Matthew is really a wonderful book. It begins with the birth of Christ in chapter one, and it ends with the church going forth to meet Christ in chapter twenty-five. It begins with Christ and ends with the church. It begins with one virgin bringing forth Christ, and it ends with ten virgins going forth to meet Christ. We all need to be virgins. If we are not virgins, we have nothing to do with Christ, and if we are not virgins, we have nothing to do with the church. To bring forth Christ to others, we need to be virgins. To be the church going forth to meet Christ as the coming Bridegroom, we also need to be virgins. Do we need to be evangelists, pastors, preachers, or ministers with a doctor’s degree? No! We all should be virgins going forth to meet Him. It was a virgin who brought Him in, and it will be the virgins who meet Him and bring Him back.
Praise the Lord that we are simply the virgins here. There are many in the local church in Los Angeles who are former missionaries, former pastors, former preachers, former teachers, and former seminary students. Nevertheless, now they are all virgins! Hallelujah! In the New Testament service there should be the freshness of a virgin, with nothing old, religious, or traditional. Everything should be so young, so new, so fresh, so up-to-date, and so much against culture, human nature, and even the natural law. The New Testament service is entirely contrary to religion. At the time of the birth of Christ, the problem was the Jewish religion, but today it is the Christian religion. We need to see the principles in God’s Word in a living way.
We all need to realize that all those serving in the New Testament service should be as virgins. If we consider that we are giant preachers, we are through as far as New Testament service is concerned. Regardless of how much we could do for the Lord, we need to say, “Lord, I would be nothing but a virgin to bring forth Christ.” The book of Matthew begins with a virgin and ends with all the virgins. We need to be virgins to bring forth Christ and to bring Him back. Christ does not need great giants today. He needs the virgins to conceive Him and to bring Him forth, and He needs the virgins to bring Him back.
No matter how good the religion and traditions are, they have nothing to do with New Testament service. This is proved with the case of the Apostle Paul. He was above his equals in the Jewish religion and kept all the traditions of his forefathers. One day, however, when the New Testament way was revealed to him, all the religion and all the traditions passed away. They had been something of gain to him, but now they all became a loss.
We should apply these principles to ourselves, not to others. It is very easy for us to remain in religion and tradition. For example, we need to consider why we come to the meetings without functioning. Do you not think that this is according to tradition? With many of us I am afraid that a great part of our Christian life and service is traditional. Sometimes I ask people why they do not praise the Lord, and they answer, “I am not accustomed to such a thing.” They are simply in the habit of being quiet. Being quiet is also a tradition. May the Lord be merciful to us. We are under the influence of traditions, although not consciously so. We are influenced by them, and we are accustomed to them.
The way some people read the Bible is simply traditional. They have been reading it in a traditional way for years, yet there is no change in their lives. If they would pray-read the Word, what a difference it would make, and what a change would take place in their lives! Some people do not like pray-reading because it is something new. What is wrong with praying and reading the Bible? This is even better than simply reading the Bible; it is not only reading but pray-reading. What is wrong with praying the Bible and praying about the Bible? We admit that it may be something new, but does that make it wrong? The religious and traditional people, however, do not like anything new; therefore, they do not like pray-reading.
Some friends have even told me I should not minister anything new because it might offend others. In that case, how could we have the recovery? If we avoid offending people by not speaking about anything new, then we would need to keep all the old things, and the recovery would be gone. Suppose that in the time of Martin Luther someone told him not to speak about anything new because it might offend others. Justification by faith would not have been recovered if he had taken such advice. I am a little man, but recently I received a letter from a place I had never visited, a letter telling me that the leaders in a group there were aware that I teach “new doctrines.” That letter did not offend me, but rather it encouraged me to teach more new things, more heavenly new things.
Oh, how much the traditions are a frustration to us! We all need to pray, “O Lord, Amen, deliver us from traditions!” If we would do this for ten days, many traditions in our Christian life would be exposed. We may even see that the word of grace we offer at the dining table may be simply traditional. If we are in the spirit, we may simply shout “Hallelujah!” as our word of grace at the table, according to the Lord’s leading. We should not be set in a way that has become old.
If we come under the heavenly light, we will see how many things we need to let go of. All the old things, the out-dated things, the religious and traditional things, will be put aside, and we will be living, active, and aggressive. Our sharing with others, both with unbelievers and believers, will be quite different. It will be something of the Spirit, and not something of dead letters.
I am so thankful to the Lord for the meetings here in Los Angeles, but I am still praying that the Lord will grant us something new and newer. We need to be daily renewed. We need newer things. If we would be more in the spirit, the Lord would be brought forth in a new and different way.