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The Lord’s word in Matthew 25:1-13 is a parable for watchfulness:
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Virgins signify believers viewed from the aspect of life; the believers, the kingdom people, are like chaste virgins, bearing the Lord’s testimony (the lamp) in the dark age and going out of the world to meet the Lord; for this they need not only the indwelling but also the filling of the Holy Spirit — 2 Cor. 11:2; Luke 11:13:
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Lamps signify the spirit of the believers, which contains the Spirit of God as the oil — Prov. 20:27; Isa. 61:1; Heb. 1:9; Rom. 8:16:
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The believers shine forth the light of the Spirit of God from within their spirit; in order for the divine light to shine into man’s inward parts, God’s Spirit as the oil must soak (mingle with) man’s spirit as the wick (cf. v. 16) and “burn” together with man’s spirit (12:11).
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Thus, the believers become the light of the world and shine as a lamp in the darkness of this age (Matt. 5:14-16; Phil. 2:15-16), bearing the testimony of the Lord for the glorification of God.
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Went forth (Matt. 25:1) indicates that we believers do not settle or linger in any place; instead, we are going out of the world to meet the coming Christ as our Bridegroom.
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As the Lord’s seeking ones who are waiting for the Lord’s coming, we are going out with Him to meet Him by leaning on Him as our Beloved, trusting in Him helplessly and constantly enjoying Him as our “going-out” strength to leave the world behind — S. S. 8:5a.
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“The foolish, when they took their lamps, did not take oil with them; but the prudent took oil in their vessels with their lamps” — Matt. 25:3-4:
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Vessels signify the souls of the believers — Rom. 9:21, 23-24.
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Having oil in our lamp is to have the Spirit of God dwelling in our spirit; taking oil in our vessel is to have the Spirit of God filling and saturating our soul that we may be enabled to live the virgin life for the Lord’s testimony — Matt. 25:4, 9-10.
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We have the Spirit in our regenerated spirit, but there is a question as to whether or not we have an extra portion of the Spirit in our soul.
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The prudent virgins took oil in their vessels with their lamps; this signifies having an extra portion of the oil by being filled with the Spirit in our soul for our transformation — 2 Cor. 3:18.
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One of the best ways to gain the oil, to receive more of the Spirit, is by musing on God’s word in order to have intimate fellowship with Him in a spirit and atmosphere of prayer — Psa. 119:15, 23, 25, 27, 48, 78, 97, 99, 148; John 6:63; Eph. 6:17-18.
Morning Nourishment
Matt. 25:1 lAt that time the kingdom of the heavens will be ikened to ten virgins, who took their lamps and went forth to meet the bridegroom.4 But the prudent took oil in their vessels with their lamps.
Rev. 19:7 Let us rejoice and exult, and let us give the glory to Him, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife has made herself ready.
Matthew 25:1-13 addresses what will happen to the majority of the believers who will have died before the Lord’s coming. Ten represents the majority of the believers through all the generations who became drowsy and slept (v. 5). Became drowsy signifies becoming sick (Acts 9:37; 1 Cor. 11:30), and slept signifies having died (1 Thes. 4:13-16; John 11:11-13). While the Lord delays His coming back, the majority of the believers first become sick and then die. Oil signifies the Spirit of God (Isa. 61:1; Heb. 1:9). Lamps signifies the spirit of the believers (Prov. 20:27), which contains the Spirit of God as the oil (Rom. 8:16)….Within the lamp, our regenerated spirit [cf. Prov. 20:27], is the oil, the Holy Spirit. Man is a vessel made for God (Rom. 9:21, 23-24), and man’s personality is in his soul. Hence, vessels here signifies the soul of the believers. (CWWL, 1985, vol. 5, “The Way to Practice the Lord’s Present Move,” pp. 500-501)
Today’s Reading
Matthew 25:1-13 concerns our destiny for at least one thousand years…. If we do not pay the price required to buy the extra portion of oil in this age, the price we will have to pay in the next age will be great, high, and costly.Virgins signify believers in the aspect of life (2 Cor. 11:2). We are chaste virgins bearing the Lord’s testimony in the dark age and going out of the world to meet the Lord.
None of us knows the day or hour of His coming…. If you are not watchful in life, you will receive some dispensational punishment….What shall we do to meet Him? We must be prepared. We are virgins going out to meet the One who is coming to us as the most pleasant person, as a Bridegroom. In this solemn book of Matthew He would not let us know when He would come (24:44; 25:13). His not letting us know means that we have to be watchful and always keep ourselves exercised.
We all are going out of the world to meet our Bridegroom, bearing a lamp [Prov. 20:27] as a shining testimony….This lamp should be bright and shining, so it needs oil. Oil in typology signifies the Spirit of God (Isa. 61:1; Heb. 1:9), and we need the Spirit as the burning oil. We are going out to meet Him, bearing a shining testimony, so we need the burning oil, the burning Spirit. With the lamp there is a vessel. The foolish ones have oil in their lamps, their spirits, but they do not have the extra portion of oil in their vessels, their souls. We should be in a situation of going out to meet Him and bearing His testimony. For this purpose we need more oil, more Spirit, so we have to buy the oil. This extra portion of oil could never be given to you as a gift. You could never get it freely. You need to buy the oil. To accumulate a deposit of the extra portion of the Holy Spirit in your being is not an overnight job….To pick up things that become a constitution of your proper being is not a matter of one day or even one year. It is a matter of daily business for a lifetime.
To be watchful does not mean only to watch for His coming. To be watchful is to prepare yourself every day by buying the oil….Our spiritual transformation is a daily and lifelong matter. Every day there should be some accumulation, some deposit of oil added to our being. We have not been that much in the proper exercise every day to exercise ourselves even every minute to buy the oil. (CWWL, 1985, vol. 5, “The Way to Practice the Lord’s Present Move,” pp. 525-528)
Further Reading: CWWL, 1985, vol. 5, “The Way to Practice the Lord’s Present Move,” chs. 7, 9; CWWN, vol. 48, “Messages for Building Up New Believers (1),” ch. 9