Basic HTML Version
Oil in Your Vessels, January 8
They that were foolish took their lamps, and took no oil with them: but
the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps.
Matthew 25:3, 4
.
Many receive the truth readily, but they fail to assimilate truth, and its
influence is not abiding. They are like the foolish virgins, who had no oil
in their vessels with their lamps. Oil is a symbol of the Holy Spirit, which
is brought into the soul through faith in Jesus Christ. Those who earnestly
search the Scriptures with much prayer, who rely upon God with firm faith,
who obey His commandments, will be among those who are represented as
wise virgins. The teachings of the Word of God are not yea and nay, but yea
and amen.
The requirement of the gospel is far-reaching. Says the apostle, “What-
soever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving
thanks to God and the Father by him” (
Colossians 3:17
). “Whether therefore
ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God” (
1 Corinthi-
ans 10:31
). Practical piety will not be attained by giving the grand truths of
the Bible a place in the outer courts of the heart. The religion of the Bible
must be brought into the large and the little affairs of life. It must furnish the
powerful motives and principles that will regulate the Christian’s character
and course of action....
The oil so much needed by those who are represented as foolish virgins,
is not something to be put on the outside. They need to bring the truth into
the sanctuary of the soul, that it may cleanse, refine, and sanctify. It is not
theory that they need; it is the sacred teachings of the Bible, which are not
uncertain, disconnected doctrines, but are living truths, that involve eternal
interests that center in Christ. In Him is the complete system of divine truth.
The salvation of the soul, through faith in Christ, is the ground and pillar of
the truth.
Those who exercise true faith in Christ make it manifest by holiness of
character, by obedience to the law of God. They realize that the truth as it
is in Jesus reaches heaven, and compasses eternity. They understand that
the Christian’s character should represent the character of Christ, and be full
of grace and truth. To them is imparted the oil of grace, which sustains a
never-failing light. The Holy Spirit in the heart of the believer makes him
complete in Christ.—
The Review and Herald, September 17, 1895
.
[17]
15