Devotional for Fall 2020 Semester

 

The Parable of the Ten Virgins

August 10 Devotional for Fall 2020 classes

Dr. John Sterling

“Then the kingdom of heaven will be comparable to ten virgins, who took their lamps, and went out to meet the bridegroom. And five of them were foolish, and five were prudent. For when the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them, but the prudent took oil in flasks along with their lamps. Now while the bridegroom was delaying, they all got drowsy and began to sleep. But at midnight there was a shout, ‘Behold, the bridegroom! Come out to meet him.’ Then all those virgins rose, and trimmed their lamps. And the foolish said to the prudent, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’ But the prudent answered, saying, ‘No, there will not be enough for us and you too; go instead to the dealers and buy some for yourselves.’ And while they were going away to make the purchase, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the wedding feast; and the door was shut. And later the other virgins also came, saying, ‘Lord, lord, open up for us.’ But he answered and said, ‘Truly I say to you, I do not know you.’ Be on the alert then, for you do not know the day nor the hour.” —Matthew 25:1-13

We know from scripture that the bridegroom is Jesus.    Jesus is coming again. He gave us explicit instructions to be ready for His return. The readiness of the people of God depends upon their knowledge of truth, their obedience to truth, and their patience and faithfulness. In Matthew 24 and 25 we find some of the verses in the Bible that give clues to those days prior to His coming.  Elsewhere in scripture we find many instructions to help us always have an attitude of readiness, not just for His coming, but our service to Him.  We are told to make ourselves ready, spiritually, mentally, and physically to be “fit” for the work that God has called us to.  In Leviticus, this verse lays a foundation for the parable of the ten virgins:

“Command the children of Israel that they bring to you pure oil of pressed olives for the light, to make the lamps burn continually.” Leviticus 24:2.  If the mission requires light, you must have enough oil for the lamps to be ready at a moment’s notice.

Those who were (have been) schooled in God’s Word, we understand the imperative: we have to DO some things to “get ready”. Salvation is free (nothing we CAN do to earn that) but our sanctification (the process of growing closer to God) involves discipline on our part-preparation and practice to be ready for the next “mission”.  In the Army, leaders report that their elements (squads, platoons, companies, battalions, etc.) are “mission-ready, sir!”   We have trained, and equipped ourselves to accomplish whatever we have been called to do.

Half of those virgins (young women who make up part of the wedding entourage) were called to provide light.   Light is produced by the lamps which require olive oil as the energy source. Part of the responsibility of the lamp-bearer is know how much oil will be required to accomplish the mission. Also implied is that the preparation for the mission must take place while we are engaged in another mission: the mission of daily living.   There is no special time set aside for training and material acquisition prior to receiving your “marching orders”.  Once activated, the preparation must be fully accomplished.

No doubt all of the ten virgins were engaged in something when they received the call. The Bible does not provide details so they are not important but we may surmise that whatever they were doing, they had short notice to drop that and report to the wedding feast prepared to accomplish the mission- to provide light for the wedding party inside the wedding chamber.

The ten virgins are divided by the narrative into two groups: the wise virgins and the foolish virgins (There is no middle ground here. You are one, or the other.)  The five foolish virgins must have had  some oil in their lamps, because they said, “Our lamps are going out.” They were “semi-prepared”.   Semi-prepared is not enough. You have to come to the wedding fully “mission-ready”.  Perhaps they thought they might avert disaster by some “late-stage” action. Maybe they didn’t take the assignment seriously in the first place.  Maybe they hoped for some kind of undeserved leniency.  So, the “foolish” virgins  were advised to try to go buy some more.    But it was late, the opportunities to acquire more oil were gone. By the time the bridegroom arrived, it was too late to buy oil.  They missed their “window of opportunity”.

“And while they were going away to make the purchase, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the wedding feast; and the door was shut. Afterwards the other virgins came also, saying, ‘Lord, Lord, open to us!’ But he answered and said, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, I do not know you.’” Matthew 25:10-12.

Do you see the finality here? When the deadline is passed, there are no more opportunities.   The score is “pass-fail”.    No sliding scale or grading on the curve. Whether you are “in” or “out” depends upon whether you took the warnings and instructions seriously.

I want to apply this principle to two different current events.    First, this is the beginning of a new semester at college, and we have a lot of new Freshmen who are poised to launch a whole new chapter of their lives.   Some have been preparing for this for a few years. Others, have managed to get this far mostly by dumb luck and/or the grace of God.  For those new college students, this is the message: Read the syllabus, read carefully and complete all assignments on time, and ask the instructor if you need assistance. Manage your time wisely, anticipate setbacks, and plan for contingencies. You will be like the wise virgins.

The other application for this parable is the social breakdown we are experiencing in American culture.  I address here a different audience, with different issues and challenges, but the principles are the same.  When we abandon first principles and reject God and His instructions, are become blind to the “signs of the times”. If we do not prepare for what must certainly be inevitable social collapse and systemic failure, then we will experience catastrophic destruction at the personal and national levels.  Like the foolish virgins, we have been warned, and we have been given opportunities (and second chances) to “get it all together” for these times.  Failure to heed the warnings will result in total systemic failure and we have no one to blame but ourselves.  Our preparation must include spiritual study and practice, mental discipline, and our physical and economic health. You may wish it were not so…you may not believe it will be so… but if it is true, it will be true no matter what you believe about it.  

No matter what you are going through, or where you are in life right now, the time is right for you to take action.  The warnings are clear to all who are paying attention. If you are not seeing it, you are not paying attention. The “fix” is also clear: seek God while He may be found. Do today what you can do to prepare.  Never gamble what you cannot afford to lose. Don’t procrastinate. Once the doors are closed, there will be no one to help you.  Quite literally, there will be Hell to pay.

John Sterling

Aug 7, 2020

Obedience to Law is Worship of God

Obedience is Worship

Love of God’s Law is evidence of relationship with God. When we despise the law, it is likewise evidence of our relationship.  We do not have the right, nor should we have the desire, to change the law to conform to our behavior, but rather, should desire to make our behavior conform to the law. Obedience to God is true worship. Our Holy God desires, and requires, holy worship.

I desire to do your will, my God; your law is within my heart." ( ps 40:8)

We know that we have come to know him if we keep his commands. (1 John 2:3)

Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee. (Ps 119:11)

I delight in your decrees; I will not neglect your word. (Psalm 119:16 )

I teach college classes at both the Bachelor’s and Master’s Degree levels of learning, in three different Christian institutions. Usually, but not always, students who sit in my classes are either Christians, or at least are not hostile to the Christian Message and Doctrines. It is not uncommon to find students who, having been educated in secular and state-run high schools and colleges, subscribe to a belief that the U.S. Constitution should be altered or amended (or altogether replaced) in order to accommodate a changing culture and changing standards of conduct.  I absolutely agree with those students who argue that there is a great chasm between the principles of the Founding of the Republic and the practices of society today.   But I argue that the solution is NOT to change the rules to conform to our changing morals. Rather the rules (laws) are the proper standard by which we must judge our conduct.  WE must conform our behavior to the law, which we understand to flow from the authority of God through the institution of government (Ro 13:1-7)

If it is true that the principles of self-governance require self-discipline, and that that self-discipline is best achieved through a right relationship with Jesus Christ, then it is reasonable to conclude that the greatest success of our legal/political/economic system will be achieved through adherence to the laws of God.    Our Founders gave us a doctrine called the “Rule of Law” which presumes that legitimate authority comes from God, and is delegated by the people to a governing body, which is divided into three branches to achieve a balance of power.  Since the laws promulgated by that government are presumptively valid, originating as they do from the people, who are themselves acting in the constraints of their faith, then the law is presumptively good. (This is of course a rebuttable presumption since the government does not always operate within its legitimate constraints)  Starting with a presumption that the Law is good, then conforming our behavior to the law is therefore also good.  When our behavior departs from the standard of the law, our behavior is presumptively bad.  It will be therefore destructive of the government, and the law, and the authority from whence those derive, if we grant our behavior supreme authority over the law.  This NEVER works out well.

In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes. (Judges 21:25)

In those days there was no king in Israel; every man did what was right in his own eyes. (Judges 17:6)

Following the death of Joshua, there merged a new political model in Jewish history for over 200 years. For the first time in history, the Jewish people were independent in their own homeland. Perhaps more importantly they did not have a single, strong leader to unify and direct social interaction. Besides lacking central temporal authority (i.e. central government) at the time of the judges, there was also little reverence for religious law as well. Differences between people were resolved at the tribal level by leaders chosen from among the people of the tribe.  Sometimes this worked well, but often it did not because politics has not changed. History reveals to us that leaders who neglect the Law of God, and become a law unto themselves, will ultimately destroy their own system of governance.  In every case where man “does what is right in his own eyes” he will ultimately be destroyed.

The king is the actual and symbolic figure of authority which is presumptively established by the people and anointed by God and therefore “legitimate”. (Ro 13: 1-7) When there is no “king” (no law-no authority) then people are left to do whatever THEY think is best and the end result is NEVER happy.  Because when everyone follows their own path, and seeks only their own self-interests, there is no “community” (common + unity = community). The law “regularlizes” our relationships and gives predictability and stability to society. When it is absent, so is social stability.

“Thus you shall say to the house of Jacob, and tell the people of Israel: You yourselves have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself. Now therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession among all peoples, for all the earth is mine; and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.” Exodus 19:3-6

If thy children will keep my covenant and my testimony that I shall teach them, their children shall also sit upon thy throne for evermore. (PS 132:12)

The way that you show someone you love them is that conduct express that you are putting the other person ahead of yourself.   We worship God when we demonstrate that we are placing EVERYTHING in subjection to Him.  The First Commandment is that we shall have no other gods before the Lord God. All of the other Commandments illustrate the principle that God is supreme. His rules require obedience.  We demonstrate worship by honoring God and obeying His Commandments. Conversely, we dishonor God when we take matters into our own hands, and we pursue OUR interests above His.  The very idea that we should re-interpret the law (whether Scripture, or the U.S. Constitution which is presumably based upon His Holy Principles) is tantamount to “placing other gods” before Him. Trashing the Constitution and replacing it with something that reflects our godless, permissive, self-indulgent lifestyles would be the exact opposite of worship.  It would be the polar opposite of giving God Honor. It would be showing God our heel, turning our back on Him, rejecting Him. If we desire HIS blessings, we are to honor HIS Word.

Whoever has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me. The one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love them and show myself to them." (John 14:21)

Jesus replied, "Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them. (John 14:23)

If your law had not been my delight, I would have perished in my affliction. (Ps 119:92

There is much hand-wringing these days about the state of our nation.  America is in decline and most people seem unable to propose a “fix”.   It seems clear to almost everyone that society is in a mess, yet the popular “solution seems to be to go even further away from God.   Suggesting that we abandon the fundamental principles articulated in the Declaration and the U.S. Constitution would be just another move in the WRONG direction. If we truly desire to correct the problems of our society, our ONLY answer is to return to the God of our fathers.

For this people's heart has become calloused; they hardly hear with their ears, and they have closed their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts and turn, and I would heal them.' (Acts 28:27 )

My comfort in my suffering is this: Your promise preserves my life. (Psalm 119:50)

If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land. (2 Chron 7:14)

Because of our selfish and inward-looking nature, we have accepted the lie of the Devil that obedience to God is to hard, too cumbersome, too painful.  But those who walk in obedience soon discover that Jesus told the truth when He said, my yoke is easy, and my burden is light. (Mt 11:30).  We also read in 1 John 5:3 that “In fact, this is love for God: to keep his commands. And his commands are not burdensome.”  We will discover that giving God our due worship in the form of obedience to His Word, will reap enormous rewards in terms of Peace, Security, and confidence. That is the life to which we have been called.

John Sterling, MA JD    2/4/15/2015