What does the Bible say about foolishness? How
does it describe it? Well, in Proverbs 1, verse
2, a fool hates knowledge. In Proverbs 18, verse
2, it takes no pleasure in understanding. In
Proverbs 10, verse 23, it enjoys wicked schemes,
proclaims folly in Proverbs 12. spurns a parent's
discipline in Proverbs 15, speaks perversity
in Proverbs 19, it mocks at sin in Proverbs 19,
and it's deceitful in Proverbs 14. It despises
his mother in Proverbs 15, and a foolish child
brings grief to his parents in Proverbs 17 and
19. A foolish man commits sexual immorality in
Proverbs 6, 32 and chapter 7, verses 7 to 12.
And a foolish woman tears down her own house
in Proverbs 14, 1. We can start to see a picture
of what foolishness is defined by in the Bible.
It doesn't look like it's something that has
godly properties. Can you say amen to that? In
Proverbs 53, verse 1, it says, The fool has said
in his heart, there is no what. We can see these
are characteristics of the foolish virgins. One
of the things that I think is very striking,
I'm straying away from my notes a little bit
here. These virgins are supposed to be in the
church, and yet they're defined as foolish. What
is that telling us about these particular people?
Are you guys starting to see a picture of what
Jesus wants us to see with these foolish virgins?
When we think about wise, wise is equal to godly.
It's pious in Proverbs 13. It's wise to salvation
in 2 Timothy 3. So the question is, were the
five following the church crowd? I mean, they
seem to be associated with the church. They seem
to be associated with God's people. So why would
Jesus call them out? In the story, perhaps, there's
something significant to this quality of the
virgin that we need to pay attention to. It mentions
that they ran out of something important. What
did they run out of? Okay, the Bible calls it
oil, and oil, and some of you guys have jumped
ahead of me, represents what? The Holy Spirit.
Very good. Thank you. So oil equals the Holy
Spirit in 1 Samuel chapter 10 and 16 and Luke
chapter 4 and Acts chapter 10. What does the
lamp represent? Yes. Thank you. The lamp represents
the word of God in Psalms chapter 119, 105. We're
seeing that there's oil and there's a lamp, and
they need them both. They need the oil, the Holy
Spirit, to what? Amplify the lamp, which is the
word of God. Are you guys kind of seeing what's
happening here? One time I remember, I mean,
is this? I guess is this important that they
need the Holy Spirit to amplify the scriptures
so that they can understand what's happening?
Is that important? Absolutely. You know, I remember
going on a backpacking trip in California. It
was actually quite close to where we lived, which
is kind of cool because usually you have to travel
a long distance or whatever. But there were mountains
that weren't very far from where we lived. And
we hiked up through the mountains. We're kind
of in a little bit of a valley. And I remember
not bringing a flashlight. And it got really
dark at night. Like, you know how sometimes you
can kind of see your way, maybe there's a little
bit of moonlight? It wasn't like that here. It
was dark. And the ground was very uneven. And
this person needed to go to the bathroom. And
I thought I could make it. I really did. I thought
I can get there. I will do what I have to do.
I couldn't make it. I couldn't even get to the
bathroom because it was so dark and I couldn't
see my path. And it reminds me of what it's like
for us as Christians. See, we can pretend. We
can tell ourselves, I got this. I can make it.
But in the story, God is saying something different.
He's saying you need the oil and you need the
lamp to be successful when the bridegroom comes.
So one of the things that the story mentions
is that because the virgins didn't have the oil
and they didn't have the lamp, or they had the
lamp, didn't have enough oil, They ran into problems.
Let's look at verse 5. While the bridegroom tarried,
they all slumbered and slept. And in verse 6,
what happens? Midnight came. Uncertainties happen
in life. People start to lose their hold on truth.
There starts to become questions about whether
or not we're actually in the right path or if
there's another path that we should be looking
for. I don't know if you guys have been following,
but have you noticed that prominent people in
the church have started to drift away? Have you
guys noticed that? And they started to question
the Adventist church. Is this really God's church?
Do we really, is there something else out there?
What are we doing here? You guys kind of, have
you guys seen that? You know, the Bible talks
about midnight coming. And midnight in ancient
times were the dark parts of the night. In this
story, midnight is symbolic of judgment. And
it's talking about oil and a lamp, and then it's
talking about midnight. And there's dark times
that are coming. And what do we need to hold
on to to keep ourselves on track? Are you guys
seeing what God is trying to say to us here?
We need that oil. We need the Holy Spirit. We
need to keep our noses in the Bible so that when
midnight comes, we're not among the foolish virgins.
So darkness comes in everybody's life. When the
bridegroom came, all the virgins knew about it,
but those without oil were not ready. They tried
to borrow oil. Can I get a little bit of your
oil for me? Can we borrow oil from other people?
This kind of oil? Are you guys following what
I'm saying? Can you, can I? Okay, I don't want
to ask this question. But who in the church is
admired for their spirituality? Can you borrow
oil from that person? No. And yet, these virgins
were trying to borrow oil. You can only get oil
from the oil provider, who is God. I can't give
you oil, and you can't give me oil. This oil
is what's helping them prepare for the bridegroom
and to know what to look for when he comes. So
the foolish virgins asked for oil from the other
virgins and they were not able to obtain any.
They tried to find some oil from other sources
and lost out on the opportunity for salvation.
So let's talk for a minute about this oil. Several
things I want you to glean about this oil, about
the Holy Spirit. I'm not going to read these
texts, but I'm going to give them to you with
a reference if you want to jot them down and
look them up later. That may not be a bad idea.
Number one, the oil, the Holy Spirit is the helper
who teaches and reminds in John 14, 26. The oil
convicts the world of sin in John 16, 7 -8. It
dwells in believers and fills us in 1 Corinthians
3, 16. It's the source of revelation, wisdom,
and power in Ephesians 1, 17 -20. It guides to
all truth and knowledge of what is to come. In
John chapter 16, verses 13 and 15. It gives us
spiritual gifts to believers in 1 Corinthians
chapter 12, verses 7 and 11. It seals in the
lives of believers. Ephesians chapter 1, verse
13. It helps in our weakness and it intercedes
for us in Romans 8, 26 and 27. It makes believers
new and grants us eternal life. In Romans chapter
8, verses 10 and 11, it sanctifies and it enables
good fruit in our lives. In Galatians chapter
5, verse 16 to 25. Here's the application. We
have two types of Christians. By all external
appearances, they both look the same. And they're
studying the word of God. But one's not transformed
through the power of the oil. We need to study
the Bibles. I hear people more and more talking
about that. We've got to study the Bible. We've
got to study the Bible. We've got to study the
Bible. But have you noticed that we're more busy
than we've ever been? Have you noticed that,
you know, when you look at your day, you're like,
whoa. It's gone, but what did I do with it? What
did I spend my day doing? Jesus knew that down
through the ages, we would also need advice about
how to prepare for a second coming. So he gave
us a choice to either be smart or foolish. And
we can choose. We can take ownership. It's important
for us to understand midnight is coming. And
which of the virgins do you choose to be? See,
we need the oil of the Holy Spirit to guide us
as we study the word of God. God wants us to
be so needy on him. And I work with people that
I encourage to not be so needy on other people.
But God wants us to be so needy on him that we
are constantly going to the Holy Spirit. We're
asking his advice. What do I do, Lord? How do
I handle this situation? What is your will? God
wants us to be needy. He wants us to be just
like little children. And we don't want to be
that if we're being truthful. Here's what Ellen
White says in Christ's Object Lessons. The special
gifts of the Holy Spirit are not the only talents
represented in the parable. It includes gifts
and endowments, whether original or acquired,
natural or spiritual. All are to be employed
in God's service. In whose service? In God's
service. Becoming his disciples, we surrender
ourselves to him with all that we are and have.
These gifts he returns to us purified and ennobled
to be used for his glory in blessing his fellow
men. Let's go back to Matthew chapter 25. You
know, there's something that's interesting about
this chapter. See, Jesus tells us some stories
about... These virgins, some of them were wise,
some of them were foolish. And then the author
just abruptly moves away from that story into
another story. This time, the story is about
talents. I wonder if that's a coincidence or
if there's a purpose for why this talents story
follows the virgin story. The Bible often talks
about or uses repetition and enlargement to help
us understand something that's important that
God wants us to understand. So you guys know
the story of the talents too, right? We know
the story of the virgins. We often hear the story
of the talents. And I don't think that we often
hear them together. Would you guys agree with
that? Let's talk about this for a minute. So
we know the story of the talents. There's a man
that he calls his servants and he gives them
talents, right? He gave one five talents, he
gave another two talents, and he gave another
one talent, each according to their ability.
And then we know the story. Like the one who
received the five talents, he made another five
talents, right? The one who received two talents,
he gained another two. So we see these guys are
actually doubling their talents, right? It's
pretty cool. But then there's one who received
one talent. He went and dug in the earth and
hid his Lord's silver. Now you guys know the
story. We'll pause there. But how did the servant
feel about the one servant who hid the talent?
How did he feel about that? Was he happy? Good
job. At least you didn't lose anything, right?
One of the things that we know is that the master
was angry. He was angry because he didn't use
his talents. One of the things that the oil does
is it gives us the ability to use our talents.
For God's purpose. You guys following me? So
what are the fruits of the Spirit? We have wisdom,
knowledge, faith. These are gifts of healing.
We have the working of miracles. We have prophecy,
intelligence, speech, influence, time, money,
health, strength, love, and kindness. These are
some of the talents of the Holy Spirit. How many
of you guys know what your talents are? How many
of you know what God has blessed you with? It's
really important for us to know what our talents
are. If you don't know what your talents are,
that's okay, but you'll at least know one of
them by the end of this message. So they all
had talents. Daily, we should be using our talents,
our gifts for the glory of God. Many people find
excuses not to use their talents for God's purpose.
You know, one of the things that always bothers
me is, you know, you'll have people in the world
like your Katy Perry's and your Beyonce's and
there's probably other people. And guess where
their talents started? In the church. They started
singing songs for Jesus and now they're not.
We'll just leave it there. But their talents.
They had talents. We have talents. The Holy Spirit
wants to connect with us so we can use our talents
to glorify God. In verses 16 and 17, we can see
the cheerful servants using their talents for
God, and he blesses them with more. In verse
18, the servant that's chosen not to use his
talents at all, what does he do? He buries them.
I don't want to lose it, but I don't want to
use it. Does that sound about right? He buries
it. Here's something that's really important
for you to understand. God is going to come and
settle his accounts with all of us. Which of
the servants in the story would you like to be?
Are you using your talents to glorify God? Are
you using your talents to further God's kingdom?
Everyone is going to be accountable for how they
use their talents. You know, sometimes the church,
and it seems like sometimes the bigger the church,
the fewer people are willing to serve. We need
somebody to teach children Sabbath school. I'm
too busy, Pastor. I'm sorry, I can't do it. The
church has needs. What about where you work?
God put you in that job. How many of us are,
we praise God, praise God for blessing me with
this job. I'm making really good money. But then
what do you do with that job to glorify God,
to say thank you for putting me here? Do you
look for those opportunities? Do you unite with
the oil to share your talents with God? You following
me, church? God is pleased with what his servants
have done with their talents, at least two of
the servants. But he gets mad with the servant
for not using his gift. Why does God call the
servant wicked and lazy? God could have just
said, you didn't do it, okay, well, shame on
you. But that is not what he does. Why does he
call the servant wicked and lazy? There has to
be something that this servant is doing that's
outside of God's will. Are you guys following
me? Not only is he not using his talents, but
God is not pleased with him. Perhaps the message
is not how talented you are, but that you use
your talents to glorify God. You know, maybe
sometimes we branch off and we try something
new and we go, man, that didn't work. But maybe
using our talents might be about looking and
seeing where is God working? And uniting our
talents there and serving in that capacity. If
you're ever in doubt about where God can use
your talents, look and see what God is doing
and join in. Be a part of it. Let me read something
to you. This is so powerful. I hope you guys
don't miss this message. This is found in Christ's
object lessons. And here's what Ellen White says.
As the will of man. cooperates with the will
of God, it becomes omnipotent. And that just
means having unlimited power, able to do anything.
Whatever is to be done at his command may be
accomplished in his strength. All his biddings
and enablings. Did you guys catch what this is
saying? Okay, let me read it again because I
didn't even get one amen. Let's try this again.
As the will of man cooperates with the will of
God, it becomes omnipotent. Whatever is to be
done at his command may be accomplished in his
strength. All his biddings and enablings. Are
you guys catching what's happening here? God
unites with us. First of all, he kind of leads
us in that direction. Okay, you go over there.
I want you to start a ministry. And then he says,
and when we return to him, okay, God, I'm going
to do what you asked me to do. What do you want?
How do you want this to happen? And God's like,
watch this. And he just puts his power on you
and your ministry starts to thrive and be successful.
Isn't that amazing? So here's the... deal that
God and I have. So I'm a mental health therapist.
That means I work with people that have problems.
And it is where one of my talents is. It's something
that God truly has blessed me with. And the reason
I'm saying this, and I'm not bragging, is because
when I went back to being a teenager, adults
were coming to me saying, what should I do in
this situation? And the Lord would bless me then
too. I'd tell them what to do. They'd do it.
It worked perfectly. So this is a gift. And God
and I talked about this gift before I even went
to college. What do you want me to do, Lord?
He told me two things. He said, I want you to
go in the ministry and I want you to be a counselor.
And I did it. So here's what happens. Sometimes
when I'm sitting in my office and I'm working
with somebody, I'm like, okay, I need your help
here. And I hear the Holy Spirit whisper in my
ear. And so I'll say things. Sometimes it's things
I'm like, are you sure you want me to say that?
And I'll say it. And sure enough, it's exactly
what I need to say. And things start to unlock.
And I see God working. Are you guys following
what I'm saying? I don't really claim to be a
good counselor. I just know who helps me. What
I want to challenge you guys to do. We need the
Holy Spirit to be with us. So one of the things
that happens is, you know, God calls His servant
wicked and lazy. God is adamant about us using
our talents, that He takes the time to reemphasize
the importance of us sharing in His work. Could
it be that part of the reason that God was so
angry with his servant was because one of the
talents that he has, that he gives everybody,
regardless of who you are, is the ability to
share his love. This servant buried his talent.
He didn't even use, though at least the one that
God calls us to use, to share his love with somebody.
You guys following me? He buried his talent and
God called him wicked and lazy. You know, if
we keep going in this chapter, I'm going to make
my point to show you what I'm talking about with
this talent. Because he moves directly from talent
to the final judgment. Now he starts talking
about judgment. He talks about talent. And then
he goes back to judgment. Isn't that interesting?
But this time, this is what he says. He goes
to specific people and he says to them, he says,
when I was hungry, you gave me food. When I was
thirsty, you gave me drink. I was in prison and
you came to see me. I was naked and you clothed
me. I was sick and you visited me. Why does the
author suddenly jump to this? And so what do
the people say? When do we do that? I honestly
do not remember giving you anything to drink.
I don't remember. talking to you i don't remember
clothing you i don't remember helping you and
yours i don't remember any of that and what does
the bible say are you guys catching this if you
did it to the least of these you did it to me
we all have at least one talent What's that one
telling? We got to show God's love. That's what
this man buried. He didn't want to show his love.
And Jesus called him wicked and he called him
lazy. Because God wants all of us, and there
are no exceptions. You've got to do something
for his kingdom. So let's see if we can put all
the pieces together. This is the teacher in me.
In the first parable, what was the emphasis?
They needed oil, the Holy Spirit, right? In the
second parable, what was he encouraging them
to do? And what do they need to be successful?
and using their talents. You've got to have the
Holy Spirit. And then in the third section, what
do we see? This is truly the final judgment in
that section. Well, what is God saying? Yeah,
He's congratulating those, and some people He
doesn't congratulate. We know some people go
to hell and destruction, but... But God is taking
the time to say, man, you did a really good job.
Even if nobody else saw what you did, I saw it.
Well done. Are you guys connecting the dots here?
This is a love message. God is trying to tell
us, listen, I got the Holy Spirit that's going
to hook you up. And that's what we need to partner
with, the Holy Spirit, so God will empower us
so that we can do His will. Let me show you something.
We're going to end this, but I just want to show
you this real quick. Here is it. Mercy. Okay.
It's going to be Zechariah chapter 4, verse 6.
Zechariah chapter 4, verse 6. When you have it,
say amen. Okay, he answered and spoke to me saying,
this is the word of Jehovah to Zerubbabel saying,
not by not might. nor by power, but by my spirit,
says Jehovah of hosts. We need the oil so that
we can do the work. You guys follow what I'm
saying here? Are you seeing the message that
God wants us to get? Are you seeing the love
message where he's saying, I need you to partner
with me. I need you to do some work for me. And
I have designed this work so that it's special
just for you. Other people can do the work, but
not as well as the way I've designed it for you.
And for them, I have special work for them too.
And God is saying, I don't want anybody to be
lost, but here's what you need to survive midnight.
You guys following? Is this a love message? Is
God speaking to your heart? Stand with me. Let's
pray. I want to pray a special prayer. I know
that some of you guys are doing the work and
I want to say thank you. But there's more work
to be done. And God is calling us to do that
work. So I just want us to pray and we're going
to ask God, please help me. Help me to fight
that selfish part of me that doesn't want to
do your work. I want to pray that God will bless
us with the Holy Spirit so that we will be empowered
to do what God calls us to do. Let's pray. Father
God, we're so grateful for your love message.
We're grateful, Father, that you were able to
break it down and make it clear to us. We are
your servants and we need the Holy Spirit, Father.
so that we can do your work. Father God, I want
to pray for each person here. We battle against
our flesh, which tells us somebody else has got
it. Somebody else will do it. But we want to
be, we want to say, Father, here am I. Send me.
Use me, Father, to further your cause. Father,
if there's fear, we know that perfect love casts
out all fear. Bless us, Father. Help us. And
Father, I just pray if there's somebody that
needs to reach out to the pastor to have a conversation
about the Holy Spirit coming into their heart
because they're not a part of your flock yet,
I just want to pray that you will give them that
motivation as well. But God, we are so grateful
for this message. We're grateful for the timeliness
of it. And we just want to pray for your strength
and your wisdom. Thank you, Father, for hearing
our prayer. Thank you for inspiring this message.
In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.