Bro Bill Sunday School 4/24/11

Bro Bill Sunday School 4/24/11

Mat 25:1  Then shall the kingdom of heaven be likened unto ten virgins, which took their lamps, and went forth to meet the bridegroom.

Mat 25:2  And five of them were wise, and five were foolish.

Mat 25:3  They that were foolish took their lamps, and took no oil with them:

Mat 25:4  But the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps.

Mat 25:5  While the bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered and slept.

Mat 25:6  And at midnight there was a cry made, Behold, the bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet him.

Mat 25:7  Then all those virgins arose, and trimmed their lamps.

Mat 25:8  And the foolish said unto the wise, Give us of your oil; for our lamps are gone out.

Mat 25:9  But the wise answered, saying, Not so; lest there be not enough for us and you: but go ye rather to them that sell, and buy for yourselves.

Mat 25:10  And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came; and they that were ready went in with him to the marriage: and the door was shut.

The kingdom of heaven is like ten virgins that took their lamps and went forth to meet the bridegroom.  They were all pure and all went forth.  At one point then they all endeavored to serve God.  In this day they can be likened to a people that served God.  God answered their prayers; God blessed them, directed their way, instructed and taught them, used them, and helped them to not fall into the snares of the enemy.

Five were wise and five were foolish.  The foolish took no oil with them in their vessels; the wise took oil with them in their vessels.  

Those that didn’t take the oil:  In living for God, we need to walk in the light and have good devotions.  I have noticed in my own life that there are times when you need more than just your devotions.  In my younger life, I endeavored to be faithful in my devotions morning and night yet I felt like “God I need my cup filled.  I need something more, I need some reviving.”  I endeavored to spend more time drawing near to God until I felt like my cup was getting filled.  Having devotions is a must, yet I had been having my devotions and drawing near to God and still I felt my need for more.

I wonder if this is what happened with the ten virgins.  Five had their oil run out.  I wonder if they didn’t take the time to draw from God.  People that have devotions can be far from God; the one that I’m thinking of lives far from this congregation.  There is more than raising your hand when people sing and reading and praying at night.  There is the need to really seek God.

I feel a real desire to spend more time with God to get closer to God.  You will never get to the place where you can ‘just read your bible every once in a while and go to church and just float into heaven.’  I feel my need of more.  When there are trials and hard places, some like to read a story book or go to sleep to try to escape the storm.  I want to turn to God.  I am really needy.  I have battles.

Psa 63:1  A Psalm of David, when he was in the wilderness of Judah. O God, thou art my God; early will I seek thee: my soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh longeth for thee in a dry and thirsty land, where no water is;

Psa 63:2  To see thy power and thy glory, so as I have seen thee in the sanctuary.

Psa 63:3  Because thy lovingkindness is better than life, my lips shall praise thee.

Have you ever felt that after a long day, you open the bible and it is like a fresh glass of water?

Jas 4:8  Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded.

The bible gives this promise, “Draw nigh to God and He will draw near to you.”  This is truth.  He will keep His word.  It takes time; there is no such thing as an instant catching up.  We all must go and get that extra oil for our self.  We must get it from the source.   You cannot get it from the person that is next to you.  Their experience cannot get you through; you must get your own experience.

1Ch 16:11  Seek the LORD and his strength, seek his face continually.

I do not feel like I have all the material I need in my own abilities.  I am needy.  We are needy people.  Seek His face continually.

Psa 119:2  Blessed are they that keep his testimonies, and that seek him with the whole heart.

Blessed are they that pursue God with their whole affection and direct their whole course of life toward Him.  If I were to instruct a new convert, I would say, “You be in every church service you can possible be in; be faithful to do all you know to do.  Do as the pastor instructs you.  When there are work parties, you be there.”  

I get tired sometimes of working so hard.  I’m looking forward to retiring so that I can do what I want to do.  But when there are work parties at the church, I’m going to be there doing my part.  I’d instruct the new convert, “You do everything that you know to do.  As you are faithful to your job, be faithful to church.  Seek God with your whole heart.  This must be first place, not second place.”  

If you brought an offering that had blemishes as a sacrifice in the Bible days would they accept that?  If I showed up once every three days at my job it wouldn’t be long until they’d get rid of me.  They’d say, “We need someone here that is a little more dedicated to his job.”  There is something about the spirit of the age that we live in.  People can still read their bible but be far from God.  

There are earmarks of people starting to get away from God.  They come in late for church and crack jokes in the back.  People begin to dress worldly and then something comes along and takes them out.  

We need to pray for each other, we need to be in this with all our heart.  You may need to drop something off.  Shake off the dust. (Isaiah 52:2)  Get rid of the worldly attachments that are causing you to not be your best for God.  If we don’t do it with all our heart then He will spew you out of His mouth. (Revelations 3:16)  Serve Him with all of your heart.  

Our salvation is the most important thing that we have.  Our spiritual life depends on our putting our whole heart into His service.  

The enemy is no respecter of persons.  There are people that can preach circles around any of us here that are no longer with us.  We are just human and are susceptible to failure in ourselves.  We must have God.  

Mat 25:5  While the bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered and slept.

Mat 25:6  And at midnight there was a cry made, Behold, the bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet him.

Mat 25:7  Then all those virgins arose, and trimmed their lamps.

Mat 25:8  And the foolish said unto the wise, Give us of your oil; for our lamps are gone out.

We all must war against sleepiness spiritually.  The word slumbered in this verse means to nod.  Have you ever been so sleepy driving down the road that you start to nod off?  It also means to delay; has God talked to you about something and you delayed?  

At midnight a cry was made.  There are a lot of cries made, “Get yourself ready; you want to make it.” 

Their oil had run out.  At the school system we have a steam boiler that heats hot water and circulates the water throughout the high school.  Every day when I go to work, I check the pressure gage and see if the pressure is up and to see if it is ready.  I look at the water gage to see if it is in the middle.  I listen to see if everything sounds right.  I also check the oil gauge to see if it is right in the middle.  If I neglected to pay attention to the oil gauge, the boiler could blow up.  It would cost thousands of dollars to have it retubed. 

In order for the oil to run out, there would have to be neglect.  They didn’t pay attention to the oil; we cannot have neglect in our life.  We know in our hearts the things that God has dealt with us on.  Are we doing them?  If we are not, there is a line that we can cross.  In revelations it talks about He gave them space to repent. (Rev 2:21)  If you go past that space it becomes sin that will separate from God.  People get to the place where they have to get saved all over again and must get sanctified over again.  They must do the first works over again. (Rev 2:5)  We must be careful that we are not negligent.  

The elements of the world and lukewarmness will all present themselves to us to affect us.  None of us are exempt from falling asleep.  We all must shake ourselves.