Oil for the Coming Wedding

There is a shaking happening in the world right now. A groaning coming from the earth that is increasing with each passing day; I’m sure that you can hear it. You do not have to look far to see that things are accelerating at a rapid pace all around us. Darkness is increasing as demonic agendas aim to tear apart the family structure under the disguise of movements labeled “feminism”, “pro choice”, and “toxic masculinity”. The slimy tentacles of gender confusion are reaching out through television shows, children’s books, and movies to capture our children’s minds in it’s twisted grip cloaked in the messages of “love is love” and “You can identify as whatever thing or whichever sex you want to be!”

THE INCREASE OF DARKNESS AND GOD’S CLEANSING

Darkness may seem to be increasing, but the truth is, this evil that we are seeing today has always been there, lurking behind the scenes; it’s just that now the enemy is revealing himself more and more, because the church as a whole has allowed it. We have become distracted, lukewarm, and divided against one another. We have been lulled to sleep by allowing the fear of man take place in our hearts rather than the fear of the Lord. We have stayed silent when Holy Spirit has commissioned us to speak the truth to the world. We have become too comfortable in our Western church religious lukewarmness. We have been chasing after the American Dream rather than chasing after the One who has fire in His eyes. Yet, in all of this, our heavenly Father is slow to anger, rich in mercy, and abounding in steadfast love (see Exodus 34:6-7) and He’s not done working. So take heart my friends, because God is not sitting idly by; Satan knows it and he is terrified. The enemy is franticly at work because he knows that his time is running out (see Revelation 20)

God is at work building His remnant. He is calling for His Bride to ready herself for the coming wedding. Some of that preparation is the cleansing of exposure that leads to repentance. We are seeing major church leaders falling to immorality in clusters leaving us shell shocked and in tears. Judgement must come to God’s house first.

“For the time has come for judgement to begin at the house of God; and if it begins with us first, what will be the end of those who do not obey the gospel of God?”

1 Peter 4:17

We are in a season of exposure in the church like never before. God is uncovering what was done in the dark and bringing it into the light, and I do not think we have seen the end of it. Exposure, though it may be painful, is necessary, and we need be thankful for these things that are coming to light. It is a time of cleansing.

We as the Bride of Christ must ready ourselves for the coming wedding.

There is a wedding on the horizon; a glorious marriage of the Lamb of God and His Church. There are several places in scripture that speak to Jesus being the Bridegroom King. In Ephesians 5:24-32, the apostle Paul teaches what a godly marriage should look like and how it should be a prophetic picture to the world of the love between Christ and His Church. You will see in 2 Corinthians 11:2, Paul speaks again about Jesus as our Bridegroom,

“For I have betrothed you to one Husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ.”

2 Corinthians 11:2

We see in the book of Revelation 19:6-9, the picture of this coming wedding,

“And I heard, as it were, the voice of a great multitude, as the sound of many waters and as the sound of mighty thunderings, saying ‘Alleluia! For the Lord Omnipotent reigns! 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.’ And to her it was granted to be arrayed in fine linen, clean and bright, for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints. Then he said to me, ‘Write: ‘Blessed are those who are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb!’” And he said to me, “These are the true sayings of God.”

Revelation 19:6-9

He is our Bridegroom King and we are His Bride. Jesus is coming soon, but know one knows the day or the hour.

Jesus said in Matthew 24:36,

“But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, but My Father only.”

Matthew 24:36

IT IS TIME TO STORE UP OUR OIL

So what is God calling us, the Bride of Christ, to do in the midst of this shaking? I wanted to take us to Matthew 25:1-13 and really unpack what it means for us in this hour. Are you ready? Good. Grab your Bible, a cup of something delicious (unless, of course, you’re fasting then in that case, carry on sis, stay strong)

Let’s dive in.

In Matthew 25, Jesus is having a private conversation with His closest friends on the Mount of Olives about the end of the age. Would you consider yourself one of Jesus’ closest friends? If not, He is inviting you into a place of deep friendship with Him. He longs to be your dearest friend.

Back to Matthew 25, lets look at verses 1-13,

 “Then the kingdom of heaven shall be likened to ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom.  Now five of them 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. But while the bridegroom was delayed, they all slumbered and slept. “And at midnight a cry was heard: ‘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.’ And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the wedding; and the door was shut. “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.’ “Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour in which the Son of Man is coming.”

Matthew 25:1-13

Jesus likens His second coming to a beautiful, joyous wedding. A wedding where the prepared will be able to participate in and the unprepared will be shut out. Everyone is invited, but not everyone will enter.

SO, WHAT IS THIS “OIL”?

Throughout scripture, oil is representative of the Holy Spirit; His anointing, ministry, and power. One example of this can be found in 1 Samuel 16:13, where God anointed David through the prophet Samuel by the anointing from the horn of oil,

Then Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the midst of his brothers; and the Spirit of the LORD came upon David from that day forward. So Samuel arose and went to Ramah.

1 Samuel 16:13

So now that we know that oil represents the Holy Spirit, let’s look back to Matthew 25 at the Parable of the Ten Virgins.

Ten virgins. Five wise. Five foolish. All having lamps in their possession. From the outside the ten appeared identical. Each one was a virgin, each one held a lamp, each lamp had oil in it, and each virgin was expecting the Bridegroom. There was only one difference.

The amount of extra oil in their vessels.

The ten virgins represent church goers. These ten all had oil, the Holy Spirit, in their lamps and they all were expecting the Bridegroom’s return. These were christians. Unbelievers are not expecting Jesus’ return and unbelievers do not have the Holy Spirit.

They all appeared the same on the outside, the only difference was that five were prepared for the delay of His return and five were not. How were the wise prepared? They had with them extra oil in their vessels.

DON’T FALL ASLEEP

I find it interesting that in verse 5, Jesus said that they all slumbered and slept at His delay. Friends, there is a big difference between being asleep to His presence and being at rest in His presence as we wait for Him to return. Ones that are like the unwise virgins can find themselves asleep in the spirit. Foolish ones that are just mindlessly going through the religious motions; go to church on Sunday, get annoyed when worship takes too long, stand stoic and bored out of their minds, they check their watches with each passing song, and completely “check out” during the sermon.

They then go home to gorge themselves on every fleshly desire while their Bible collects dust throughout the week. They may get a little nibble of truth from a christian podcast or sermon clip on reels here and there. But most of their time is spent on countless hours mindlessly scrolling social media and staying up late to binge watch yet another show on Netflix. Jesus, who longs to hear their voice, never does. They are asleep, a walking dead, and their oil is drying up day by day.

There is little to no prayer, absolutely no fasting, there is only binging on the world. Religion is shiny on the outside but dried up on the inside. Religion produces lovers of worldly pleasure rather than lovers of God, having a form of godliness but denying its power(see 2 Timothy 3:5) These are riddled with anxiety, fear, depression, and sometimes illness, because of this. They are completely asleep to the reality of the kingdom of God and what is happening in the spirit realm because their spirit is not awake and they are lacking in the extra oil of His presence.

RESTING IN THE DELAY

The wise know Him. They rest in His presence at His delay. They are not afraid of what is to come. (See Proverbs 31:25) Just like Jesus slept in the boat during a ferocious storm (see Matthew 8:23-27), ones that have extra oil are saturated in His peace and deeply trust the Father. Their spirit is awake, but can rest as they wait for the Bridegroom’s return. Their lives are so centered on and in Him that nothing can shake them from their peaceful rest in Him and throw them into a fit of anxiety. They are prepared with extra oil and are at peace because of it. They are not asleep to the Kingdom of God, but are alert, sensitive to His Spirit, and ready for action. Day in and day out, they rest in His presence as they actively serve Him, obey Him, and flow where He leads.

2 Thessalonians 5:6 says,

Therefore let us not sleep, as others do, but let us watch and be sober.

2 Thessalonians 5:6

TO PURCHASE OIL

At midnight a cry was heard, announcing the return of the Bridegroom, inviting those to go out to meet Him. The virgins arose and trimmed their lamps. That word trimmed in the greek is kosmeo meaning “to beautify, arrange, decorate, furnish, embellish, adorn, put in order.” They arose and lit their lamps, but the foolish, in their panic realized that their lamp barely flickered with a dying flame. The darkness closing in around them, fear gripped their throats as they checked their vessels to find no extra oil. Frantically the foolish pleaded with the wise, “Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out!” The wise said, “No, lest there should not be enough for us and you; but go rather to those who sell, and buy for yourselves.”

You cannot get oil from other christians. Notice the knee jerk reaction that the foolish virgins had when they realized their lack of enough oil was to run to the ones who did have a reserve of oil. They begged the wise to have some of theirs, but that is just not possible. The wise instructed them to go and buy oil for themselves. The foolish ones recognized that the wise had oil and they went to them. When a believer has oil, it is noticeable, and the ones who are lacking will always seek them out in times of darkness.

So how do you get oil? You have to buy it.

Jesus said to the church in Revelation 3:17-18,

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.

Revelation 3:17-18

You purchase oil from Jesus. He is the Baptizer in the Spirit (Mark 1:8, John 1:33, Matthew 3:11, Luke 3:16) He is the one who has gold refined in the fire, which is a faith that endures in the face of persecution and trials. In Ephesians 5:17-18, the Apostle Paul writes,

“Therefore do not be unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is. And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation; but be filled with the Spirit,”

Ephesians 5:17-18

The words “be filled” can be translated as “continually filled and refilled”. There is the initial filling of the Holy Spirit at salvation which is a free gift, but we are commanded to be continually filled and refilled.

The refilling of the oil of the Holy Spirit has to be bought with a price. As we see in Revelation chapter 3 verse 18, there are things that are to be bought, not everything in the Christian life is free. So what is the price?

Oil is produced from crushing. Crushing is painful, it is costly. The crushing is the refining fire that burns away anything that doesn’t align with Him. When we go through trials, persecution, and times of drought, are we staying at His feet in our secret place, or are we seeking answers from the world?

The five virgins had the initial filling, but they were not continually being refilled, so they were unprepared. Torches require a regular refilling.

Let’s go to Leviticus 24:1-4,

The LORD spoke to Moses: “Command the Israelites to bring you pure oil from crushed olives for the light, in order to keep the lamp burning regularly. Aaron is to tend it continually from evening until morning before the LORD outside the curtain of the testimony in the tent of meeting. This is a permanent statute throughout your generations. He must continually tend the lamps on the pure gold lampstand in the LORD’s presence.”

Leviticus 24:1-4

The word continually in Hebrew is “tamid” which means: constantly, always, evermore, perpetually. From a root that means “to stretch out to eternity”, “to extend forever”. Something permanent and unceasing.

God expects us to continually buy oil from Him. Oil is our history with Him; where we have stayed in His presence day after day, night after night. He calls us to lock our gaze with His blazing eyes of holy jealous love in every season.

“My eyes are ever toward the LORD.”

Psalm 24:15

“His praise shall continually be in my mouth.”

Psalm 35:1

“The LORD will guide you continually, and satisfy your soul in drought.”

Isaiah 58:11

What powerful verses to remind us to continually buy oil from Jesus! In seasons of plenty and in seasons of drought, He is with us and will always be our sustainer.

Does Jesus Know You?

At the end of the parable in Matthew 25, Jesus said in verses 11, “Later the rest of the virgins also came and said, ‘Master, master, open for us!’ He replied, ‘Truly I tell you, I don’t know you!’ Therefore be alert, because you don’t know either the day or the hour.”

God knows His elect, He knows the ones who have a history with Him. He hears their voices continually and breathes in the fragrance of their sacrificial worship as it ascends to Him in spirit and in truth. They continually say “yes” to Jesus and “no” to sin.

They are His.

“Nevertheless, God’s solid foundation stands firm, bearing this inscription: The Lord knows those who are His, and let everyone who calls on the name of the Lord turn away from wickedness.

2 Timothy 2:19

His elect are those who have paid the price for the oil of His presence, they have walked through the refining fire. They are not lukewarm, but ablaze with the fire of the Holy Spirit. The wise are those who are in a true relationship with Him, crying out to Him day and night.

“Will not God grant justice to his elect who cry out to him day and night? Will he delay helping them?”

Luke 18:7

They are the ones who are continually at His feet being filled and refilled, tending to the flame in their lamps. Those who stay in the Word, have a lifestyle of prayer and fasting, dying to their flesh, and have purchased eye salve (Revelation 3:18) from Jesus so that they may have single eyes for Him and Him alone (see Matthew 6:22).

I will leave you with this question to ponder, “Do I have enough oil?”

When we have the oil of His presence, we can face anything the enemy hurls at us, because we are saturated in Him, covered by His blood and His armor (see Ephesians 6:10-18). We will come out on the other side of the crushing having a reserve of oil in our vessels.

Be encouraged today that He is with you and He has oil available for you. Knowing that, you can rest in Him as He continually fills you again and again with His Spirit.