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Keep Your Lamp Burning! · In the Stillness Podcast

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  Happy Monday y'all, welcome to another episode, a new week.
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  This is friendly and I am so grateful that you're here today.
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  Whether this is your first time listening or you've been walking
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  through this series on Matthew with me, I pray that this
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  episode meets you right where you are and ministers to your
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  heart. Over the past couple episodes, I
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  intentionally broke up Matthew chapter 24, Jesus teaching about
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  his return because there was so much weight in what he was
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  saying and I did not want us to miss any of it.
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  But I also do believe that this next passage in chapter 25 is a
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  continuation of those conversations that we've seen
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  now. It doesn't move away from the
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  topic, it's pressing into it deeper.
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  Jesus gives us a parable that is super practical, very sobering
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  if we're honest, but very, very loving.
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  He doesn't just tell us that he's coming back, He's showing
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  us what readiness actually looks like.
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  So with that, we are going to be in Matthew chapter 25 verses one
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  through 13 when my coming draws near.
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  Heaven's Kingdom realm can be compared to 10 maidens who took
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  their oil lamps and went outside to meet the bridegroom and his
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  bride. Five of them were foolish and
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  ill prepared, for they took no extra oil for their lamps.
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  Five of them were wise, for they took flasks of olive oil with
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  their lamps. When the bridegroom didn't come
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  when they expected, they all grew drowsy and fell asleep.
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  Then suddenly, in the middle of the night, they were awakened by
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  the shout. Get up, the bridegroom is here.
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  Come out and have an encounter with him.
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  So all the girls got up and trimmed their lamps, but the
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  foolish ones were running out of oil.
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  So they said to the five wise ones, share your oil with us
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  because our lamps are going out. We can't, they replied.
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  We don't have enough for all of us.
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  You'll have to go and buy some for yourselves.
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  While the five girls were out buying oil, the bridegroom
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  appeared. Those who were ready and waiting
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  were escorted inside with him in the wedding party to enjoy the
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  feast. And then the door was locked.
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  Later the five foolish girls came running up to the door and
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  pleaded, Lord, Lord, let us come in.
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  But He called back. Go away.
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  Do I know you? I can assure you, I don't even
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  know you. That is the reason you should
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  always stay awake and be alert, because you do not know the day
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  or the hour when the bridegroom will appear.
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  OK, so in Matthew 24, we see Jesus describe believers in the
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  end times as servants waiting for their master.
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  But now he is shifting the imagery because in this chapter,
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  believers are pictured as bridesmaids waiting for the
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  bridegroom. And that matters because if you
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  think about servants, he's emphasizing responsibility.
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  But with a wedding and these maidens, these bridesmaids, he's
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  emphasizing relationship now for cultural context of the wedding.
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  Back then, a wedding ceremony typically happened at the
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  bride's home and the groom would come to her.
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  And after that, the celebration, often lasting in entire week of
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  feasting, would take place at the groom's house.
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  But The thing is, the groom was often delayed in coming to the
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  wedding, so the bridesmaids were not told when exactly he was
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  coming, only that he was coming and that he was on his way.
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  Preparation mattered way more than proximity.
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  Being close to the wedding did not secure a place in it.
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  Being associated did not guarantee an entry.
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  And it didn't matter who you were necessarily, what your
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  family name, what your reputation or status was.
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  And it parallels to the Kingdom of God because at the end of the
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  day, that's not what matters. Our earthly titles, they do not
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  last and sustain. So we know that weddings are not
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  random in biblical context because Jesus's first miracle,
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  turning water into wine, that happened at a wedding
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  celebration. And Scripture is pointing in
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  Revelation to the marriage of the lamb.
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  It ends with a wedding. So when Jesus uses the wedding
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  imagery here, he's directing us towards something bigger because
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  history is moving us toward union.
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  And a little side note, there was something that honestly made
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  me emotional while reading and meditating on this passage.
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  Because if you think about it, today, bridesmaids are usually
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  the brides closest, dearest friends, the ones that she loves
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  the most and trust and once closest to her on that special
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  day. So that means in this parable,
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  thinking about that the one shut out.
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  They were not strangers, they were close.
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  And that hit me hard because it reminds me that people I deeply
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  care about, they can still miss the Kingdom if not personally
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  prepared. And it stirred my faith in a
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  fresh way because I do not want to shrink back because of fear
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  of man or fear of approval. I want to love people enough to
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  tell them the truth and to boldly proclaim the gospel to
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  them. So going into the oil, because
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  clearly that is very important in this passage, the difference
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  between the wise and the foolish bridesmaids is what it came down
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  to, that very substance. The oil represents the Holy
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  Spirit here, His presence, His divine revelation, and His
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  leading. Because all ten of these
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  maidens, they were invited, all ten of them, they had lamps and
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  they were waiting, but only five of them were filled.
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  The wise did not just believe the groom was coming.
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  They lived like he was coming. And it's pretty black and white
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  whenever you read it. It does not leave middle ground
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  because ultimately you're either ready or you're not.
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  The door we see is either open or it's shut.
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  And it sounds intense, but it's actually so merciful of the
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  Father. Jesus is not being harsh.
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  He's being honest because he cares and he wants to prepare us
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  ahead of time so that we're saved.
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  And I do want to go into just talking about how this spiritual
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  preparation, one, it cannot be bought.
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  You can't earn your way into the wedding.
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  The oil was not what got the wise bridesmaids invited.
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  It's what sustained them while they waited.
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  We know we are saved by grace alone through faith.
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  But our preparation, it demonstrates our faith in
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  spiritual disciplines. They don't save us, they serve
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  it. They serve our faith.
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  So spending time in the Word daily and communicating with God
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  through prayer, being surrounded by strong community and being in
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  fellowship with believers, these things fan the flame.
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  Paul urges Timothy, second Timothy 1/6, he says to fan and
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  deflame the gift of God. And that's what spiritual
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  disciplines do. They keep our faith alive.
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  They keep it burning. And secondly, your spiritual
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  preparation, it can't be borrowed.
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  You can't borrow the oil as we see in this passage.
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  It's not your parents faith. It's not your mentors, your
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  friends, it's not because you were raised going to church or
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  you know the right Christian things to say and respond with.
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  Because every single one of us will stand individually before
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  God and be held accountable for our actions and how we responded
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  to the invitation. And Jesus will either say I know
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  you or I don't. It is, yes, like it's heavy.
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  It's real, though, and we have to consider this and intercede
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  on behalf of other people who may not truly know this.
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  So I want to go into the true heart of it right now.
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  Do you know your bridegroom personally, not just about him?
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  Do you know Him? And if you believe He's coming
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  back for you, are you being faithful to Him right now?
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  Does He have all of your attention and loyalty?
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  Or are there other people, distractions, or habits
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  competing for your devotion? Because a bride eagerly waits
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  for her groom, and she does this by living expectantly, not
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  distracted. And I also want to ask if the
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  oil represents the Holy Spirit, are you welcoming His leading
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  daily? Do you have enough oil?
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  Ephesians 518 says to be filled with the Spirit.
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  This is not a one time filling, it's a continually continual
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  filling of His Spirit. So are you spiritually full or
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  are you barely getting by? Because we were not made to just
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  be acquainted with God. We were made to be in an
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  intimate relationship. That means deep closeness in a
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  shared life with Him. Y'all scripture even says First
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  Corinthians 216. This verse is crazy.
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  It says for who has ever intimately known the mind of the
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  Lord well enough to become his counselor?
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  Christ has and we possess Christ's perceptions.
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  AK we have the same mind of Christ Jesus.
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  That is not surface level faith, that is union with him.
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  Now to round it out a little quick story.
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  I was laughing the other day as I was telling my dad how I have
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  been waiting until my car has been under 10 miles left before
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  going to the gas station and filling it up.
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  Now I thought it was funny. He did not think it was funny
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  because he began to say OK, well what if there's an emergency?
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  What if you need to go to the hospital and you have 5 miles of
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  gas? And honestly, I realized, I know
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  this is a silly parallel, but it made me think like I was just
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  kind of being lazy. I didn't want to stop.
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  I was procrastinating it. And on a deeper level
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  spiritually, that's how I was living for a very big chunk of
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  my life. Unfortunately.
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  I would read my Bible a few times a week if I wasn't too
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  tired at the end of the day. I would go to a small group on
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  Wednesday nights. I would go to Sunday church,
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  hear an incredible sermon, and think that those things would
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  just carry me through. But The thing is, I was
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  spiritually malnourished and I didn't even realize it.
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  I wondered why I consistently felt so burnt out, why I was
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  lacking purpose and what I was doing.
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  Why I kept looking for fulfillment and people and
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  things that never delivered or satisfied.
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  But y'all everything changed when Jesus stopped being put on
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  the back burner and he became the forefront of my mind in the
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  center of my life. Now I live by the motto no
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  Bible, no phone y'all I do. I do not open up social media,
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  look at texts until I read scripture and prayer walks like
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  they are so important to me every single day that I leave my
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  phone behind and I go talk to my father, just me and him without
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  distractions. And I'm not saying this for a
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  little ego boost, like I am just simply giving y'all things that
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  have helped not save me but supply me because they have kept
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  my lamp burning. They have increased my awareness
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  of the Spirit every single day and allowed Him to lead me step
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  by step. And I just want to remind y'all,
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  there's always more of God, there's always more oil, more of
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  the Holy Spirit, more to seek. Matthew 77.
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  Keep asking, keep seeking, keep knocking because the Lord wants
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  to give you more of himself. So let me leave you with these
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  few questions really quick. If Jesus returned today, would
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  he find you faithfully waiting or spiritually running on empty?
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  Are you placing confidence in someone else's faith or your own
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  efforts and timing instead of God?
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  What, if anything, is competing for your bridegroom's love and
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  attention? So let's go ahead and finish out
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  in prayer. Jesus, thank you for your
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  radical love that is willing to warn us and prepare us.
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  Would you show us any area of our lives where we are
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  distracted? Would you fill us with just more
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  of your Spirit? Allow us to be led by your
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  Spirit in every single moment to not quench the Spirit, but to
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  welcome You. Lord, may we live ready,
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  faithful, devoted, expectant. Lord, we want to know you
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  intimately. We don't want to surface level
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  faith. We want to know you deeply.
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  May we be found waiting when you return Jesus, whenever that is.
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  We ask this all in your holy name, Jesus.
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  Amen. OK, well that was a lot, but I'm
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  hoping that y'all can take some things away and that it would
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  encourage you to be bold ambassadors of the King and to
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  prepare for his return. And praying for y'all.
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  I will see y'all on the next episode.