Preparing for the Coming of the Lord (Episode 127)

Sad but true, many churchgoers today are not prepared for the coming of the Lord. Jesus warned us about that during His time on earth. He said, “Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’” (Matthew 7:22, NASB). “And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you…’” (verse 23). In this episode, Frank King addresses the importance of us being properly prepared for the coming of the Lord. People often talk passively about the Lord's return. For instance, they may have a favorite verse they often quote about His return. Or they look at the signs of the times around us and say something like, we must be close to the Lord’s return. But the question is, how seriously do we take the idea of the coming of the Lord? Jesus taught a parable about ten virgins going to meet the bridegroom (Matthew 25:1-13). Of course, the bridegroom is a foreshadow of Jesus. The virgins represent those who aspired to attend the marriage feast. The fact that they are referred to as virgins denotes their purity. Still, Jesus referred to five of the virgins as foolish. These five failed to be adequately prepared to wait for and to meet the bridegroom. Unlike the wise virgins, they did not take enough oil for their lamps. Their lamps went out at the worst time possible. So, they could not go and meet the bridegroom at midnight. Accordingly, they missed out on attending the wedding feast. The Oil We Need to Meet the Lord In the parable, Jesus focused on the oil. The wise virgins took adequate oil for their lamps and the foolish virgins didn’t. So, think about this. In the Bible, oil often represents the Holy Spirit. An analogy can be made between some churchgoers today and the foolish virgins. The latter were not prepared to meet the bridegroom because they had no oil. Similarly, any churchgoer who does not have the Spirit of God indwelling them is not prepared for the coming of the Lord.