April 15, 2026 • 60 mins
The Porch focuses on the call for spiritual vigilance and readiness for the Lord's return in the Parable of the Ten Virgins in Matthew 25. Emphasizing the importance of being spiritually prepared, living in the light, and maintaining a committed relationship with God rather than relying on outward religious acts. The timing of the Lord’s return is unknown. Only those who are watchful, alert, and faithful will be truly prepared for the Marriage Supper of the Lamb.
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Firefall Talk Radio episodes are archived, allowing you to download them for future listening or to share with others.
Feel free to share them with others as the Lord leads. Help us spread The Word.
If our teachings are a blessing to you, let us know by using the contact button on our website.
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Speaker 1 (00:22):
Welcome to the Porch on Firefall Talk Radio. I'm Richard Grund.
This is when we get back to basics, the uncompromised
red letter basics of the Word of God. By focusing
on the Book of Acts Church to see how they
serve the Lord, we find the Church the Lord intended,
not the one Man created. The Porch is a non denominational,
(00:44):
full Gospel approach to the Bible. It's based on the
examples from the Book of Acts Church, and it aims
to restore the priesthood of the believer while regaining the
world's shaking influence of the early Church ages and over.
The Upper Room experience is as much for today as
it was on the day of Pentecost. It's yours if
(01:07):
you want it. We offer you the Word as the
Apostles would have to the Jewish and gentile believers of
their day, using both Yeshua and Jesus. When speaking of
the Lord, we prefer to use the term Messiah rather
than Christ, as it more accurately reflects how he was
referred to by those who knew him. Additionally, we provide
(01:30):
definitions in Hebrew, Greek, and Aramaic when necessary. Getting back
to basics, it's not just the motto, it's a mandate
from the Lord. Links to all of our social media
and streaming sites can be found on the main page
at Firefall talk radio dot com. Subscribe to us wherever
you listen so that you know one new content is posted.
(01:54):
To support Firefall Talk Radio, go to the bottom of
the main page and you'll find multiple ways to do
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mail your blessing. We hope that you prayerfully consider about
supporting the efforts and the work of Firefall Talk Radio.
We appreciate those of you that do support us and
(02:17):
your encouragement that comes with it. Thank you for being
a part of the porch. Contact us if you need prayer.
Remember we care about you. People want to pray for you.
Starting out with praise, well, first of all, I praise
Him for my salvation. Without that, I have nothing and
I am nothing because of that. He gave me a home,
(02:39):
gave me back my wife and my family, sons and
daughter in laws and grandchildren and furry kids, and everything
I have comes from him. I praise Him for provision
and protection for the dreams and the visions as we
live out. Joel two twenty eight. Praise him for divine
health and heal in me and in each and every
(03:02):
one of you, for his abiding favor, for the continuing
revelation of the Holy Spirit and form, making us, all
of us, a new creation, and allowing us to live
in these prophetic times. And because of that we get
to pray. Some one twenty two, Verse six says, pray
for the peace of Jerusalem. May they prosper who love you.
(03:27):
That's his word, That's what he says to do, and
that's what we will do. We will pray for Jerusalem.
We will pray for our Jewish brothers and sisters. Pray
for America, that God would forgive us, shed his grace
upon us, that he would inspire our leaders to do
what's right in the word and in accordance with God's
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will for this country. I pray for the people of
Iran and all those in the Middle East right now
that are involved in this war, for those that are
being attacked, those that are being slaughtered and persecuted right
now in Iran. If you're not paying attention to the news,
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all those that protested against the regime are being executed.
If that doesn't bother you, something's wrong. Pray for our
soldiers that are part of this conflict. Pray for the
fatherless and the widows, the persecuted in the martyr, the innocence,
and those who are victims of injustice. Remember God hates injustice.
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I pray against the slaughter of the innocence, both in
and out of the wound, both human and animal. For
missing and exploited children who've been caught up in human
sex trafficking, a diabolical satanic endeavor. I pray for our
brothers and sisters around the world that are being persecuted
and slaughtered for their faith, For the children that are
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being captured Christian children being sold into slavery. I pray
against the growing religious persecution of the Church and the
anti Semitism. All of this ties together with the spirit
of the Antichrist. Then we need to pray against that.
We need to stand against that. I pray for divine wholeness,
(05:20):
health and healing and me and you and all of
us that need it. That by His stripes we are healed.
By His words we are healed. Speak it, believe it,
receive it, Get back to your divine design. I pray
for his protection a Psalm ninety one, covering to be
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upon us the inspiration the Holy Spirit to guide us
and motivate us. And for the remnant to wake up
if they've been called, then to get to work if
they've been called, to support and support, for the blessings
to flow, for the finances to flow for kingdom business,
so that all of us that are called can do
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what He desires in this hour. So, Father, in the
name of your shure your son, we boldly approach your
throne of grace and mercy, saying Abbah Papa Daddy, thank you,
Thank you for loving us, Thank you for redeeming us.
Thank you for covering us and protecting us. Thank you
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for your sure who you sent to pay for our sins,
a debt that we never would have been able to
pay off, but Lord you did with your blood, every
drop of blood you washed away our sins. Thank you.
Thank you the fact for the fact that the cross
is bare, the tomb is empty, and you are alive,
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sitting at the right hand of the Father in fullness
and power, and you allow us to sit with you
in the heavenly places. Thank you for sending back the
Holy Spirit Ruwa ka Kadesh to walk with us, to
teach us, to encourage us, and to empower us, so
that we can shine in this hour. We can go
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and do what you need done, setting the captives free,
destroying the work of the enemy. We thank you for that.
We ask you to bless the technology, bless this word.
Let your will be done this day on the porch,
and you shue his name. Amen.
Speaker 2 (07:52):
These lessons are proprietary information, except where not do of
the information comes from outside sources. Combination of that information
the man to present it is exclusive, cannot be repeated
or used without permission. The date of this broadcast serves
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Speaker 1 (08:09):
So get those bibles, open the apps. However you follow along.
We talked last week about deception in Matthew twenty four.
We used the Lord's statements from there when we go
into Matthew twenty five. But before we do that, there's
a scripture in Romans that kind of sets the stage
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Romans thirteen Versus eleven and twelve the amplified version. Do
this knowing that this is a critical time. It is
already the hour for you to awaken from your sleep
of spiritual complacency for our salvation is nearer to us
now than when we first believed in Messiah. The night,
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this present evil age is almost gone, and the day
of the Lord's return is almost here. So let us
fling away the works of darkness and put on the
full armor of light. The New Testament, in its passages
about the return of the Lord, centers on our responsibility
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to be properly prepared, to be spiritually alert and diligently
serving the kingdom of God. James five eight says, you
also be patient, establish your hearts, for the coming of
the Lord is at hand. John wrote first John two
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eighteen about the deceptions of the last hour. Little children,
it is the last hour, and as you've heard, the
Antichrist is coming. Even now many antichrist have come by
which we know that this is the last hour. That
spirit of the Antichrist is against the Messiah. It is
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against the things of the Messiah, is against the teachings
of the Messiah, and it is against you and I
having relationships with him. The Life Application Bible Commentary says
believers must be vigilant, alert, and not caught unaware. Paul
(10:20):
knows that the old sinful nature will still cause problems
from time to time, but he requires believers to stay awake.
Remaining too long in a state of spiritual lethargy where
sin is tolerated and good works are not pursued, can
lead to a spiritual coma, rendering us unresponsive to God.
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I don't know about you, but that description of a
spiritual coma seems to apply to many in the church today.
They are unresponse to God and the things of God.
So to awaken from spiritual complacency, recognizing that our salvation
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is nearer than ever, we must cast aside the works
of darkness for the armor of light. One Thessalonians five,
starting verse four, says, but you, brethren, are not in darkness,
so that this day capital d should overtake you as
a thief. You are all suns and our had daughters
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of light, and sons and daughters of the day. We
are not of the night nor of darkness. Therefore let
us not sleep as others do. But let us watch
and be sober. For those who sleep sleep at night,
and those who get drunk get drunk at night. But
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let us who are of the day be sober. Putting
on the breastplate of faith and love and has a
helmet the hope of salvation. For God did not appoint
us to wrap, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus,
the Messiah, who died for us, that whether we wake
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or sleep, we should live together with Him. Therefore, comfort
each other and edify one another, just as you are
also doing. Accordingly, let us not sleep as the rest do.
But let us keep wide awake, alert, watchful, cautious, and
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on guard. Let us be sober, calm, collected, and circumspect.
There's a phrase in sports, in football, and I use
it with the team with SRT about keeping your head
on a swivel. Don't get blindsided by the enemy. Don't
get so fixated on what's in front of you. The
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enemy can sneak up and blind side you. We are
not appointed to his wrath. He didn't select us to
condemn us. He selected us to obtain his salvation through
our Lord Jesus the Messiah. You show I'm a sheiack.
(13:24):
So to put on the armor of light Verse twelve
of Romans thirteen means to behave correctly decently with lifestyles
that please God. So, even though the night is nearly over,
the world is still in darkness, you shue, was said
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in John three nineteen, and this is the condemnation that
light has come into the world, and men love darkness
rather than light because their deeds were evil. If you've
ever witnessed to somebody caught up in sin or some bondage,
they're not sick and tired of being sick and tired.
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They're okay with living in the darkness. They're okay with
living the way they're living because it pleases them. It's
not until it no longer pleases them that they're willing
to let go. The deeds of darkness get their name
from the illusion that they cannot be seen by the
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one who really matters. But we know that he does.
And Paul says that even though we live in the
final darkness before dawn, we are to behave decently to
walk or live in a way that will stand up
to his examination. As believers, the surrounding darkness is no
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excuse for indecent behavior. It's no excuse to do the
things that people do. We need to wake up, and
we need to wake up our brothers and sisters and
the Lord. Don't condemn them, don't attack them or wake
them up, Get them to see the fact that the
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sun sun is rising because the sun son is coming.
And each day that passes brings us closer to the
time of Messiah's return, when we will be taken into
heaven with him forever. So the night, this present evil
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time that we live in, is the time of darkness
characterized by demonic evil, and boy, it gets more demonic
every day. The day is the time of the Lord's return,
when the sun appears and shines into the darkness and
destroys it with the brightness of his coming. The deeds
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of darkness are simply evil and sin. Oh, yeah, I know.
We don't like to talk about sin, and therein is
the problem. The church has stopped talking about sin. Oh
it offends people. Well, really, if you go to the
doctor and you're sick and he says don't do something
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because it's making you sick, are you going to be
offended or you're going to consider it good advice so
you could be healthy. So the armor of God from
Ephesians six, beside everything else, is empowered by his light.
It shines his glory. Ephesians five A tells us, for
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you were once darkness, but now you are light in
the Lord walk as children of light first John one
point seven. But if we walk in the light as
he capital h is in the light, we have fellowship
with one another. And the blood of Jesus, the Messiah
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is shua Amasiak, his son cleanses us from all sin.
You cannot dwell in darkness. You must pick a side.
If you're going to live in the light, then be
in the light. The problem is, there are many believers
that decide they're going to wallow in the darkness, so
they turn down their light so that they don't disrupt
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or offend the people that they're trying to be with.
That's a dangerous compromise and it gets people killed spiritually
and physically. Living in his light keeps us from sin
and from being taken captive by the enemy. No compromise,
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no spiritual laziness. So the Lord gave us a parable
right after Matthew twenty four into Matthew twenty five, verse one,
the Parable of the Ten Virgins. It's about spiritual vigilance.
It's about being ready for his return and living accordingly
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until he does. So let's go to Matthew twenty five.
First one. Then the Kingdom of heaven shall be likened
to ten virgins who took their lamps and went out
to meet the bridegroom. Now five of them were wise,
and five were foolish. Those who were foolish took their
lamps and took no oil with them, But the wise
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took oil in their vessels with their lamp. But while
the bridegroom delayed, they all slumbered and slept. At midnight
a cry was heard, behold, the bridegroom is coming. Go
out to meet him. Then all those virgins arose and
trim their lamps. And the foolish said to the wives,
give us some of your oil, for our lamps are
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going out. 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. And
while they went to buy, the bridegroom came, and those
who already went in with him to the wedding, and
the door was shut. After all the other virgins came also, saying,
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Lord Lord, open to us. But he answered and said, assuredly,
I say to you, I do not know you watch therefore,
for you know neither the day nor the hour in
which the son of Man is coming. So this parable
and the one that follows about the ten talents are
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only found in Matthew, and it teaches us that we
are solely responsible for our spiritual condition and readiness. And
the story about a wedding describes the need for readiness
for the kingdom. It explains that some will be included well,
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others will not. Verse one. Then, what is that then
connecting us to It's connecting us to the previous chapter
twenty four talking about the time of the Second Coming
and all the things that he had established about deception,
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all the warnings, the signs, and it says the Kingdom
of Heaven. Well, the Nelsons study Bible explains why that
phrase is being used here. The phrase is almost exclusively
seen in Matthew's Gospels thirty three times. It's a Jewish
way of saying the Kingdom of God. The Jews avoided
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saying the name of God out of respect for him. Therefore,
they often use the word heaven as an alternative way
to refer to God. So the word God in this
sense points to the heavenly nature of Yashia's kingdom. His
kingdom he did not involve the political restoration of the
nation of Israel, as many of the Jews had hoped. Instead,
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he brought a heavenly kingdom with the spiritual domain in
the hearts of his people. The other kingdom will come
when he comes back the second time and establishes his
kingdom on earth. So such a kingdom, the Kingdom of Heaven,
demands internal repentance, not just external submission. It provided deliverance
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from sin rather than from political deliverance. So the Kingdom
of Heaven shall be likened to ten virgins who took
their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. This
is the key to the parable. It illustrates an objective
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to meet the bridegroom, but also illustrates the vigilant, expectant
attitude that the bride, that the bride'smaid had the virgins.
It's an attitude of faith. It's described that they that
look for him and love his appearing Hebrews nine, starting
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verse twenty seven, and it is appointed for men to
die once, but after this the judgment. So Messiah was
offered once to bear the sins of many to those
who eagerly await for him. He will appear a second time,
apart from sin for Salvation two Timothy four, starting verse six,
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Paul says, for I am already being poured out as
a drink offer, and the time of my departure is
at hand. I have fought the good fight. I have
finished the race, I have kept the faith. Finally there
is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which
the Lord, the Righteous Judge, will give to me on
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that day, and not only to me also, but to
all who loved his appearing, vigilance, and readiness a desire
to see him again. Larry and I were talking the
other day about the rapture and all the different opinions,
and my opinions pretty clear. I make it on ear.
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The rapture and the second Coming are two distinctly different things.
And those that are going to go are the ones
that are looking for his appearance. I believe that there
will be some caught a sleep, not ready, not looking
for him, and they'll have to ride out at least part,
if not all, of the tribulation. That's just my belief.
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I believe scripture shows that we've discussed it in the
past on the porch, But you're free to believe whatever
you want. I just know what the word says to
me and reveals to me that the time of Jacob's
trouble is not for us. So we can't be here
during the tribulation. And if he the restrainer is removed,
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he being the Holy Spirit, the Church can't be here.
It's the only thing that allows the anti Christ to
come forward and to for the pit to be opened,
and for all those things to come up on the earth.
The Church can't be here vigilance and readiness. So you
have ten vergins bride'smaids waiting for the bridegroom to go
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out to meet him. At his arrival. They're waiting inside
the bride's home and they join in with his possession
back to the house for the ceremony. So they go
out to meet him, they get into the processional lines,
and they come back for the celebration of the wedding.
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According to Vine's Complete Expository Dictionary, ten means the measure
of human responsibility. It means natural completion, mentioned two hundred
and forty eight times in the Bible. The number five,
because we have two sets of five. The number five
symbolizes God's grace, his goodness, his favor towards human and
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so since five represents grace, when it's multiplied by itself,
it produces grace upon grace. The ten Commandments contain what
two sets of five commandments? The first five commandments are
related to our treatment and relationship with God. The other
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five are concerned with our relationship with other people, with
other humans. So what do we have here? Two sets
of five? Five, wise, five foolish, the word wise, thoughtful, intelligent,
single minded living their life toward a commitment. The foolish
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a dull, stupid, heedless, double minded in their commitment to him.
The Greek word for foolish is moras dull as an intellect.
And like I said, double minded kind of fits into
James one point eight person, being double minded and unstable
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in all their ways. I'd rather be a part of
the wise, the thoughtful, intelligent, single minded, living a life
toward a commitment to seeing him again. And like the
other parables being spoken, it clearly implies a long delay
in the Lord's return. How the early Church and the
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people that came after it did not understand that. I
don't know it's right there. So you have ten unmarried
virgin bridemaids part of the bridal party five of them
was smart enough to realize that he might be late,
so they provided for that event. Five completely unprepared for
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him being late. They were totally putting their commitment on
him being on time. So what the Shoe was saying
to us even today is that we must continuously be
prepared and be watching for him if we want to
enter in with the king. So wedding customs they differed
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from village to village in ancient Israel, but all the
weddings included the processional of the bridegroom to the bride's
family home. On the wedding day, they would be dancing
and celebrating, and it concluded with the wedding feast at dusk.
The bride would be accompanied with torches to the bridegroom's
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house for this feast, so these bridemaids. There would be
ten bridemaids who would go out to meet the bridegroom
and walk back in with him in the procession for
the ceremony and the wedding banquet. These processionals always happened
after dark, no street lights, so they needed lamps or
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torches to guide their way, and each guest would have
their own lamp and anybody who didn't have a lamp
would be considered an uninvited party crasher. So it was
common for the bridegroom to be late. So we can
understand why the five virgins brought extra oil. But something happened.
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They fell asleep. When that happened, those that didn't prepare
put themselves in a disastrous situation because if their lamps
were one out, they couldn't be re lit. Very clearly,
two categories, those who believe and are ready for the
king and those who are not. That's all there is, too,
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those who believe and are ready for the king and
those who are not. So the message is pretty simple,
don't wait, make your preparations now for his coming. Be ready.
And how they carried the extra oil was in small
containers attached to a belt that they wore around their waist.
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So the wise ones had that the foolish ones did not,
and they were not prepared for his delay. Matter you
twenty five verses five through seven, of the bridegrooms was delayed.
They all slumbered and slept, and at midnight a cry
was heard, behold the bride roomors coming, go out to
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meet him. Then all those virgins arose and trim their lamp.
So the words translated slumbered and slept tell us that
the young ladies became gradually drowsy and finally fell into
a deep sleep. It was a process that crept up
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on them. That's what spiritual slumber does. It's a process
that slowly creeps up on you until you are asleep.
She was speaking about events that will take place immediately
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when he returns for his church. This isn't the second
coming of judgment. This is the snatching away of his church,
because I believe it's during that tribulation period that the
marriage supper of the Lamb takes place. Because when he
comes back, we come back to rule and reign with him.
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So which crowd are you in? Are you and the wise?
Are you in? The foolish? You have oil in your lamp?
Are You're going to be found wanting and found empty?
And don't forget before you think you're good. Even the
wise virgins fell asleep. The difference was they were prepared life.
Application Bible commentary says sleep simply illustrates the long time
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they waited for the bridegroom. You alluded many times to
the delay in his coming and even his disciples, it
delayed longer than they expected. The difference was that one
group had made preparations early, the other group waited until
the last minute, and then it was too late. You
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sue his focus on their unpreparedness and on engaging in
secular pursuits at the moment of spirit need is something
we should consider when he returns for his people, we
must be ready. Spiritual preparation cannot be bought or borrowed
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at the last minute. No one can rely on anyone else.
Our relationship with God must be our own. And I
think about the marriage shopper of the lamb. I think
about this get together, and just like in the ancient world,
weddings were times of great delight, great celebration. It's the
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one major social occasion that drew friends and family from
the surrounding villages and towns. You know, it seems kind
of different down here in the South, but up in
New York, especially in Italian families, weddings were a big deal.
I mean a big deal, a lot of people, a
lot of food, a lot of celebration. I believe that
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that's what these were like. And the old old world,
there so no wonder these bridemaids were distracted. They got
caught up in the opportunity to chat, to catch up
and to enjoy each other's company. They got distracted by
the planning and all the huha that was going on,
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and they forgot what inspired them coming together. They forgot
what they were preparing for. And I saw that visual
as I was working on this, how we and the
church can get caught up in the celebration to get
togethers and all that goes with it, the praise and
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the worship and the events and all the wonderful social
things that go with it. But if you forget why
we do it, or why we're coming together, or who
we're doing it for, we lose our way. The final
preparations for the bride's grooms coming had got driven out
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of their minds until they were overtaken by drowsiness and
fell asleep. You know, we can get so caught up
in serving him we forget why we're doing it. I've
mentioned this song before and you can find it on YouTube.
Came out back in the nineties, I think it was
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the nineties, early nineties at least so, from a singer
called Larnel Harris. It's called I missed my time with you.
I'm just going to read the lyrics from one section.
There he was waiting, and he's talking about the Lord.
There he was waiting in our old familiar place, an
empty spot beside him where once I used to wait,
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to be filled with strength and wisdom for the battle
of the day, for the battles of the day. For
I would have passed him by again if I didn't
hear him say, I miss my time with you, those
moments together. I need to be with you each day,
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and it hurts me when you say you're too busy,
busy trying to serve me. But how can you serve
me when your spirit's empty. There's a longing in my heart,
wanting more than just a part of you. It's true,
I miss my time with you. Don't get so busy
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serving him and being religiously active that you forget who
you're doing it for, that you don't take time to
be with him. That's why I'm constantly telling you start
your day in prayer, and your day in prayer. Take
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every opportunity throughout the day to interact and speak to him.
Don't ever let him say to you, I miss my
time with you. So it's not surprising that we too
can be distracted, so distracted that we forget about preparing
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for his return. Because of the delights of this world,
of the troubles of this world. It's really easy for
the enemy to push us in any direction it wants
to get us off track, to get off focus. So
this story, this parable from Yashia, speaks to us now
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as well and reminds us the bridegroom is coming. Alfred
Edersham was an author, and he wrote about Bible history,
and he wrote about the marriage customs. What he said
is as the usual marriage customs of the Jews are
well known. On the appointed day, the bridegroom, accompanied by
(37:06):
his friends, proceeded to the bride's house. In this case,
the bridegroom's yeshua his friends will be the angels, proceeded
to the bride's house and escorted her with her attendant
maidens and friends to his own or his parents' home
and the paraboa. However, the proceedings are somewhat different. Here.
(37:26):
The bridegroom is not in the town, but somewhere at
a distance, so that although the day is settled, the
exact hour of his arrival is uncertain. He will come
in the course of the night. And the virgins who
are to meet him have assembled in the house where
(37:47):
the wedding is to take place, and they wait for
the summons to go forth and meet the bridegroom to
conduct him to the bridal place. And when the signal
is given that he is approaching, they set forth on
the road, each bearing her own lamp. Now there was
up person who actually witnessed one of these, Doctor J. Findley.
(38:13):
He saw one of these actual weddings. And the reason
I'm giving you this I want you to visualize and
I want you to feel it. I want you to
get excited about it. This is what he said he
saw in Jerusalem. When we were approaching the gates of
a galilee in town, I caught sight of ten maidens,
gaily clad and playing some kind of musical instrument as
(38:35):
they danced along the road in the front of our car.
When I asked what they were doing, the guide interpreter
said they were going to keep the bride company till
her bridegroom arrived. I asked him if there was any
chance of seeing the wedding, but he shook his head saying,
in effect, it might be tonight or tomorrow night, or
(38:55):
in two weeks. Nobody ever knows for certain. Anyone on
to explain that one of the great things to do,
if you could, at a middle class wedding in Jerusalem
was to catch the bridal party napping. So the bridegroom
comes unexpectedly, sometimes in the middle of the night. And
it's true that he's required by public opinion to send
(39:18):
a man along the streets to shout, behold, the bridegroom
is coming, but that may happen at any time, so
the bridal party have to be ready to go out
into the street at a moment's notice to meet him
whenever he chooses to come. Other important points are that
no one is allowed on the streets after dark without
(39:41):
a lighted lamp, and also that when the bridegroom has
once arrived, the door has been shut. Late comers to
the ceremony are not admitted, So there are multiple instances
of falling asleep. Even the disciples falling asleep in the
(40:04):
New Testament. Each time they slumbered proved to be costly.
On the mounter of transfiguration, Peter, James and John were
heavy with sleep and they woke up just in time
to see your shoe is glory in the garden of Getsemity.
They fell asleep while the Lord prayed, due to their
(40:28):
exhaustion from the celebration and just from sorrow from what
he said. And then he comes back, finds them asleep,
says the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak,
and goes back and comes back again, and they have
fallen asleep again. You know what, I remember, when I
was first saved and reading the Bible and reading all
(40:50):
these stories that bothered me. How could you fall asleep
when he needs you? How could you fall asleep when
he needs your support? But there everything that he's going through.
But then I realized the Church has done exactly that.
We've spent so much time celebrating and singing and drinking
(41:13):
the new wine, and we fall asleep exactly when he
needs us. So when the disciples asked for signs of
the Lord's return to Matthew twenty four, he gave them
their warnings, and then he used the description of the
ten virgins and their anticipation of a wedding. I don't
(41:37):
know about you. Maybe it's just me even now saying
this out loud. After working on this, I can feel
a heaviness and a sadness that there are going to
be people that will be asleep when he arrives, that'll
(41:58):
have no anticipation for his coming. And the Lord cited
this as an indication of the condition that will exist
in the world in his church prior to his return.
Souls will be perishing, but the church will be inactive
(42:20):
and sleepy, and his word has been fulfilled. It's a
cause of regret that ours have been wasted in sleeping
in slumber, when a few minutes work might have avoided
that tragic error. And the foolish virgins remind us of
(42:42):
a vast crowd of honored day believers, even the wise virgins.
They were content to sit at ease and fell asleep too,
But at least they were prepared stay, could arise and
boom be ready to go. So it's not just sufficient
(43:05):
to believe that the Lord is coming back. We must
be ready for his appearing. You must see the signs
of the times. You must have a heart that longs
to see him face to face. Whenever I hear of
a believer dying, my first thought is they've seen yeshoe
(43:29):
a face to face. They've gotten out of the broken
body they were in, and they've escaped this fallen world.
And I don't pull any punches here, so I'm not
going to start now. But a large portion of what
is called the church is filled with dead religion and
(43:51):
religious ritual. It is a sleep in the light, pull
warned us in tewod Timothy chapter three, thirty verse one.
But know this that in the last days, perilous times
will come for men will be lovers of themselves. Let
me stop here. Do you realize he's talking to the church. Yes,
(44:13):
he's speaking to Timothy. This is a letter to the church.
This isn't to the world. So these perilous times for
the church, men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters,
proud blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving slanderers
(44:36):
without self control, brutal despisers of good, traders, headstrong, haughty,
lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having a
form of Godliness but denying its power. And from such
people turn away. Wake them up if you can, But
(45:00):
if you can't, move on. There are many holders of
a lamp in that crowd. But there's not much light.
There's not much fire, no fire actually because there's no oil.
The Holy Spirit is in present throughout this parable with
all of the images that we've been given by Yeshiah.
(45:22):
His command is to do what to watch. To be
watchful means to let nothing distract us from being prepared
for the Lord's return. Matthew twenty four forty two. Watch therefore,
you do not know what hour your Lord is coming
(45:44):
Mark thirteen thirty five through thirty seven. Watch therefore, for
you do not know when the Master of the house
is coming in the evening, at midnight at the crowing
of the rooster, or in the morning, lust coming. Suddenly
he finds you sleeping. And what I say to you,
(46:06):
I say to all watch, where's the warning? Where's the
warning in the church? Oh yeah, I give it. But
the only people listening to me are the remnant. I
think I'm preaching to the choir, which is great. I'm
glad you're getting fed. But if you're not sharing these
(46:26):
with other people, if you're not sharing these with other
brothers and sisters who might not be getting the food
you're getting, you're selling them short, watch be ready, don't
be caught off guard. I mean, look at the conclusion
of the earlier teachings added to this, the Anger of
(46:48):
the Lord and the Vineyard in Matthew twenty one, the
fate of the man without a wedding garment in Matthew
twenty two thirteen, and the Lord speaks of the exclusion
of the unprepared bridesmaid for the wedding celebration of Matthew
twenty five. You think he was trying to tell us something.
(47:08):
I've said this before. He doesn't stutter, and if he's
repeating himself, it's because the point is important, Because there's
a finality to the shutting of the door in verse
ten of Matthew twenty five, And while they went out
to buy the bridegroom came for those who already went
(47:29):
in with him to the wedding, and the door was shut.
While they were off doing something else, getting supplied, looking
for oil, trying to make up for their slumber and
their sleep and their lack of preparedness. He arrived, they
missed out. The door was closed because they were not ready.
(47:53):
So the emphasis of these messages was that people could
and would be exclude from the presence of God if
they continue to ignore the warnings issued by Yashua. If
you don't agree with my opinion, that's fine. You don't
want to agree with Paul's opinion, not so fine, But whatever.
(48:16):
But when you say you don't believe the Lord's opinion,
when you want to negate what he's saying to you,
you tell me you don't believe, you don't believe in him,
you don't love him, you don't respect him, you don't
follow him. He's the one pointing out the people will
be excluded, but the ones who are ready will not.
(48:38):
Revelation nineteen, starting verse six, John the reve later writes,
and I heard as it was the voice of a
great multitude, as the sound of many waters, as the
sound of mighty thunderings, saying hallelujah for the Lord God,
omnipotent reigns. Let us be glad and rejoice and give
(49:00):
him glory. For the marriage of the Lamb has come,
and his wife, his bride, has made herself ready, and
to her it was granted to be arrayed in fine linen,
clean and bright, for the fine linen is the righteous
acts of the saints. And then he in this case
(49:21):
the angel. The Angel said to me, right, blessed are
those who are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb.
And he said, these are the true sayings of God.
God said that the Father said that blessed are those
who are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb. So,
(49:42):
while liberal theologians will argue or discuss regarding the destiny
of unrepentant souls, it's pretty obvious that you sure believes
that sinners will be completely shut out from eternity with him.
They will be condemned. This is the condemnation, he said
(50:04):
John three. They love darkness rather than light, and his teachings.
In John chapter eight, verse twenty one, he says, I
am going away. He's speaking to the Jews, to the
Pharisees and the Sadducees and those who have gathered around.
I am going away, and you will seek me and
will die in your sins. Where I go, you cannot come.
(50:28):
So the Jews said, will he kill himself because he says,
where I go, you cannot come. And then he said
to them, this is verse twenty three of John eight.
You are from beneath, I am from above. You are
of this world. I am not of this world. Therefore
(50:49):
I said to you that you will die in your sins,
for if you do not believe that I am he,
you will die in your sins. And they said to him,
who are you? Andy? She has said to them, just
as I've been saying to you from the beginning. I
think he was making it pretty clear. I don't think
he was pulling any punches there. What about Matthew seven,
(51:11):
Verses twenty one through twenty three, the section I call
probably the most frightening section of scripture. Not everyone who
says to me, Lord Lord, shall enter the Kingdom of heaven,
but he who does the will of my father in heaven.
Many will come to me on that day, saying, Lord Lord,
have we not prophesied in your name, cast our demons
(51:32):
in your name? And done many wonders in your name?
And then I will declare to them, I never knew you.
Depart from me, you who practice lawlessness very similar to
the parable. I never knew you, they say, Lord Lord.
And then he will say to them, openly publicly, I
(51:54):
never knew you. Depart from me, you who act wickedly
disregarding my commands. He commanded us to be vigilant. He
commanded us to have an expectation. He commanded us to
be prepared. There are people who act like they know him,
(52:15):
do all the spiritual and religious activities involving all of
the external acts, but they have no inward relationship with him.
There's no fruit on their tree that indicates they know him.
In this parable, you had ten virgins who knew better.
Five were waiting and cared about his needs and his return.
(52:39):
They had enough oil, they had enough of the Holy
Spirit in them. They were vigilant, They were prepared. Even
though they fell asleep and they got sleepy and caught
off guard, they were ready to respond. The foolish ones
they were completely unprepared, unconcerned about his being spiritually prepared.
(53:04):
Living in the light and maintaining a committed relationship with
God is our focus, rather than relying on outward religious acts.
What I have always taught is what I have always believed.
It's not religion, it's relationship. You can do the dance,
(53:26):
you can jump through all the hoops, you can dress right,
you can say all the right things. But if you
have an act of ongoing intimate relationship with your shoe,
A king of King's Lord of lords with the Savior.
It will show in your actions. For while they were
(53:46):
going away to buy the bridegroom came that midnight cry
was heard, and those who were prepared went in with
him to the marriage feast, and the door was shut.
And later those virgins that had left to go by
came and said, Lord, Lord, open the door to us.
(54:09):
His reply, I solemnly declare to you. I do not
know you. I am not acquainted with you. Watch therefore,
give strict attention and be cautious and active, for you
know neither the day nor the hour when the son
of Man will come. What do you mean, Lord, you
don't know us and you're not acquainted with us. Well,
(54:33):
if you were acquainted with me, if I knew you,
you would have been ready, You would have been prepared.
He didn't know them at all. He had no relationship
with them. Relationship requires commitment and diligence. It doesn't just happen.
(54:56):
You have to work at it. The Holy Spirit will
help you, but you have to put in the effort
to develop this relationship Matthew twenty four point thirty one.
And he will send his angels with the great sound
of a trumpet, and they will gather together his elect
from the four winds, from one end, from one end
(55:18):
of heaven to the other one Thessalonians for sixteen. For
the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a shout,
with the voice of an archangel, and the trumpet of God,
and the dead and Messiah will rise. First there will
be a sound, and then there will be a sight,
and the angel shall announce his coming. Gee, that's a
(55:44):
Matthew twenty five six. At midnight, a cry was heard. Behold,
the bridegroom is coming. Go out to meet him. When
that sound happens, and when that sight appears, the bridegroom
is coming, go out to meet him. We have no
(56:05):
idea when the Master will return, but true committed believers
will be diligent in keeping watch and waiting for him,
no matter how long it takes. That's why that's teaching
on deception is so important. If you're deceived, if you
get distracted, you will be caught off guard because you're
focused on the wrong things. Yes, we need to be busy,
(56:30):
Yes we need to be acted and about our father's
business while we wait, But we need to be like
the Book of Acts Church, the Foundational Church, with one
eye on the task at hand and one eye on
the sky, waiting for his appearing, desiring and loving his appearing.
(56:53):
We must make sure you and I that we have
a vigilant expert of the King, for the King is coming. Father.
At some point, you're going to send the sun. It
(57:19):
could be in an hour, it could be in a day,
It can be a month, could be a year, could
be at any time. It's your it's your call to make.
We have no control over that, we have no input.
The only thing we can ask is help us to
be ready, Help us to stay focused, help us to
(57:42):
stay diligent, to be vigilant, to have an expectation. And
this is an amazing Lord. We come to you ask
you to help us to be ready and waiting for you.
Now I know that's the Holy Spirit's job. We don't
want to be caught off guard. We don't want to
(58:03):
be distracted by the cares of this world. We don't
want to be off doing something else. So help us
speak to us, each one of us, right now, individually
and collectively, if there are any distractions in our life,
(58:24):
if there is anything that is keeping us from being
ready for you tell us. We repent of it right now,
known or unknown. But help us. We don't want to
be caught off guard. We don't want to be asleep,
(58:47):
and truthfully, we don't want our friends, our families, or
loved ones to be asleep either. So help us, inspire us,
encourage us, empower us to keep them awake. Most of all,
I thank you, Lord, and I long to see you
face to face and to enter in with you, with
(59:12):
my loved ones, my wife, my family, all my friends,
everybody I care about, into the marriage supper of the
lamp to celebrate for eternity with you. And I pray
all these things. And you see his name, you agree
(59:34):
with me. Say amen, May the Lord bless you and
keep you. May the Lord, may I don't I make
his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you.
May the Lord, I don't I your se Ahamashiah, Jesus
the Messiah, lift up his countenance upon you and give
(01:00:00):
you peace. Give you shalloam. I'm Richard Grund. This has
been the porch on Firefall Talk Radio.
Welcome to the Porch on Firefall Talk Radio. I'm Richard Grund.
This is when we get back to basics, the uncompromised
red letter basics of the Word of God. By focusing
on the Book of Acts Church to see how they
serve the Lord, we find the Church the Lord intended,
not the one Man created. The Porch is a non denominational,
(00:44):
full Gospel approach to the Bible. It's based on the
examples from the Book of Acts Church, and it aims
to restore the priesthood of the believer while regaining the
world's shaking influence of the early Church ages and over.
The Upper Room experience is as much for today as
it was on the day of Pentecost. It's yours if
(01:07):
you want it. We offer you the Word as the
Apostles would have to the Jewish and gentile believers of
their day, using both Yeshua and Jesus. When speaking of
the Lord, we prefer to use the term Messiah rather
than Christ, as it more accurately reflects how he was
referred to by those who knew him. Additionally, we provide
(01:30):
definitions in Hebrew, Greek, and Aramaic when necessary. Getting back
to basics, it's not just the motto, it's a mandate
from the Lord. Links to all of our social media
and streaming sites can be found on the main page
at Firefall talk radio dot com. Subscribe to us wherever
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(01:54):
To support Firefall Talk Radio, go to the bottom of
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mail your blessing. We hope that you prayerfully consider about
supporting the efforts and the work of Firefall Talk Radio.
We appreciate those of you that do support us and
(02:17):
your encouragement that comes with it. Thank you for being
a part of the porch. Contact us if you need prayer.
Remember we care about you. People want to pray for you.
Starting out with praise, well, first of all, I praise
Him for my salvation. Without that, I have nothing and
I am nothing because of that. He gave me a home,
(02:39):
gave me back my wife and my family, sons and
daughter in laws and grandchildren and furry kids, and everything
I have comes from him. I praise Him for provision
and protection for the dreams and the visions as we
live out. Joel two twenty eight. Praise him for divine
health and heal in me and in each and every
(03:02):
one of you, for his abiding favor, for the continuing
revelation of the Holy Spirit and form, making us, all
of us, a new creation, and allowing us to live
in these prophetic times. And because of that we get
to pray. Some one twenty two, Verse six says, pray
for the peace of Jerusalem. May they prosper who love you.
(03:27):
That's his word, That's what he says to do, and
that's what we will do. We will pray for Jerusalem.
We will pray for our Jewish brothers and sisters. Pray
for America, that God would forgive us, shed his grace
upon us, that he would inspire our leaders to do
what's right in the word and in accordance with God's
(03:51):
will for this country. I pray for the people of
Iran and all those in the Middle East right now
that are involved in this war, for those that are
being attacked, those that are being slaughtered and persecuted right
now in Iran. If you're not paying attention to the news,
(04:11):
all those that protested against the regime are being executed.
If that doesn't bother you, something's wrong. Pray for our
soldiers that are part of this conflict. Pray for the
fatherless and the widows, the persecuted in the martyr, the innocence,
and those who are victims of injustice. Remember God hates injustice.
(04:35):
I pray against the slaughter of the innocence, both in
and out of the wound, both human and animal. For
missing and exploited children who've been caught up in human
sex trafficking, a diabolical satanic endeavor. I pray for our
brothers and sisters around the world that are being persecuted
and slaughtered for their faith, For the children that are
(04:59):
being captured Christian children being sold into slavery. I pray
against the growing religious persecution of the Church and the
anti Semitism. All of this ties together with the spirit
of the Antichrist. Then we need to pray against that.
We need to stand against that. I pray for divine wholeness,
(05:20):
health and healing and me and you and all of
us that need it. That by His stripes we are healed.
By His words we are healed. Speak it, believe it,
receive it, Get back to your divine design. I pray
for his protection a Psalm ninety one, covering to be
(05:40):
upon us the inspiration the Holy Spirit to guide us
and motivate us. And for the remnant to wake up
if they've been called, then to get to work if
they've been called, to support and support, for the blessings
to flow, for the finances to flow for kingdom business,
so that all of us that are called can do
(06:03):
what He desires in this hour. So, Father, in the
name of your shure your son, we boldly approach your
throne of grace and mercy, saying Abbah Papa Daddy, thank you,
Thank you for loving us, Thank you for redeeming us.
Thank you for covering us and protecting us. Thank you
(06:26):
for your sure who you sent to pay for our sins,
a debt that we never would have been able to
pay off, but Lord you did with your blood, every
drop of blood you washed away our sins. Thank you.
Thank you the fact for the fact that the cross
is bare, the tomb is empty, and you are alive,
(06:50):
sitting at the right hand of the Father in fullness
and power, and you allow us to sit with you
in the heavenly places. Thank you for sending back the
Holy Spirit Ruwa ka Kadesh to walk with us, to
teach us, to encourage us, and to empower us, so
that we can shine in this hour. We can go
(07:10):
and do what you need done, setting the captives free,
destroying the work of the enemy. We thank you for that.
We ask you to bless the technology, bless this word.
Let your will be done this day on the porch,
and you shue his name. Amen.
Speaker 2 (07:52):
These lessons are proprietary information, except where not do of
the information comes from outside sources. Combination of that information
the man to present it is exclusive, cannot be repeated
or used without permission. The date of this broadcast serves
as the registered date of the following information.
Speaker 1 (08:09):
So get those bibles, open the apps. However you follow along.
We talked last week about deception in Matthew twenty four.
We used the Lord's statements from there when we go
into Matthew twenty five. But before we do that, there's
a scripture in Romans that kind of sets the stage
(08:29):
Romans thirteen Versus eleven and twelve the amplified version. Do
this knowing that this is a critical time. It is
already the hour for you to awaken from your sleep
of spiritual complacency for our salvation is nearer to us
now than when we first believed in Messiah. The night,
(08:53):
this present evil age is almost gone, and the day
of the Lord's return is almost here. So let us
fling away the works of darkness and put on the
full armor of light. The New Testament, in its passages
about the return of the Lord, centers on our responsibility
(09:17):
to be properly prepared, to be spiritually alert and diligently
serving the kingdom of God. James five eight says, you
also be patient, establish your hearts, for the coming of
the Lord is at hand. John wrote first John two
(09:37):
eighteen about the deceptions of the last hour. Little children,
it is the last hour, and as you've heard, the
Antichrist is coming. Even now many antichrist have come by
which we know that this is the last hour. That
spirit of the Antichrist is against the Messiah. It is
(09:57):
against the things of the Messiah, is against the teachings
of the Messiah, and it is against you and I
having relationships with him. The Life Application Bible Commentary says
believers must be vigilant, alert, and not caught unaware. Paul
(10:20):
knows that the old sinful nature will still cause problems
from time to time, but he requires believers to stay awake.
Remaining too long in a state of spiritual lethargy where
sin is tolerated and good works are not pursued, can
lead to a spiritual coma, rendering us unresponsive to God.
(10:47):
I don't know about you, but that description of a
spiritual coma seems to apply to many in the church today.
They are unresponse to God and the things of God.
So to awaken from spiritual complacency, recognizing that our salvation
(11:10):
is nearer than ever, we must cast aside the works
of darkness for the armor of light. One Thessalonians five,
starting verse four, says, but you, brethren, are not in darkness,
so that this day capital d should overtake you as
a thief. You are all suns and our had daughters
(11:33):
of light, and sons and daughters of the day. We
are not of the night nor of darkness. Therefore let
us not sleep as others do. But let us watch
and be sober. For those who sleep sleep at night,
and those who get drunk get drunk at night. But
(11:54):
let us who are of the day be sober. Putting
on the breastplate of faith and love and has a
helmet the hope of salvation. For God did not appoint
us to wrap, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus,
the Messiah, who died for us, that whether we wake
(12:16):
or sleep, we should live together with Him. Therefore, comfort
each other and edify one another, just as you are
also doing. Accordingly, let us not sleep as the rest do.
But let us keep wide awake, alert, watchful, cautious, and
(12:41):
on guard. Let us be sober, calm, collected, and circumspect.
There's a phrase in sports, in football, and I use
it with the team with SRT about keeping your head
on a swivel. Don't get blindsided by the enemy. Don't
get so fixated on what's in front of you. The
(13:02):
enemy can sneak up and blind side you. We are
not appointed to his wrath. He didn't select us to
condemn us. He selected us to obtain his salvation through
our Lord Jesus the Messiah. You show I'm a sheiack.
(13:24):
So to put on the armor of light Verse twelve
of Romans thirteen means to behave correctly decently with lifestyles
that please God. So, even though the night is nearly over,
the world is still in darkness, you shue, was said
(13:48):
in John three nineteen, and this is the condemnation that
light has come into the world, and men love darkness
rather than light because their deeds were evil. If you've
ever witnessed to somebody caught up in sin or some bondage,
they're not sick and tired of being sick and tired.
(14:12):
They're okay with living in the darkness. They're okay with
living the way they're living because it pleases them. It's
not until it no longer pleases them that they're willing
to let go. The deeds of darkness get their name
from the illusion that they cannot be seen by the
(14:32):
one who really matters. But we know that he does.
And Paul says that even though we live in the
final darkness before dawn, we are to behave decently to
walk or live in a way that will stand up
to his examination. As believers, the surrounding darkness is no
(14:53):
excuse for indecent behavior. It's no excuse to do the
things that people do. We need to wake up, and
we need to wake up our brothers and sisters and
the Lord. Don't condemn them, don't attack them or wake
them up, Get them to see the fact that the
(15:15):
sun sun is rising because the sun son is coming.
And each day that passes brings us closer to the
time of Messiah's return, when we will be taken into
heaven with him forever. So the night, this present evil
(15:37):
time that we live in, is the time of darkness
characterized by demonic evil, and boy, it gets more demonic
every day. The day is the time of the Lord's return,
when the sun appears and shines into the darkness and
destroys it with the brightness of his coming. The deeds
(16:01):
of darkness are simply evil and sin. Oh, yeah, I know.
We don't like to talk about sin, and therein is
the problem. The church has stopped talking about sin. Oh
it offends people. Well, really, if you go to the
doctor and you're sick and he says don't do something
(16:21):
because it's making you sick, are you going to be
offended or you're going to consider it good advice so
you could be healthy. So the armor of God from
Ephesians six, beside everything else, is empowered by his light.
It shines his glory. Ephesians five A tells us, for
(16:42):
you were once darkness, but now you are light in
the Lord walk as children of light first John one
point seven. But if we walk in the light as
he capital h is in the light, we have fellowship
with one another. And the blood of Jesus, the Messiah
(17:02):
is shua Amasiak, his son cleanses us from all sin.
You cannot dwell in darkness. You must pick a side.
If you're going to live in the light, then be
in the light. The problem is, there are many believers
that decide they're going to wallow in the darkness, so
they turn down their light so that they don't disrupt
(17:25):
or offend the people that they're trying to be with.
That's a dangerous compromise and it gets people killed spiritually
and physically. Living in his light keeps us from sin
and from being taken captive by the enemy. No compromise,
(17:46):
no spiritual laziness. So the Lord gave us a parable
right after Matthew twenty four into Matthew twenty five, verse one,
the Parable of the Ten Virgins. It's about spiritual vigilance.
It's about being ready for his return and living accordingly
(18:07):
until he does. So let's go to Matthew twenty five.
First one. Then the Kingdom of heaven shall be likened
to ten virgins who took their lamps and went out
to meet the bridegroom. Now five of them were wise,
and five were foolish. Those who were foolish took their
lamps and took no oil with them, But the wise
(18:29):
took oil in their vessels with their lamp. But while
the bridegroom delayed, they all slumbered and slept. At midnight
a cry was heard, behold, the bridegroom is coming. Go
out to meet him. Then all those virgins arose and
trim their lamps. And the foolish said to the wives,
give us some of your oil, for our lamps are
(18:52):
going out. 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. And
while they went to buy, the bridegroom came, and those
who already went in with him to the wedding, and
the door was shut. After all the other virgins came also, saying,
(19:17):
Lord Lord, open to us. But he answered and said, assuredly,
I say to you, I do not know you watch therefore,
for you know neither the day nor the hour in
which the son of Man is coming. So this parable
and the one that follows about the ten talents are
(19:39):
only found in Matthew, and it teaches us that we
are solely responsible for our spiritual condition and readiness. And
the story about a wedding describes the need for readiness
for the kingdom. It explains that some will be included well,
(20:00):
others will not. Verse one. Then, what is that then
connecting us to It's connecting us to the previous chapter
twenty four talking about the time of the Second Coming
and all the things that he had established about deception,
(20:21):
all the warnings, the signs, and it says the Kingdom
of Heaven. Well, the Nelsons study Bible explains why that
phrase is being used here. The phrase is almost exclusively
seen in Matthew's Gospels thirty three times. It's a Jewish
way of saying the Kingdom of God. The Jews avoided
(20:43):
saying the name of God out of respect for him. Therefore,
they often use the word heaven as an alternative way
to refer to God. So the word God in this
sense points to the heavenly nature of Yashia's kingdom. His
kingdom he did not involve the political restoration of the
nation of Israel, as many of the Jews had hoped. Instead,
(21:06):
he brought a heavenly kingdom with the spiritual domain in
the hearts of his people. The other kingdom will come
when he comes back the second time and establishes his
kingdom on earth. So such a kingdom, the Kingdom of Heaven,
demands internal repentance, not just external submission. It provided deliverance
(21:31):
from sin rather than from political deliverance. So the Kingdom
of Heaven shall be likened to ten virgins who took
their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. This
is the key to the parable. It illustrates an objective
(21:51):
to meet the bridegroom, but also illustrates the vigilant, expectant
attitude that the bride, that the bride'smaid had the virgins.
It's an attitude of faith. It's described that they that
look for him and love his appearing Hebrews nine, starting
(22:13):
verse twenty seven, and it is appointed for men to
die once, but after this the judgment. So Messiah was
offered once to bear the sins of many to those
who eagerly await for him. He will appear a second time,
apart from sin for Salvation two Timothy four, starting verse six,
(22:40):
Paul says, for I am already being poured out as
a drink offer, and the time of my departure is
at hand. I have fought the good fight. I have
finished the race, I have kept the faith. Finally there
is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which
the Lord, the Righteous Judge, will give to me on
(23:01):
that day, and not only to me also, but to
all who loved his appearing, vigilance, and readiness a desire
to see him again. Larry and I were talking the
other day about the rapture and all the different opinions,
and my opinions pretty clear. I make it on ear.
(23:23):
The rapture and the second Coming are two distinctly different things.
And those that are going to go are the ones
that are looking for his appearance. I believe that there
will be some caught a sleep, not ready, not looking
for him, and they'll have to ride out at least part,
if not all, of the tribulation. That's just my belief.
(23:47):
I believe scripture shows that we've discussed it in the
past on the porch, But you're free to believe whatever
you want. I just know what the word says to
me and reveals to me that the time of Jacob's
trouble is not for us. So we can't be here
during the tribulation. And if he the restrainer is removed,
(24:10):
he being the Holy Spirit, the Church can't be here.
It's the only thing that allows the anti Christ to
come forward and to for the pit to be opened,
and for all those things to come up on the earth.
The Church can't be here vigilance and readiness. So you
have ten vergins bride'smaids waiting for the bridegroom to go
(24:32):
out to meet him. At his arrival. They're waiting inside
the bride's home and they join in with his possession
back to the house for the ceremony. So they go
out to meet him, they get into the processional lines,
and they come back for the celebration of the wedding.
(24:52):
According to Vine's Complete Expository Dictionary, ten means the measure
of human responsibility. It means natural completion, mentioned two hundred
and forty eight times in the Bible. The number five,
because we have two sets of five. The number five
symbolizes God's grace, his goodness, his favor towards human and
(25:16):
so since five represents grace, when it's multiplied by itself,
it produces grace upon grace. The ten Commandments contain what
two sets of five commandments? The first five commandments are
related to our treatment and relationship with God. The other
(25:36):
five are concerned with our relationship with other people, with
other humans. So what do we have here? Two sets
of five? Five, wise, five foolish, the word wise, thoughtful, intelligent,
single minded living their life toward a commitment. The foolish
(26:02):
a dull, stupid, heedless, double minded in their commitment to him.
The Greek word for foolish is moras dull as an intellect.
And like I said, double minded kind of fits into
James one point eight person, being double minded and unstable
(26:25):
in all their ways. I'd rather be a part of
the wise, the thoughtful, intelligent, single minded, living a life
toward a commitment to seeing him again. And like the
other parables being spoken, it clearly implies a long delay
in the Lord's return. How the early Church and the
(26:48):
people that came after it did not understand that. I
don't know it's right there. So you have ten unmarried
virgin bridemaids part of the bridal party five of them
was smart enough to realize that he might be late,
so they provided for that event. Five completely unprepared for
(27:14):
him being late. They were totally putting their commitment on
him being on time. So what the Shoe was saying
to us even today is that we must continuously be
prepared and be watching for him if we want to
enter in with the king. So wedding customs they differed
(27:39):
from village to village in ancient Israel, but all the
weddings included the processional of the bridegroom to the bride's
family home. On the wedding day, they would be dancing
and celebrating, and it concluded with the wedding feast at dusk.
The bride would be accompanied with torches to the bridegroom's
(28:00):
house for this feast, so these bridemaids. There would be
ten bridemaids who would go out to meet the bridegroom
and walk back in with him in the procession for
the ceremony and the wedding banquet. These processionals always happened
after dark, no street lights, so they needed lamps or
(28:24):
torches to guide their way, and each guest would have
their own lamp and anybody who didn't have a lamp
would be considered an uninvited party crasher. So it was
common for the bridegroom to be late. So we can
understand why the five virgins brought extra oil. But something happened.
(28:49):
They fell asleep. When that happened, those that didn't prepare
put themselves in a disastrous situation because if their lamps
were one out, they couldn't be re lit. Very clearly,
two categories, those who believe and are ready for the
king and those who are not. That's all there is, too,
(29:13):
those who believe and are ready for the king and
those who are not. So the message is pretty simple,
don't wait, make your preparations now for his coming. Be ready.
And how they carried the extra oil was in small
containers attached to a belt that they wore around their waist.
(29:38):
So the wise ones had that the foolish ones did not,
and they were not prepared for his delay. Matter you
twenty five verses five through seven, of the bridegrooms was delayed.
They all slumbered and slept, and at midnight a cry
was heard, behold the bride roomors coming, go out to
(30:01):
meet him. Then all those virgins arose and trim their lamp.
So the words translated slumbered and slept tell us that
the young ladies became gradually drowsy and finally fell into
a deep sleep. It was a process that crept up
(30:21):
on them. That's what spiritual slumber does. It's a process
that slowly creeps up on you until you are asleep.
She was speaking about events that will take place immediately
(30:45):
when he returns for his church. This isn't the second
coming of judgment. This is the snatching away of his church,
because I believe it's during that tribulation period that the
marriage supper of the Lamb takes place. Because when he
comes back, we come back to rule and reign with him.
(31:07):
So which crowd are you in? Are you and the wise?
Are you in? The foolish? You have oil in your lamp?
Are You're going to be found wanting and found empty?
And don't forget before you think you're good. Even the
wise virgins fell asleep. The difference was they were prepared life.
Application Bible commentary says sleep simply illustrates the long time
(31:31):
they waited for the bridegroom. You alluded many times to
the delay in his coming and even his disciples, it
delayed longer than they expected. The difference was that one
group had made preparations early, the other group waited until
the last minute, and then it was too late. You
(31:53):
sue his focus on their unpreparedness and on engaging in
secular pursuits at the moment of spirit need is something
we should consider when he returns for his people, we
must be ready. Spiritual preparation cannot be bought or borrowed
(32:13):
at the last minute. No one can rely on anyone else.
Our relationship with God must be our own. And I
think about the marriage shopper of the lamb. I think
about this get together, and just like in the ancient world,
weddings were times of great delight, great celebration. It's the
(32:37):
one major social occasion that drew friends and family from
the surrounding villages and towns. You know, it seems kind
of different down here in the South, but up in
New York, especially in Italian families, weddings were a big deal.
I mean a big deal, a lot of people, a
lot of food, a lot of celebration. I believe that
(33:00):
that's what these were like. And the old old world,
there so no wonder these bridemaids were distracted. They got
caught up in the opportunity to chat, to catch up
and to enjoy each other's company. They got distracted by
the planning and all the huha that was going on,
(33:23):
and they forgot what inspired them coming together. They forgot
what they were preparing for. And I saw that visual
as I was working on this, how we and the
church can get caught up in the celebration to get
togethers and all that goes with it, the praise and
(33:44):
the worship and the events and all the wonderful social
things that go with it. But if you forget why
we do it, or why we're coming together, or who
we're doing it for, we lose our way. The final
preparations for the bride's grooms coming had got driven out
(34:04):
of their minds until they were overtaken by drowsiness and
fell asleep. You know, we can get so caught up
in serving him we forget why we're doing it. I've
mentioned this song before and you can find it on YouTube.
Came out back in the nineties, I think it was
(34:25):
the nineties, early nineties at least so, from a singer
called Larnel Harris. It's called I missed my time with you.
I'm just going to read the lyrics from one section.
There he was waiting, and he's talking about the Lord.
There he was waiting in our old familiar place, an
empty spot beside him where once I used to wait,
(34:49):
to be filled with strength and wisdom for the battle
of the day, for the battles of the day. For
I would have passed him by again if I didn't
hear him say, I miss my time with you, those
moments together. I need to be with you each day,
(35:13):
and it hurts me when you say you're too busy,
busy trying to serve me. But how can you serve
me when your spirit's empty. There's a longing in my heart,
wanting more than just a part of you. It's true,
I miss my time with you. Don't get so busy
(35:40):
serving him and being religiously active that you forget who
you're doing it for, that you don't take time to
be with him. That's why I'm constantly telling you start
your day in prayer, and your day in prayer. Take
(36:01):
every opportunity throughout the day to interact and speak to him.
Don't ever let him say to you, I miss my
time with you. So it's not surprising that we too
can be distracted, so distracted that we forget about preparing
(36:22):
for his return. Because of the delights of this world,
of the troubles of this world. It's really easy for
the enemy to push us in any direction it wants
to get us off track, to get off focus. So
this story, this parable from Yashia, speaks to us now
(36:44):
as well and reminds us the bridegroom is coming. Alfred
Edersham was an author, and he wrote about Bible history,
and he wrote about the marriage customs. What he said
is as the usual marriage customs of the Jews are
well known. On the appointed day, the bridegroom, accompanied by
(37:06):
his friends, proceeded to the bride's house. In this case,
the bridegroom's yeshua his friends will be the angels, proceeded
to the bride's house and escorted her with her attendant
maidens and friends to his own or his parents' home
and the paraboa. However, the proceedings are somewhat different. Here.
(37:26):
The bridegroom is not in the town, but somewhere at
a distance, so that although the day is settled, the
exact hour of his arrival is uncertain. He will come
in the course of the night. And the virgins who
are to meet him have assembled in the house where
(37:47):
the wedding is to take place, and they wait for
the summons to go forth and meet the bridegroom to
conduct him to the bridal place. And when the signal
is given that he is approaching, they set forth on
the road, each bearing her own lamp. Now there was
up person who actually witnessed one of these, Doctor J. Findley.
(38:13):
He saw one of these actual weddings. And the reason
I'm giving you this I want you to visualize and
I want you to feel it. I want you to
get excited about it. This is what he said he
saw in Jerusalem. When we were approaching the gates of
a galilee in town, I caught sight of ten maidens,
gaily clad and playing some kind of musical instrument as
(38:35):
they danced along the road in the front of our car.
When I asked what they were doing, the guide interpreter
said they were going to keep the bride company till
her bridegroom arrived. I asked him if there was any
chance of seeing the wedding, but he shook his head saying,
in effect, it might be tonight or tomorrow night, or
(38:55):
in two weeks. Nobody ever knows for certain. Anyone on
to explain that one of the great things to do,
if you could, at a middle class wedding in Jerusalem
was to catch the bridal party napping. So the bridegroom
comes unexpectedly, sometimes in the middle of the night. And
it's true that he's required by public opinion to send
(39:18):
a man along the streets to shout, behold, the bridegroom
is coming, but that may happen at any time, so
the bridal party have to be ready to go out
into the street at a moment's notice to meet him
whenever he chooses to come. Other important points are that
no one is allowed on the streets after dark without
(39:41):
a lighted lamp, and also that when the bridegroom has
once arrived, the door has been shut. Late comers to
the ceremony are not admitted, So there are multiple instances
of falling asleep. Even the disciples falling asleep in the
(40:04):
New Testament. Each time they slumbered proved to be costly.
On the mounter of transfiguration, Peter, James and John were
heavy with sleep and they woke up just in time
to see your shoe is glory in the garden of Getsemity.
They fell asleep while the Lord prayed, due to their
(40:28):
exhaustion from the celebration and just from sorrow from what
he said. And then he comes back, finds them asleep,
says the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak,
and goes back and comes back again, and they have
fallen asleep again. You know what, I remember, when I
was first saved and reading the Bible and reading all
(40:50):
these stories that bothered me. How could you fall asleep
when he needs you? How could you fall asleep when
he needs your support? But there everything that he's going through.
But then I realized the Church has done exactly that.
We've spent so much time celebrating and singing and drinking
(41:13):
the new wine, and we fall asleep exactly when he
needs us. So when the disciples asked for signs of
the Lord's return to Matthew twenty four, he gave them
their warnings, and then he used the description of the
ten virgins and their anticipation of a wedding. I don't
(41:37):
know about you. Maybe it's just me even now saying
this out loud. After working on this, I can feel
a heaviness and a sadness that there are going to
be people that will be asleep when he arrives, that'll
(41:58):
have no anticipation for his coming. And the Lord cited
this as an indication of the condition that will exist
in the world in his church prior to his return.
Souls will be perishing, but the church will be inactive
(42:20):
and sleepy, and his word has been fulfilled. It's a
cause of regret that ours have been wasted in sleeping
in slumber, when a few minutes work might have avoided
that tragic error. And the foolish virgins remind us of
(42:42):
a vast crowd of honored day believers, even the wise virgins.
They were content to sit at ease and fell asleep too,
But at least they were prepared stay, could arise and
boom be ready to go. So it's not just sufficient
(43:05):
to believe that the Lord is coming back. We must
be ready for his appearing. You must see the signs
of the times. You must have a heart that longs
to see him face to face. Whenever I hear of
a believer dying, my first thought is they've seen yeshoe
(43:29):
a face to face. They've gotten out of the broken
body they were in, and they've escaped this fallen world.
And I don't pull any punches here, so I'm not
going to start now. But a large portion of what
is called the church is filled with dead religion and
(43:51):
religious ritual. It is a sleep in the light, pull
warned us in tewod Timothy chapter three, thirty verse one.
But know this that in the last days, perilous times
will come for men will be lovers of themselves. Let
me stop here. Do you realize he's talking to the church. Yes,
(44:13):
he's speaking to Timothy. This is a letter to the church.
This isn't to the world. So these perilous times for
the church, men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters,
proud blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving slanderers
(44:36):
without self control, brutal despisers of good, traders, headstrong, haughty,
lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having a
form of Godliness but denying its power. And from such
people turn away. Wake them up if you can, But
(45:00):
if you can't, move on. There are many holders of
a lamp in that crowd. But there's not much light.
There's not much fire, no fire actually because there's no oil.
The Holy Spirit is in present throughout this parable with
all of the images that we've been given by Yeshiah.
(45:22):
His command is to do what to watch. To be
watchful means to let nothing distract us from being prepared
for the Lord's return. Matthew twenty four forty two. Watch therefore,
you do not know what hour your Lord is coming
(45:44):
Mark thirteen thirty five through thirty seven. Watch therefore, for
you do not know when the Master of the house
is coming in the evening, at midnight at the crowing
of the rooster, or in the morning, lust coming. Suddenly
he finds you sleeping. And what I say to you,
(46:06):
I say to all watch, where's the warning? Where's the
warning in the church? Oh yeah, I give it. But
the only people listening to me are the remnant. I
think I'm preaching to the choir, which is great. I'm
glad you're getting fed. But if you're not sharing these
(46:26):
with other people, if you're not sharing these with other
brothers and sisters who might not be getting the food
you're getting, you're selling them short, watch be ready, don't
be caught off guard. I mean, look at the conclusion
of the earlier teachings added to this, the Anger of
(46:48):
the Lord and the Vineyard in Matthew twenty one, the
fate of the man without a wedding garment in Matthew
twenty two thirteen, and the Lord speaks of the exclusion
of the unprepared bridesmaid for the wedding celebration of Matthew
twenty five. You think he was trying to tell us something.
(47:08):
I've said this before. He doesn't stutter, and if he's
repeating himself, it's because the point is important, Because there's
a finality to the shutting of the door in verse
ten of Matthew twenty five, And while they went out
to buy the bridegroom came for those who already went
(47:29):
in with him to the wedding, and the door was shut.
While they were off doing something else, getting supplied, looking
for oil, trying to make up for their slumber and
their sleep and their lack of preparedness. He arrived, they
missed out. The door was closed because they were not ready.
(47:53):
So the emphasis of these messages was that people could
and would be exclude from the presence of God if
they continue to ignore the warnings issued by Yashua. If
you don't agree with my opinion, that's fine. You don't
want to agree with Paul's opinion, not so fine, But whatever.
(48:16):
But when you say you don't believe the Lord's opinion,
when you want to negate what he's saying to you,
you tell me you don't believe, you don't believe in him,
you don't love him, you don't respect him, you don't
follow him. He's the one pointing out the people will
be excluded, but the ones who are ready will not.
(48:38):
Revelation nineteen, starting verse six, John the reve later writes,
and I heard as it was the voice of a
great multitude, as the sound of many waters, as the
sound of mighty thunderings, saying hallelujah for the Lord God,
omnipotent reigns. Let us be glad and rejoice and give
(49:00):
him glory. For the marriage of the Lamb has come,
and his wife, his bride, has made herself ready, and
to her it was granted to be arrayed in fine linen,
clean and bright, for the fine linen is the righteous
acts of the saints. And then he in this case
(49:21):
the angel. The Angel said to me, right, blessed are
those who are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb.
And he said, these are the true sayings of God.
God said that the Father said that blessed are those
who are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb. So,
(49:42):
while liberal theologians will argue or discuss regarding the destiny
of unrepentant souls, it's pretty obvious that you sure believes
that sinners will be completely shut out from eternity with him.
They will be condemned. This is the condemnation, he said
(50:04):
John three. They love darkness rather than light, and his teachings.
In John chapter eight, verse twenty one, he says, I
am going away. He's speaking to the Jews, to the
Pharisees and the Sadducees and those who have gathered around.
I am going away, and you will seek me and
will die in your sins. Where I go, you cannot come.
(50:28):
So the Jews said, will he kill himself because he says,
where I go, you cannot come. And then he said
to them, this is verse twenty three of John eight.
You are from beneath, I am from above. You are
of this world. I am not of this world. Therefore
(50:49):
I said to you that you will die in your sins,
for if you do not believe that I am he,
you will die in your sins. And they said to him,
who are you? Andy? She has said to them, just
as I've been saying to you from the beginning. I
think he was making it pretty clear. I don't think
he was pulling any punches there. What about Matthew seven,
(51:11):
Verses twenty one through twenty three, the section I call
probably the most frightening section of scripture. Not everyone who
says to me, Lord Lord, shall enter the Kingdom of heaven,
but he who does the will of my father in heaven.
Many will come to me on that day, saying, Lord Lord,
have we not prophesied in your name, cast our demons
(51:32):
in your name? And done many wonders in your name?
And then I will declare to them, I never knew you.
Depart from me, you who practice lawlessness very similar to
the parable. I never knew you, they say, Lord Lord.
And then he will say to them, openly publicly, I
(51:54):
never knew you. Depart from me, you who act wickedly
disregarding my commands. He commanded us to be vigilant. He
commanded us to have an expectation. He commanded us to
be prepared. There are people who act like they know him,
(52:15):
do all the spiritual and religious activities involving all of
the external acts, but they have no inward relationship with him.
There's no fruit on their tree that indicates they know him.
In this parable, you had ten virgins who knew better.
Five were waiting and cared about his needs and his return.
(52:39):
They had enough oil, they had enough of the Holy
Spirit in them. They were vigilant, They were prepared. Even
though they fell asleep and they got sleepy and caught
off guard, they were ready to respond. The foolish ones
they were completely unprepared, unconcerned about his being spiritually prepared.
(53:04):
Living in the light and maintaining a committed relationship with
God is our focus, rather than relying on outward religious acts.
What I have always taught is what I have always believed.
It's not religion, it's relationship. You can do the dance,
(53:26):
you can jump through all the hoops, you can dress right,
you can say all the right things. But if you
have an act of ongoing intimate relationship with your shoe,
A king of King's Lord of lords with the Savior.
It will show in your actions. For while they were
(53:46):
going away to buy the bridegroom came that midnight cry
was heard, and those who were prepared went in with
him to the marriage feast, and the door was shut.
And later those virgins that had left to go by
came and said, Lord, Lord, open the door to us.
(54:09):
His reply, I solemnly declare to you. I do not
know you. I am not acquainted with you. Watch therefore,
give strict attention and be cautious and active, for you
know neither the day nor the hour when the son
of Man will come. What do you mean, Lord, you
don't know us and you're not acquainted with us. Well,
(54:33):
if you were acquainted with me, if I knew you,
you would have been ready, You would have been prepared.
He didn't know them at all. He had no relationship
with them. Relationship requires commitment and diligence. It doesn't just happen.
(54:56):
You have to work at it. The Holy Spirit will
help you, but you have to put in the effort
to develop this relationship Matthew twenty four point thirty one.
And he will send his angels with the great sound
of a trumpet, and they will gather together his elect
from the four winds, from one end, from one end
(55:18):
of heaven to the other one Thessalonians for sixteen. For
the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a shout,
with the voice of an archangel, and the trumpet of God,
and the dead and Messiah will rise. First there will
be a sound, and then there will be a sight,
and the angel shall announce his coming. Gee, that's a
(55:44):
Matthew twenty five six. At midnight, a cry was heard. Behold,
the bridegroom is coming. Go out to meet him. When
that sound happens, and when that sight appears, the bridegroom
is coming, go out to meet him. We have no
(56:05):
idea when the Master will return, but true committed believers
will be diligent in keeping watch and waiting for him,
no matter how long it takes. That's why that's teaching
on deception is so important. If you're deceived, if you
get distracted, you will be caught off guard because you're
focused on the wrong things. Yes, we need to be busy,
(56:30):
Yes we need to be acted and about our father's
business while we wait, But we need to be like
the Book of Acts Church, the Foundational Church, with one
eye on the task at hand and one eye on
the sky, waiting for his appearing, desiring and loving his appearing.
(56:53):
We must make sure you and I that we have
a vigilant expert of the King, for the King is coming. Father.
At some point, you're going to send the sun. It
(57:19):
could be in an hour, it could be in a day,
It can be a month, could be a year, could
be at any time. It's your it's your call to make.
We have no control over that, we have no input.
The only thing we can ask is help us to
be ready, Help us to stay focused, help us to
(57:42):
stay diligent, to be vigilant, to have an expectation. And
this is an amazing Lord. We come to you ask
you to help us to be ready and waiting for you.
Now I know that's the Holy Spirit's job. We don't
want to be caught off guard. We don't want to
(58:03):
be distracted by the cares of this world. We don't
want to be off doing something else. So help us
speak to us, each one of us, right now, individually
and collectively, if there are any distractions in our life,
(58:24):
if there is anything that is keeping us from being
ready for you tell us. We repent of it right now,
known or unknown. But help us. We don't want to
be caught off guard. We don't want to be asleep,
(58:47):
and truthfully, we don't want our friends, our families, or
loved ones to be asleep either. So help us, inspire us,
encourage us, empower us to keep them awake. Most of all,
I thank you, Lord, and I long to see you
face to face and to enter in with you, with
(59:12):
my loved ones, my wife, my family, all my friends,
everybody I care about, into the marriage supper of the
lamp to celebrate for eternity with you. And I pray
all these things. And you see his name, you agree
(59:34):
with me. Say amen, May the Lord bless you and
keep you. May the Lord, may I don't I make
his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you.
May the Lord, I don't I your se Ahamashiah, Jesus
the Messiah, lift up his countenance upon you and give
(01:00:00):
you peace. Give you shalloam. I'm Richard Grund. This has
been the porch on Firefall Talk Radio.
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