| E-MAIL SERVICE | Sign me up to receive the daily Word of Righteousness free via my E-mail address! ( ONLY AVAILABLE IN ENGLISH ) | |
| ARCHIVES | I want to check out the daily Words of Righteousness for any of the last fourteen days or from previous weeks. ( ENGLISH ONLY ) | |
| FEEDBACK | I have a question or comment about today's Word of Righteousness. ( ENGLISH AND SPANISH ONLY ) | |
| BOOK LIST | I would like to see the complete book list of the Words of Righteousness author Robert B. Thompson. (SOME SPANISH TITLES AVAILABLE ) |
The Daily Word of Righteousness
Two Parables, #4
Then all the virgins woke up and trimmed their lamps. The foolish ones said to the wise, "Give us some of your oil; our lamps are going out.""No," they replied, "there may not be enough for both us and you. Instead, go to those who sell oil and buy some for yourselves." (Matthew 25:7-9—NIV)
Enoch was translated by faith. It is seldom that God takes matters out of our hands, preferring that we respond in faith and obedience. So it shall be in the Day of the Lord. All of our past experiences and habits will work together to direct what we do in that day.
The virgins were awakened by the mighty signs in the heavens, by the lightning shining from east to west, by the sound of the trumpet, by the sign of the Son of Man appearing in the sky.
The five foolish Christians suddenly realized they had been living in the flesh. They became aware there was no Life of Christ in them. "Our lamps are going out"!
One of the arguments used by the "rapture" adherents that the historic coming presented in Matthew could not be the coming that will surprise everyone is that it is announced by the great signs in the heavens. How then could it overtake us as a thief, they reason.
But Matthew 25:7-9 shows us that even though the careless Christians knew the Bridegroom had come they still were caught unprepared and could not go to be with the Lord.
There may be several days or much longer between the signs in the heavens and the actual appearing of the Lord, or no interval at all. Even so, those who were caught living in the flesh will not be able to prepare themselves in time.
The foolish, careless, fleshly Christians went to the consecrated believers for spiritual help. But the consecrated believers realized they had just enough grace for themselves. (The Lord showed me this in a personal revelation.) They realized even the righteous are saved with difficulty.
Although I resisted the concept at first, over a period of years I began to believe and teach that not all who call themselves Christians will be ready to go to be with the Lord when He appears.
After wrestling with this thought, I finally asked the Lord to show me plainly in the Scripture that not all Christian church people will be caught up to meet the Lord in the air at His coming.
Immediately the parable of the ten virgins came to mind. Here the Scripture states plainly that a substantial part of the believers (five out of ten!) will not be ready for the Lord to come. Here it is in the New Testament. Plain as day. Numerous church-going believers will not be caught up to meet the Lord when He appears because they are living in the flesh, counting on a previous experience to save them.
The objection that the five foolish virgins were not believers is not supported by the text. These were people who believed Christian doctrine (the lamp), who at one time had the Life of Christ in them (their lamp had been burning), who knew the Bridegroom was coming and wanted to go to be with Him.
To be continued.