Today I will talk about the five wise virgins and the five foolish ones.

When the Bible says foolish, it means unbelieving.
What does this scripture about these foolish virgins in Matthew 25 teach us?

We are taught to be filled with the Holy Spirit.
In the End-Time, the necessity of being filled with the Holy Spirit is especially emphasized.
It is also mentioned in the prophecy of Joel.

Let us consider it carefully.
It means that in the End-Time, there will be two
types of bride.

　☆The brides who have put oil in their lamps.
　☆The brides who have put no oil in their lamps.

Did you know that
the life of the Christian who believes that he has the Holy Spirit in him
differes from the life of the Christian who is not particularly aware of this?

Did you know that
the blessings of the Christian life which is guided by and obeys the Holy Spirit are
different from the blessings of the Christian life which is not led by and does not obey the Holy Spirit?

Let us follow the Holy Spirit with pliability and obedience.

Verse 9 is interesting.

"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 expression "buy for yourselves," appears here.
There is the same expression in Matthew 13.
It comes up in verses 44, 45 and 46.

It is written,
・like a merchant seeking beautiful pearls or
・went and sold all that he had and bought it.

The Holy Spirit is given to each one of us.
However there are some people who do not seek it.
Unless the Holy Spirit is within us, our faith
finishes by becoming exhausted.
Joy goes out, and brightness goes out.
And faith too becomes powerless.

In verse 10, it is written, "those who were ready."
We would like to be ready and wait for the Lord Jesus until the day He comes.
It is the power of the Holy Spirit that continues to awaken us.

　♪Give me oil in my lamp, keep it burning,
　　 Keep it burning till the break of day♪

When our children were little, they often sang this song.
I think they sang it without understanding what the words meant,
but I pray for them to lead faithful lives like the wise birdes.

Let us, each one of us too, make sure the oil in our lamp does not run out and wait for the bridegroom to come.