All ten virgins had lamps, which is the Word of God.
Psalms 119:105 Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.
But only the 5 wise virgins had oil (symbolizing the Holy Spirit) in their lamps, the 5 foolish brought NONE! Matthew 25:3 They that were foolish took their lamps, and took no oil with them: We could assume they had some oil in their lamps, but brought no more with them. We are supposed to be filled with the Holy Spirit.
Eph. 5:18 And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit;
The foolish called him “Lord”, so they must have been saved at some point.
1 Corin. 12:3 no man can say that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost.
But the foolish were not ready for the coming of the Lord. They are like the Christians today who are not looking for Jesus’ return. They are busy with the cares of this world, and scoffing at any mention of the rapture. They don’t really know Jesus because they never talk to Him. And Jesus doesn’t know them. I know that’s hard to explain, but someone else said it is very similar to what we see in our own families. When we are a believer, we are adopted into God’s family. If you think about it, at least in my case, there are lots of family members I don’t know. There are cousins, Aunts, and Uncles, for example that I haven’t seen in many, many years. There are children and in-laws in the family I’ve never met or talked to. I can’t possibly “know” them, in fact, I’ve NEVER known them, even though they are still part of my family. I think it’s the same way in God’s family.
Matthew 7: 22 Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?
23 And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.This is a scary verse. Jesus said He didn’t know these people. But they had done great things in His name, including casting out demons. They obviously had a ministry at one time, using the spiritual gifts given by the Holy Spirit. They had to be “saved” because the unsaved cannot cast out demons.
Matt.2:25And Jesus knew their thoughts, and said unto them, Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation; and every city or house divided against itself shall not stand:
26And if Satan cast out Satan, he is divided against himself; how shall then his kingdom stand?The way I see it is that only about half of the saved people will be found worthy to escape all these things that will come to pass. Luke 21:36 Watch therefore, and pray always that you may be counted worthy to escape all these things that will come to pass, and to stand before the Son of Man."I could be wrong, but I think only half of true Christians are going to be ready, waiting, and watching for the Lord. Only half are going to be filled with the Holy Spirit and having an intimate relationship with their Savior. He is coming back to get a glorious church (virgin) without spot and blemish. He is coming back for those who are in love with Him. Would you want to marry someone who didn’t think about you day and night, or someone who was too busy to talk to you? As believers we should be filled with the anticipation of meeting our bridegroom, and being joined together with Him forever as one flesh.
Jesus made some promises to the churches in Rev. 2 and 3. But He never promised that they would ALL escape the tribulation. I wrote more about that in my paper "The Overcomers".
I know this isn’t a popular view, so I welcome any comments on it. Please feel free to visit my message board,
Linda