June 20.
Midnight And No Oil

Matthew 25:8

And the foolish said unto the wise, Give us of your oil; for our lamps are gone out.

The Bible says that when the foolish virgins discovered they didn’t have any oil, they knew they couldn’t be in the wedding. They cleaned their globe; that wasn’t the problem. They tested their wicks; that wasn’t the problem. They turned the light on, but it wouldn’t stay on. The problem was not in the lamp; the problem was not in the wick; the problem was not in the globe; their problem was they had run out of oil. Oil is symbolic of the Holy Spirit; you can’t go very far without the Holy Ghost. You might be able to sing and tear up the church; you might be a great speaker and shout folk all over the place. But if you don’t have Him when it gets dark in your room, you won’t have any light to shine.

The foolish said to the wise, “Come here and let me talk to you; I need to borrow something from you. Can you lend me a little of your oil?” The wise said, “I’m sorry, I wish we could help you, but some things in life you can not borrow. Well you can borrow some churches and have all the weddings you want, but you can’t borrow salvation. You can borrow the musical instruments, but you can’t borrow joy. You can borrow food if you want, but you can not borrow an appetite. Some things are for you only.

The virgins with oil told the others to go out and buy some oil for themselves. Evidently, what they needed was right in the neighborhood. They went and purchased their oil and were on their way back but the door was shut. The bridegroom had come while they were gone. Some were shut in and some had been shut out. And one of these days the real door is going to be shut I’ll be on the inside along with love, joy, and peace. Sickness and death will be shut out. Weeping, wailing, and moaning will be shut out. All my enemies will be shut out as well as the devil, himself!