Matthew 24:39 says, “And they did not know until the flood came and took all away; so also shall the coming (Gk. parousia) of the Son of Man be.” The Lord’s coming is His parousia or presence which will be a period of time. Verses 40-42 continue, “Then shall two men be in the field; one is taken, and one is left. Two women shall be grinding at the mill; one is taken, and one is left. Watch therefore, for you do not know on what day your Lord comes.” Both “watch therefore” and “your Lord” prove that the two men and two women in verses 40 and 41 are saved believers. The Lord would not charge unsaved people to watch, nor is He the Lord of the unsaved. Verse 43 says, “But know this, that if the householder knew in what watch the thief was coming, he would have watched and would not have allowed his house to be broken into.” “Householder” refers to the believer, and “house” to the believers’ conduct and work which he has built up in his Christian life. The believers need to be watchful concerning their conduct and work. Verse 44 says, “Therefore, you also, be ready, for the Son of Man comes in an hour that you think not.”
This portion of the Word, Matthew 24:39-44, is on our being watchful for the Lord’s coming. The two men or two women in 24:40-41 are the living saints because they are still working in the field and grinding at the mill. A minority of the Lord’s saints will be living at His coming back, while the majority represented by the ten virgins (25:1), will have died before the Lord’s coming. Ten is the major part of twelve (Gen. 42:3-4; 1 Kings 11:30-31; Matt. 20:24), and two is the remnant of twelve.
Matthew 25:1-13 addresses what will happen to the majority of the believers who will have died before the Lord’s coming. Ten represents the majority of the believers through all the generations who became drowsy and slept (25:5). Becoming “drowsy” signifies becoming sick (Acts 9:37; 1 Cor. 11:30) and “slept” signifies died (1 Thes. 4:13-16; John 11:11-13). While the Lord delays His coming back, the majority of the believers firstly become sick and then die.
Verses 1 and 2 say, “Then shall the kingdom of the heavens be likened to ten virgins, who took their lamps and went forth to meet the bridegroom. And five of them were foolish, and five were prudent.” The foolish ones are mentioned first because the warning here is focused on them. This parable is a warning to the foolish and unready believers. Verses 3 and 4 say, “For the foolish, when they took their lamps, did not take oil with them; but the prudent took oil in their vessels with their lamps.” Oil signifies the Spirit of God (Isa. 61:1; Heb. 1:9). Lamps signify the spirit of the believers (Prov. 20:27), which contains the Spirit of God as the oil (Rom. 8:16). Proverbs 20:27 says that the spirit of man is the lamp of Jehovah. Within the lamp, our regenerated spirit, is the oil, the Holy Spirit. Man is a vessel made for God (Rom. 9:21, 23-24), and man’s personality is in his soul. Hence, “vessels” here signify the soul of the believers.
We have the Holy Spirit in our regenerated spirit, but there is a question as to whether or not we have an extra portion of the Holy Spirit in our soul, saturating our being. The problem was not with the lamps of the virgins. Even the lamps of the five foolish virgins were burning. The fact that their lamps were “going out” (v. 8) proves that their lamps were lighted, having oil in them, but not having an adequate supply. They did not have the extra portion of the oil in their vessels.
Verse 5 says, “Now while the bridegroom delayed, they all became drowsy and slept.” While Christ has been delaying His coming back, millions of believers and lovers of Christ became sick and died. Verses 6 and 7 continue, “But at midnight there is a cry, Behold, the bridegroom! Go forth to meet him! Then all those virgins arose and trimmed their lamps.” “Midnight” signifies the darkest time of this dark age (night) close to the morning. That will be the end of this age, the time of the great tribulation. “Cry” signifies the voice of the archangel (1 Thes. 4:16). All the dead believers arose, which signifies resurrection from the dead, and trimmed their lamps, which signifies their dealing with their testimony in life. After resurrection our life for the Lord’s testimony still needs to be dealt with if it is not perfect before we die.
Verse 8 says, “And the foolish said to the prudent, Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.” After resurrection, the foolish believers discovered that they were short of the Spirit of God and needed the fullness of the Spirit of God. They are saved believers and their spirits are burning, but they do not have much oil. They do not have an extra portion of the Spirit in their vessel, in their soul, their being. Then they begged the wise ones to help by giving them some oil. “But the prudent answered, saying, Lest there be not enough for us and for you, go rather to those who sell and buy for yourselves” (v. 9). We should not forget that this conversation takes place after all the believers have been resurrected. After many believers have been resurrected, they will discover that they are short of the Spirit. They were short of the Spirit all the time during their life, but they were befuddled and stupefied. When they are resurrected, they will discover their shortage, but then it will be too late. They have to go and buy for themselves.
To buy means to pay the price. We have to pay the price for the filling of the Spirit in our soul. This filling of the Spirit is not free. The price involves items such as giving up the world, dealing with self, loving the Lord above all, and counting all things loss for Christ. This is why I said that we need to wake up that we may rise up! But to wake up and rise up requires the paying of a price. You have to drop your love of the world and so many worldly things.
As the foolish virgins were going away to buy, the bridegroom came (v. 10). First, all the dead saints are resurrected and then Christ comes. When He comes, the foolish ones are going to buy the extra portion of the oil. Christ comes “and those who were ready went in with him to the marriage feast, and the door was shut” (v. 10). “Went in” here means to be raptured into the marriage feast with the Bridegroom, Christ.
Verse 11 says, “And later the rest of the virgins came also, saying, Lord, Lord, open to us!” This is the later rapture of the resurrected believers. All the dead believers will be resurrected at the same time, but the ready ones will be raptured first. Then the unready ones will be raptured later. By the time the unready ones are raptured, the door (not the door of salvation) to enter into the enjoyment of the Lord’s marriage feast was shut. The foolish virgins “came also, saying, Lord, Lord, open to us! But he answered and said, Truly I say to you, I do not know you” (vv. 11-12). “Not know” means not to recognize, not to approve (see note 121 in Matthew 25—Recovery Version). The Lord never recognized or approved the foolish virgins for participation in the marriage feast because they were late in paying the price for the fullness of the Spirit. Finally verse 13 says, “Watch therefore, for you do not know the day nor the hour.”
Christians have taught a lot concerning the fullness of the Spirit, but according to my knowledge no one has ever referred this matter to the extra portion of the oil in the vessel in Matthew 25. This is the extra portion of the Holy Spirit in your human being. You have the Holy Spirit in your regenerated spirit so you are a son of God. Yet after having the Spirit in your spirit, you need to pay the price for the further filling of the Spirit, for the extra portion of the Holy Spirit.