Matthew 25:1“Then the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom. 2 Five of them were foolish, and five were wise. 3 For when the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them, 4 but the wise took flasks of oil with their lamps. 5 As the bridegroom was delayed, they all became drowsy and slept. 6 But at midnight there was a cry, ‘Here is the bridegroom! Come out to meet him.’ 7 Then all those virgins rose and trimmed their lamps. 8 And the foolish said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’ 9 But the wise answered, saying, ‘Since there will not be enough for us and for you, go rather to the dealers and buy for yourselves.’ 10 And while they were going to buy, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the marriage feast, and the door was shut. 11 Afterward the other virgins came also, saying, ‘Lord, lord, open to us.’ 12 But he answered, ‘Truly, I say to you, I do not know you.’ 13 Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour.
By in large we know that weddings as the one described in this parable were held at night. Typically, the sequence of events would go like this: the groom accompanied by his friends would leave his home and head towards his betrothed fiancé. He would arrive at his bride's house and she would come out attended by her childhood friends, bridesmaids, or attendants. In this parable, they're called "virgins". They would all leave together with pomp and circumstance, and present the couple to their new home. The groom comes to get his bride and takes her to her future home! This is the storyline of the entire new testament. It's interesting that the bride in this story isn't mentioned, but that the emphasis is on the groom and his coming.
Everything you need to understand about this parable is riding on how you see the virgins and their oil. I'm led to believe and many commentaries agree that verse 13 points to the virgins being a simile for the "visible church"; visible being the church of the present, invisible being the church of past, present and future. The parable tells us that this visible church is comprised of virgins that are wise, and virgins that are foolish.
The foolish had oil...some, but not enough. They had a faith, but it was not a saving faith because their oil ran out. Early on, they looked like the other virgins, but over time, and specifically with the coming of the groom, they're left out. They have some marks of the wise, they're not openly God-less, but what is glaringly obvious, is that the foolish virgins do not make it in. That means that some of you (in the visible church) will not, make it in.
-Dr. Jimmy Young
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