Are You a Virgin With a Full Lamp

I have been told a number of times that believers need to prepare for the rapture.

How would we prepare as believers for the coming of Christ? Those who say we need to, never tell us how to do this.

I see no mandate in the word to "prepare" for the Lord's return. The only preparation that needs to be done, is the work Christ already did when he made us into a new creation. It is His preparation that declares us ready.

The story of the ten virgins had to do with five virgins who were prepared because they were born again, the other five were not prepared because they were not born again.

Five virgins had oil (Holy Spirit) in their lamps, and the other five had no oil ( Holy spirit) in their lamps.

Matthew 25:1-13
"
The Parable of the Ten Virgins
25 “Then the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom.2 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, l‘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."

The parable of the virgins drives home the point that is made in Matthew 7, that many will think they are safe, a member of God's family, but they are not. They run with the group of Christians, just as Judas ran with Christ and the apostles, but they were never born again. Frightening as it is, these people will expect to be taken in the rapture, they will expect to be going to heaven, but they will not be going there, they will be rejected and cast away.

Matthew 7:21-23
21 “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. 22 Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many [a]miracles?’ 23 And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.’"

1 John 2:19
"They went out from us, but they were not really of us; for if they had been of us, they would have remained with us; but they went out, so that it would be shown that they all are not of us."

There are many in the church today who are confidently going about their business expecting to go home to Christ, but have never experienced the oil of the Holy Spirit, Who is the cleansing balm for their soul.

These people have been expecting to get to heaven, accepted by Christ because of their own good works. They are confident that they have been good enough to make it. Sadly, these same people are the hardest to reach for the Kingdom, because they enjoy their own goodness so much that they take the credit for it, rather than giving all the credit to Christ.

These are proud people lacking humility and brokenness over their sin. Had they been broken, openly confessing their sin to Christ and others, they would have been made into a new creation by our Lord. He would have cleansed them and sealed them with the Holy Spirit as a guarantee. But these people are too prideful to admit their sinful nature and go on thinking they will enter the Kingdom through their own merits.

Psalm 34:18
"The LORD is near to the brokenhearted And saves those who are crushed in spirit."

Ephesians 2:10
"For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them."

When we come to the place that we realize we are unable to be anything good, and that Christ alone is good, then we can confess openly that we need His blood to cover our sin in payment for our penalty that we owed, then He will come to dwell in us as the guarantee of our inheritance.

Ephesians 1:13-14
"13 In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise,
14 Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory."

When we become born again we are changed into a new creation, no longer to return to the old.

2 Corinthians 5:17
"Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new."

These are the 5 virgins who are going up in the rapture, those who have confessed they are sinners and have trusted Christ's sacrifice on the cross, the shedding of His blood for them, that will be indwelt with the Holy Spirit, becoming the bride of Christ.

The other 5 virgins are those who will not trust Christ, but are expecting to gain heaven by their association with other believer or by their own merits. Whoa unto those who will not weep over their sin and trust Christ, their eternity is very bleak.

May we pray for those we know who have not trusted Christ, that they will do so before it is too late......and that could be very soon!

Emotionalism Without Reason Is Dangerous!

When lamenting the over abundance of emotionalism in some churches, I was chastised for not recognizing emotion as a part of the human experience in worship. I found a very good explanation on another site that echos my thinking clearly.

"Question: What is emotionalism?

From:www.biblequestions.org/archives/BQAR337.htm

Answer: The English word "emotionalism" is defined as, "excessively emotional character...excessive appeal to the emotions...a tendency to...respond with undue emotion" (RHCD, pg. 433).

The Bible heart. The Bible has much to say about the heart of man, "Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life" (Prov. 4: 23). When analyzed, the Bible heart consists of intellect, will, emotions, and conscience (Matt. 13: 15, 22; Heb. 4: 12; Matt. 22: 37; Acts 23: 1).

Emotions are vital, but emotion must not rule the intellect. Fear, love, and joy are all biblical emotions (Heb. 12: 28; 1 Cor. 13: 1-8; Acts 8: 39). However, all these emotions depend on God's word for guidance, structure, and definition (cp. 2 Tim. 1: 7; 1 John 2: 15; Jas. 4: 9). The elder brother was engulfed in emotion when he thus reacted to his brother's return, "And he was angry, and would not go in..." (Luke 15: 28). Many people become blinded to the truth because their emotions are out of control.

Emotionalism in religion. Many organized religions rely on emotionalism. They work people into a frenzy and call this emotional, out of control condition salvation. Even during the time of real spiritual gifts, control and structure were to be practiced (1 Cor. 14: 26-40). Christianity is basically an orderly teaching religion (John 6: 44, 45, Eph. 4: 20). We are to "learn of Christ" (Matt. 11: 28 ff.).

Emotions uncontrolled blur and paralyze the mind. However, the intellect without emotion is spiritually worthless. The happy combination of emotion and intellect is seen in the Roman's obedience. "But God be thanked...ye have obeyed from the heart (emotion, dm) that form of doctrine (intellect, dm)..." (Rom. 6: 17, see vs. 18). A final warning regarding emotionalism: "He that trusteth in his own heart is a fool: but whoso walketh wisely, he shall be delivered" (Prov. 28: 26)."

Gwendolyn Wrote: Emotion can come from good reasoning, but when only emotion is present for the purpose of a high, then we have emotionalism without reason and that is very dangerous.