Message Eight

Being Watchful in Life

Scripture Reading: Matt. 25:1-13

1. “At that time the kingdom of the heavens will be likened to ten virgins, who took their lamps and went forth to meet the bridegroom”—Matt. 25:1:
   1. Virgins signify the believers in the aspect of life:
      1. Being a virgin is not a matter of work, service, or activity; it is a matter of life.
      2. Being a virgin is not a matter of what we do or are able to do; it is absolutely a matter of what we are.
      3. In the new creation God makes all the believers females, virgins loving the Lord Jesus—2 Cor. 11:2:
         1. Anyone who considers himself a man and not a virgin will not be qualified to go to the air to meet the Lord—1 Thes. 4:17.
         2. If we would participate in the New Jerusalem, which is an aggregate virgin, we ourselves must be virgins who love the Lord and wait for Him—Rev. 21:2; S. S. 6:13; 1:3.
   2. Lamps signify the spirit of the believers, which contains the Spirit of God as the oil—Prov. 20:27; Rom. 8:16; Heb. 1:9:
      1. The believers shine with the light of the Spirit of God from within their spirit.
      2. The believers become the light of the world, like a lamp shining in the darkness of this age, to bear the testimony of the Lord for the glory of God— Matt. 5:14-16; Phil. 2:15-16.
   3. Went forth indicates that the believers are going out of the world to meet the coming Christ:
      1. As virgins, we do not settle or linger in any place; instead, we are going out of the world to meet the coming Christ as our Bridegroom—Matt. 9:15.
      2. We are the virgins going, and Christ is the Bridegroom coming—John 3:29.
2. “The prudent took oil in their vessels with their lamps”—Matt. 25:4:
   1. Vessels signify the soul of the believers—Rom. 9:21, 23.
   2. Having oil in our lamps signifies having the Spirit of God dwelling in our spirit; taking oil in our vessels signifies having the fullness of the Spirit saturating our soul.
   3. All believers have their lamps burning, but many have no desire or intention of preparing oil in their vessels.
   4. If we are prudent virgins, we will have not only the ordinary portion of oil—the Spirit in our spirit—but also the extra portion of oil—the Spirit in our soul for our transformation—2 Cor. 3:18.
   5. To be transformed is to be saturated with the extra portion of the oil, to be filled with the Spirit in all our inward parts—Rom. 12:2; Eph. 4:23.
3. “Go rather to those who sell, and buy for yourselves”—Matt. 25:9b:
   1. To buy means to pay a price; we have to pay the price for the filling of the Spirit in our soul:
      1. The Spirit who came into our spirit (Rom. 8:16) was given freely, but the saturating Spirit to fill our entire being, especially our soul, is not free; this is something that we have to pay a price for, that we have to buy.
      2. How much we will be transformed depends on how great a price we are willing to pay.
      3. The infilling of the Holy Spirit is obtained at a cost, such as giving up the world, dealing with the self, loving the Lord above all, and counting all things loss for Christ—Matt. 16:24-26; Mark 12:30; Phil. 3:7-8.
      4. To have our soul, our being, saturated and filled with the Spirit cannot be accomplished in one day; it is a lifelong matter.
   2. If we are willing to pay the price, the Spirit will fill us and saturate us, and we will have the extra portion of oil prepared in our vessel, making us ready for the Lord’s coming back—Matt. 24:44.
4. “As they were going away to buy, the bridegroom came; and those who were ready went in with him to the wedding feast. And the door was shut”—25:10:
   1. Those who were ready must be those who are invited to the marriage dinner of the Lamb (Rev. 19:9), which is the wedding feast in Matthew 22:2:
      1. We should be ready by always having oil in our vessel, by always being filled with the Spirit of God in our whole being—24:44.
      2. The marriage feast will be held in the air (1 Thes. 4:17) during the Lord’s coming; it will occur before the manifestation of the kingdom as a reward of mutual enjoyment with the Lord to the believers who are ready.
   2. The foolish virgins, who do not take oil in their vessels and who are not ready when the Lord Jesus comes, will miss the wedding feast—Matt. 25:11-12.
5. “Watch therefore, for you do not know the day nor the hour”—v. 13:
   1. To be watchful is to be filled with the Holy Spirit; if we are not being filled all day long, we are not being watchful.
   2. In order to be watchful, we need the infilling of the Spirit, the spreading of the Spirit from our spirit to every part of our inward being—Eph. 5:18; 4:23.
6. If we would be prudent virgins, those who are watchful in life, we need to redeem the time—Eph. 5:16:
   1. To redeem the time is to seize every available opportunity; this is to be wise in our walk—v. 15.
   2. To be filled in our regenerated spirit is to be filled with Christ unto all the fullness of God—v. 18; 3:19.
   3. “If you are wise you will seek this fullness sooner, but if you are foolish you will put it off till later.... Seek above all things to have that extra supply of oil in the vessel....You cannot, by dodging the issue, avoid reaching maturity—or paying the price of it. But wisdom is connected with time. Those who are wise redeem the time”—W. Nee, Sit, Walk, Stand, p. 33.