太二五1 那时，诸天的国好比十个童女，拿着她们的灯，出去迎接新郎。

　　　　　4 但精明的拿着她们的灯，又在器皿里带着油。

　　启十九7 我们要喜乐欢腾，将荣耀归与祂；因为羔羊婚娶的时候到了，新妇也自己预备好了。

　　马太二十五章一至十三节说出，在主回来前已经死了的大体信徒将如何。十〔个童女〕代表历世历代以来的大体信徒，他们都打盹睡着了（5）。“打盹”表征患病（徒九37，林前十一30）；“睡着”表征死了（帖前四13~16，约十一11~13）。当主迟延还未回来时，大体的信徒先是患病，然后死了。……油象征神的灵（赛六一1，来一9）。灯象征信徒的灵（箴二十27），里面装着神的灵作油（罗八16）。……在灯里，就是在我们重生的灵〔箴二十27〕里有油，就是圣灵。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（李文集一九八五年第五册，六一二页）。

　　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)

　　马太二十五章一至十三节的比喻，关系到我们至少一千年的结局。……我们在今世若没有付代价买额外的油，在来世就要付极大、极高昂的代价。

　　童女象征信徒生命的一面（林后十一2）。我们都是贞洁的童女，在黑暗的世代为主作见证，并从世界走出去迎接主。

　　没有人知道〔主〕什么日子、什么时辰回来。……你若没有在生命上儆醒，你就要受到一些时代性的惩罚。……我们见祂时将如何？我们必须预备好。我们是童女，正出去迎接那向着我们而来、最令人喜悦的一位新郎。在马太福音这卷严肃的书里，祂不让我们知道祂何时来（二四44，二五13）。祂不让我们知道，意思是我们必须儆醒，随时都在操练。

　　我们都带着灯〔箴二十27〕作发光的见证，正从世界走出去迎接我们的新郎。……这灯应当发光照耀，所以这灯需要油。在预表上，油表征神的灵（赛六一1，来一9），我们需要那灵作焚烧的油。我们正出去迎接祂，作发光的见证，所以我们需要焚烧的油，焚烧的灵。同着灯，还有器皿。愚拙的童女有油在她们的灯里，就是在她们的灵里；但她们的器皿里，就是她们的魂里，没有额外的油。我们应当在出去迎接祂并为祂作见证的光景里。为这目的，我们需要更多的油，更多的那灵，所以我们必须买油。这额外的油绝不会像礼物一样送给你，你绝不能平白地得到这分油。你需要买油。……在你的所是里积蓄储存额外的圣灵，不是隔夜即成的工作。……使你全人有正确的构成，并不是一天或甚至一年的事，乃是一生之久、每日的事。

　　儆醒的意思不是仅仅为祂的再来儆醒。儆醒乃是每天借着买油来预备你自己。……我们属灵的变化乃是天天并一生之久的。每天都应该有一点油的累积和储存，加到我们的所是里面。我们每天并没有够多合式的操练自己，使我们甚至每分钟都在买油（李文集一九八五年第五册，六四五至六四九页）。

　　参读：实行主当前行动之路，第七、九章；初信造就，第九篇。

　　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