keeping your oil lamp lit

Revelation 2; Matthew 25; Matthew 7

The scariest words Jesus ever said

Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’

Matthew 7:21-23

“I never knew you; depart from Me…” That’s pretty strict coming from Jesus when it’s spoken to people who showed faith through actions. Right? Matthew 25:1-13 shines some light on this.

Then the kingdom of heaven shall be likened to ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. Now five of them were wise, and five were foolish. Those who were foolish took their lamps and took no oil with them, but the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps. But while the bridegroom was delayed, they all slumbered and slept. And at midnight a cry was heard: ‘Behold, the bridegroom is coming; go out to meet him!’ Then all those virgins arose and trimmed their lamps. And the foolish said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’ But the wise answered, saying, ‘No, lest there should not be enough for us and you; but go rather to those who sell, and buy for yourselves.’ And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the wedding; and the door was shut. Afterward 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.’ Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour in which the Son of Man is coming.

They were told the same words, only for what reason? They had no oil. The previous scripture in Matthew 7 showed them naming everything they had done for the Kingdom, but Jesus still said the same. So what’s the correlation? Revelation 2:1-7 ties it together.

“To the angel of the church of Ephesus write, ‘These things says He who holds the seven stars in His right hand, who walks in the midst of the seven golden lampstands: I know your works, your labor, your patience, and that you cannot bear those who are evil. And you have tested those who say they are apostles and are not, and have found them liars; and you have persevered and have patience, and have labored for My name’s sake and have not become weary. Nevertheless I have this against you, that you have left your first love. Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent and do the first works, or else I will come to you quickly and remove your lampstand from its place—unless you repent. But this you have, that you hate the deeds of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes I will give to eat from the tree of life, which is in the midst of the Paradise of God.” ’

You see, the church at Ephesus had all the outreaches, programs, ministries, and fruitful mission work. What they didn’t have was the love for Jesus coming from a deep relationship with Him. They had become so caught up in living out their faith, that the actions had become greater than the faith. It was no longer about what Christ had done in their lives, it was about what they were doing as a group of believers for the world in His name. This is why in Matthew 7, when Jesus speaks with the second group of people who did all the works, He says I never knew you. The “knew you” is a phrase that means relationship. Jesus isn’t saying that if we do all those things we will be rejected, nor is He saying that people who do those things are fakes and hypocrites who use Jesus’ name. Instead, He is saying they were more focused on the fruit than the root – the actions more than the connection.

Oil lamps, works, faith, “I never knew you”, how does it fit?

Taking this back to parallel with Matthew 25, the five wise virgins had their oil. They had a relationship with Jesus and surrendered to His will, thereby walking with the Spirit. The foolish virgins didn’t have a relationship at the end but had grown cold with apostasy. What I want to point out is that the foolish virgins wanted to have the oil, they just were not prepared. They were not prepared for the waiting caused by the bridegroom tarrying.

Just like the church at Ephesus in Revelation, the foolish virgins had forgotten the oil is needed for the lamp to shine. We are just a candle by ourselves. Only Jesus is the light of the world. When we forget to focus on Him and become so wrapped up in the “doing” part of faith, we get caught up in the emotional aspect of serving that we forget who we are serving. We focus our attention on showing other people Christ, yet we do not have the fire shut up in our bones. Instead, we are serving because we are told it helps point to Him. But I ask you, does a mere candle point to the light if it is not lit by a flame? No, it points to the darkness in itself.

Without Christ we are darkness. He brings the light into us. If we do not focus on knowing Christ and letting that love flow out of us as a by-product and instead try to do the action part of faith, we have lost the whole meaning: Life with Him. We become as the foolish virgins. The ones whose love had grown cold and had stood in compromise with the world (Revelation 21:8, 1 John 1). They had forgotten that the only thing which saves us, is complete devotion and surrender to the Holy Spirit.

This flesh we are wrapped in wars with the flesh (Galatians 5). It wants our lights out and our hearts focused on anything but having a relationship with Christ: one that makes Christ say, “I knew you”. That is what we should strive for – a life devoted to Him. When we love Him first, it changes us. When it changes us, we cannot help but act on the overwhelming love, joy, and freedom His presence places inside us.

So I ask you. Are you more focused on the works of your faith and have you forgotten where your relationship with Christ stands? No matter how much you put into action, if it’s not said in the quiet stillness of the heart, the fruit we show does not matter. One day, everything we have put on the foundation of Christ Jesus in our lives will be burnt (1 Corinthians 3). If that fire of purification burns it all to rubble, what will you say?

May you be able to join me and say “I trust in Jesus, and may His light shine in this vessel as I am His mouthpiece and His hands and feet.”