Latest / Reformed Thinking / On the Parable of the Wise and Foolish Virgins (Matthew 25:1-13) | Jonathan Edwards

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On the Parable of the Wise and Foolish Virgins (Matthew 25:1-13) | Jonathan Edwards · Reformed Thinking

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  You know, usually when we talk about a medical diagnosis, there
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  is a certain expectation of precision.
• 0:08
  Oh for sure, like you want the facts?
• 0:10
  Right. It is basically like
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  engineering. You fall off your bike, you
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  break your arm and they take an X-ray.
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  Yeah, and you get that clear picture.
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  Yeah, the X-ray shows that jagged white line right on the
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  screen, and the doctor just points at it and says, you know,
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  there's the problem. It's very clean, very visible.
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  It really is. We like things to be categorized
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  so we know precisely where we stand.
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  But then you start thinking about the internal state of a
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  human being, the spiritual state.
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  That's where it gets messy. Oh, totally.
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  Suddenly that X-ray machine is broken.
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  You were looking at a diagnostic landscape that is entirely
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  murky. I mean, how do you actually
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  measure what is going on inside someone's soul?
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  It's a huge question. You can't just put a stethoscope
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  to a soul. Right.
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  No, you really can't. Welcome to Reform Thinking.
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  For today's Deep Dive, we are going to look closely at
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  Jonathan Edwards's extensive commentary on the parable of the
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  Wise and Foolish Virgins. Yeah, from Matthew 25.
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  Right. And the reason you should care
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  about this is that Edwards completely dismantles the
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  illusion of outward cultural religion.
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  He really tears it down. It's intense.
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  It is intense. He draws this sharp, terrifying,
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  yet beautiful line between looking like a Christian on the
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  outside and possessing true saving face on the inside.
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  It is quite the contrast. OK, let's unpack this.
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  We have this famous parable from Jesus, but to grasp what Edwards
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  is doing with it, we really have to understand the massive
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  expectations of the people who were, you know, standing there
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  listening to it in the 1st century.
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  Yeah, context is everything with this parable.
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  I mean, the Jewish people in the 1st century were anticipating a
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  new Kingdom, but their vision of that Kingdom was entirely
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  physical. Physical and political right.
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  Precisely, they were living under brutal Roman occupation.
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  Which was just awful. Oh, it was oppressive.
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  You had soldiers in the streets, heavy taxation, a complete loss
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  of national sovereignty. So, based on their reading of
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  prophecies, particularly from the book of Daniel, the nation
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  was ready for a military leader. Like a conqueror.
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  Yes, Daniel too speaks of the God of heaven setting up a
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  Kingdom which shall never be destroyed, one that will break
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  in pieces and consume all other kingdoms.
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  So they were literally looking for someone to grab a sword.
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  They really were. They were looking for a
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  conquering king who would overthrow Rome, establish Israel
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  as the global superpower, and bring in an era of unprecedented
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  prosperity and earthly happiness.
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  Just a massive political revolution.
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  That is what they wanted. Then John the Baptist, and
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  subsequently Jesus, step onto the scene, preaching that the
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  Kingdom of heaven is at hand. Wow, I can only imagine how the
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  crowd reacted to that. That language was a mash thrown
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  into a powder keg of political expectation.
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  I mean, the crowds are hearing that and thinking the revolution
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  is finally here. They're ready to pick up swords.
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  Right. Absolutely ready.
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  But Jesus constantly utilizes these strange domestic parables
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  to correct their expectation. He compares the Kingdom to a
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  mustard seed. Write something so tiny.
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  Yeah, or to 11 hidden in meal, or to treasure buried in a
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  field. And then in Matthew 25, he
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  compares the Kingdom of heaven to 10 virgins taking their lamps
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  and going forth to meet a bridegroom.
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  It's such a pivot. It is.
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  That shift must have caused total whiplash for the original
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  audience. Oh, without a doubt.
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  It is like expecting a four-star military general to arrive for a
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  political coup, but instead you get an invitation to a late
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  night wedding. That's a great way to put it.
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  So why does Christ choose such an intimate cultural event to
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  describe a reality that is supposed to alter the entire
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  cosmos? Well, to figure that out, we
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  need to look at the logistical realities of 1st century Jewish
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  wedding customs. OK, let's hear.
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  It so it was a standard practice to hold weddings at night.
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  Really. Always at night.
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  Yeah, it was a whole nighttime procession.
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  The male guests would gather at the bridegroom's house to attend
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  to him, while the young women, the virgins or bridesmaids
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  gathered at the bride's house. OK.
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  So 2 separate parties going on. Right.
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  And when the bridegroom was finally coming to the bride's
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  house, these virgins needed to go out and meet him with lit
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  lamps to light the way for the procession back to the marriage
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  feast. So they literally provided the
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  streetlights. Basically, yeah.
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  And Christ uses this familiar cultural touchstone because the
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  Holy Ghost prefers the marriage metaphor above all other earthly
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  relations. Above all of them.
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  Yes, we see comparisons in Scripture to a father and
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  children, a king and subjects, a shepherd and sheep.
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  Right, those are pretty common. They are, but marriage captures
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  the intimate covenantal union Christ desires with his people
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  in a way those other metaphors just do not.
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  That is a striking image because you know, in a political
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  Kingdom, the king wants your taxes, your labor, your military
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  service. It's outward compliance,
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  basically. Yeah, your outward compliance.
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  He does not need your heart. A king does not care if you
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  actually love him, as long as you pay the tribute.
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  No, not at. All but a bridegroom wants
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  union. He wants intimacy and absolute
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  devotion. That distinction is a massive
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  point for Edwards. He points out that this marital
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  metaphor is abundant throughout the Old and New Testament.
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  It is everywhere, isn't it? It really is.
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  Moses uses it. David uses it.
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  In Psalm 45, Solomon devotes an entire book, the Song of
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  Solomon, to the spiritual union between Christ and his Church.
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  Right. The whole book is a love poem,
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  yeah. And the Old Testament prophets
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  constantly reproved Israel for acting like an unfaithful wife.
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  The Apostle Paul calls it a great mystery, explicitly
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  stating he is speaking concerning Christ and the
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  Church. So this wasn't just a random
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  metaphor Jesus pulled out of thin air.
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  No, not at all. So when Jesus tells this parable
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  about a night wedding, he is drawing on a well established
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  theological framework, but applying it directly to the end
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  of the age and the final judgement.
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  Let us look at the nature of this specific marriage, because
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  in any earthly marriage there is a state of separation before the
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  union, right? You do not start out married.
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  You are two distinct individuals living separate lives, often
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  with very different backgrounds. And Edwards points out that the
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  church starts in a state of total alienation from God.
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  Yes, and Edwards highlights a fascinating pattern in Matthew's
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  genealogy of Jesus to illustrate this very concept.
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  OK. I love this part.
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  It's so interesting if you look at the women mentioned in the
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  lineage of Christ, it is not the group you might select if you
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  were trying to build a pristine, honorable royal pedigree by
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  human standards. Definitely not.
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  You'd want Queens and noble women, right?
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  Right. But Matthew mentions Tamar, a
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  Canaanite who played the harlot. He mentions Rahab, another
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  Canaanite and a harlot from the cursed city of Jericho.
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  He mentions Ruth, who was a Moabitess, and the Moabites were
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  historical enemies of Israel. Right.
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  They were outsiders. Completely.
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  And he mentions Bathsheba, who was married to a Hittite and
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  committed adultery with King David.
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  That's quite a list. It is.
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  Matthew entirely skips over Sarah or Rebecca, the respected
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  matriarchs. That is wild when you slow down
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  and think about it. Yeah, I mean, the writer
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  intentionally highlights the foreigners and the women with
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  scandalous pasts, right in the opening chapter of the New
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  Testament. It is a deliberate theological
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  statement. It has to be.
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  Edwards argues that this perfectly mirrors the church's
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  initial state. God brings the people who are
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  alienated, strangers and spiritually unfaithful into a
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  state of purity and union. Taking the outsiders and
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  bringing them in. Yeah, as Psalm 45 says, forget
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  your own people and your father's house.
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  The Church is brought into union with Christ from a state of
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  intense alienation. There's that imagery in the
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  Ezekiel too, right? Yes.
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  Ezekiel 16 gives a graphic description of Israel as a
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  newborn infant, cast out into an open field, polluted in her own
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  blood, completely abandoned. That's such a harsh image.
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  It is then God passes by, rescues her, and spreads his
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  skirt over her, entering into a formal covenant.
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  Hold on though, if we think about how the world actually
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  works, this makes zero sense. How do you mean?
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  Well, earthly kings usually marry to secure wealth, land or
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  status. Yeah, they arrange political
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  marriages to forge alliances with other nations.
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  Like absolutely, it's all strategic.
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  Yeah, you marry the Princess of Spain to get access to Spanish
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  gold and naval fleets. Right, you want the assets.
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  So why does the King of Heaven choose a bride with no dowry who
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  brings nothing but debt and historical alienation?
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  By all worldly metrics, this is a terrible match for the
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  bridegroom. He gets nothing out of the deal.
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  It is a terrible match from an economic or political
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  standpoint, but Edwards notes that Christ does not marry to
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  become wealthy. He marries to bestow his
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  abundant wealth on a destitute bride.
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  OK, so it's a one way St. of generosity.
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  Exactly. Christ gains no material
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  advantage by espousing the Church.
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  She is wretched, miserable, poor, blind and naked.
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  She brings absolutely nothing to the table.
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  Nothing at all. She has nothing to enrich him
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  with, because he is already infinitely rich in himself as
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  the Son of God, the heir of all things.
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  The King of Glory does not advance himself or gain honor by
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  the honorableness of his match as earthly Princess do.
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  He finds the Church in the most disgraceful, abject
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  circumstances. It's kind of staggering when you
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  frame it like that. It really is.
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  It is an electing, distinguishing love based
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  entirely on grace, not on any beauty he found in her
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  beforehand. He takes a massive ruin, as
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  Edwards vividly describes it, and changes it, beautifying it
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  with his own comeliness. So he is not marrying an
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  heiress, he is marrying someone drowning in debt.
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  Drowning is putting it mildly. Yeah, Edwards describes the
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  Church as a captive to divine justice, owing an infinite debt
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  of more than 10,000 talents. Pause on that number for a
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  second, because 10,000 talents is not just a large bill.
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  Oh no. In the ancient world, 10,000
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  talents was a sum so astronomically high it was
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  almost comical. Like Doctor Evil asking for $1
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  million, but in reverse. Right.
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  One talent was roughly equivalent to 20 years of wages
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  for a common laborer. 20 years for one talent.
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  Yes. So 10,000 talents represents an
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  unpayable infinite debt owed to divine justice.
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  That's what, 200,000 years of Labor?
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  It's absurd. The bride is held as a close
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  prisoner in miserable circumstances, and none can
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  redeem her without paying that specific debt.
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  And obviously she can't pay. It no, all the gold and silver
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  in the world cannot cover it. It requires Christ's own life.
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  Wow. Edwards uses vivid, intense
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  imagery to describe this rescue mission.
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  He says the bride is trapped in a terrible wilderness,
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  surrounded by lions and leopards.
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  Lions and lepers. Yeah, and to obtain her, Christ
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  must leave the Father's bosom, enter the lion's den, and wade
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  through a sea of blood. A.
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  Sea of blood that really captures the sheer violence of
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  the cost. It really does.
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  I keep thinking about this like a modern prenuptial agreement,
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  but an absolute reverse. OK, I like where this is going.
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  Usually a billionaire gets a prenup to protect his assets
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  from a spouse who brings nothing to the marriage, right?
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  He wants to ensure that his wealth remains his own separate
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  property. But Christ intentionally assumes
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  all of his brides infinite criminal debt, taking it fully
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  upon himself while legally transferring all his royal
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  inheritance to her name. That's a perfect analogy.
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  He signs away his life to pay her debt and in return she gets
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  joint ownership of heaven. What's fascinating here is how
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  Edwards unpacks this legal union.
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  How so? Well, he explains that husband
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  and wife are looked upon as one in law.
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  Right. Legally, they're a single
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  entity. Exactly.
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  The debt of the wife becomes the husband's responsibility because
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  Christ and the Church are one in law.
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  The Church's debt to divine justice is taken upon Christ,
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  and the payment He made is reckoned to her account.
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  It's a complete transfer. It is, and conversely the
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  husband and wife are so unified that the inheritance of the one
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  is the estate of the other. The Church has fellowship with
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  Christ in his possessions, partaking of his inheritance as
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  joint heirs. Yeah, it's incredible.
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  Yeah, Christ subjected himself to extreme expense, difficulty,
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  disgrace, and suffering to obtain his Church.
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  He left the habitation of his glory, went into the enemy's
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  country, and had a terrible conflict with Satan, sweating
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  blood to conquer the enemy and obtain his bride.
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  I really want to ask you, the listener, to consider the sheer
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  weight of this rescue mission. You are not just invited to a
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  nice Sunday event. Yeah, not at all.
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  You are not just being asked to join a moral improvement club if
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  you are part of this church, you were bought out of a lion's den
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  at the cost of a divine life name.
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  The bridegroom waded through a sea of blood to pay your
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  unpayable debt. That reality frames how you view
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  the entire relationship. It creates the most serious
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  commitment imaginable, and that naturally leads to the mechanism
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  of this union. Right, how it actually happens?
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  Yeah. How does an individual actually
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  enter into this marriage? Edwards argues that it is
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  through justifying faith, but he is exceptionally careful to
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  define what fate actually is. Because people get this wrong
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  all the time. All the time.
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  Faith is not a good deed. It is not a worthy work that
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  earns salvation or buys the bridegroom's favor.
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  We. Have to be really precise here
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  because the human tendencies to think we have to earn our keep.
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  Always. We always want to earn it.
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  We think, OK, he paid my massive debt, now I have to work
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  incredibly hard to pay him back or I need to act good enough to
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  deserve the marriage in the first place.
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  Yes, that's a huge trap. But I like to compare faith to
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  saying I do at the wedding altar.
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  Saying I do is not a chore you perform to earn your spouse's
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  bank account. Right, you aren't clocking in
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  for a shift. Yeah, you do not get a paycheck
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  for pronouncing those two words. It is simply the legal consent
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  that unites the two of you, making you one in law.
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  Edwards uses almost that exact language.
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  Really. Yeah.
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  He says faith is analogous to the act of a woman yielding to a
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  suitor by consenting to have him for her husband, shielding.
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  She receives him and him alone, rejecting all rivals.
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  And in receiving him she gives herself up to him to be
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  protected and provided for. Faith is the heart yielding to
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  Christ's suit. It is the uniting.
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  Act, the uniting Act. Because Christ and the believer
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  become one in law through this consent, God the Father looks at
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  the believer and credits crafts payment to their account.
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  So faith isn't the payment itself.
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  No, justification is not given as a reward for the act of
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  faith, as if faith were a meritorious good deed or a
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  special currency. Rather, justification results
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  from the nature of faith, which is to unite the soul to the
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  mediator. Faith is the soul setting its
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  seal to the legal arrangement. So the bride does not offer
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  herself to the king on the condition that she cleans
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  herself up first or performs a certain number of tasks to prove
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  her worth. Never.
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  The king offers himself and his entire estate and the only
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  condition is her consenting to receive him.
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  Yes, the act of receiving him is the condition of having him.
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  It completely cuts the legs out from under any system of self
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  righteousness. It leaves no room for human
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  boasting. None.
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  And this establishes the core tension of the parable itself.
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  The text introduces 10 virgins who go out to meet the
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  bridegroom. 5 are wise and five are foolish.
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  OK, here we go, the five wise and five foolish.
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  Yeah, Edwards uses this specific ratio to illustrate a terrifying
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  reality about the visible church.
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  The visible church is a mixed body, A mixed body.
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  It contains both true and false Christians.
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  The invisible Church is made-up only of true Saints, the actual
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  bride of Christ. But the visible Church, the
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  outward institution we see in the world, is of larger extent,
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  and contains many who are Christians in appearance only.
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  OK, but if the wise and foolish look completely identical on the
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  outside, aren't we just setting ourselves up for a witch hunt?
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  I mean it's a valid concern. Both groups have lamps.
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  Both go out to meet the bridegroom they associate
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  together in a modern context. Both attend church every Sunday.
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  They do. Both read their Bibles.
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  Both sing the hymns, both pray, both profess thankfulness to
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  God, and both genuinely expect to go to heaven.
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  You have all the same habits. Yeah, Edwards says they agree on
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  all these external duties. So should I be glaring at the
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  guy next to me in the Pew right now wondering if his lamp is
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  fake? Well, Edwards gives a severe
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  warning against attempting to police the internal state of
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  others. Oh.
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  Good, that sounds exhausting. It would be Human beings cannot
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  read hearts. Christ has wisely accommodated
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  His rules to our present state. He has not given church leaders
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  or members the ability to search hearts because that prerogative
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  belongs to God. Alone, we just don't have the
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  scanner for. It No, we don't.
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  If we were to take upon ourselves the role of judging
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  the internal state of others, we would be usurping God's throne.
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  We are fallible humans with massive blind spots, right?
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  If we try to root out all the false Christians, we will
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  inevitably reject many true ones in the process.
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  This is the entire point of the parable of the wheat and the
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  tares. Because they look so similar
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  while they're growing. Precisely.
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  God intentionally allows the wheat and tares to grow together
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  until the harvest because we are too clumsy and blind to separate
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  them accurately. We are to proceed only by what
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  is visible and external for church membership, while
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  recognizing that the ultimate sorting is Christ's job at the
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  end of the age. We really have to leave the
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  sorting to the judge, because false Christians can be
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  extremely strict in their moral conduct.
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  Oh, they can be the most strict. Edwards references the
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  Pharisees, who are meticulous in their outward observance of the
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  law. Right.
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  They tithe their spices, Yeah. Tiny little seeds and he
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  mentions the rich young ruler who confidently claimed he had
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  kept all the commandments from his youth.
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  He really thought he had it all together.
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  He did. False Christians might be
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  completely just in their dealings with neighbors,
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  avoiding gross sins, living what appears to be a blameless life.
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  And because of this pristine outward walk, they easily gain
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  the good opinion of true believers.
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  They blend right. In They Do, the wise virgins had
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  no idea the foolish virgins were fake.
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  There was no visible distinction between them until the very end.
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  The wise vergers did not suspect them, nor did they think them
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  any less godly than themselves. But then the parable takes a
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  fascinating turn while they are all waiting.
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  OK, the text says, while the bridegroom tarried, they all
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  slumbered and slept. Both the wise and the foolish
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  fall asleep. You know, this detail always
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  threw me off. How so?
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  You would think the wise virgins, the true believers,
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  would stay awake and vigilant. Why do the true believers fall
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  asleep alongside the false ones? If we connect this to the bigger
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  picture, Edwards explains that even true Christians have an
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  abundance of corruption remaining in their hearts.
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  OK, so they aren't perfect yet. Far from it.
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  A believer's knowledge of God in this world is still small, like
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  a child's. Because of this remaining
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  corruption, they can fall into senseless, sluggish frames of
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  mind, right. They can sit unaffected under
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  the most serious preaching with hearts like stone.
• 19:07
  They can become careless, slothful, backward to duty,
• 19:10
  proud, or worldly. It's a sobering thought.
• 19:14
  Edwards points to King David numbering the people in Pride or
• 19:17
  the disciples falling asleep in the Garden of Gethsemane when
• 19:20
  Christ explicitly told them to watch.
• 19:21
  That's a perfect example. They physically fell asleep when
• 19:24
  they were supposed to be watching.
• 19:25
  Yeah, true Christians are not immune to spiritual decay and
• 19:29
  distraction. The trigger for this slumber is
• 19:31
  the delay of the bridegroom. They expected him early, but he
• 19:35
  tarried. The waiting gets to them.
• 19:37
  Let's build an analogy here. It is like studying for a
• 19:40
  massive final exam. OK, I like analogies.
• 19:43
  If you know the exam is tomorrow morning, you are hyper vigilant.
• 19:47
  You are drinking black coffee, reviewing flash cards, totally
• 19:51
  focused. Right, the proximity of the
• 19:53
  event forces your attention. You can't ignore it.
• 19:56
  Yeah, 100%. But if the professor suddenly
• 19:59
  sends an e-mail announcing the exam is delayed by an entire
• 20:02
  year, what happens? You drop the flash cards
• 20:04
  immediately. Students stop studying
• 20:06
  immediately. They lose their urgency.
• 20:08
  They close the books and go to sleep.
• 20:10
  The delay breeds apathy. That's very true.
• 20:13
  Edwards points out that the delay of Christ causes eternal
• 20:15
  realities to feel distant, almost theoretical.
• 20:18
  When spiritual and eternal things appear, distant unbelief
• 20:22
  prevails. Believers stop realizing that
• 20:25
  they must eventually stand before the judgment seat of God.
• 20:28
  It. Just fades into the background.
• 20:30
  Yeah, if they apprehended Christ's coming to be very near,
• 20:33
  they would not be so concerned with worldly pursuits.
• 20:35
  But because he delays, they start treating temporary earthly
• 20:39
  pursuits as if they will last forever.
• 20:41
  They get caught up in the day-to-day.
• 20:43
  These worldly pursuits engross their affections, causing a
• 20:47
  stupefying influence on the soul.
• 20:49
  They become caught up in financial cares, daily pleasures
• 20:52
  and temporal honors. Which is so easy to do.
• 20:55
  And for the foolish virgins, this delay is a temptation to
• 20:58
  put off preparation entirely, hoping they will have plenty of
• 21:01
  time later to get their spiritual lives in order.
• 21:04
  Both groups yield to the inclination of the flesh to
• 21:07
  slumber while the bridegroom tarries.
• 21:10
  But. Then comes the moment that
• 21:11
  shatters the apathy, the turning point of the entire parable.
• 21:15
  Here we go. At midnight, a loud cry breaks
• 21:18
  the silence. Behold, the bridegroom cometh.
• 21:22
  Go ye out to meet him. The timing of this cry is
• 21:25
  crucial. It happens at midnight.
• 21:26
  Why midnight specifically? Well, midnight is the darkest
• 21:30
  hour, the time most remote from the light of the sun.
• 21:33
  It is the time when people are in their deepest, soundest
• 21:36
  sleep. They are completely out of it.
• 21:38
  Right, they have forgotten themselves, their senses are
• 21:40
  locked up and they are least expecting any sudden.
• 21:44
  Furthermore, midnight is when people are least prepared for
• 21:47
  action. Because they're in bed.
• 21:48
  Yeah, their bodies are relaxed. Their daytime clothes are put
• 21:52
  off. They are not ready to
• 21:53
  immediately jump up and engage in the most demanding business
• 21:57
  of their existence. The call comes unawares.
• 22:00
  I understand why the foolish virgins would be terrified by
• 22:03
  that sudden wake up call, but why is this cry surprising even
• 22:07
  to the wise virgins? If they have the oil, if they
• 22:12
  are the true bride, shouldn't they wake up rejoicing the
• 22:15
  second they hear the shout? They do rejoice eventually, but
• 22:19
  the initial cry is a shock because they were caught
• 22:21
  sleeping. Oh, right.
• 22:22
  When the Saints are slumbering, they are not in a good
• 22:25
  disposition to receive this news.
• 22:26
  They are in a dark, sluggish, carnal frame of mind.
• 22:30
  They are not actively conversing with eternity in their thoughts.
• 22:33
  They have to recalibrate. Furthermore, Edwards notes that
• 22:36
  when the Saints are asleep, their lamps, meaning their
• 22:38
  spiritual evidences, are burning dim.
• 22:41
  They haven't been tending to the flame.
• 22:43
  Exactly. Grace is not an active exercise.
• 22:46
  Their minds are clouded with earthly corruption, and they may
• 22:49
  temporarily lack clear, bright evidence of their good estate.
• 22:53
  A sudden call to step into eternity and face the judge is
• 22:56
  jarring when a believer is caught in a worldly frame with a
• 23:00
  flickering lamp. It takes a moment to shake off
• 23:02
  the sleep, realize what is happening, and trim the lamp.
• 23:05
  Just a brief moment of panic. But once they do, the terror
• 23:10
  turns into a joyful wedding day. Death loses its sting, they
• 23:14
  realize they have the oil, the flame catches, and they are
• 23:17
  ready to meet the king. For the godly, the day of death
• 23:21
  or judgement is raised from a dark and terrible day into a
• 23:24
  joyful one. It is stripped of its terrors
• 23:26
  because they are going to meet the bridegroom they dearly love,
• 23:29
  to be received into His arms and dwell in His glorious palace
• 23:32
  forever. It is beautiful.
• 23:33
  It is, but for the foolish virgins, it is the exact
• 23:36
  opposite experience. It is the great reversal.
• 23:38
  It is pure, unadulterated terror.
• 23:40
  Because when they wake up, their lamps go out completely.
• 23:43
  Their false hope hope collapses like a spider's web.
• 23:46
  Edwards is terrifyingly clear on this point.
• 23:49
  When the midnight cry is heard, the false Christians see that
• 23:52
  their lamps are extinct. Just totally dark.
• 23:55
  Yeah, the things that previously quieted their consciences and
• 23:58
  made them feel safe suddenly appear as nothing but
• 24:01
  filthiness. The light of the awful majesty
• 24:04
  and holiness of the judge scares away all their false hopes.
• 24:08
  They realize none of their good deeds actually mattered.
• 24:11
  In a panic, they fall to trimming their dead lambs,
• 24:13
  trying to revive their old religious affections.
• 24:16
  But it is impossible. You cannot uphold a flame with
• 24:19
  just a dry Wick and no oil. Edwards notes a chilling insight
• 24:22
  here. He says that in hell, false
• 24:25
  Christians will suddenly value grace.
• 24:27
  Oh, that part is so heavy. It really is.
• 24:29
  They will finally agree with the godly on the necessity of
• 24:32
  spiritual things. They will remember every sermon,
• 24:35
  every warning, with agonizing clarity, wishing they could do
• 24:38
  the hard work they previously rejected.
• 24:40
  It is a devastating thought in this world.
• 24:43
  Wicked men often view the warnings of Scripture as things
• 24:45
  to be mocked or ignored. Or just brushed off is
• 24:48
  unimportant. Right.
• 24:49
  They begrudge the trouble of self denial.
• 24:52
  They think the price of seeking God is too high.
• 24:55
  But after the midnight cry, their judgement aligns perfectly
• 24:58
  with the truth. When it's too late.
• 25:00
  When it's way too late, they will see the sheer vanity of all
• 25:04
  worldly wealth and pleasure. They will recognize the infinite
• 25:07
  worth of the grace of God. They will beg for oil saying
• 25:11
  give us of your oil, making no objection to the price they'd.
• 25:14
  Pay anything at that point. But the door will be shut.
• 25:17
  Edwards points out that their amazement and terror on a
• 25:19
  deathbed is just the beginning. It will last for all eternity.
• 25:23
  They will remember the sermons they slept through, and those
• 25:26
  memories will become a perpetual torment.
• 25:28
  The time for preparation is permanently over.
• 25:31
  Here is where it gets really interesting.
• 25:34
  The entire difference between entering the joy of the wedding
• 25:36
  feast and being shut out in outer darkness comes down to one
• 25:40
  single thing, the oil. Just the.
• 25:43
  Oil. The Wise have oil in their
• 25:45
  vessels. The Foolish have none.
• 25:47
  And as Edward stresses, this difference is not gradual.
• 25:50
  It is not that the Foolish had a little oil and the Wise had a
• 25:53
  lot. No, it's absolutely the Foolish
• 25:54
  had absolutely 0 oil in their vessels.
• 25:58
  So what is this oil, practically speaking?
• 26:01
  If it is not just going to church or reading the Bible or
• 26:04
  having strict mortals, what actually constitutes the oil in
• 26:08
  the vessel? Edwards defines the oil as an
• 26:10
  abiding spiritual principle in the heart.
• 26:12
  An abiding principle, yes. It is a new nature in the soul,
• 26:16
  communicated directly by the Holy Spirit.
• 26:19
  It is not just an external effect or a temporary emotion.
• 26:22
  The Holy Spirit takes up residence in the soul of the
• 26:25
  believer, making them a living temple.
• 26:28
  So it's an actual presence. And because the Spirit of God is
• 26:30
  a spirit of holy divine love, this indwelling principle
• 26:34
  manifests as a Christ like spirit.
• 26:36
  It is characterized by divine love, humility, meekness, and a
• 26:40
  heavenly temper. It changes the very hardware of
• 26:43
  the person, not just the software.
• 26:45
  I like that. Let's think about a flashlight.
• 26:48
  If you go camping, you can bring a battery powered flashlight.
• 26:51
  It can shine really brightly for a while.
• 26:53
  It might even seem brighter than other lights initially.
• 26:55
  Fresh batteries. But the battery eventually dies.
• 26:58
  It has no permanent source of power.
• 27:00
  It is entirely self-contained and finite.
• 27:03
  Right tree grace, the true oil, is like being hardwired directly
• 27:07
  to the city's main power grid. It is an unfailing abiding
• 27:12
  source because it is connected to an infinite supply.
• 27:15
  The source matters more than the initial brightness.
• 27:18
  Exactly. Or think about the difference
• 27:20
  between a cut flower in a vase and a plant with deep roots in
• 27:24
  the soil. Oh, that's a classic 1.
• 27:26
  The cut flower looks beautiful on the dining room table for a
• 27:29
  few days, but it's already dead because it has no root system to
• 27:32
  draw up water. It's just slowly dying.
• 27:35
  But the rooted plant might not always have a visible blossom,
• 27:38
  especially in winter, but it has a living principle inside it.
• 27:41
  Those illustrations capture what Edwards is teaching perfectly
• 27:45
  false Christians might have what they called discoveries or
• 27:48
  spiritual experiences. I like emotional highs, yeah.
• 27:51
  The devil can create emotional highs, dramatic visions, and
• 27:55
  feelings of comfort. He can transform himself into an
• 27:58
  Angel of light. But these devilish comforts are
• 28:01
  counterfeits. How do you tell the difference
• 28:03
  though? Well, they inevitably lead to
• 28:05
  pride, self-confidence, and a hardened heart.
• 28:08
  The devil's comforts are hardening comforts.
• 28:10
  They tend toward carelessness and sin.
• 28:13
  Oh wow. So they make you arrogant?
• 28:15
  Precisely true oil, the authentic work of the Holy
• 28:18
  Spirit, leads to a tender, humble heart.
• 28:21
  It makes a person poor in spirit, merciful and submissive
• 28:25
  to God's commands. So true oil produces humility.
• 28:28
  It creates a heart that continually echoes the Word of
• 28:30
  God, vibrating in, conquered with divine truth like strings
• 28:34
  on a finely tuned instrument. That is the diagnostic test.
• 28:38
  Does your religion make you more humble and more loving, or more
• 28:42
  proud and self assured? That's the question we have to
• 28:44
  ask ourselves. The foolish virgins had lamps.
• 28:47
  They had the outward show, maybe even the emotional highs from a
• 28:50
  youth retreat years ago, But they lacked that inner abiding
• 28:54
  route of divine love. They lacked the true essence.
• 28:57
  They lacked the Holy Spirit dwelling within them as a
• 28:59
  settled inhabitant. And that explains why their
• 29:01
  religion failed in the time of trial.
• 29:04
  Edwards observes that the external religion of false
• 29:06
  Christians is inherently fragile.
• 29:08
  Can't withstand the pressure. When the bridegroom tarries,
• 29:12
  when difficulties arise, when it is no longer easy or popular to
• 29:16
  be a strict Christian, their lamps go out.
• 29:19
  They cannot endure to the end because they lack the fuel.
• 29:22
  But what about the true Christians?
• 29:24
  They fall asleep too. True Christians may stumble,
• 29:26
  they may sleep, their lamps may burn, dim through neglect, but
• 29:29
  God will never suffer their lamps to go out entirely.
• 29:32
  The seed remains in them. The SAP continues to flow from
• 29:36
  the tree to the branch, preserving life even in the
• 29:39
  coldest winter. So what does this all mean for
• 29:41
  us today? We have covered massive
• 29:44
  theological ground here. We really have.
• 29:46
  Edwards provides A sobering but incredibly beautiful look at the
• 29:49
  realities of faith. Looking the part, having outward
• 29:53
  morals, associating with the right crowd, knowing the right
• 29:55
  theological answers, defending the right doctrines.
• 29:58
  None of it is sufficient to survive the midnight cry.
• 30:01
  None of it. You need the inner abiding oil
• 30:04
  of the Holy Spirit. You need that uniting act of
• 30:06
  faith, that legal consent that binds you to the Bridegroom who
• 30:09
  waded through a sea of blood to pay your infinite debt.
• 30:12
  It is a severe warning, but also a gracious invitation to examine
• 30:16
  the foundation of our hope while there is still time on the
• 30:19
  clock. We must not flatter ourselves
• 30:22
  with past experiences if our present practice contradicts our
• 30:25
  profession. We need to secure that oil, that
• 30:28
  true wisdom, before the door is shut.
• 30:31
  I want to talk directly to you listening right now.
• 30:35
  Take a moment to examine your own lap.
• 30:37
  Are you resting on an emotional experience from 10 years ago?
• 30:40
  Just coasting on old memories. Yeah.
• 30:43
  Are you relying on the fact that you show up to church every
• 30:45
  Sunday and sing the songs, or do you possess a present abiding
• 30:49
  love for Christ? Is there a living root of
• 30:51
  humility and divine love growing in your soul?
• 30:54
  That's a real test. Think back to that X-ray image
• 30:56
  we started with. The external behaviors, the
• 31:00
  church attendance, the moral checklists, those are just the
• 31:03
  surface. They do not reveal the internal
• 31:05
  fractures. They really don't.
• 31:07
  The only thing that proves the true state of your soul is the
• 31:09
  presence or absence of that oil. I will leave you with this final
• 31:13
  thought to Mull over what if the midnight cry happened tonight?
• 31:17
  Oh, that's heavy. If the absolute darkest hour
• 31:20
  fell upon you without warning and you had to step immediately
• 31:23
  into the piercing light of the judge whose eyes are a flame of
• 31:25
  fire, what would happen? A tough question.
• 31:28
  Would your lamp flicker out into total darkness, leaving you
• 31:31
  holding nothing but a dry Wick? Or is there a hidden reservoir
• 31:35
  of oil and a biting connection to the bridegroom, ready to
• 31:39
  ignite and meet him with joy? Thank you for joining us on this
• 31:42
  deep dive into reformed thinking.
• 31:44
  We will catch you next time.