all those signs came to pass that day. So the immediate interpretation of this is that Saul was saved. Some people will say, well, no, he committed suicide so he wouldn't save us. Saved people committed suicide all the time. You know, you think of Samson who was definitely a saved man. I don't think anyone would question whether he was saved or not. He committed suicide. Some of the people in the Bible who were saved committed some very wicked sins, but it doesn't mean that they weren't saved. Moses murdered a man. David committed murder as well. He committed adultery. A lot of people made a lot of bad mistakes, but that doesn't mean that they're not saved. They were capable of a lot of bad sins. Right? So this is proof right here that he was saved because the Holy Spirit came upon him. Now, go to 1 Samuel, chapter 16. So in 1 Samuel, chapter 10, we see Samuel anointing, or excuse me, in 16 we see Samuel anointing David, right? To be the new king, and Saul, what's happening to him? He's being dethroned. And by the way, why is he being dethroned? Because he rejected the word of the Lord. And in fact, Samuel specifically tells Saul, because now as rejected the word of the Lord, the Lord has rejected thee from being king over Israel. Hint, hint. Right? And by the way, once he's dethroned, his descendants never take the throne ever again. Right? Right? His sons never take the throne of Israel ever again. David's kingdom was a perpetual kingdom. His descendants would reign all the way up until Christ. It was a perpetual one. Now look at verse 13. It says, then Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the midst of his brethren, and the Spirit of the Lord came upon David from that day forward. So Samuel rose up and went to Ramah. But the Spirit of the Lord, what? Departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the Lord troubled him. And Saul's servant said unto him, Behold now, an evil spirit from God troubleth thee. Now this doesn't mean he wasn't no longer saved, because we understand that salvation cannot be lost, but the power of God was taken from Saul. The Spirit of the Lord was taken from Saul, just as the Spirit of the Lord has been taken away from Israel as a physical nation. Now, look at 1 Samuel 15. So David is anointed king, Saul is the throne, David is anointed with the Spirit of God now, and Saul no longer has that spirit. In fact, an evil spirit has taken over Saul. And what are we seeing today with these Christ-rejected Jews? The same exact thing. An evil spirit within the Jews. You look at, you research any evil in the world, it will come back to the Jews. Something as wicked as pedophilia. Go back right to the Jews. Human trafficking. Right back to the Jews. Taste your wrath. Right back to the Jews. Why? Because they have been injected with an evil spirit. Wicked people. Look at 1 Samuel 15 verse 26, and Samuel said unto Saul, I will not return with thee, for thou hast rejected the word of the Lord, and the Lord hath rejected thee from being king over Israel. And as Samuel turned about to go away, he laid hold upon the skirt of his mantle, and it rent. And Samuel said unto him, The Lord hath rent the kingdom of Israel from thee this day, and hath given it to a neighbor of thine that is better than thou. So he said, because you have rejected the word of the Lord, God has also rejected thee. The kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given forth to someone who is better than you. Does that sound familiar? Amen. The kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof. Amen. Amen. So Saul has a picture of that Old Testament physical nation of Israel. Why? Because the kingdom of God was taken from him. And guess what? He never got it back. And guess what? The physical nation of Israel will never get it back. Amen. And look, in the New Testament it says, the nation bringing forth the fruits thereof. What does it say to Samuel? What's Saul? Better than you. Amen. Someone who is better than you. But who is someone who is better than you? Someone who is actually producing fruits. Someone who is taking the ministry, the word of reconciliation, and propagating the gospel. You know, God has a picture of that. And look, in the New Testament it says, the nation bringing forth the fruits thereof. What does it say to Samuel? What's Saul? Better than you. You know, God is not a respecter of people, but when it comes to his work, yeah, you'll bless those who are actually doing the work of God. And you'll say, yeah, that's better. That's better. Okay. So can you see there how Saul can be a picture of the Old Testament physical nation of Israel? I mean, it's picture perfect. At one point he was anointed. At one point he was the king over God's kingdom. But what happened? He rejected the word of the Lord just as in the New Testament. What does it say? They came into his own, in his own received the not. Who? The word of God, Jesus Christ. It's picture perfect of that. Now, go to 1 John chapter 2. 1 John chapter 2. So this is the comparisons that we see of the 10 virgins in Matthew chapter 25. They were both separated at one time unto the Lord. They both had the lamb, which is the word of God. Okay. But the difference is this. One was wise, one was foolish. The wise ones are those who trust in Christ. The foolish ones are those who built their houses upon the sand that were not saved. That's picture perfect of the fact that the Jews relied on the religion of Judaism. Right. To become, to get saved. They're the ones who believe you have to keep the commandments and all these, you know, rules that the Pharisees set up in order to be saved. Now look at 1 John chapter 2 verse 20. It says when you have an unction from the Holy One and ye know all things. Skip down to verse number 27. So anytime the Bible talks, the unction is referring to the anointing. They're referring to the Holy Spirit. Verse 27 says, but the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you and meet me not that any man teach you but as the same anointing, anointing teacheth you of all things and its truth and is no lie and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him. Now go to Psalms chapter 2 if you want. So we see that the anointing, even in the New Testament, is a reference to that Holy Spirit. That's what we know, that's what that's referring to. That unction. You don't have to turn there, but in Acts chapter 4 is a quote from Psalms chapter 2. Now in Acts chapter 4, it uses the word Christ, whereas in Psalms chapter 2 verse 1, look what it says, why did the heathen rage and the people imagine a vain thing? The kings of the earth sent themselves and the rulers to counsel together against the Lord and against his but anointed, saying let us break their bands of sinner and cast away their cords from us. So we see there that in Acts chapter 4, it's actually Christ. The anointers refer to Christ. Now we know that Christ means Messiah according to John, but Christ also means the anointed one. That's why if you ever heard that phrase, they were christened, they were anointed. So those in the Old Testament, anytime they anointed them, they christened them to become kings. You understand that? But now us in the New Testament, now that we're saved, what? We're christened with the Holy Spirit, and according to Revelation chapter 1, we're actually kings and priests. Holy nation. In fact, look at Revelation chapter 1, we'll read that to you. I just blew through all my notes right now. I thought it was going to be a longer sermon. I might have even been in early. I thought it was going to be longer. Sorry about that. But you know what? This morning I actually preached longer. I think I preached like an hour ago. I'm going to balance it out tonight. Look at Revelation chapter 1, verse number 5. It says that from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of Europe, unto him that loved us and washed us from our sins in his own blood, and that made us kings and priests unto God and his father to him be glory and in the meeting forever and ever. Amen. So we see that concept rings true regarding us. Because when we're anointed with the Holy Spirit, we're anointed as being kings and priests. Look at chapter 25. That's chapter 25. We'll keep reading here. It says in verse number 4, but the wives 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, going out to meet him. Then all those virgins arose and trimmed their lamps. And the foolish said unto the wives, Give us of your oil, for our lamps are gone out. But the wise ends up 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 went in with them to the marriage, and the door was shut. Now obviously we can't necessarily take that passage and say we don't apply it necessarily spiritually in the sense of we don't tell people, hey, go buy salvation. But the fact that it says to be ready is something that is applicable. Because what does God command us to do, even in the New Testament when it comes to the second coming? To be ready. To be ready for a second coming. To be vigilant. To understand that the old Christ's second coming does come with certain events prior to that. We're to watch for those things. Matthew chapter, March, chapter 13 talks about that. What I say to you, I say to all, watch. We need to be vigilant. And look, there's safe people who are not being vigilant. And there's a lot of unsaved, excuse me, there's a lot of saved people who are behaving like the unsaved by virgins. Because they're not ready. They're not ready for Christ's second coming. They're not even ready for any of the events that take place in Matthew chapter 24. And in Revelation chapter 6. They got their head in the same light because they believe in it, even in the coming of Christ. They're not going to see the tribulation or any hardships. The rest of the Bible tells us specifically, hey, when you begin to see these things, lift up your heads for your redemption, draw a line. So, if that is not written in reference to us, redemption is referring to salvation, the redemptions of our body. Why would God tell us not to be ready? You know, God is specifically telling us, like he told these five virgins, hey, we need to be ready. And these people were not. Look at what it goes on to say. Verse number 11, afterward came also the other virgins saying, Lord, Lord, open to us. But he answered and said, verily I say to you, I know you do not. Are you familiar? Absolutely. Matthew chapter 7. When he came, when those false prophets, which by the way is also in reference to the Pharisees of the Sadducees, or the Pharisees of Judea, which is exactly what he's going to say to the Jews in the end. Now, so what do we see tonight? Tonight we see that as we readily divide the ten virgins, five are in reference to save people. The other five are actually reference to not just unsafe people, but it's actually in reference to the physical nation of Israel. Why? Well, they were at one time set apart unto the Lord. We're set apart unto the Lord. They were at one time a peculiar treasure, just like we are. They were at one time, they also had the lamps just as we have the lamps, but they rejected the word of the Lord, and God took the kingdom from them and gave it unto us. Amen? That's pretty much it. I just want to share that with you. I really, I seriously had like 23 pages of notes and I just blew through every single one. I didn't know it was going to go that fast, but I think it's a great truth. And look, often if people just understand who God is speaking to in Matthew, or as far as the parables are concerned, it just opens up a lot of wisdom and helps us to understand these things a lot more. Because I've met people that are like, man, I don't know, I mean, I know we can't lose our salvation, but what about this? Well, that's talking about the Jews, your beloved Jews. That's talking about your beloved Jews. They are the servants. They are the children of the kingdom. You know, it's either that or it teaches that you can lose your salvation. What's your name you're going to pick? Yeah. Right? Because obviously the people who believe that, some of the people who believe that, you know, they don't believe you can lose your salvation. They do believe that the Jews are God's chosen people, but they don't believe you can lose your salvation. Then how do you reconcile those parables? It's true. You know, you got to come to one or two conclusions. Either you can lose your salvation or it's in reference to the Christ rejecting Jews. Okay. Matthew's geared towards the Jews. Don't get me wrong, but it's geared to them in a bad way, in a negative manner. Right. Okay. Yeah, they're the children of the kingdom. Yeah, they're the servants, but they're beaten with many stripes. They're cast down to the outer darkness where they'll be weeping and wailing in a gnashing of teeth. And these 10 virgins, guess what? The Lord doesn't know them. So you can't call them God's chosen people. Amen. If he doesn't know them. Let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer. Father, we thank you so much for your word and those brief tonight. Lord, I enjoyed just teaching this parable here and just a lot of rich truths found within Matthew chapter 25. Pray God that you'd help us to continue to rightly divide the word of truth and compare it specifically with just Old Testament and how that really just shines the light of a lot of these stories that we find even within the parables of the New Testament. And thank you so much, Lord, for all that you do for us and I pray that you bless the remainder of our evening. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Amen.