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Christ’s Object Lessons
to the path. “Not by might, nor by power, but by My Spirit, saith the
Lord of hosts.”
Zechariah 4:6
.
In the parable, all the ten virgins went out to meet the bridegroom.
All had lamps and vessels for oil. For a time there was seen no
difference between them. So with the church that lives just before
Christ’s second coming. All have a knowledge of the Scriptures. All
have heard the message of Christ’s near approach, and confidently
expect His appearing. But as in the parable, so it is now. A time of
waiting intervenes, faith is tried; and when the cry is heard, “Behold,
the Bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet Him,” many are unready.
They have no oil in their vessels with their lamps. They are destitute
of the Holy Spirit.
Without the Spirit of God a knowledge of His word is of no avail.
The theory of truth, unaccompanied by the Holy Spirit, cannot quicken
the soul or sanctify the heart. One may be familiar with the commands
and promises of the Bible; but unless the Spirit of God sets the truth
home, the character will not be transformed. Without the enlighten-
ment of the Spirit, men will not be able to distinguish truth from error,
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and they will fall under the masterful temptations of Satan.
The class represented by the foolish virgins are not hypocrites.
They have a regard for the truth, they have advocated the truth, they
are attracted to those who believe the truth; but they have not yielded
themselves to the Holy Spirit’s working. They have not fallen upon the
Rock, Christ Jesus, and permitted their old nature to be broken up. This
class are represented also by the stony-ground hearers. They receive
the word with readiness, but they fail of assimilating its principles. Its
influence is not abiding. The Spirit works upon man’s heart, according
to his desire and consent implanting in him a new nature; but the class
represented by the foolish virgins have been content with a superficial
work. They do not know God. They have not studied His character;
they have not held communion with Him; therefore they do not know
how to trust, how to look and live. Their service to God degenerates
into a form. “They come unto thee as the people cometh, and they sit
before thee as My people, and they hear thy words, but they will not
do them; for with their mouth they show much love, but their heart
goeth after their covetousness.”
Ezekiel 33:31
. The apostle Paul points
out that this will be the special characteristic of those who live just
before Christ’s second coming. He says, “In the last days perilous