LESSON FIFTY-FOUR

THE FUTURE OF THE BELIEVERS—
IN THE COMPLETING STAGE OF
GOD’S FULL SALVATION,
THE STAGE OF GLORIFICATION

(4)

OUTLINE

4. The majority of the believers, who have died through all the generations, signified by the ten virgins, rising up from the dead:
   1. The prudent ones, who take oil in their vessels with their lamps and who are ready, being taken to the wedding feast of the Lamb.
   2. The foolish ones, who take no oil in their vessels with their lamps and who are not ready, also coming to the Lord but being rejected from His wedding feast:
      1. Needing to go and buy the oil for their vessels.
      2. Missing the wedding feast of the Lamb.
5. Being raptured into the Lord’s parousia:
   1. The dead believers rising up first:
      1. The resurrection of those who are Christ’s.
      2. The resurrection of life.
      3. The resurrection of the righteous.
      4. The first resurrection.
      5. The out-resurrection.
   2. The living believers, who are left and who will still remain until the Lord’s coming, being caught up at the same time together with the resurrected ones:
      1. In the clouds.
      2. Meeting the Lord in the air.
      3. Being always with the Lord.

TEXT

In this lesson we will continue from the previous lesson to consider other aspects of the rapture of the believers.

D. The Majority of the Believers,
Who Have Died through All the Generations,
Signified by the Ten Virgins,
Rising Up from the Dead

When the Lord Jesus returns, the believers will be of two classes, signified by the numbers two in Matthew 24 and ten in Matthew 25. The totality of the believers is signified by the number twelve. Because the two men and two women are working (24:40-41), they represent the believers who will be alive when the Lord returns. The ten virgins, on the contrary, were asleep (25:1, 5), indicating that the majority of the believers will have died by the time the Lord returns. When the Lord returns, the majority of the believers, who have died through all the generations, as signified by the ten virgins, will rise up from the dead.

Matthew 25:1 says, “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.” Virgins signify believers in the aspect of life (2 Cor. 11:2). The believers are like pure virgins, bearing the Lord’s testimony (the lamp) in the dark age and going out of the world to meet the Lord. The lamps in Matthew 25:1 signify the spirit of the believers (Prov. 20:27), which contains the Spirit of God (Rom. 8:16) as the oil. The believers shine with the light of the Spirit of God from within their spirit. Thus, they become the light of the world, like a lamp shining in the darkness of this age (Matt. 5:14-16; Phil. 2:15-16) to bear the testimony of the Lord for the glorification of God. The virgins “went forth to meet the bridegroom.” This signifies that the believers are going out of the world to meet the coming Christ as the Bridegroom, as the most pleasant and attractive person (John 3:29; Matt. 9:15).

The Lord promised to come quickly, but nearly two thousand years have passed, and still He delays His coming. Because of this delay the virgins “became drowsy and slept” (25:5). Becoming drowsy signifies becoming sick (Acts 9:37; 1 Cor. 11:30), and going to sleep signifies dying (1 Thes. 4:13-16; John 11:11-13). While the Lord delays His coming back, the majority of the believers first become sick and then die. Matthew 25:6 says, “At midnight there was a cry, Behold, the bridegroom! Go forth to meet him!” Midnight signifies the darkest time of this dark age (night). That will be the end of this age, the time of the great tribulation. The cry signifies the voice of the archangel (1 Thes. 4:16). “Then all those virgins arose and trimmed their own lamps” (Matt. 25:7). Arose signifies resurrection from the dead (1 Thes. 4:14). This is the resurrection predicted in 1 Thessalonians 4:16 and 1 Corinthians 15:52. After the virgins arose, they trimmed their lamps. This signifies the virgins’ dealing with the testimony in their living and indicates that after their resurrection, the believers still need to deal with the Lord’s testimony in their living.

Matthew 25:2 says that five of the virgins were “foolish” and five were “prudent.” Five is composed of four plus one, signifying that man (signified by four) is added with God (signified by one) to bear responsibility. Five virgins being foolish and five being prudent does not indicate that half the believers are foolish and the other half are prudent. It indicates that all believers bear the responsibility to be filled with the Holy Spirit.