PARABLE OF THE TEN VIRGINS @TempleofGodGlobal

00:03 Thank you, Sister Shelly, for leading us in the beautiful time of worship. Let's give the Lord a mighty clap offering once again. Hallelujah. He's here in this place. Shall we do the confessions together? I believe in the almighty God, our father and creator. I believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, God and my savior. He was conceived of the Holy Spirit and born of a virgin. He suffered, died, and rose again. He ascended into heaven. He shall soon come again. I believe in God the Holy Spirit, who is worship and my guide. I believe in the holy fellowship, faithful giving, and service to God in this church. I believe the Holy Bible is the perfect word of God. I am what it says I am. I have what it says I have. And I can do what it says I can do. Today, as I learn the word of God here in my spiritual family, I am blessed, healed, and anointed for a holy and victorious living. I will never again be the same in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. Please be seated in God's presence.

01:08 I believe all of you would have got this booklet. Those who are Those of us who are watching us online, you may go to the description part and you can download this booklet and follow along with us. This year, as you know, we have been doing parables. And parables are beautiful stories, and more than stories that Jesus shared. As I told last time when I was sharing here is that parables are like bunker busters, you know? It's simple stories that transcends our mind, goes deep in our heart, because stories we all love stories. And then deep in our heart it starts working so beautifully. Amen. And so, today we have a very beautiful parable that we are going to deal with. It's called the parable of 10 virgins. Many of you want to know when Lord Jesus will come back. We just missed a date, September 23rd. But But you know that Bible says that nobody knows the hour or the day that he's coming. But, you know, this parable talks about the second coming of the Lord and how to be prepared for the same. So, it's going to be exciting.

02:09 Amen. And it is interesting because, you know, when Matthew 25, where this parable is listed out, you know, just before a little before that in 24, Jesus is already talking about and warning us that we must be watchful, for the Son of Man will come at the hour we do not expect. So, Jesus is actually tying this up in that the context. And so, we should be ready for the return of our king. Because surely Jesus is coming back again. Amen. And the question in this parable is that are we really ready, prepared for his coming? As I was preparing and thinking about this, I was saying, "See, either Jesus is coming or you have to go there. Either way, you have to be prepared." You know, whether Jesus comes after 50 years, you know, you have to be prepared today because he may not come today, but who knows? I'm not saying that, but who knows? We have to go there today, you know? Either way, we have to be prepared. Amen. So, it's a daily preparation, and that's what this parable is all about, of spiritual readiness. Let's go to page number two and let's look at the parable and read that together, so that we can

03:11 understand what it says. Shall we read that together? Matthew chapter 25, verse 1 to 13. "At that time, the kingdom of heaven will be like 10 virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. Five of them were foolish and five were wise. The foolish ones took their lamps, but did not take any oil with them. But the wise ones, however, took oil in jars along with their lamps. The bridegroom was a long time in coming, and they all became drowsy and fell asleep. At midnight, the cry rang out, 'Here is the bridegroom. Come out to meet him.' Then all the virgins woke up and trimmed their lamps. The foolish ones said to the wise, 'Give us some of your oil. Our lamps are going out.' 'No,' they replied. 'There may not be enough for both of us and you. Instead, go to those who sell oil and buy some for yourself.' But while they were on their way to buy the oil, the

04:15 bridegroom arrived. The virgins who were ready with them with with went with him to the wedding banquet, and the door was shut. Later, the others also came. 'Lord, Lord,' they said, 'open the door for us.' But he replied, 'Truly I tell you, I do not know you. Therefore, keep watch, because you do not know the day or the hour. Therefore, keep watch, because you do not know the day or the hour.' We do not We do not know the day or the hour, but the Lord is encouraging us to keep watch, to be prepared. If you really want to understand this parable, as Jesus was speaking to the people out there, they understood what this parable meant, because they know the context. And to understand this parable, we have to understand the first-century Jewish wedding, how it really happens. And that's when we understand what this parable really means, right? To understand the full weight of this parable, let's understand how a Jewish wedding happens. And as I was discussing with Pastor Danny as we were together, you know, he was he was

05:17 helping me understand this, I realized that it's very much similar to how a North Indian wedding happens, wedding in North India. Okay? And probably because it's said that North Indian people are from Aryan race, from Middle Eastern race. Maybe they brought in the Jewish culture, who knows? You know? That's why they have a wedding ritual just like Jewish people. So, let's see the sequence of events in page number three. The first thing that happens is the gathering at the groom's house. A great crowd of family and friends gather at the groom's family home, which is the venue for wedding feast. The crowd is so large, it spills out on the street. Right? First, the people gather at the groom's house. The next one, the groom's journey. From groom's house, he, along with his very close friends, travels to the bride's place. It may be next village, it may be somewhere nearby. Right? And so, he travels to the bride's place along with his very close friends and relatives. Right? And this is where I was thinking, yeah, I mean, in North India I've seen when I was while I was staying there, I've seen so many

06:20 we call it you know, barat. You know? Passing by with groom sitting on the horse. And white horse, nice decked up white horse. And in front of him there will be a set of people who are with bands. We call it, you know, the instruments, you know, the the trumpets or something like that. And they and the friends of the bridegroom and together they will be going with the procession with dancing. You know, "Aaj mere yaar ki shaadi hai." I don't know if you heard that. You know? That's the song usually they sing in the dance. Right? So, so they they will be going towards the bride's place. Right? And once they reach the bride's place, you know, they take the bride along and the procession back happens from the bride's place to the groom's place. Okay? And so, along with bride and and and along with her family, they are coming back to the groom's place. And the fourth one, the anticipatory wait. The main crowd of guests waits at the groom's house, anticipating the procession's arrival to

07:23 commence the feast. So, you understand the sequence of events, right? So, first, they are at the groom's place, a large gathering. They They They are waiting. They want to celebrate. And groom, along with his friends, you know, close friends, goes to the bride's place. And and it may take some time, a journey, you know, maybe few hours to reach the next village. And they take the bride. And along the way they come back, and again there's celebration along the way. Right? They are celebrating. And they reach to the groom's place. And then the other crowd is waiting. They're waiting in anticipation, when will the bride and the groom will come back? And as they come back, they see them coming back, they celebrate, and they all go into the wedding feast. So, this 10 young women, this 10 young virgins, you know, were part of this waiting crowd. And probably they have been given some task, some some some ceremony, maybe, you know, because they have been given lamps. So, maybe they would have been told that, "Hey, when the groom arrives, you should just go run out, you know, maybe catch him half a kilometer down the lane. And then you should come together with the lamp, light up the place." Some

08:25 responsibility given to this brides this bride bridesmaids. And that's the story about, right? And so, the bridegroom represents Jesus. Wedding represents the final wedding banquet. And the 10 virgins represent those who are waiting for the Messiah. But only those who are prepared will enter into the wedding banquet. From the outward, page number four, if you go to, from the outward, you know, there's no difference between these 10 virgins. Right? Because all of them are dressed the same. All of them have the lamps. All of them are waiting for the bridegroom to arrive. But there is one difference. This wise bridesmaid, the wise virgins, had carried something extra. It's called the extra jar of oil. That is the only difference, and that makes the whole difference in this particular parable. Right? So, if you look at the page number four down, the wise virgins, the wisdom of the wise virgins is in their preparedness. Come on, repeat this after me. Preparedness. They brought extra oil for their

09:27 journey. The extra oil represents personal spiritual depth. What is this extra oil that Jesus is talking about? It is personal spiritual depth depth. It is the inner resource stemming from a genuine relationship with God, cultivated in private through prayer, obedience, and trust. Also, this oil is the fuel of the Holy Spirit that keeps our faith burning through dark times, delays, and disappointments. And more importantly crucially this oil cannot be borrowed or transferred. You see this this foolish virgins they wanted to when when when they realized that they don't have enough oil they wanted to borrow from the wise ones but it cannot be borrowed or transferred. You cannot rely on your parents faith, your pastor's faith or your friend's prayer. Your readiness must be your own. Now that is very important. Amen. You your readiness is must be your own. You know, you cannot depend on your parents salvation to you to be saved. You have to understand

10:31 who who Christ is and and and trust him and depend on him and grow in him. Amen. Why is that pastor? Because if you're giving your 10th board exam, you can't go to your maths paper and say because my dad is PhD in maths, invigilator please pass me. He will say your dad may be PhD in maths but if you are to pass 10th board exam, you prepare and you write and you pass. The readiness should be of yours. Amen. The thing with the foolish virgins, you know, if you look at the page number five down there, the foolish virgins were careless and unprepared. They only carried the oil that was already in their lamps thinking it would Now that's where the mistake was, you know, they thought what they have would suffice. This is enough, you know, I come to church once a month, that should be enough for me to you know get up there, you know, or I'm just watching online, you know, I don't want to go to church and that should suffice, you know, I

11:33 think that relationship with God should be enough. You know, isn't it funny sometimes I was thinking that, you know, Bangalore has bad traffics, yes, but on the weekdays we travel all the way to office 2 hours go there 2 hours go back. We complain but yet we go because we don't go our jobs will go. Yeah, but sometimes Sundays, you know, we complain oh there's traffic to go to church, you know, should I really go? No, no, no, you know, when you come to the house of God you should come come with more rejoicing. Amen. Because there is a cost there's a cost for the extra oil. No, I was thinking about the foolishness sometimes how we are so foolish. There was this aunty, you know, elderly woman who used to sit outside this office and she used to sell samosas. Okay? And and and she has put a board samosas 10 rupees. So this person who used to go to this office, young man, he used to feel bad about this aunty, you know, she's elderly and so he every day used to come and used to samosas 10 rupees so he used to take 10 rupees, put in her box and without taking samosas he used to go inside.

12:35 Right? Because he just want to help her. Right? So this he did every day for 3 months. He comes, he takes 10 rupees, puts in that box and goes inside. Right? After 3 months one fine day when he was doing the same, this aunty held his hand. The young man thought oh oh aunty, maybe you want to know that why I just put 10 rupees don't take your samosa and go go go inside. Maybe you want to know that that's why you're stopping me. Aunty said no no no no that's not why I stopped you. I stopped you because probably you didn't notice that from today onwards I put samosas 15 rupees. Aunty. He was not taking your samosas anyway. He was graciously giving you that. Now you're expecting him to put 15 rupees for samosas he's not taking? Sometimes we are so foolish like that, right? We sometimes forget how gracious God is to us. Amen. Amen. He just gives and gives and gives without expecting anything back from us. Hallelujah.

13:39 But sometimes we increase our present demand God more. The foolish virgins were like that. They were careless, unprepared, casual. Casual. I was thinking why did not they go and buy some extra oil like the wise virgins did? Just because probably extra oil will cost extra money. Right? Extra oil costs extra commitment. Extra oil Oh maybe with that money this is of this is sufficient so let with that money maybe I'll go and buy a new dress or I'll go and party with my friends. They had probably other plans with that extra thing that they had, the money that they had. But this wise virgins invested that extra onto the oil because oil represents the anointing of the Holy Spirit. Amen. And if you need that extra oil, there has to be an extra commitment. There has to be an extra cost. Are you ready to pay the extra cost? Discipleship has a cost.

14:41 Following Jesus has a cost. Amen. And when you decide to pay the cost, God is going to give you that extra oil that will stay with you even in your most darkest moments, even in your most difficult moments you know that that faith will carry you through and carry you through all the way to victory because that's what extra oil does. Hallelujah. We all need the extra oil. Like we sang today, Lord I cannot do anything without you. Amen. If you are not there I cannot do anything. I was praying down there Lord if you are not with me I can't stand here and talk. Amen. We cannot do anything without him. If anything good we are doing is because his anointing his grace has been given to us. Hallelujah. His extra oil that flows through us. It's not us, it's his extra oil. Amen. Let's go to page number six. The foolish virgins they had to rely on others to save them but it was too late because they were not prepared for the long haul. They assumed that the bridegroom will arrive on the schedule

15:45 rather than building a life that was ready for his plans whatever they may be. Aha, this is important. Right? They had some plans. The bride bridesmaids the foolish ones had some plans. What was their plan? This much oil is enough. He will come at this time and this will suffice. What if that's not God's plan? They were not ready for that. They were not ready for that. But what wisdom is not having a lot putting your plans into action but trusting God that even if whatever his plans, Lord I will be prepared for that. Amen. Next, they did not have a relationship with the bridegroom. The last words of Jesus to them were astounding. Truly I tell you I do not The other thing about this foolish virgins were yes they were part of the wedding party, they were part of in the core team maybe but then they didn't have a personal relationship with God. Probably they didn't didn't have personal relationship with the bridegroom. They were not really bothered how the final leg of the procession goes, right? And so they were a little casual about it and they confused their outward religious

16:47 activity with the inward personal relationship with Jesus Christ. If you look at the last para, do not confuse outward religious activity with inward personal relationship with Christ. Page number seven, the extra oil. So what is this true preparedness? What is that extra oil? The greatest mark of being God's child is having a heart that desires Jesus more than anything else. This very desire is the extra oil that keeps your faith burning until the day you see him. You are defined by a glorious future hope in Jesus. This extra oil is a deep personal relationship as we have already spoken about and the extra oil also symbolizes the in filling of the Holy Spirit that keeps your faith burning. This extra oil is the in filling of the Holy Spirit which we should desire day in and day out. It's not a one time event. Amen. You cannot depend on yesterday's anointing or one year's back's anointing. You should always crave for more even today. Right? And sometimes, you know, acronyms or some kind of small symbols stories

17:51 get etched in our mind. Right? I remember once I was we were talking about Pauline epistles and you know, I used to always have this confusion about when it comes to that portion of Philippians, Colossians Ephesians. What is the order of it? Do you struggle with that? I always used to struggle with that. You know, what's the order of that in the book? And then I had a acronym which I shared that time, GPC. I will never forget that. GPC Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians Colossians, you know, and you know, I was thinking about this God, we need to remember this every day that you we we need the filling of the Holy Spirit. We need more of you. We need the extra oil, you know, and it's very simple nowadays, you know, because we all go to supermarkets, right? All of us go to supermarkets and we buy things we don't want. Finally we look at the bill how did this happen? You know and and and in the supermarket these days something special is available which was not there probably 10 years ago. It's called extra virgin oil. We are all health conscious so we all go for that part of the store that part of

18:53 the section which is of course expensive, coconut oil or olive oil extra virgin oil. Next time you see extra virgin oil remember this parable. Every element is there. Parable of 10 virgins. Where God asked us to have extra oil. When you see that make a prayer. Say Lord, before I buy this oil, I need your extra oil. Amen. This oil may keep me healthy physically but I need your oil because I need to be healthy spiritually. Amen. So supermarket extra virgin oil, I'm sure they're going to have a good business. Okay. Let's go to page number eight. The foolish virgins were waiting but their hearts were not truly yearning for the bridegroom. They had a form of faith but not its sustaining power. And so you cannot borrow faith or buy this extra oil. It is cultivated. Repeat this after me. It is cultivated. You have to cultivate. You have to go to the holy of holies. You have to sit in

19:57 God's presence. You have to read the word. You have to pray. You have to show up yourself in the prayer meetings in the church. You have to cultivate. Amen. Nobody else can do that for you. You have to take that step forward and say, "God, because I need that extra oil, I will pay the extra cost." Amen. It may mean that you have to travel, you know, you from the office back early because you just want to run to the prayer group. It may mean that you have to wait sometimes in traffic because you want to be in the house of God a little early and worship God, but I will pay the extra cost because I am hungry for the extra oil. Hallelujah. Page number nine, be watchful. Christ's return is imminent. This means it could happen any time. Amen. Could it happen right now? It may happen. It may happen any time. The angelic proclamation in Acts 1:11 is our certain promise. He will return in the same way he ascended. His coming is both near and guaranteed. So, if you

21:01 look at Matthew 25:13, that's how the parable ends. Watch therefore, for you neither know neither the day or the hour. And time and again, if you look at the scriptures, it keep this this theme keeps on repeating. The coming of the Lord is at hand. The Lord is at hand. You know, the judge is standing at the door. Which means that throughout the church history, you know, people have prepared, waiting. Whenever he returns back, we are ready. But also, in the history, we see that a lot of people have start putting dates and times and, you know, cults have been created around this that, "Hey, Jesus coming on this date, on that date." People have sold their houses, cars. People have done crazy things, right? So, you should be watchful of that also. Be watchful not to fall in a wrong doctrine, a wrong trap because when Jesus coming, no one knows. Amen. But all you can do is be prepared. Hallelujah. If it's today, be prepared. If it's 50 years down the line, be prepared. Look at the next page, page

22:02 number 10. So, we are called to live in balanced faith. Living with the urgent hope that he could return today while remaining patiently diligent even if it tarries for a thousand years. So, we are to scoff neither at the promise of his return nor at the responsibilities of our present life. And this is the profound lesson of this parable, you know? Some are so heaven ready, heaven worthy they are not good for the earth. All day they might be just praying, reading the Bible, and teaching others how to But but they are not doing anything because Jesus is coming. So, why should I even study? Some teenagers ask that. Good question. Right? And some people who are about to get married, they say, "Jesus, please wait for some more time before I get married, Lord. Let's fix the the different kinds of prayers that happens, right? But then, the thing is that we should neither scoff at the fact that Jesus is returning soon. Yes, he will come anytime. At the same time, people who are responsible in their lives and

23:05 and and working hard, you know, as they are waiting on the Lord, some people scoff at that. You know, why you want to work hard? Why you want to be excellent? You know, just just sit in your room and pray. No, we have to be excellent while we are on this earth while we are waiting for him. Don't scoff at either of it. Amen. Let's go to page number 11. The parabolic trio, a test of your heart. It gets interesting because in Matthew 25, we are studying about the parable of 10 virgins, but Jesus is talking about three parables from Matthew 24 onwards, and all these three parables, you know, they are somewhere connected because in all these three, Jesus is talking about waiting and preparedness, right? And it starts with the parable of faithful and the wicked servant in Matthew 24:45-51. It's a short parable. And in this, Jesus says that a master, you know, who has a lot of servants in his house, he is going far away. And so, he tells one of his servants,

24:08 "Hey, I give you the in charge. I give you the charge of all my servants. You know, as I'm going, please take care of them. Feed them well. You know, you are the responsible person." And so then, the parable goes on to say that a faithful servant is the one if when the master returns, he sees him doing the same. That all the servants are well taken care of. You know, this particular person who was in charge, he took care of them. He fed them. You know, he took care of their needs. But a wicked servant is the one when master comes, he finds that this servant who was given the responsibility, he abused all the servants, right? He beat them up. He didn't care for them. Right? And then he was enjoying his life because master is cannot coming. He's waiting, so let me just be drunk. Let me party. And that is a wicked servant. And then Jesus says the doors will be shut for him. All right? So, second is, if you read that, first the parable of faithful and wicked servant reveals a heart towards the church community. It asks if we are

25:13 faithfully serving our fellow believers or abusing our positions in serving the household of This is very important. This is about a vertical Sorry, about horizontal relationship with each other, with your fellow believers. God has called you in his body, and everybody has a role to play. Every person in the body has a role to play. God has given you roles and responsibilities. God has given you an anointing. God has given you a calling. And with that, what are you doing? Are you really caring for your fellow believers or are you abusing them in the household of God? Because God takes it very seriously, right? And that's the difference between a faithful and a wicked servant. Second, the parable of 10 virgins, which we are doing today, turns the spotlight inwards, revealing our heart towards our individual personal responsibility. It is about the private unseen state of our soul, the oil of our genuine relationship with Christ that cannot be borrowed from others. The parable of faithful and wicked servant was about the horizontal relationship with our fellow believers, but the parable of 10

26:14 virgins is about a vertical relationship with Christ. Right? How beautiful, how deep, how real that relationship is is defined by this parable. It's actually cross, isn't it? The horizontal and vertical relationship. Finally, the parable of the talents in Matthew 25 directs against outward, revealing our heart in the context of the world. It challenges us to be faithful stewards of the resources that opportunities God has given to us to impact the world and his kingdom. Parable of talents, you remember we did 2 months back. Pastor Jenny did that, right? And God has given us resources, talents. And what are we doing with that? You know, so when I was visualizing, I like to visualize. So, I told you the first two parables represent a cross, vertical and horizontal. And the parable of talents just draw a circle around the cross. It actually it becomes wholesome when your relationship with people and your relationship with God is, you know, expressed by, you know, using your resources and

27:15 talents in a way that is blessing both God's kingdom and people. Amen. And that is what is beautiful about the parable of talents. And God wants you to do that. So, look at the last line. While we wait for Christ's return, are we faithful in our service to the church, in our personal spiritual readiness, and in our mission to the world? They are the master's compre- comprehensive checkup for a waiting heart. All of this these days, we all do comprehensive health checkup, right? A to Z, everything. You know, sometimes I used to feel we should not do any checkup because only after you find some problems and then stress starts. Until you do checkup, everything is fine. Nobody should do checkup, okay? But this talks about spiritual checkup. Amen. And so, this three parables in Matthew 24 and 25 share a common vocabulary built around five repeated words. This fivefold repetition underscores the core message, which is detailed in the table below. So, let's look at what is the

28:16 correlation. There are five repeated words. One of it is that no one knows the day or the hour. It may be implicit or explicit mention in that portion, but the truth is that no one knows the day or the hour. Therefore, do what? Number two, watch. Watch is the word that is also repeated in all these three parables. In the parable of faithful and wicked servant, the call is to be faithful manager, actively doing the master's work while he is away. Watching means being faithful to what is entrusted to you. In the 10 virgins parable, the virgins are all told to watch, but the wise demonstrated through preparation. So, in this parable, watch means be prepared. In the parable of talents, the command is to watch is implicit in the call to be faithful and productive with what is entrusted. So, in this parable, watch. While you watch, what you do, you be productive. While you watch, while you watch, don't keep on watching TV or mobile.

29:18 While you watch, be productive, right? And that's what this parable talks about. And what about third word? Wise. Wise is also repeated in all these three parables. The wise servant is the one who found faithfully administrating the household. In the parable of 10 virgins, the wise virgins are those who brought extra oil, who brought extra oil for their lamps. In the parable of talents, the good and faithful servants are commended for their wisdom in in investment. So, central theme, the last part, the central theme, faithful stewardship and responsibility during master's absence. Constant preparedness for a sudden arrival of the master and productive stewardship of resources when the master returns. Go to page number 13 and let's talk about the delay in the Lord's coming is the mission of the church. The perceived delay in Christ's second coming is not a failure of promise, but the space granted for the mission of the church in the great commission. Amen. So, while we are waiting for Christ's

30:22 return, what are we called to do? We are called on a mission. We are called on a mission called the great commission from Matthew 28 where it says, "Go out in the all all the world and preach the gospel, baptizing them in the name of God the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit and teaching them to observe all things I have commanded you." That is the great commission given to us. While we are watching for the Lord to return back, our job, our responsibility is to fulfill the mission given to us. Amen. The delay therefore is a divine provision of time for the fulfillment of this very purpose. It is a season of grace for the gospel to reach every nation, not a sign of divine absence. The church is called to be actively engaged in the work understanding that the extension of time is directly tied to the extension of God's kingdom. The period of waiting is in a sense a period of working. Fueled with promise of Christ's enduring presence to the very end of the age. Let's go to page number 14. The heart of knowing and being known.

31:28 As we look at the parable back, let's get get back to the 10 virgins parable. See, the most one of the most painful part of the parable is where Jesus says, "Truly I tell you, I do not know you." If you look at the parable carefully, there's only one line that the bridegroom says, which is represented as Jesus. Only one line. That is this, that truly I tell you, "I do not know you." And it is a very sobering and heart-piercing statement. You know, I know none of us will hear that, but you know, that is the thing where you don't want to, you know, be there because what what is it understand what what do we understand? Because in Matthew chapter 7 verse 23 also, Jesus repeats this, right? Where he says, "Those who claim to have done mighty works in his name, who perform miracles, cast out demons, and prophesy in his name." To them also Jesus said, "I do not know you." So, it's very important for us to understand, what does Jesus mean by that? Because, you know, these people in Matthew 7, they were working in the name of Jesus. They were doing prophecy. They were doing miracles. They were doing

32:30 wonders. They were raising the dead. To them also Jesus said, "I do not know you." So, what is it about knowing God and being known by God? It is very important. Sometimes we don't probably really pay attention to what it is about knowing God and being known by God so that this statement, you know, doesn't come. When Jesus said, "I never knew you," he's not saying he lacked awareness of these people. It is not that Jesus saying, "Hey, I mean I don't know I in the sense I'm aware that you are there, but knowing you is a very different thing altogether. He's saying you and I have no shared life. You were doing spiritual things, but apart from me. So, basically Jesus when he says that I know you, it means that you are sharing your life with Jesus. You are living your life walking with Jesus. Because you can also do things for Jesus, but not walk with him. They're two different things. Amen. And so, what is it So, so if you look at Matthew 7:21, Jesus says, "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' shall

33:34 enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of my Father in heaven." Oh, that qualification is very clear. He who does the will of my Father in heaven, them I know. Okay? So, the next question would be, so what is Father's will? This question keeps on coming to us. It What is God's will? How do I know God's will? What is God's will? Look at that page number 15. It says very clearly, it is not a checklist of miracles or a resume of ministry accomplishments. It's not religious hustle or how loud you can shout, "Lord, Lord," but it is this, three things. One, to be formed into the likeness of Jesus. If there's one desire that God has above anything else, does God want you to be blessed? Yes, he wants you to be blessed. Does God want you to be healed? Yes, he wants you to be healed. Does God want you to excel? Yes, he wants you to excel. Does God want you to be happy? Yes, he wants you to be happy. But then, if there is one thing that God desires for you about everything else, and for for the reason that he came down

34:39 on this earth, for that very reason he gave his life. You know what is that? It is that you will become like him. Amen. Is that you will be Christ-like. Because that is what you lost. We lost in the Garden of Eden. We were created like him. But that's where what we lost. And through any season of life that you go through, please remember, yes, God wants you to be blessed. God wants you to grow. God wants you to become better. And he may use different seasons to just do that so that you can be more like him. Amen. He wants you to be more like him. Number two, to live in union with Christ through his spirit, John 15, and to become a person increasingly full of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Amen. If you really want to know are you

35:41 becoming like Christ, this is your checklist. This is your thermometer. Are you growing in love? Are you growing in joy? Are you going growing in peace? No peace. Are you growing in Bangaloreans, are you growing in patience? You know, kindness, gentleness, self-control. Amen. Let's go to page number 16. To call him Lord, but reject his commands is to live a life of spiritual contradiction. Jesus makes it clear. You cannot separate faith from obedience and you cannot separate obedience from relationship. And so, it's all about relationship. It's all about genuine, true, real, daily relationship with Jesus. That's what the foolish virgins missed. They didn't have any connection. They were there probably for their own fun. You know? Sometimes people come to church for their own fun, right? Sometimes they

36:43 like things for their own fun, but this wise virgins, they were there for the bridegroom. Amen. That was a big difference. The shut door as finality, page number 17. It is the most unsettling moment in all of Jesus' parable. The door shuts. The shut door followed by the words, "I do not know you," makes the separation permanent. The parable illustrates that a poor relationship with God is ultimately exposed as no relationship at all. The door that swings wide today in grace will one day close in finality. And that is mentioned in three parables again in the parable of wheat and tares, the parable of net, and page number 18 in the parable of sheep and goats. Because one day the the chance is gone. The doors are closed. But you know, you don't have to be sad sitting here, "Oh, one day door will get closed. One day, you know, Jesus saying I do not know you." Because the Bible says very clearly, today the door is open for all. Amen. Hallelujah. The door is open for you and me. Amen. The door is not shut. The grace is

37:46 available today. Don't have to wait for tomorrow. Today. Amen. If there's something, you know, you you you feel, "Lord, I am dry." Today is the day that he will fill you with his extra oil. Amen. Just say, "God, yes, I understand that I need you more. I cannot do anything without you. I need your oil in my life." That's it. He's ready to waiting with his extra oil to just pour upon your life and anoint you in a fresh way today. Amen. You're not going to go back empty, but you're going to go back filled today with the anointing of the Holy Spirit. Amen. The door is open for all. And that's why we go out and preach the gospel. That's why we go out and say there is no other way but Jesus. That's why we say Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life. Amen. Jesus say That's why we say in his name there is healing. In his name there is salvation. In his name there is deliverance. Because the door is still open. The grace is still available. Amen. And when you proclaim about this grace, this door, you know what? Holy Spirit starts working. Because he wants all to be saved.

38:49 Amen. His desire is that all to be saved. Amen. So, look at page number 19 and there's a scripture we'll read that together, 2 Peter chapter 3 verse 8 to 9. Let's read that together. But do not forget this one thing, dear friends. With the Lord, a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead, he's patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance. Amen. Some of us will be glad that he didn't come today because we have chance this day. Hallelujah. He's patient. He's giving us chance. One more day. One more day, you know, to just grow in him. Amen. And therefore, we are not to be upset by the phrase, "Jesus is coming soon." We are to be motivated by it. It is a call to live in a state of prepare prepared readiness, ensuring our lamps are filled with the oil of genuine faith because for every generation, the return of Christ is always imminent. Let's conclude in page number

39:52 20. The parable of 10 virgins ends not with a calendar date, please remember, but with a command. What is that? Watch therefore for you know neither the day or the hour. The shut door and the heartbreaking words I do not know you are not meant to scare us, but to sober us, to strip away our spiritual complacency and call for the faith that is personal, prepared, and preserving. In light of this, the declaration maranatha, our Lord come, which is from 1 Corinthians chapter 16 verse 22, has long been used in the church as both a hopeful plea and a sober reminder that Jesus our king is coming soon. You know, many of the churches, you know, they declare the end of service with this word called maranatha, which means our Lord come. It's a beautiful, you know, prayer because our Lord has already come 2,000 years ago. Our Lord has come in our lives, amen, and our Lord is going to come again, amen. So, when you say maranatha, you

40:54 are remembering these three things, that our Lord has already come and brought salvation for us. Number two, our Lord has come in our lives. He's there with you right now, amen, and you are praying that Lord, please come and fill me again. You know, please come and take charge of me more and more each day, amen. And when you say maranatha, oh Lord, please come, you are praying that Lord, I am waiting for that beautiful return of yours, and while I'm waiting, I'll be prepared. I will be watchful, amen. So, in essence, maranatha echoes the parable's core, our Lord come, but with us now, be with us always, be with us to the end, which will be the beginning of all things renewed in you, amen. Let's close our eyes and pray. Dear Lord, we thank you for Lord, your word is life, your word is light unto our path, a lamp unto our feet. Thank you, oh God Lord, for today is the day of salvation. Thank you, oh God Lord, for all who call unto your name today. You are there with them, for them, oh God Father, and Lord, even as we are

41:57 waiting and watching, we thank you, Father, for we know that we can only carry on with this life, Lord, with your extra oil, oh God Father Lord, because the troubles, the challenges that we go through in this life, oh God Lord, we cannot do it on our own, but with your extra oil, we can overcome every mountains, oh God Lord. We can be victorious over every battles, oh God Father Lord, and we can live for you with great joy and anticipation, and Lord, with great excellence and preparedness, oh God Lord. Thank you once again for your presence with us today. In Jesus' name we pray, amen, amen. Just put your hands together. Welcome our dear pastor. Thank you, Pastor Deepak, for that beautiful Bible study on the fact that the Lord Jesus is going to come, no prophet knows about it. No denomination knows about it. It is a secret which the disciples of the Lord Jesus wanted to know. They asked the Lord, "Can you tell us

42:59 the date when you are coming?" The Lord Jesus gave them a parable. So, anybody who says we know the Lord is going to come, tell them that even we know the Lord is going to come. When they say we know the date he's going to come, tell them, "We know who you are." Because Jesus said false prophets will come and they will pronounce these kind of things, but we have a responsibility. Don't look to a date, but look to Jesus. Look to Jesus and become like him. Become successful, become excellent, become filled with the spirit. Thank you, Pastor Deepak, for that beautiful Bible study. We are so blessed. Thank you very much. Thank you, Pastor Shelly Reddy, for that beautiful time of worship, and what a blessing.

44:05 Thank you for leading the church in worship. I want to also take this time to welcome all of you who are here for the first time, maybe you are a visitor here, you are a guest here. Thank you for coming today. We really appreciate your presence, and if you are not going to another Bible-based church, then we would suggest every Sunday come, and we will welcome you today, and make this your spiritual home. Grow up in the grace of God, and God loves you very much, and we'll make every effort to express that love of God to you through our welcome for you. So, if you will go into the guest lounge today before you leave, we'll be happy to meet with you, greet you, and give you an explanation on how the church works, and also collect your details so we can keep in touch with you. This Friday, now this is for all of us, this Friday is the last day of this month, it's 31st of

45:08 October. Yeah, don't be sad that October is ending, but we are going to have a prayer time at 10:30 p.m., so those who like to come, you are welcome for the midnight prayer. For all who need prayer today, pastors are going to be in the front, and they're going to pray you after the service is over, and we are available to pray with you. I also want to thank so many of you who've been writing emails to me about the miracles God is doing and in your lives. I'm so encouraged to hear those stories of unusual miracles. It's just popping up in me, but I'll control myself. Self-control, and not speak about it now, but during my sermons in the coming weeks, I may here and there quote some of those testimonies of the kind of supernatural things God does Sunday after Sunday and Monday through Saturday, because our God is a 24/7

46:13 eternity God, amen. That's the God we serve. Go ahead, give God a big hand. I heard an old, old story how a savior came from glory, how he gave his life on Calvary. Oh, yes. I heard about his story, of his precious blood that atoned. And won the victory. Oh, victory in Jesus, my savior forever. He sought me and bought me with his redeeming blood. He loved me ere I knew him,

47:16 and all my love is due him. He plunged me to victory beneath the I heard about his healing, of his cleansing power revealing, how he made the lame to walk again, and caused the blind to see. And then I cried, "Dear Jesus, come and heal my broken spirit." And somehow Jesus You believe that? Let's shout it together. Come on. Oh, victory in Jesus, my savior forever. He sought me and bought me with his redeeming blood. He loved me ere I knew him, and all my love is due him. He plunged me to victory beneath the

48:24 I heard about a mansion he has built for me in glory. I heard about the streets of gold beyond the crystal sea, about the angels singing, and the old redeemed. One day we will be there. I'LL SING UP THERE THAT SONG OF VICTORY, HALLELUJAH. In Jesus, my savior forever. He sought me and bought me with his redeeming blood. He loved me and all my love He plunged me be- We are going to sing that third stanza one more time. Everybody likes good houses.

49:27 Everybody likes uh good places. There is no place like heaven. I am telling you, don't spoil your time on the earth and lose heaven. Be close to Jesus because there is no residential layout like heaven. Jesus is personally building it. Amen. And the best part is you don't have to pay for it. It is free. It's built on a relationship. It is the personal family house of God which belongs only for him and his children. Once you become his child, it is yours. We're going to sing the third stanza. Sing it like you're planning to get there. I heard about a mansion he has built for me in glory. I heard about the streets of gold beyond the crystal sea. About the

50:29 angels singing and the old redeemed in story. And some sweet day I'll sing up there that song of victory. Oh, victory in Jesus, my savior forever. He sought me and bought me with his redeeming blood. HE LOVED ME AND ALL MY love is due him. He plunged me to victory beneath the cleansing flood. Go ahead, church. Give the Lord all your praise and thanks. Hallelujah. Glory and honor, dominion and power belongs to him and him alone. The name above every other name. Hallelujah. The bridegroom of the church, Jesus, the son of the living God. Lift your

51:34 hearts to him with shouts of thanksgiving. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Oh, the healing name of Jesus. Oh, the blessed name of Jesus. Oh, the anointed name of Jesus. Oh, the most powerful name of Jesus. The name before which EVERY KNEE WILL BOW AND EVERY tongue will confess he is Lord almighty. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Oh, the wonderful anointing of the Holy Spirit. The mighty anointing of the Holy Spirit. The great anointing of the Holy Spirit. The good anointing of the Holy Spirit. Hallelujah.

52:38 Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Oh, we praise you today. Oh, we thank you today. We love you today. Jesus, we glorify. Lord, we honor your name. Thank you for your miracle working presence. Thank you for you are worthy. You are worthy. You are worthy. You are worthy. You alone are worthy. You alone are glorious. You alone are the name above every other name. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Oh, the one the angels worship. We worship you, Jesus. Heavenly Father, this beautiful day we want to thank you. You are the faithful bridegroom. Thank you that you are the head of the church. Thank you that you are the everlasting. You died on the cross for us, but you now live forever. Thank you that you alone defeated the grave.

53:41 Thank you that you alone defeated the power of death. Thank you that you are eternal, everlasting, and you are our God. Hallelujah. Master, this week we pray your blessed hand of favor will be upon each one of us. Lord, we thank you for those who may be in this church here today for the first time. We pray that your salvation be established on them. Father God, that your loving touch be upon their lives. We pray for those who may be celebrating their birthdays or their marriage anniversaries this week. Father, we pray for your blessed hand of favor to bless their years ahead with your goodness, your kindness, your miracles. Lord, we pray now for those who may be traveling this week that your journey mercies will go with them. Lord, we pray specially for those who may be going through challenging times,

54:43 looking for jobs, looking for some kind of success, and we pray that your miracles will be upon them, Lord. That in their pursuit, you will give them success. And some who may be going through bigger challenges of having lost a loved one, the pain of bereavement, and we pray that your peace will touch their lives. Father God, you will give them strength to cope with the pain. And may your comfort and strength, may they find it. May they find their strength in you, oh God. Help them that in the seasons of difficulty, they will draw closer to you and worship you and spend time adoring you and experiencing your lordship in their life. Father, now we pray over the finances we give you. Our money as we give it to you in our tithes, in our offerings. We pray your blessing will be upon it, oh Father, as an act of worship when we give you from love for who you are to

55:46 us. May your blessing abound on it. Thank you, Lord. We thank you that you are with each one of us. Next week as we come back, we pray the communion service will be anointed with your glory. Hallelujah. To you alone be all the glory and honor. In Jesus' most holy and matchless name we pray, and the people said, Amen. The grace of our Lord Jesus, the love of our heavenly Father, and the sweet abiding presence, fellowship, communion of the Holy Spirit rest and abide upon each one of us from now and forevermore. Amen. Love you all. God bless you. Bye-bye. Those who need prayer, please come forward. Pastors are here in the front. They'll pray for you.