Covenanter Witness Vol. 86 - Rparchives.org

Lesson Helps for the Week of March 21Sabbath SchoolLessonfor March 21,1971Preparing for His ComingMatthew 25:1-13Comments by John K. GaultAt the time of the events of this lessonJesus and His disciples have gone toJerusalem, ostensibly, for the celebrationof the Passover, but in reality, in Jesus'mind, for the giving up of His very life inthe great sacrifice for sin.At different times throughout Hisearthly career, Jesus had told the disciplesthat He was going to leave them but thatHe would return; as in John 14:3 He said,"And if I go and prepare a place for you, Iwill come again and receive you untomyself, that where I am there ye may bealso." In Matthew 16:27, He said, "For theSon of man shall come in the glory of HisFather with His angels; and then He shallreward every man according to hisworks." Also in Luke 21:27, Jesus said,"And then shall they see the Son of mancoming in a cloud with power and greatglory." These are but a few of the manystatements of Jesus indicating that Hewould return to earth at some time in thefuture. His first coming was with greathumiliation but His second coming will bewith great exaltation.Earthly life has been given to peoplein order that they might prepare themselvesfor the second coming of Christwhen He will come not as man's Savior butas man's judge. The opportunity to acceptHim as Savior is now, at the present time."Behold, now is the accepted time; behold,now is the day of salvation" (2 Cor. 6:2).1: The Ten Virgins in this ParableRepresent Professing Christians.These people were alike in that theywere virgins and they all had lamps. Theoutward appearance of their lives was thatthey were real followers of Christ, andthey all "went forth to meet thebridegroom." Many professing Christiansappear well in the eyes of their fellowmen.They occasionally attend church. Theofficers of the church cannot judge who issincere and who is insincere. Many timesthe session of the church thinks likeSamuel when Eliab, the son of Jesse, stoodbefore him. He said then, "Surely theLord's anointed is before me." The visiblechurch is composed of professingChristians but not all of them may belongto the invisible church. In Jesus' parable ofthe tares in the wheat, the servantsinquired of the owner, "Wilt thou that wego and gather them up? But he said, Nay,lest while ye gather up the tares, ye root upalso the wheat with them." Taresresembled wheat and so it could have beenthat the wheat would have been rooted upif they had attempted to root out the tares.Such a situation often appears in thevisible church.2: Christ Is United to His People in aCovenant Relationship."The virgins went forth to meet thebridegroom." Evidently a wedding wasabout to occur. It would seem that when awedding was about to take place, a groupof unmarried women would join in theprocession to go to the home of the bride.Psalm 45 presents a picture of an orientalwedding as it symbolizes the marriage ofthe King of heaven, who is Christ, taking toHimself as His bride, the redeemed of theearth. In verses 9 and 14 of the Psalm it issaid, "King's daughters were among thyhonorable women; upon thy right hand didstand the queen in gold of Ophir. Sheshall be brought unto the king in raiment ofneedlework; the virgins, her companionsthat follow her, shall be brought untothee." It will be a very grand occasionwhen this heavenly wedding occurs andthe bride will be the redeemed of the earth,who compose the church invisible. Peopleshould prepare themselves for this occasionwhile they have opportunity tosubmit their lives to Christ, who by reasonof His shed blood can cleanse them of allsin.3: It Is Very Foolish Not to Preparefor Christ's Coming.The ten virgins, "went forth to meetthe bridegroom. And five of them werewise and five were foolish. They that werefoolish took their lamps, and took no oilwith them. But the wise took oil in theirvessels with their lamps." The secondcoming of Christ, when He will sit injudgment of the people of the earth andwill separate between the bad and thegood, is a definite certainty. People in thismodern age spend millions in insurance oflife or possessions in order that they ortheir families will not suffer loss if thepossessions are destroyed. People arevery careful to guard against what mayhappen, but against the great certainty ofChrist's second coming they become exceedinglycareless. Where people willspend eternity hinges on the preparationthey make for the second coming of Christ.There is no greater exhibition of folly inthe world than that of a person making noeffort to prepare himself for Christ'ssecond coming. When He comes He willestablish His court of last resort, fromwhich there can be no appeal. That will bethe end and there will be no more time oropportunity. It is far more foolish to misssuch an opportunity of preparation than tomiss any other opportunity in all theworld; and yet that is the opportunitywhich many of the people are missingevery day.1: It Is Very Essential that in MakingPreparation for Christ's Second Comingthat People Have the Oil of the Holy Spirit.In Bible times oil was a very preciouscommodity. Its physical use was largelyfor illumination in the lamps at night. Butit also had a symbolical use. Priests andkings were anointed with oil upon theirconsecration. God said to Samuel whenDavid was brought in before him, "Arise,anoint him for this is he." Aaron and hissons were anointed with oil upon theirconsecration for the priests' office. The oilbecame a symbol of the grace of God'sSpirit, and this grace is something whichevery one must have in makingpreparation for Christ's second coming. Itis the Holy Spirit who convicts one of sinand who leads him to "come to himself." Itis the Holy Spirit who gives spiritual lightall along life's pathway. The foolishvirgins represented those who may haveprofessed Christ but they had never beenendowed with God's Spirit. They were likethe seed which fell on the stony groundwhere the soil was shallow, which sprungup quickly, but when the hot sun shoneFEBRUARY 24, 1971 11