10 Virgins
I've been studying the 10 virgins in Matthew so here is my take on it. The 10 virgins are 10 cities.
When a christian gets saved he gets the holy spirit inside him. What does that really mean though? It means that the teaching of the holy spirit the Gospel has been accepted and has entered his mind. Now he is like a vial containing the holy spirit. If you want your church to last till the coming of Jesus you will want to fill the vial with the oil which is the teaching of the holy spirit: The Bible. So those churches that teach the Bible will last and those that don't wont last. It has to be a True New Testament church which is one that teaches the Bible. If a church teaches the Bible and enough people in the church understand the Bible then the church will last. They didn't have the Bible in the New Testament times so it wasn't enough to be filled with the scriptures. You had to know the new testament teachings as well and much of it was word of mouth. It's all in the Bible now though so you just need to thoroughly understand the Bible. Church
What I do to fill myself with the Bible:
I listen to a passage which is not the Traditional chapter but from one bold text heading to another. I Don't tell this to brag but to get you to do it. I'll probably lose any rewards since I'm telling this but it's good to teach people so that your church will function well. The timeless truths of the Bible blossom in many ways because these are fundamental truths that apply to many situations you encounter in all your life. If you don't get others to your level you may find a love in your church because you fed yourself but no one else. What if that's what the rich Man and Lazarus is about. The rich man fed upon God's word and was richly blessed for a while. In the end though It was the one who never read the Bible who was happiest and why? Because he never heard the word of God at all. The rich man suffered because he did not feed Lazarus God's word and now he sees Lazarus who learned the ways of the world (through the hard knocks of life) and was blessed. While the timeless truths of the Bible aren't meant for one individual only but it is for a community of people. Eventually the Rich Man's Synagogue turned against him kicked him out for heresy and no one would help him because no one could understand where he was coming from. Lazarus didn't help the rich man because he could no longer understand him and saw no reason for helping others but only learned to help himself. Hell could be metaphorical (not that there isn't an actual hell also) for getting yourself all worked up about one thing and then losing it. When you focus on Jesus though you never lose Jesus. He's always there. He's a done deal he's yours already. All you have to do is believe it and you can be happy about the fact that he's yours. Perhaps everyone has him but what good is that if they don't know it?
I'm wondering if even the arrival of the Bridegroom may have a more meaning. Perhaps the arrival of the Bridegroom represents a point at which the church can behave as the kingdom and a blessing (in the form of an improvement in the church ) Will either happen or it wont. A blessing could be there knocking at the door but you will miss it if the whole church doesn't know the Bible. If there aren't enough people who know the Bible then a situation will arise in which the Bible knowledge is needed but if no one has it or if not enough people have this knowledge then the situation will cause problems in the church and misery and even a very painful situation or the missing out on some blessing.
Much of what Jesus teaches is about how the mind works. If you pray for wisdom then when you get that wisdom you will have wisdom and not some feeling of what you should do. No one should say "I felt led" If something doesn't make sense to do then you shouldn't think God wants you to do it. Not that he doesn't but he's not leading you to do it. If you face a similar situation in the past you should look at what that's about. Just because you feel guilty that doesn't mean what you are doing wrong but it's a strong warning signal. We shouldn't think in terms of black and white right or wrong but rather better and worse. Correcting and veering away. There is more correct and less correct. I don't know. The word sin means missing the mark. Is that what it means in the Bible though? I mean a word means what the Bible says it means and not what some dictionary says it means. The Law has very clear rights and wrongs. However it was there to teach and to get the Jews in the Ball Park of where they needed to be. It created a situation for the Messiah where people were at least teachable about the things he was going to teach. Jesus could tell people things and it wouldn't be a situation of him parading his pearls before swine. At least there would be people who could grasp his message. The New Testament allows you to move closer to being on target and to gauge your own progress. It allows you to self correct and hit the target more accurately. You are on a path however so it's more like the mark is a straight and narrow path (not twisty). You may have strayed from the path but you need to veer in that path's direction as much as you can.
It's not enough to fill yourself with the Holy Spirit (The Bible). You have to fill others with it. If you run out of People filled with Bible your church wont last. Your oil will run out. There are so many ways to study today. You can listen to it all day long on mp3 and in your car using Bluetooth. You have to meditate on it day and night.
Jesus said his words will last forever. If you think about it then they must be true at all times. If they are about some specific event in the future then once the event has passed then what good are the words after that. No matter what sort of creature or situation you can conceive of no matter what world might exist or be created the truths in the Bible will still apply. There will always be beings in need of love and kindness. There will always be the poor and there will always be the needy that you will need to help. You will always and forever come upon situations where you need to love. At least that seems to be true since the words will always apply. If they always apply then they will always be needed? Well maybe.
Anyway am I a Sadducee who says it's not about heaven and the afterlife and angels? No, I'm more like someone who believes in those things but that they aren't much different from our current situation. (although I think most beings aren't made of atoms like we are) I think we could create a paradise on earth. Perhaps we wont but it's not like we shouldn't try. Shouldn't that be the goal anyway? The only trouble with that is that an ultimate paradise could be achieved through much misery on the part of some. Since the truths of the Bible always apply they can also apply in the shorter term. Teaching and being an example is what is needed. Eventually there will be a New Jerusalem and that which is worthy in this world will pass on into the New Jerusalem. I'm thinking that we are not worthy of the New Jerusalem. We need to be more loving and kind. We have to love till it hurts.
- Virgins = Cities
- Lamps = Churches
- Vials = people
- oil = holy spirit/Bible (since it's inspired by the Holy Spirit)
- holy spirit = Bible.
When a christian gets saved he gets the holy spirit inside him. What does that really mean though? It means that the teaching of the holy spirit the Gospel has been accepted and has entered his mind. Now he is like a vial containing the holy spirit. If you want your church to last till the coming of Jesus you will want to fill the vial with the oil which is the teaching of the holy spirit: The Bible. So those churches that teach the Bible will last and those that don't wont last. It has to be a True New Testament church which is one that teaches the Bible. If a church teaches the Bible and enough people in the church understand the Bible then the church will last. They didn't have the Bible in the New Testament times so it wasn't enough to be filled with the scriptures. You had to know the new testament teachings as well and much of it was word of mouth. It's all in the Bible now though so you just need to thoroughly understand the Bible. Church
What I do to fill myself with the Bible:
- I read each verse 10 times and circle the verse number when I'm done
- I read the whole passage (text between headings) 10 times and draw a line at the end till I have 10 lines (thus I've read each verse a total of 10 times)
- I also listen to that same passage on on my phone or mp3 player while shopping or going for a walk.
- let the Bible play while i'm working ( don't do this much though but I probably should )
- Attend church 3 times a week.
I listen to a passage which is not the Traditional chapter but from one bold text heading to another. I Don't tell this to brag but to get you to do it. I'll probably lose any rewards since I'm telling this but it's good to teach people so that your church will function well. The timeless truths of the Bible blossom in many ways because these are fundamental truths that apply to many situations you encounter in all your life. If you don't get others to your level you may find a love in your church because you fed yourself but no one else. What if that's what the rich Man and Lazarus is about. The rich man fed upon God's word and was richly blessed for a while. In the end though It was the one who never read the Bible who was happiest and why? Because he never heard the word of God at all. The rich man suffered because he did not feed Lazarus God's word and now he sees Lazarus who learned the ways of the world (through the hard knocks of life) and was blessed. While the timeless truths of the Bible aren't meant for one individual only but it is for a community of people. Eventually the Rich Man's Synagogue turned against him kicked him out for heresy and no one would help him because no one could understand where he was coming from. Lazarus didn't help the rich man because he could no longer understand him and saw no reason for helping others but only learned to help himself. Hell could be metaphorical (not that there isn't an actual hell also) for getting yourself all worked up about one thing and then losing it. When you focus on Jesus though you never lose Jesus. He's always there. He's a done deal he's yours already. All you have to do is believe it and you can be happy about the fact that he's yours. Perhaps everyone has him but what good is that if they don't know it?
I'm wondering if even the arrival of the Bridegroom may have a more meaning. Perhaps the arrival of the Bridegroom represents a point at which the church can behave as the kingdom and a blessing (in the form of an improvement in the church ) Will either happen or it wont. A blessing could be there knocking at the door but you will miss it if the whole church doesn't know the Bible. If there aren't enough people who know the Bible then a situation will arise in which the Bible knowledge is needed but if no one has it or if not enough people have this knowledge then the situation will cause problems in the church and misery and even a very painful situation or the missing out on some blessing.
Much of what Jesus teaches is about how the mind works. If you pray for wisdom then when you get that wisdom you will have wisdom and not some feeling of what you should do. No one should say "I felt led" If something doesn't make sense to do then you shouldn't think God wants you to do it. Not that he doesn't but he's not leading you to do it. If you face a similar situation in the past you should look at what that's about. Just because you feel guilty that doesn't mean what you are doing wrong but it's a strong warning signal. We shouldn't think in terms of black and white right or wrong but rather better and worse. Correcting and veering away. There is more correct and less correct. I don't know. The word sin means missing the mark. Is that what it means in the Bible though? I mean a word means what the Bible says it means and not what some dictionary says it means. The Law has very clear rights and wrongs. However it was there to teach and to get the Jews in the Ball Park of where they needed to be. It created a situation for the Messiah where people were at least teachable about the things he was going to teach. Jesus could tell people things and it wouldn't be a situation of him parading his pearls before swine. At least there would be people who could grasp his message. The New Testament allows you to move closer to being on target and to gauge your own progress. It allows you to self correct and hit the target more accurately. You are on a path however so it's more like the mark is a straight and narrow path (not twisty). You may have strayed from the path but you need to veer in that path's direction as much as you can.
It's not enough to fill yourself with the Holy Spirit (The Bible). You have to fill others with it. If you run out of People filled with Bible your church wont last. Your oil will run out. There are so many ways to study today. You can listen to it all day long on mp3 and in your car using Bluetooth. You have to meditate on it day and night.
Jesus said his words will last forever. If you think about it then they must be true at all times. If they are about some specific event in the future then once the event has passed then what good are the words after that. No matter what sort of creature or situation you can conceive of no matter what world might exist or be created the truths in the Bible will still apply. There will always be beings in need of love and kindness. There will always be the poor and there will always be the needy that you will need to help. You will always and forever come upon situations where you need to love. At least that seems to be true since the words will always apply. If they always apply then they will always be needed? Well maybe.
Anyway am I a Sadducee who says it's not about heaven and the afterlife and angels? No, I'm more like someone who believes in those things but that they aren't much different from our current situation. (although I think most beings aren't made of atoms like we are) I think we could create a paradise on earth. Perhaps we wont but it's not like we shouldn't try. Shouldn't that be the goal anyway? The only trouble with that is that an ultimate paradise could be achieved through much misery on the part of some. Since the truths of the Bible always apply they can also apply in the shorter term. Teaching and being an example is what is needed. Eventually there will be a New Jerusalem and that which is worthy in this world will pass on into the New Jerusalem. I'm thinking that we are not worthy of the New Jerusalem. We need to be more loving and kind. We have to love till it hurts.
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