太二五1～4 那时，诸天的国好比十个童女，…其中五个是愚拙的，五个是精明的。愚拙的拿着她们的灯，却没有带着油；但精明的拿着她们的灯，又在器皿里带着油。

　　　　　14～15 诸天的国又好比一个人要往外国去，就叫了自己的奴仆来，把他的家业交给他们，按照各人的才干，个别地给了一个五他连得银子，一个二他连得，一个一他连得，就往外国去了。

　　Matt.25:1-4 At that time the kingdom of the heavens will be likened to ten virgins, who took their lamps and went forth to meet the bridegroom. And five of them were foolish and five were prudent. For 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.25:14-15 For the kingdom of the heavens is just like a man about to go abroad, who called his own slaves and delivered to them his possessions. To one he gave five talents, and to another two, and to another one, to each according to his own ability. And he went abroad.

　　〔马太二十五章〕四节说，“但精明的拿着她们的灯，又在器皿里带着油。”人是为着神造的器皿（罗九21，23～24），人的个格是在他的魂里。因此，这里的器皿象征信徒的魂。五个精明的童女不仅在她们的灯里有油，也在器皿里带着油。灯里有油，表征她们有神的灵住在她们的灵里（八9，16）；器皿里带着油，表征她们有神的灵充满、浸透她们的魂。

　　箴言二十章二十七节说，“人的灵是耶和华的灯。”…借着重生，我们有神的灵在我们的灵里。这使我们的灯发光。…虽然我们灯里有油，但我们魂里需要额外的油。这表征那灵必须从我们灵里扩展到我们魂的每一部分。…我们若有这额外的分，就是精明的；我们若没有，就是愚拙的。…我们若有智慧，就会祷告说，“主，怜悯我。我不单要有你的灵在我的灵里，也要有你的灵在我的魂里。主，我需要那灵的充满，我需要额外的圣灵充满我的全人。”

　　没有一卷书像马太福音一再警告我们。我能在主面前见证，…每当我有一点随便，我就想起马太福音所包含的警告。不错，我们都是童女；但…我们精明与否，在于我们的器皿里有没有额外的圣灵。

　　Verse 4 says, “But the prudent took oil in their vessels with their lamps.” Man is a vessel made for God (Rom. 9:21, 23-24), and man's personality is in his soul. Hence, vessels here signify the soul of the believers. The five prudent virgins not only have oil in their lamps, but also take oil in their vessels. Having oil in their lamps signifies that they have the Spirit of God dwelling in their spirit (Rom. 8:9, 16), and taking oil in their vessels signifies that they have the fullness of the Spirit of God saturating their souls.

　　Proverbs 20:27 says that the spirit of man is the lamp of the Lord… Through regeneration we have the Spirit of God in our spirit. This causes our lamp to burn… Although we have the oil in our lamp, we need the extra portion of the oil in our soul. This signifies that the Spirit must spread from within our spirit to every part of our soul… If we have this extra portion, we are prudent. If we do not have it, we are foolish. If we are wise, we shall pray, “Lord, have mercy on me. I want to have Your Spirit not only in my spirit, but also in my soul. Lord, I need the infilling of the Spirit. I need the extra portion of the Holy Spirit to fill my entire being.”

　　No other book warns us as often as the book of Matthew does. I can testify before the Lord that…whenever I have been a little careless, I have remembered the warnings contained in Matthew. Yes, we all are virgins…but whether we are prudent or not depends on whether or not we have the extra portion of the Holy Spirit in our vessel.

　　〔马太二十五章〕十四节说，那人把他的家业交给他的奴仆；但十五节说，他给他们银子。这指明十五节的银子，就是十四节的家业。换句话说，主把祂的家业当作银子赐给我们。例如，福音是主的家业，但福音赐给我们之后，就成了我们的银子。照样，真理是主的家业；但真理赐给我们之后，就成了银子。同样的原则，所有的信徒都是主的家业；信徒赐给了我们，他们就成了我们的银子。…主把祂的家业赐给我们越多，我们得的银子就越多。照样，主给我们的负担越多，我们得的银子就越多。今天主的家业主要的是福音、真理、信徒和召会。你若不在意这些事，就不会有银子。〔这些事〕需要成为我们的家业。

　　你若要得着更多的银子，就必须有心照顾圣徒。例如，有人失业了，你需要为他祷告，背负他的担子。这就证明主已把那人当作银子赐给你了。然而，不背负圣徒或不顾到他们，意思就是你丢弃了主的家业。…不要丢下任何主所给你的负担。不管我多忙，我都不能丢下银子，因为这样作，就是丢下主的家业。主在祂的恢复里有极大的工作。为着这工作，祂需要成千的弟兄姊妹被兴起来背负责任（马太福音生命读经，八二八至八二九、八三三、八三八至八四○页）。

　　Verse 14 says that the man gave his slaves his possessions, but verse 15 says that he gave them talents. This indicates that the talents in verse 15 are the possessions in verse 14. In other words, the Lord uses His possessions as talents for us. For example, the gospel is the Lord's possession. But when it is given to us, it becomes our talent. Likewise, the truth is the Lord's possession. But when the truth is given to us, it becomes a talent… The more of His possessions the Lord gives to us, the more talents we shall have. In like manner, the more the Lord burdens us, the more talents we shall have. Today the Lord's possessions primarily are the gospel, the truth, the believers, and the church. These things need to become our possession.

　　If you want to receive more talents, you must have a heart to care for the saints. For example, when someone is unemployed, you need to pray for him and bear his burden. This will be a proof that the Lord has given that one to you as a talent. However, not to bear the saints or care for them means that you forsake the Lord's possession… Do not drop any burden that the Lord has given you. No matter how busy I am, I cannot drop any talent, for to do this is to drop the Lord's possession. The Lord has a vast work in His recovery. For this work, He needs thousands of young brothers and sisters to be raised up to bear the responsibility. (Life-study of Matthew)