Being Prudent Virgins seeking to be Filled with the Spirit in our Souls, our Vessels

As believers in Christ and kingdom people, we are both virgins loving the Lord and being filled with Him to wait for His return, and faithful slaves serving Him today; as prudent virgins, we want to have the Spirit not only in our spirit (our lamp) but even more, gain the Spirit in our soul and be filled with the Spirit in our soul (our vessel). Amen!

This week we come to the topic of, Being Watchful in Life and Faithful in Service, based on Matt. 25.

As we prayerfully consider the matter of living in the reality of the kingdom of God in the church life, we need to realize that we have these two aspects before the Lord.

In the aspect of our life and living, we are virgins loving the Lord, being filled with Him, and waiting for His return in love so that we may enter the wedding feast.

In the aspect of our service, we are slaves of God, serving Him faithfully today by giving food to the saints at the proper time and not mistreating our fellow believers.

In Matt. 24-25 we see the manifestation of the kingdom of the heavens.

In the view of the kingdom of God in its manifestation, as we are learning to live in the reality of the kingdom today, we need to be watchful in life and faithful in service so that we may ushered into the manifestation of the kingdom in the coming age.

If we are those watchful in life and faithful in service, having the dual status of virgins and slaves of the Lord, we will be ushered into the manifestation of the kingdom.

On the one hand, we are virgins who have been espoused and betrothed to the Lord, so we need to love Him, grow in life, and gain Him as the oil not only in our lamp but even more, in our vessel.

On the other hand, we are slaves of the Lord, and as slaves, we need to serve Him faithfully, even learn to minister food to the members of God’s household at the proper time, not mistreating them but caring for them according to God.

We cannot have one without the other, even though we may prefer the one and dislike the other.

Some may prefer to just love the Lord and gain Him as life, and they focus on that to the uttermost.

But they may not pay adequate attention to the matter of their service.

Similarly, some believers may be quite fervent, zealous, and diligent in serving the Lord and doing many things for Him, but they neglect the aspect of loving the Lord and growing in life.

We believers in Christ need to be both virgins loving the Lord and growing in life, and slaves of God serving Him in spirit in the house of God.

Actually, our enjoyment of Christ and growth in life is for our service, for the life we gain from the Lord is for us to minister Christ to others for God’s building.

And our service is not just so that we serve the Lord; our service needs to be full of life, based on life, and ministering life.

We are like Chaste Virgins Bearing the Lord’s Testimony in the Dark Age and Going to Meet the Lord

Matt. 25:1-4 shows us that we believers in Christ are like chaste virgins who take their lamps and go forth to meet Christ, the Bridegroom.

Virgins signify the believers in Christ viewed from the aspect of life (2 Cor. 11:2).

We all, whether brothers or sisters in Christ, are virgins espoused to Christ.

We are Christ’s counterpart, His bride. We have an intimate relationship with Christ, and we daily contact Him, open to Him, and love Him.

The kingdom people, the believers in Christ, are like chaste virgins.

As such ones, they bear the Lord’s testimony in the dark age and they are going out of the world to meet the Lord.

As chaste virgins loving the Lord and seeking to gain Him more we have not weapons to fight or tools to work but lamps where we have the Lord as the light and the Spirit as the oil, and we hold forth the word of life for the Lord’s testimony.

Being a chaste virgin is not something that has to do with our work, service, or activity; it is something related to life.

Yes, there is the aspect of working for the Lord and serving Him, but in the aspect of being a chaste virgin, we are betrothed to the Lord, we have a love relationship with Him, and we bear His testimony.

We live in a dark age today, and we shine forth as luminaries in the world (Matt. 5:14-16; Phil. 2:15-16). Amen!

The Lord tells us in Matt. 25 that we need to be prepared and watchful at the consummation of the age, at the coming of the kingdom, to bear the Lord’s testimony.

We are chaste virgins carrying the lamp, the Lord’s testimony.

As we look around us we realize that today’s age is the darkest ever; it is the darkest age, even just before the dawn.

We feel that we are living in the darkest hour, and in this dark age, the Lord needs a bright testimony.

Wherever we are, in the city and country we live in, the Lord needs a bright testimony; He needs chaste virgins to carry the lamp as His testimony.

The Lord needs chaste virgins who shine Him forth, testify for Him, and express Him.

The lamp is very important, for it signifies the LOrd’s need for His testimony.

Also, as chaste virgins we are going out of the world to meet the Lord; the need is not just the indwelling Spirit but even more, the infilling of the Spirit in our vessel.

We need to be filled with the Spirit both in our spirit (our lamp) and also in our soul (our vessel).

How can we shine the Lord forth? How can we be prepared to go forth and meet the Bridegroom?

It is by gaining the Lord as the Spirit in our vessel, our soul.

Day by day we need to seek to gain more of the Spirit. As we are preparing ourselves to go forth and meet Christ, the bridegroom, and as we are shining Him forth to others today, we want to have Him not only in our lamp but even more, gain Christ as the Spirit as the oil in our vessel.

We may live in a country that has a strong religious background and a long-standing traditional Christianity, but the desperate need is for the reviving Spirit, the life-giving Spirit, the burning Spirit to be gained by man and to fill man.

Today we are chaste virgins loving the Lord and being filled with Him, preparing ourselves to go forth and meet Him, and growing in life to be ready for our marriage with Him.

May we never sell our status as a virgin; even before the enemy we are a virgin.

Lord Jesus, unveil us to see that we are like chaste virgins going forth to meet You, our Bridegroom! Amen, Lord, we love You! We open to You. We want to grow in life day by day so that we may reach maturity and be qualified to enter into the wedding feast with You. We want to gain more of You each day. Fill our lamp and even more, fill our vessel! May every day be a day of gaining Christ as the Spirit in our vessel. Shine in us, Lord, and shine through us. Make us the luminaries in this dark age today. Oh Lord, even as we live in the darkest time, at the consummation of this age, we want to be like chaste virgins gaining the Spirit in our vessel and shining You forth! Hallelujah, we are like a city situated upon a mountain, having Christ as the light! Oh Lord, shine through us! We hold forth the word of life to shine as luminaries in this world! Amen, Lord, we treasure our status as a virgin, loving You, growing in life, preparing ourselves, and gaining the Spirit in our vessel!

Being Prudent Virgins seeking to be Filled with the Spirit in our Souls, our Vessels

There is a difference between the lamp and the vessel in Matt. 25:1-4; the lamp signifies the spirit of the believers (Prov. 20:27), and the vessel signifies their souls.

We believers in Christ have the Spirit of God as the oil in our spirit (Rom. 8:16), and when we exercise our spirit, we are burning brightly for the Lord.

According to Prov. 20:27, the spirit of man is the lamp of Jehovah; our human spirit is the lamp of God, containing God and burning with the Spirit.

Our spirit contains the oil which is the Spirit of God burning in our spirit.

The believers shine forth the light of the Spirit of God from within their spirit.

In order for the divine light to shine into man’s inward parts, God’s Spirit as the oil must soak (mingle with) man’s spirit as the wick (Rom. 8:16) and “burn” together with man’s spirit (12:11). Amen!

This is the focus of God’s economy: the divine Spirit mingled with and burning with our spirit.

It’s not just our spirit burning or just the Holy Spirit burning but the two spirits are mingled together to burn together in a mingled way.

His Spirit indwells us, fills us, and saturates us; also His Spirit mingles with our spirit and burns with our spirit.

We believers in Christ have the Spirit burning in and with our spirit and are the light of the world, shining as a lamp in the darkness of this age (Matt. 5:14-16; Phil. 2:15-16), bearing the testimony of the Lord for the glorification of God. Amen!

As prudent virgins, however, we need to be burning not only in our spirit but even more, gain something of the Spirit in our soul, in our vessel.

The prudent virgins in Matt. 25:4 took oil in their vessels with their lamps.

Five of the ten virgins were prudent and five were foolish; the foolish did not have any oil in their vessel with their lamp, but the prudent had oil in their vessel.

Once the oil in our spirit burns out, we need more oil in our vessel to supply the burning in the lamp.

As we clearly sense the Lord’s coming being nearer than ever, we don’t know how long it is until He returns.

It would be foolish to try to guess when will the Lord come, for not even the Son knows: only the Father knows.

But however long the Lord wants to delay, we need to be ready; we need to be prepared by having the extra portion of oil not only in our lamps but even more, in our vessel.

We men are vessels made for God (Rom. 9:21, 23-24) and our personality is in our soul; vessels in Matt. 25:4 signifies the souls of the believers.

Our vessel is our soul composed of our mind, emotion, and will, which is our personality, what we are.

Yes, we have the Spirit of God in our spirit, but how much of the Spirit do we have in our mind, emotion, and will?

How much of the Spirit do we have in our vessel?

We are chaste virgins waiting for the Lord’s coming and preparing ourselves for His return, and as we do this, we need to be have the Spirit not only in our lamp but also in our vessel, in our soul.

May we be the prudent virgins – not just chaste virgins but prudent ones – who have oil in their vessel, that is, have the Spirit of God saturating and filling our souls (1 Pet. 2:25; Heb. 13:17).

The five prudent virgins not only have oil in their lamps but also take oil in their vessels.

The fact that they have oil in their lamps signifies that they have the Spirit of God dwelling in their spirit (Rom. 8:9, 16).

The fact that they have oil in their vessels signifies that they have the Spirit of God filling and saturating their souls.

We need to not be satisfied with only having Christ as the Spirit in our spirit but go further to gain the Spirit in our soul, our vessel.

How much of the Holy Spirit is in our mind, in the way we think, analyze things, consider things, and in the opinions that we have?

How much of the Spirit is in our loves and hates, the things we love and dislike? How much of the Spirit is in our decision-making, in the way we consider, plan, react, etc.?

We need to learn to open our entire inward being to the Lord, especially our mind, emotion, and will, and allow the Lord as the Spirit to saturate and fill our soul.

We need to gain an extra portion of the Spirit in our mind, emotion, and will, so that we may have the Spirit filling and saturating our soul.

If we don’t have this extra amount of the Holy Spirit in our soul, we are foolish virgins; however, if we allow the Spirit to saturate us, we will be prudent virgins.

We need to open to the Lord and pray,

Lord Jesus, we want to be prudent virgins who have an extra portion of oil in their vessel with their lamp. Amen, Lord, have mercy on us. We want to have Your Spirit not only in our spirit but also in our soul! Hallelujah, the Spirit is with our spirit and even indwells our spirit to be mingled with our spirit! Lord, we need the infilling of the Spirit in our soul! Spread from our spirit into our mind, emotion, and will. We want to have an extra portion of the Holy Spirit to saturate and fill our entire being! May we be those watchful and ready who have the infilling of the Holy Spirit in our soul. We open to You. We come to You in Your word and we keep our being open to You throughout the day. Fill our mind, emotion, and will. Spread into the way we think and saturate our emotions with the Spirit. Amen, Lord Jesus, may the Spirit penetrate our mind, our will, and our emotion! We want to be the prudent virgins who love You and allow You to saturate and fill our soul with the Spirit so that we may have an extra portion of the Spirit in our vessel!

References and Hymns on this Topic

• Inspiration for this article/sharing comes from the Word of God, the enjoyment in the ministry, a sharing by brother James Lee in the message for this week, and portions from, Life-study of Matthew, msgs. 63-64 (by Witness Lee), as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Living in the Reality of the Kingdom of God (2024 October ITERO), week 6, Being Watchful in Life and Faithful in Service.
• Similar articles on this topic:
  – Virgins, a portion from, Conclusion of the New Testament, The (Msgs. 099-113), Chapter 10, by Witness Lee.
  – The Church as the bride of Christ, via, Lamb Follower.
  – The word of righteousness – the parable of the ten virgins, article via, Affirmation and Critique.
  – A Brief Overview of the Economy of God (Part II)—Major Steps of Christ in God’s Economy, via, Living to Him.
  – The parable of the ten virgins, a portion from, The Kingdom, Chapter 48, by Witness Lee.
  – Matthew (Program #66) – Prophecy of the Kingdom (5), via, Bible study radio.
  – Prophecy of the kingdom (4), a portion from, Life-Study of Matthew, Chapter 64.
  – Ten Virgins Went Forth to Meet the Bridegroom, via, New Jerusalem blog.
  – How to Restore the Joy in Your Christian Life, via, Holding to Truth in Love.
  – Transformation – a seed in the parable of the ten virgins, via, The Church in Regina.
• Hymns on this topic:
  – We as virgins may enjoy Him, / Virgins simple, single, chaste. / Going forth to meet the Bridegroom, / Out from all the world we haste. / O our Bridegroom! O our Bridegroom! / Lord, Thou art our Bridegroom sweet! / How we treasure Thy dear presence— / O what bliss and joy complete! (Hymns #1160 stanza 3 and chorus)
  – Virgins Christ comes quickly for, / Those with oil an extra store, / Not the fools who oil ignore— / Buy in time! / For the oil a price we pay, / Deal with self without delay, / Fill your vessels every day— / Buy in time! (Hymns #1304 stanza 2)
  – All the signs point to the end, / Christ soon will be here again; / We must be ready for Him— / Jesus is coming again!… / Wise virgins buy up the time; / Never drunk with the world’s wine, / Filled in the spirit they shine— / Jesus is coming again! (Hymns #1302 stanzas 1 and 4)