Photo by Ritabrata Das on Unsplash

Audio: iTunes | Spotify

Those who were foolish took their lamps and took no oil with them, but the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps.

᛭ INI ᛭

Christ is warning you today. He uses His parable to tell you, “Watch! Pay attention! Keep a look out! Because you don’t know the day nor the hour when the Son of Man is coming.” His warning boils down to this. If you want to be welcomed into the wedding feast, you need to be known by the Bridegroom. To be known by the Bridegroom you need to be ready. To be ready you must have oil.

The Bridegroom welcomes those He knows. He knows those who are ready. Those who are ready have oil. Those who don’t have oil aren’t ready and aren’t known. They are locked outside in the outer darkness where there’s weeping and gnashing of teeth. They were foolish to bring no oil. The wise brought oil. So it all comes down to having oil. The old kids Bible song hints at this: “Give me oil in my lamp keep me burning. Give me oil in my lamp, I pray. Give me oil in my lamp keep me burning. Keep me burning till the break of day.”

(2. The Holy Spirit is the oil we need.)

If the virgins in Christ’s parable needed oil to be ready, then what does it mean then for you or I to have oil in order to be ready to enter into Christ’s eternal wedding feast? Well, oil is brought up from time to time in the Bible. The Old Testament tells us that oil was used in candelabra placed in the Holy Place of the Tabernacle and later Temple. Oil was also used to anoint Priests when they were ordained and Kings when they were appointed by God.

These examples show that oil symbolizes the Holy Spirit. Since prophets were “carried along by the Holy Spirit,” the Bible can talked about as a “light for our path” as we journey toward the true Holy of Holies, eternal life with Christ. Second, we have King Saul. When he was anointed, the Spirit came upon him and he prophesied, so it was said, “Is Saul also among the prophets?” That’s also why David says in Psalm 45 that the Father “has anointed [His Son] With the oil of gladness more than [His] companions.” (Ps 45) John’s Gospel says that Christ “speaks God’s Word, because He gives the Spirit [to Christ] without measure.”

(Transition.)

So, to summarize: To get into the Bridegroom’s party, the Bridegroom must know you; the Bridegroom knows those who are ready; those who are ready have oil. Now, with the insight that the oil ties to the Spirit, then the summary of Christ’s warning to you is this: to get into Christ’s wedding feast, He must know you; Christ knows you if you’re ready; for you to be ready you must have the Holy Spirit.

But the good news is this: Christ, the Bridegroom, is “the Author and Finisher of your faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising its shame.” (Heb 12) He is “the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and End” (Rev 1) not only of creation but of your salvation. He has done everything for the sake of His bride, the Church. “He gave Himself up for her.” (Eph 5) He suffered that she would have peace. He bled that she’d be spotless and holy. He died that she would live. He rose that she would live forever. And we, dear saints of God, who trust in Christ, are indeed “members of His body,” “His bride,” “the Church.” This Christ sends forth the Holy Spirit.

(1. Christ really does deliver the Holy Spirit into our hearts.)

“The wise have flasks of oil with them” means believers who have the Spirit. “The foolish” who have “no oil with them” are unbelievers who don’t. St. Paul says that those who have true faith in Christ are temples of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit dwells within the hearts of the faithful.

So the question is, how do you get the Spirit? Well, you know well how He’s delivered and where He’s working.

1. The Spirit’s delivered in Holy Baptism. (Tit 3) That’s why it’s important to baptize your newborns.
2. He’s at work in the Bible. (2Tim 3) That’s why it’s important to read it or maybe listen to it every single day. That’s why Bible study’s also important. It’s also why our Divine Service this morning is the best in terms of Bible. It offers the most places for God’s Word. Each liturgical piece is direct quotes strung together, every page dripping with Holy Scripture, which means the Spirit’s at work on every single page! He’s at work in our singing of the word! (Eph 6)
3. He’s at work in the Word of forgiveness, whether that’s Holy Absolution spoken by me (Jn 20), your pastor, or by you, when you say, “I forgive you” to the people on your daily life (Eph 4). This also means he’s also at work whenever repentance and the forgiveness of sins is preached (Lk 24). That’s why it’s important to listen to faithful preaching.
4. He’s also at work in Holy Communion (1Cor 10; Jn 6), where Christ’s Word is most important as well as the bodily eating and drink because through it forgiveness is given.

This is how Christ pours the Spirit into your heart. It’s also how the Spirit is creating, re-creating, strengthening, and sustaining your faith in Christ. It’s how you’re being filled up with the Holy Spirit. It’s how you’re a temple of the Holy Spirit. Which mean that when you skipping out on those things isn’t some minor thing, because when you do, you’re “quenching the Spirit,” to use Paul’s phrase, because in the Word AND Sacraments, the Spirit’s delivering Christ’s forgiveness to you, making you wise unto salvation (2Tim 3), making you all the more wise in Christ (Prov 9), that you would have strength to stand before the Son of Man (Lk 21) but also be strong in temptation (1Cor 10), which is why Paul says, Therefore, flee idolatry! I speak as to wise men; judge for yourselves what I say. The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ? (1Cor 10)

The wise know this and recognize that “we have this treasure [of salvation] in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us.” (2Cor 5) The wise know that to be ready for the Bridegroom means to have oil, to have the Spirit. The foolish figure they’re ok and view the Word and Sacraments as trivial things, easily skipped, not all that important, and by rejecting the outward thing, they spurn the Spirit at work within them. And woe to those who do such a thing! “For it is impossible for those who … have become partakers of the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the good word of God … if they fall away, to renew them again to repentance…” (Heb 6)

(Conclusion.)

To summarize the parable and its meaning then, it’s simple: THE WISE, WHO HAVE A FULL MEASURE OF THE SPIRIT, ENTER THE WEDDING FEAST WITH CHRIST, THE BRIDEGROOM. The foolish, those without Spirit who keeps them in the faith, get locked out.

This is why Christ warns you today: “Watch! Pay attention! Keep a look out! Because you don’t know the day nor the hour when the Son of Man is coming.” “Satan’s prey, Oft are they Who secure are sleeping and no watch are keeping.” They are fools who think more highly of themselves than they ought (Rom 12), who seeming to be wise have made themselves fools (Rom 1). These will have no fruit of the Spirit either, only works of the flesh (Gal 5).

But the truly wise, those with true faith, enough is never enough. “They bring flasks of oil with them.” They will have the fruit of the Spirit (Gal 5)! But they’ll also recognize that to be wise means to have oil, and to have oil means you’re ready, and the ready are known and welcomed in. They believe and they heed Christ’s warning! They act on it. It affects their behavior. Because what Christ says is true: THE WISE, WHO HAVE A FULL MEASURE OF THE SPIRIT, ENTER THE WEDDING FEAST WITH CHRIST, THE BRIDEGROOM.

᛭ INI ᛭

(1.DRAFT)
But how is it that the wise got that oil, the Holy Spirit, in the first place? The Holy Spirit is given through the Word of God, and His Word is given in many ways! Holy Baptism gives the gift of the Holy Spirit, as Peter says. Paul says that **“God the Father establishes us in Christ, has anointed us, put His seal upon us, and given us His Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee.”**

Since the Bible is inspired by the Spirit, He is active within the Word of Scripture. That means whenever you read the Bible, hear it, take time to meditate on it the Spirit is at work, pouring forth into your heart. This means He’s also at work in the liturgy, and why our Divine Service today is actually the most helpful—it has the most Bible. Services that start to take away the Word of God or decrease the amount of it should be taken up carefully. Because the Word of God isn’t a trifle or preference. The Spirit’s also living and active through the preaching and teaching of God’s Word. **“Faith comes by hearing and hearing through the Word of Christ.”** 

The Spirit’s always creating and recreating or strengthening and sustaining faith through His Word and the faithful preaching of that Word. Which means whenever you ignore the Word of God, don’t read your Bible, don’t listen to faithful preaching, you’re **“quenching the Spirit,”** to use Paul’s phrase.

The Spirit is at work in the word of Absolution. This is why Christ delivers His Spirit to He sent ministers. **“Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive anyone his sins, they are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.”**

The Spirit is at work through Communion. He is active through Christ’s Word to bless the bread and the wine, and through Christ’s Word and Blessing, and the accompanying Spirit, the bread and wine are what Christ says they are: His ***“body and blood, given and shed for you for the forgiveness of sins.”***

“The Word and Sacraments” are the Spirit’s “instruments” or tools that He uses “to create faith where and when it pleases God.” AC V) Through the Word and Sacrament, not Word or Sacrament, it’s not a buffet, the Spirit *“keeps you with **<u>IHS</u>** Christ in the one true faith.”*