Adamant Anticipation

Matthew 25:1

Then shall the kingdom of heaven be likened unto ten virgins, which took their lamps, and went forth to meet the bridegroom.

The bridegroom spoken of here is Jesus. And if there is a bridegroom, there must be a bride. The bride spoken of in this verse is hidden. The bride is actually the church under cover. Then Jesus speaks of the two different kinds of virgins, the wise and the foolish. The wise virgins represent true believers while the foolish virgins denote pretending practitioners of the faith. The oil is symbolic of the Holy Spirit. The lamp actually represents the Bible. Psalm 119:105 Thy word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path. The oil in the lamp represents the illumination of the Holy Spirit once it has embodied itself in the life of the believer. The vessel represents the individual.

The wise virgins were anticipating the bridegroom. They were looking for something to occur. I think one reason people leave from church in the same frame of mind as when they arrived is because they did not come expecting anything. If you come looking for something, you will receive; you must anticipate.

A preacher once complained to Charles Spurgeon that after preaching his sermon, he always gave an invitation to the unsaved, but no one ever responded. Mr. Spurgeon asked, “Do you expect anybody to come when you extend the invitation?” “Not really.” answered the preacher. And Spurgeon said, “That’s your problem.” If you don’t anticipate being successful, it will never happen. You must look forward to accomplishing goals in your life. If you think you’re nothing, then you are nothing. If you think you’re going to fail, then you will. If you think folks are after you, they will be. If you think you’re being talked about, then people will talk about you. Success doesn’t run you down; you must anticipate success!