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| Let's pray together: |
| Heavenly Father, Jesus' parable of the ten virgins can help us to better understand the subject of the great wedding between the Bridegroom and the Bride, and to better prepare ourselves for this glorious event. Please guide us by Your Spirit once more, as we open Your inspired Word. In Jesus Christ we pray. Amen. |
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Lesson 92 |
Screen 2 |
The Ten Virgins |
Matthew 25:1 |
Comments |
| Then the kingdom of heaven shall be likened to ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. | A great wedding is coming soon. In our last few lessons, we discovered that Jesus is the bridegroom at this wedding, and His faithful Church is the bride. In order to show us how we must prepare ourselves for this wonderful day, Jesus gave us the parable of the ten virgins. Our lesson today is a study of this important parable. |
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Lesson 92 |
Screen 3 |
The Ten Virgins |
Matthew 25:1,10 |
Comments |
| The kingdom of heaven shall be
likened to ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. (...) The bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the wedding. |
On the wedding day, the bride awaited the bridegroom
in her father's house. When he arrived they would both return to the bridegroom's house. On the way back, the guests - like the virgins of the parable - joined the wedding procession, brightening it with songs and lights, up to the wedding hall, where the celebration went on for several days. |
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Lesson 92 |
Screen 4 |
The Ten Virgins |
Revelation 14:1,4 |
Comments |
| Then I looked, and behold, a
Lamb standing on Mount Zion, and with Him one hundred and forty-four thousand (...). These are the ones who were not defiled with women, for they are virgins. |
The ten virgins of the parable, who are waiting for
the coming of the bridegroom, symbolize all the sincere believers who love Jesus and are
waiting for His return. They all want to join the 144,000, that is, the group of believers who will go through the great trial of the last days and persevere until Jesus' return, thus remaining «virgins», faithful to God. |
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Lesson 92 |
Screen 5 |
The Ten Virgins |
Matthew 25:1 |
Comments |
| Then the kingdom of heaven shall be likened to ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. | The ten virgins' lamps represent the Word
of God. By proclaiming its message of love, hope, and salvation, the believers give light to this world which is plunged into spiritual darkness, and bring men to the knowledge of Jesus Christ, the true Light of the world. |
Psalm 119:105 |
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| Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path. |
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Lesson 92 |
Screen 6 |
The Ten Virgins |
| By carrying out the work of God, we also give light to the world: |
| «You are the light of the
world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do they light a lamp and put it
under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let
your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father
in heaven.» (MATTHEW 5:14-16) «Do all things without murmuring and disputing, that you may become blameless and harmless, children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, holding fast the word of life.» (PHILIPPIANS 2:14-16) «Let your waist be girded and your lamps burning.» (LUKE 12:35) |
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Lesson 92 |
Screen 7 |
The Ten Virgins |
Matthew 25:2-4 |
Comments |
| Now five of [the ten virgins]
were wise, and five were foolish. Those who were foolish took their lamps and took no oil with them, but the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps. |
At the start, each of the ten virgins could rely on a
burning lamp, filled with oil. But five of them, knowing that the bridegroom might possibly be delayed, decided to take a reserve of oil with them. This decision alone is sufficient to distinguish the wise virgins from the foolish ones. Now, what does the oil symbolize? |
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Lesson 92 |
Screen 8 |
The Ten Virgins |
Psalm 45:7 |
Comments |
| You love righteousness and hate wickedness; therefore God, Your God, has anointed You With the oil of gladness more than Your companions. | We have already seen that, in Bible
prophecy, oil symbolizes the Holy Spirit, with whom God anoints repentant man, in order to
enable him to work efficiently in His harvest. The Holy Spirit, working like oil, keeps the lamp of our heart burning continuously. |
Acts 10:38 |
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| God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power. |
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Lesson 92 |
Screen 9 |
The Ten Virgins |
2 Corinthians 1:21,22 |
Comments |
| Now He who establishes us with you in Christ and has anointed us is God, who also has sealed us and given us the Spirit in our hearts as a deposit. | By allowing the Holy Spirit to work within us, we become firmly established in faith, and we bear more and more good fruit for God. |
Galatians 5:22,23 |
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| The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. |
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Lesson 92 |
Screen 10 |
The Ten Virgins |
1 John 2:27,28 |
Comments |
| The anointing which you have
received from [God] abides in you, and you do not need that anyone teach you; but as the
same anointing teaches you concerning all things, and is true, and is not a lie, and just
as it has taught you, you will abide in Him. And now, little children, abide in Him, that when He appears, we may have confidence and not be ashamed before Him at His coming. |
The anointing of the Holy Spirit progressively reveals
the will of God to us. If we put into practice what He teaches us, God will fill our «oil reserve», thus making us steadfast enough to face the coming trials. |
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Lesson 92 |
Screen 11 |
The Ten Virgins |
Matthew 25:5 |
Comments |
| But while the bridegroom was delayed, they all slumbered and slept. | The precaution of the five wise virgins
was not useless. In fact, just as they expected, the bridegroom was delayed. Let's note that Jesus, in His parables, often presented His return as a distant event. |
Luke 20:9 |
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| A certain man planted a vineyard, leased it to vinedressers, and went into a far country for a long time. | |
Matthew 25:19 |
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| After a long time the lord of those servants came. |
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Lesson 92 |
Screen 12 |
The Ten Virgins |
| Even though the bridegroom seems to delay, His return is certain: |
| «For yet a little while, and He
who is coming will come and will not tarry. Now the just shall live by faith; but if
anyone draws back, my soul has no pleasure in him. But we are not of those who draw back
to perdition, but of those who believe to the saving of the soul.» (HEBREWS 10:37-39) «Write the vision and make it plain on tablets, that he may run who reads it. For the vision is yet for an appointed time; but at the end it will speak, and it will not lie. Though it tarries, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not tarry.» (HABAKKUK 2:2,3) «The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.» (2 PETER 3:9) |
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Lesson 92 |
Screen 13 |
The Ten Virgins |
Matthew 25:5 |
Comments |
| But while the bridegroom was delayed, they all slumbered and slept. | Since the bridegroom was delayed, all the
virgins, both wise and foolish, fell asleep. So Jesus' advice, «Watch and pray», is very pertinent, because «the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak». |
Matthew 26:40,41 |
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| [Jesus] came to the disciples and
found them asleep, and said to Peter, «What, could you not watch with Me one hour? Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.» |
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Lesson 92 |
Screen 14 |
The Ten Virgins |
1 Thessalonians 5:2,4-6,8 |
Comments |
| For you yourselves know
perfectly that the day of the Lord so comes as a thief in the night. (...) But you, brethren, are not in darkness, so that this Day should overtake you as a thief. You are all sons of light and sons of the day. We are not of the night nor of darkness. Therefore let us not sleep, as others do, but let us watch and be sober. (...) Let us who are of the day be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet the hope of salvation. |
In these last days, let's not allow our spiritual life to fall asleep. |
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Lesson 92 |
Screen 15 |
The Ten Virgins |
| The bridegroom is about to return. Let's remain awake and watchful: |
| «And do this, knowing the time,
that now it is high time to awake out of sleep; for now our salvation is nearer than when
we first believed. The night is far spent, the day is at hand. Therefore let us cast off
the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light.» (ROMANS 13:11,12) «Therefore He says: "Awake, you who sleep, arise from the dead, and Christ will give you light."» (EPHESIANS 5:14) «Watch therefore, for you do not know when the master of the house is coming - in the evening, at midnight, at the crowing of the rooster, or in the morning - lest, coming suddenly, he find you sleeping. And what I say to you, I say to all: Watch!» (MARK 13:35-37) «Behold, I am coming as a thief. Blessed is he who watches.» (REVELATION 16:15) |
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Lesson 92 |
Screen 16 |
The Ten Virgins |
Matthew 25:6 |
Comments |
| And at midnight a cry was heard: «Behold, the bridegroom is coming!» |
Finally, «at
midnight», the bridegroom comes. In our lessons, we have often seen that the return of Jesus will take place at a time when this world is plunged into deep spiritual darkness. |
Isaiah 60:1,2 |
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| Arise, shine; for your light has
come! And the glory of the Lord is risen upon you. For behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and deep darkness the people; but the Lord will arise over you, and His glory will be seen upon you. |
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Lesson 92 |
Screen 17 |
The Ten Virgins |
Luke 21:34-36 |
Comments |
| But take heed to yourselves,
lest your hearts be weighed down with carousing, drunkenness, and cares of this life, and
that Day come on you unexpectedly. For it will come as a snare on all those who dwell on
the face of the whole earth. Watch therefore, and pray always that you may be counted worthy to escape all these things that will come to pass, and to stand before the Son of Man. |
In fact, Jesus warned us that, before His glorious return, we will have to go through a dark and very difficult period. |
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Lesson 92 |
Screen 18 |
The Ten Virgins |
Matthew 25:6-9 |
Comments |
| «Behold, the bridegroom is
coming; go out to meet him!» Then all those virgins arose and trimmed their lamps. And the foolish said to the wise, «Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.» But the wise answered, saying, «No, lest there should not be enough for us and you; but go rather to those who sell, and buy for yourselves.» |
By dipping into their personal oil reserve, the wise
virgins were able to quickly light their lamps again. The foolish ones couldn't. The wise virgins seem to lack generosity towards the foolish. Is this true? |
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Lesson 92 |
Screen 19 |
The Ten Virgins |
Matthew 25:9 |
Comments |
| But the wise answered, saying, «No, lest there should not be enough for us and you; but go rather to those who sell, and buy for yourselves.» |
The wise virgins did not lack charity. Their refusal to share their oil simply expresses this fact: it is impossible, for the believer who is ready for dark times, to transfer his oil reserve - his faith, strengthened by God's Spirit - to the heart of the believer who hasn't prepared himself. |
Romans 14:12 |
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| So then each of us shall give account of himself to God. |
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Lesson 92 |
Screen 20 |
The Ten Virgins |
Psalm 49:7,8 (New International Version) |
Comments |
| No man can redeem the life of another or give to God a ransom for him - the ransom for a life is costly, no payment is ever enough. | The impossibility of sharing oil with others thus reminds us of the importance, for each one of us, to develop a steadfast personal relationship with God, so that we may rely on our very own reserve of oil |
Jeremiah 15:1 |
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| The Lord said to me, «Though Moses and Samuel stood before Me, yet My mind could not be favorable toward this people. Cast them out of My sight.» |
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Lesson 92 |
Screen 21 |
The Ten Virgins |
| Each one of us will have to rely on his own oil reserve, coming from God: |
| «"If I send a pestilence
into that land and pour out My fury on it in blood, and cut off from it man and beast,
even though Noah, Daniel, and Job were in it, as I live," says the Lord God,
"they would deliver neither son nor daughter; they would deliver only themselves by
their righteousness."» (EZEKIEL 14:19,20) «Ho! Everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy and eat. (...) Seek the Lord while He may be found, call upon Him while He is near.» (ISAIAH 55:1,6) «And the Spirit and the bride say, "Come!" And let him who hears say, "Come!" And let him who thirsts come. And whoever desires, let him take the water of life freely.» (REVELATION 22:17) «(...) giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light. He has delivered us from the power of darkness and translated us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins.» (COLOSSIANS 1:12-14) |
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Lesson 92 |
Screen 22 |
The Ten Virgins |
Isaiah 4:1 |
Comments |
| And in that day seven women
shall take hold of one man, saying, «We will eat our own food and wear our own apparel; only let us be called by your name.» |
Just like the women described in this verse, the
foolish virgins contented themselves with bearing the name of Jesus. However: - they refused to feed on His teachings and to put them into practice («we will eat our own food»); - and they refused to put on His perfect justice («we will wear our own apparel») which transforms the heart of the truly repentant soul. |
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Lesson 92 |
Screen 23 |
The Ten Virgins |
| Claiming to be a Christian is not enough, we must also follow God's will: |
| «Not everyone who says to Me,
"Lord, Lord", shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My
Father in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, "Lord, Lord, have we not
prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your
name?" And then I will declare to them, "I never knew you; depart from Me, you
who practice lawlessness!"» (MATTHEW 7:21-23) «They come to you as people do, they sit before you as My people, and they hear your words, but they do not do them; for with their mouth they show much love, but their hearts pursue their own gain. Indeed you are to them as a very lovely song of one who has a pleasant voice and can play well on an instrument; for they hear your words, but they do not do them. And when this comes to pass - surely it will come - then they will know that a prophet has been among them.» (EZEKIEL 33:31-33) |
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Lesson 92 |
Screen 24 |
The Ten Virgins |
Revelation 3:14,17,18 |
Comments |
| And to the angel of the church
of the Laodiceans write, «(...) Because you say, "I am rich, have become wealthy, and have need of nothing" - and do not know that you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked - I counsel you to buy from Me gold refined in the fire, that you may be rich; and white garments, that you may be clothed, that the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed; and anoint your eyes with eye salve, that you may see.» |
In order to avoid becoming a foolish virgin, each one of us must follow Jesus' advice to Laodicea, which symbolizes the Church of the last days. |
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Lesson 92 |
Screen 25 |
The Ten Virgins |
Matthew 13:20,21 |
Comments |
| But he who received the seed on
stony places, this is he who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy; yet he
has no root in himself, but endures only for a while. For when tribulation or persecution arises because of the word, immediately he stumbles. |
If we follow Jesus' advice to Laodicea (see the lesson «Letter to the Church of Laodicea»), God will provide us with a reserve of oil which will keep our lamp burning, in spite of tribulations, until the coming of the bridegroom. |
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Lesson 92 |
Screen 26 |
The Ten Virgins |
Matthew 25:10 |
Comments |
| And while [the foolish virgins]
went to buy, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the
wedding. And the door was shut. |
The parable goes on with the shutting of
the door of the wedding hall. This reminds us of the shutting of the door of the ark, before the Flood. |
Genesis 7:15,16 |
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| And they went into the ark to
Noah, two by two, of all flesh in which is the breath of life. So those that entered, male
and female of all flesh, went in as God had commanded him. And the Lord shut him in. |
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Lesson 92 |
Screen 27 |
The Ten Virgins |
Matthew 24:38-41 |
Comments |
| For as in the days before the
flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that
Noah entered the ark, and did not know until the flood came and took them all away, so
also will the coming of the Son of Man be. Then (...) two women will be grinding at the mill: one will be taken and the other left. |
In fact, shortly before, Jesus plainly compared the
time of His return to that before the Flood. Also, by saying that one woman out of two would be saved, He also introduced the parable of the ten virgins. |
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Lesson 92 |
Screen 28 |
The Ten Virgins |
Matthew 25:11,12 |
Comments |
| Afterward the other virgins came
also, saying, «Lord, Lord, open to us!» But he answered and said, «Assuredly, I say to you, I do not know you.» |
Because they were not able to join the bridal procession and follow the bridegroom when He came, the foolish virgins arrived too late at the wedding hall, and were left outside. |
Matthew 7:21 |
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| Not everyone who says to Me, «Lord, Lord», shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. |
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Lesson 92 |
Screen 29 |
The Ten Virgins |
Hebrews 3:11,18 |
Comments |
| «So I swore in My wrath,
"They shall not enter My rest."» (...) And to whom did He swear that they would not enter His rest, but to those who did not obey? |
Let's make sure that, when the bridegroom comes, we may be able to follow Him into the wedding hall, rather than face a closed door. |
Hebrews 4:1 |
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| Therefore, since a promise remains of entering His rest, let us fear lest any of you seem to have come short of it. |
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Lesson 92 |
Screen 30 |
The Ten Virgins |
Luke 13:25-27 |
Comments |
| When once the Master of the
house has risen up and shut the door, and you begin to stand outside and knock at the
door, saying, «Lord, Lord, open for us», and He will answer and say to you, «I do not
know you, where you are from», then you will begin to say, «We ate and drank in Your
presence, and You taught in our streets.» But He will say, «I tell you I do not know you, where you are from. Depart from Me, all you workers of iniquity.» |
Indeed, as we have seen in our lesson «The Close of Probation», once God has shut the door of His grace, it won't be possible to open it again. |
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Lesson 92 |
Screen 31 |
The Ten Virgins |
Matthew 25:13 |
Comments |
| Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour in which the Son of Man is coming. | The parable of the ten virgins ends with this call to watchfulness. |
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Lesson 92 |
Screen 32 |
The Ten Virgins |
Luke 12:35-37,40 |
Comments |
| Let your waist be girded and
your lamps burning; and you yourselves be like men who wait for their master, when he will
return from the wedding, that when he comes and knocks they may open to him immediately. Blessed are those servants whom the master, when he comes, will find watching. Assuredly, I say to you that he will gird himself and have them sit down to eat, and will come and serve them. (...) Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect. |
The bridegroom is coming quickly! Let's keep our lamps burning brightly. |
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Lesson 92 |
Screen 33 |
The Ten Virgins |
Ecclesiastes 2:13 |
Comments |
| Then I saw that wisdom excels folly as light excels darkness. | Let's follow the example of the five wise
virgins, who brought a sufficient reserve of oil with them. Then, just like them, we will able to keep our lamps burning during the time of darkness which is coming, and join the bridal procession when the bridegroom comes. |
Proverbs 13:9 |
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| The light of the righteous rejoices, but the lamp of the wicked will be put out. |
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Lesson 92 |
Screen 34 |
The Ten Virgins |
Revelation 19:7,9 |
Comments |
| «Let us be glad and rejoice and
give Him glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife has made herself
ready.» (...) «Blessed are those who are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb!» And [the angel] said to me, «These are the true sayings of God.» |
Soon, our watchfulness and perseverance in Jesus Christ will not only grant us access to the celebration of the glorious marriage of the Lamb, but also, and above all, to be the bride, the faithful Church of God! |
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Lesson 92 |
Screen 35 |
The Ten Virgins |
| Let's pray together: |
| Lord, It is written: «The path of the just is like the shining sun, that shines ever brighter unto the perfect day. The way of the wicked is like darkness; they do not know what makes them stumble.» (Proverbs 4:18,19) Please give us a sufficient reserve of oil, so that our lamps may be still burning when the Bridegroom comes in all His glory. In His most precious name we pray. Amen. |
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The Ten Virgins