Stay Ready For The Holy Spirit's Move
Bishop Henry Fernandez Preached on 6/9/2025Matthew 25:1-13
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53:39
Summary
Bishop Henry Fernandez explores the parable of the ten virgins to emphasize that every believer must maintain their own spiritual readiness and daily connection to the Holy Spirit to fulfill their purpose and be recognized by Christ at his return.
Key points
- •Preparation is a personal responsibility; you cannot borrow someone else's relationship with God or their spiritual maturity during a crisis.
- •The Holy Spirit provides the 'oil' needed for the journey of life, and believers must daily seek his refreshing to avoid spiritual burnout.
- •Wise Christians prioritize their spiritual readiness over people pleasing, understanding that it is acceptable to say no when others try to drain their spiritual resources.
- •The parable of the ten virgins is a warning to the church that religious appearance and church attendance do not equate to a genuine, recognizable relationship with Christ.
- •Life is a journey with a definitive end; staying ready ensures that when the season changes or life concludes, the door to the Kingdom remains open.
Scripture
Holy Spirit
Discipleship
Purpose
Spiritual Growth
Judgment
Life application
Identify one 'oil-draining' relationship or habit this week where you need to set a boundary by saying no, and replace that time with personal prayer and scripture meditation to refill your spiritual lamp.
Reflection questions
- In what areas of my life have I been relying on a form of godliness rather than the actual power of the Holy Spirit?
- Am I currently living as a wise virgin who carries extra oil, or am I just getting by on yesterday's inspiration?
- How do I react when the Holy Spirit prompts me to make a difficult decision or a course correction?
- If I stood before the door today, would the Master recognize the version of me I have become?
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Full transcript
0:09Five of them were foolish and five were
0:11wise. The foolish ones took their lamps
0:14but did not take any oil. The
0:19wise along with their lamps the
0:24long and they all beamey and fell asleep
0:28at midnight.
0:30ran out to the bride. Come out to meet
0:33him. Then all the virgins woke up and
0:36trimmed their lamps. The foolish one
0:39said to the wise, "Give us some of your
0:42oil. Our lamps are going out."
0:45No, there may not be enough for
0:49both.
0:57Instead, the right
1:08arrived. Lord, Lord, they said, open the
1:11door for us.
1:22Father, we thank you for this word
1:24today.
1:26Thank you that your people will leave
1:28this building and log off from this
1:31service empowered. As always, think with
1:35my mind and speak with my vocal
1:38cords so that whatever is said today
1:41will bring you glory in Jesus name.
1:46Somebody shout amen. Amen. Please be
1:49seated in the presence of the Lord. Just
1:51for a brief moment, I want us to
1:54concentrate on the subject. Stay ready
1:58for the Holy Spirit's move.
2:03Stay ready for the Holy Spirit's move.
2:07Would you just look to your neighbor on
2:09the right and the left and just simply
2:11say to them, "Stay ready.
2:15Stay ready
2:17for the Holy Spirit's move." Verse
2:2113, therefore keep
2:24watch because you do not
2:28know the
2:30day nor the
2:32hour. So in Matthew 25, Jesus presented
2:36a parable to
2:39illustrate the nature and
2:42expectation of the kingdom of heaven.
2:46He spoke a parable about the virgins, 10
2:50of them who were
2:54bridesmaids waiting for the
2:57bridegroom. But this is not just an
3:00ordinary wedding story.
3:03It is a sobering
3:05revelation about
3:07readiness, diligence, and the
3:10consequences of ignoring the prompting
3:14of the Holy Spirit.
3:17He's trying to show us in this
3:20parable the
3:22danger of not listening to the Holy
3:26Spirit. The danger of
3:30ignoring when he's prompting you to do
3:34something because every single day the
3:37Holy Spirit is prompting us to do
3:39something.
3:41Perhaps even in this in this service as
3:43you're sitting here and you're streaming
3:46already, the Holy Spirit is prompting
3:48you saying, "Hey, give your life over to
3:51me." You know, the path that you're on,
3:53you're not going to get anywhere
3:55successful with
3:57that. He's probably prompting you to
4:00make some decisions that you are fearful
4:03of making. This was the whole nature of
4:07the parable to show what the kingdom of
4:10God is likened
4:13unto. And so this parable is not just a
4:17narrative. It's a mirror. It is a mirror
4:20of who the church is.
4:23And I think it's important that we take
4:26time out today as a church and look in
4:30the mirror and can we truly see the
4:34message that Jesus is trying to get to
4:37us through this parable? Because it
4:40reveals what the church, the bride of
4:43Christ, looks like. You see, it shows
4:48how the kingdom operates and what it
4:51takes to endure the journey until you
4:55see the end result of your life journey
4:58on the earth and then ultimately see
5:00Jesus face to face. So, let's not rush
5:05past this story and just concentrate on
5:08the secondhand interpretation of it. I'm
5:12quite sure you've heard this message uh
5:15uh or this text being preached over and
5:18over and and sometimes if you're not
5:20careful, you you miss the message behind
5:24the text. And so I don't want us to rush
5:27through this this morning. I want us to
5:30see what God is trying to tell us
5:33because if we rush through this, we're
5:35going to risk missing the vital
5:38spiritual insights in the
5:42story. And so Jesus intentionally
5:45contrasts two kinds of people in the
5:48kingdom, the wise and the foolish. Amen.
5:52See, this caught my attention because
5:55he's given a parable here and he says
5:58this parable is like the church. It's
6:02like the kingdom of God. And for those
6:05of us who are Christians, we understand
6:07that we are a part of the kingdom of
6:10God. So here Jesus is saying, I'm going
6:12to tell you a parable, a fictitious
6:14story and to try to get you that
6:17spiritual message of what the kingdom is
6:20likened unto. And then he said in this
6:23parable, he says 10 people, 10 virgins,
6:27virgins, people who belong to the
6:30kingdom of God, people who are
6:32supposedly not been touched by the
6:34corruptions of the world. These are 10
6:38virgins, 10 people in the kingdom. Yet
6:42he placed them in two different groups.
6:46He said five of them were
6:48wise and five were foolish. That lets me
6:52know that in the kingdom of God there
6:56are wise
6:59Christians and they're foolish
7:01Christians. Come on, work with me here
7:03this morning. So, so for those of you
7:06who will discredit the church, when you
7:08look in the church and you see people
7:10who have not yet quite gotten their
7:12lives together, you see us do things
7:14that is not really scriptural and it's
7:17not pleasing to God. Before you go and
7:20chastise us and say get get them out the
7:23church and they're not Christians,
7:25they're not born again, read the text.
7:2810 virgins were in the kingdom of God,
7:31but yet Jesus says five of them were
7:34wise, wise Christians, but five of them
7:37were foolish. And many of us in this
7:39room and those of us were streaming can
7:41honestly say, even as believers, we've
7:44not always been wise.
7:49Come on now. We've been foolish. You
7:53see, both groups, wise and foolish ones,
7:56had lamps according to the word of God.
8:00Both were waiting for the bridegroom.
8:02Both appeared ready according to the
8:05scripture. And then not only but not
8:09only did did they wait for the the
8:13prompting of the Holy Spirit, but both
8:15of them were on this same journey, the
8:18same journey, same journey to meet the
8:20bridegroom. Every one of us in here,
8:23depending on how you serve God and what
8:25status you're with God, all of us are on
8:28this journey to fulfill our earthly
8:30purpose on the earth and to ultimately
8:33one day stand before him face to face.
8:37So whether you're a follow of Jesus
8:39Christ or not, we are all a part of this
8:43journey called life.
8:46We're living this life and and sometimes
8:48we don't quite get it right because we
8:52do things without the prompting of the
8:54Holy Spirit. And that's the reason why
8:56when certain things happen to us at
8:59pivotal points in our journey, we freak
9:02out. We don't know what to do. We fumble
9:04the ball. We fail miserable. Do you not
9:07know how many of you are looking at me
9:10today? And those of you who are actually
9:12looking at me through the screen, do you
9:14not know how many of you have really
9:19honestly lost a lot of valuable time?
9:24Amen.
9:26You've just done some dumb stuff
9:28throughout your time.
9:31You have just made some stupid mistakes
9:34that has delayed you.
9:37You should have been much further than
9:39you are right now.
9:41Don't don't shout me down now. But you
9:44wasted your time. And when the Holy
9:47Spirit was prompting you, you were not
9:51spiritually mature to recognize it. And
9:55therefore, you got left behind. So, you
9:59must embrace this journey called life.
10:02You must be prepared for it. You got to
10:04be equipped for the journey. And most
10:06importantly, you've got to be ready for
10:09the Holy Spirit's encounter cuz he's
10:13speaking. Please hear me on this
10:16Pentecost Sunday. He's speaking. He's
10:18even speaking right now to you. He's
10:20been speaking to you all week long. He's
10:23He spoke to you this morning. The
10:25question is, are you listening?
10:30Are you on this journey listening to the
10:33the the philosophies of this earth and
10:36the ideas that they have or are you
10:38listening to the prompting of the Holy
10:41Spirit? Now, here are six important
10:43lessons we can learn from this parable.
10:47Number
10:48one, we know that spiritual readiness is
10:52essential. It is essential. It's very
10:56important. Verse one says, "At that
10:58time, the kingdom of heaven will be
11:00likened 10 virgins who took their lambs
11:03and went to meet the bridegroom." 10
11:06virgins on the same journey. I don't
11:09care who you are this morning, everybody
11:12in your row and everybody in this room,
11:15we're all on the same journey.
11:18We're all on the same journey doing
11:21life.
11:23Listen to me carefully. All of us. All
11:26of us are given the opportunity to live
11:29365 days per year or some year 366. All
11:33of us are on the same journey. All of us
11:35woke up this morning. All of us got 24
11:38hours. Somebody didn't get 22 and then
11:40others get 24. All of us are on the same
11:42journey. All of us have the opportunity
11:44to go out and make a living and work and
11:46so forth. All of us have choices to
11:48choose partners or to walk away from
11:50partners. All of us have choices to have
11:53children or not to have children. All of
11:55us have choices to open that business or
11:57close that business. It's all about
11:58choices. We're all on the same journey.
12:01And watch this. All of us will end up at
12:06the final destination,
12:11death. Lord,
12:13sometimes we tend to forget this because
12:15Jesus is saying, "Here's 10 virgins who
12:18who are operating in the kingdom." He's
12:21given us the kingdom principles here.
12:23And he says,
12:24"Ultimately, their goal was to meet the
12:30bridegroom. Our ultimate goal is to meet
12:34Jesus one day."
12:36And you don't believe me? Well, you
12:38know, I don't believe that, pastor. I
12:39don't believe there's life after death.
12:41I don't believe there's a God. I don't
12:43believe, you know, whatever. I'm not
12:45telling you not to live life now. Live
12:47life to the fullest. Become the best
12:49version of yourself. But I'm going to
12:51tell you something. Do not run the risk
12:54of telling yourself and let the enemy
12:56trick you to believe there's no life
12:58after death. There's no reckoning after
13:00death. You don't know and you certainly
13:02don't want to find out after you
13:08die. Why run the risk?
13:11Why run the risk to think that you don't
13:13have to give an account ultimately at
13:16the end of the day? Now, every believer
13:19is on a journey to number one become the
13:21best version of themsel. Every one of us
13:25to be the best man we can be, the best
13:27woman we can be, the best father we can
13:29be, the best mother, the best person
13:31dating someone, the best husband, the
13:33best wife, the best business person or
13:36the best employee or employer, the the
13:38the best politician, the best whomever
13:41you could. Every one of us are on this
13:43journey called life to be the best
13:47version of
13:48ourselves. Not a a copycat of somebody
13:51else. Not a cheap version of somebody
13:54else. Quit living your life trying to
13:56imitate people.
13:59You are more than enough yourself.
14:03Come on now. God has placed in you
14:06unique gifts and talents so you can use
14:09it for his honor and for his glory.
14:11Number two, we're on this journey to
14:13fulfill our earthly
14:16assignment. Everybody in this room
14:19watching right now, God has placed in
14:23you an
14:25assignment. Find out what that
14:28is. Do not live on this planet for a
14:32number of years and die not being
14:36somebody on the earth.
14:40It is an insult to God to die full.
14:47It's a complete waste.
14:50That you die and when your body is
14:52placed before a church or a group of
14:55people that you're still
14:57full. You were placed on the earth to
15:00empty. Woo! To empty
15:04yourself, to be all that God has called
15:06you to be. And the third reason why
15:08we're on this journey is to ultimately
15:11meet Jesus Christ. Jesus said, "I go to
15:15prepare a place for you." All of us are
15:17waiting to return to Jesus Christ
15:19according to Revelation 1:7 where he
15:22says, "Look, he is coming with the
15:25clouds and every
15:28eye will see him." Here's the strangest
15:32thing. Even the atheist,
15:35even people who have professed up, you
15:38see it on social media. You see people,
15:40oh, there's no God. These churches are a
15:42bunch of crooks or whatever they come up
15:44with. And everybody, can you imagine,
15:47and I know it sounds crazy, we don't
15:49like, especially these young people
15:51today, you know, of course, you know,
15:53you've got it made and everything, and
15:55of course, you've educated yourself and
15:57wonderful. to certain things when you're
15:59reading in the Bible it doesn't make
16:01sense because you are trying to
16:02understand God through logics
16:06your peanut brain is not big enough to
16:10understand who God is so you box God
16:14into something well I have to understand
16:16it well is there life after death and so
16:18forth honey you going to find out
16:23that's why as a preacher I never force
16:26anybody to give their life over to Jesus
16:27Jesus Christ. Never. When you see
16:30preachers preach message of condemnation
16:33to make people feel guilty and dog you
16:35out, that's not scriptural. Amen.
16:4010 people were
16:42traveling and the master, the
16:44bridegroom, didn't argue with them. He
16:46gave them choices.
16:48You're going to find out later 10 of
16:50them had the choice to do what is right.
16:53Only five people chose to do right. Yes.
16:57All of them had their lamps.
17:00All of them had oil in the lamp. But
17:03only five of them took extra oil.
17:08Isn't it funny how we are all in the
17:10same journey of
17:11life, but only a few of us recognize we
17:15need more of God every day.
17:18We need more oil in us every day.
17:21So my brothers and sisters, we need to
17:23understand that the oil represents
17:25spiritual
17:26preparedness, an inner life with God,
17:30the anointing of the Holy Spirit, and
17:32the fruit that endures to the end. We
17:35need the power of God on the inside of
17:37us to keep us to the end. You see, the
17:40Holy Spirit is not just there for us to
17:43make a bunch of noise and to run around
17:46the place and to dance and say, "We got
17:49the power
17:51Because that's not what's going to
17:53demonstrate the power of God. What's
17:56going to demonstrate the power of God is
17:58when you're hit with a dilemma. How do
18:01you handle
18:03it? Do you have enough word in you to
18:07deal with the situation? Number two,
18:10second thing we can learn from this
18:11parable is that the Holy Spirit
18:13refreshes daily. Verse three tells us,
18:16"The foolish ones took their lambs but
18:19did not take any oil with
18:24them." Everybody had lambs. Oil was in
18:28the lamp. But five of them decided,
18:30"Wait a minute. We're on this long
18:32journey. We do not know when the
18:34bridegroom will come. We have no idea
18:37when. It could be 5 years. It could be
18:3910 years. We have no idea." So I tell
18:41you what, the amount of oil we have in
18:44us right now, you know, it's enough to
18:46maybe take us for about 2, three years,
18:48we better carry enough with us just in
18:52case there's a delay when it comes to
18:55the bridegroom. You see, we've got to
18:57understand as brothers and sisters that
18:59there is a time and a place for
19:02everything. You see, there's a time for
19:04us to say, "Okay, fine. I figure more or
19:06less, okay, you know, maybe I'll get
19:08through this situation for about a year
19:10and so forth. But what if you don't get
19:12the answer? What if things don't work
19:14out at least 12 months later? You've got
19:16to have enough power of God in you that
19:19if God doesn't show up in the first year
19:22that you have enough oil, enough power,
19:25enough faith in you to say, God, I don't
19:28care if it takes 10 years. I'm going to
19:31trust you. I'm going to believe in your
19:33word. I don't care how I feel, God. I'm
19:37in it for the long haul. I believe your
19:40word. I'm not a quitter and I'm never
19:43going to give up. Can somebody give God
19:45praise in this church
19:51today? Second Timothy 3:5 tells
19:54us that we can have a form of godliness
19:57but denying his power.
19:59having nothing to do, the Bible says,
20:02with these people, have nothing to do
20:04with these people. Be very careful
20:06because this this parable now's kind of
20:09it's switched to to a a position or it
20:13it it changes its tone. At first, 10
20:16virgins were there. We know five were
20:19wise and five were foolish. They're all
20:20on this same journey, but all of a
20:22sudden, the the the the purpose for the
20:25parable is to teach us how to operate in
20:27the kingdom. So now Jesus is now
20:30teaching us how to deal with people in
20:35the kingdom who had the same
20:37opportunities you had who are assigned
20:41by Satan to suck the life out of you
20:46to get the blessings that you have
20:48worked hard for. Come on now. Cuz you do
20:52know there are some lazy people in the
20:54kingdom.
20:55Okay, I'll prove it to you now. Some of
20:58you looking at me strange. Matthew 4:4
21:01says, "Man shall not live by bread
21:03alone, but by every word that proceeds
21:05out of the mouth of God." You got to
21:07daily meditate upon the word of God. And
21:09you've got to depend on the word of God
21:11yourself. You cannot listen. There are
21:14times you cannot depend on your spouse.
21:16There are times you cannot depend on
21:18your children. There are times you
21:19cannot depend on your best friend. There
21:21are times you cannot depend on your
21:23pastor. That's why you need to put the
21:25word of God in you by yourself. So when
21:28you're in that midnight hour, you can
21:31call upon the name of God yourself.
21:36Here's a third message we get out of the
21:37parable. Spiritual discernment in the
21:40company you keep.
21:43The text now tells us that there are
21:46five who carried extra oil. Amos 3 says,
21:52"Can two walk together unless they
21:55agree?" All 10 of them were now walking,
21:59but they got to a point, the Bible says,
22:01they got tired. They got weary. And you
22:04know, of course, that's life. That's
22:05life. You do life. You get sleepy, you
22:07get tired, and so forth. And they were
22:10sleeping. And all of a sudden, the
22:12announcement was made. Hey, here comes
22:15the bridegroom. All of a sudden, they
22:17all got up. Watch this. They were doing
22:19everything together. They all looked
22:21alike. They all were functioning as if
22:23they were all wise. Had lamps together,
22:26right? And they were walking together.
22:29But the Bible says when they trim their
22:31oil,
22:34five wise ones were ready now to go meet
22:37the bridegroom. All of a sudden, you had
22:40these five foolish ones. Look at what
22:43verse eight says. Give
22:46us some of your oil. Our lamps have gone
22:51out. Give us some of the stuff that you
22:55took 8 years or 10 years to earn. Give
22:58us some of your blessing. Come on. Give
23:01us some of your blessing. Give us some
23:03of your power because our oil has ran
23:08out. Be careful. Not everyone who looks
23:13spiritual is wise.
23:16Be careful. John 4:1 says, "Test the
23:21spirits to see whether they are from
23:23God." Some people find themselves in
23:26relationships, partnerships, and even
23:29ministries with people who have no oil,
23:32just a little. And you've got to make
23:35sure you got to make sure that you do
23:37not allow people in the church to drain
23:40you.
23:46They had all all of them had the same
23:50opportunity to function, had the same
23:53opportunity to respond to when the Holy
23:56Spirit was prompting them. Amen. But
23:59five of them said, "Please give us some
24:02of your oil." And what I love about the
24:05scripture, and this is going to bless
24:06some of you. I love it. I love it. I
24:08love it because you got to guard your
24:09heart. You got to guard your heart, man.
24:11Got to guard your heart because there
24:13are some people who will make you feel
24:15guilty as a believer when you say no.
24:24The text is telling us as a Christian,
24:27if you're wise, there are going to be
24:29occasions where it is okay for you to
24:33absolutely say no.
24:37And it doesn't mean you're not a
24:38Christian. It doesn't mean that you're
24:40not kind. Cuz you would think, wait a
24:42minute, I mean, wouldn't it be nice? I
24:44mean, you're a Christian. You're serving
24:45God. And if you see a brother or sister
24:47falling and they need a little bit of
24:49oil, come on, help a brother out. Help a
24:52sister out. Come on, help me. Cuz I want
24:54to go see the bridegroom. But you had
24:56the same opportunity I had. You started
24:58out the same year I started out. And now
25:01you I took extra oil. Do you understand
25:04the weight and the responsibility it
25:06cost me to take extra oil? And now that
25:09you're in a dilemma, you want me to give
25:12up some of my oil, some of my anointing
25:14to give to you. And then both of us
25:17missed the blessing. Oh, somebody's got
25:20to get it to tell the
25:21[Applause]
25:25story. The Azite principle says here, it
25:29is okay to tell some people no. And I'm
25:34sending you out this week to your
25:36workplace, to your family. God told me
25:39to tell you, tell them jokers no. No
25:43more. No. Oh Lord, I got myself in
25:46trouble with this one now. Because if
25:48you keep on saying yes, you're going to
25:51be left out and they're going to take
25:54everything, including the blessing that
25:57God has for you. Read the Bible. I know
26:01it sounds mean,
26:05but this is what the kingdom is like.
26:08Wise people walking, foolish people
26:10walking. Everybody's going to have their
26:12God encounter day when they're going to
26:14need something. And the question is,
26:16have you prayed?
26:18Were you fasting? Were you reading your
26:21word? Did you consistently go to church?
26:24Did you do whatever it took to to fill
26:27up your spirit, man. And if you did not,
26:30do not come to me in your time of crisis
26:35to ask me to give you something that I
26:39am in desperate need of myself.
26:43[Applause]
26:45Only 100 people be clapping. Praise the
26:48Lord. Cuz somebody going to tell you no
26:50this week. So that's why you're mad.
26:52Somebody's going to tell you no this
26:54week. That's that's why you're mad. But
26:56I'm so glad for the courage to say no.
26:59I'm so glad that God has empowered me to
27:03look people dead straight in the eye.
27:05I'm sorry, baby, but no, not this time.
27:08This time I'm in a different season.
27:11This time I'm hearing something from
27:13God. This time he's calling me to go to
27:15a higher place. This time I cannot miss
27:18God. This time I cannot miss him.
27:21Somebody give God praise.
27:23[Applause]
27:24Number four, here's another thing we can
27:27learn from the story. Never become
27:29unprepared. Many people miss their God
27:32moments in life because they are
27:35unprepared. Lacking the guidance of the
27:37Holy Spirit, the foundation of God's
27:39word and wise
27:42counsel, which ultimately prevents them
27:44from fulfilling their earthly
27:47assignment. And then not to mention
27:50preparing to meet Jesus Christ. Don't
27:53fall victim to that.
27:56Don't be walking every day, coming here
27:58every week, going through the motion
28:03and looking like a virgin,
28:07looking like a believer,
28:10but when you get tested,
28:13you have no oil in you.
28:17You have no substance in you. Everybody
28:20can shout. Everybody can speak in
28:22tongues. We all can look like a
28:24Christian. Y you come on now. We all can
28:26do the Holy Ghost. Pentecost. Yep, we
28:29can all do that. But do you have power
28:32in
28:34you? So verse five says, "The bridegroom
28:37was delayed and all because they were
28:39drowsy, they were
28:41sleeping." And this is the picture of
28:43life and how life is waiting for all of
28:46us and how life can be. Sometimes all of
28:49us including your pastor, we grow
28:53weary, we get distracted and we get
28:56drowsy. It happens. All of us, all 10 of
29:00them were sleeping.
29:03So don't tell me just because I'm a
29:05servant of God, I'm anointed that I I
29:08can't get tired.
29:09You watch them Christians who are up all
29:11the time seeing and discerning.
29:17Some of them are confused
29:21because their revelation make no sense.
29:25Have you ever heard Christians talk to
29:26you and you're like, "Huh?"
29:31Huh?
29:33Cuz you're like, "That don't sound like
29:35the word.
29:38They've been up too long.
29:42Oh, this another one's going to hit
29:43you." You can't listen. You can't be
29:45praying 24 hours.
29:50Oh,
29:52wow. I I know. Oh, I've been praying 24
29:55hours and I've been up for seven days
29:58straight. I've just been
30:04interceding. That's why you get
30:06disoriented and confused. Go eat.
30:13Somebody can pray five minutes and pray
30:15more powerful than you pray 24
30:20[Applause]
30:22hours. Can I just move on quickly? Let's
30:25go to number five. The other thing we
30:27can learn from the story is that your
30:28unpreparedness can cause you to miss the
30:32moment. Verse 10 says, "The virgins who
30:35were ready went in with him." And this
30:42is where I try to bring this home this
30:45morning. This is this is the sad part of
30:49the
30:50parable. All of them heard the response
30:53from the bridegroom. The announcement
30:56was made and the Bible says 10, five of
31:00them were ready and they went to the
31:03wedding
31:03banquet. They got in the door. They got
31:06in the door. They got in the door. But
31:08these are people who earned their
31:11entrance.
31:13Earn your
31:14entrance. They earned it. They were
31:18wise. They did everything that was
31:20right. And they had to make a tough
31:22decision by not giving away something
31:25that meant was meant to keep them along
31:29the journey. And the Bible says they got
31:31in and the door was shut.
31:38That tells
31:39me if you don't stay ready for the
31:41prompting of the Holy Spirit,
31:44they're going to be seasons in your life
31:47where God will
31:50say, "Enough is
31:53enough. The season has
31:56ended. That's
31:58it. No more no more
32:02chances. No more opportunities.
32:06that period of your life has
32:08ended. I'm going to close the door
32:12versus okay, death comes at your
32:16door and shut off the oxygen
32:20cuz you do know all of us are going to
32:22die.
32:24Sometimes we live in a way we don't act
32:26like we're going to die.
32:30But all of us as
32:32virgins, what's happening to us? We're
32:35living. And there's going to be a day
32:39when death angel, and I'm not here to
32:43scare you, but there's going to be a day
32:46when God the Father in heaven, because
32:49he knew the end from the beginning, he
32:52knows the day that you're going to
32:55breathe your last breath.
32:58And when that day
33:00comes, he's going to call his
33:03angel. Come
33:08here. See Henry Fernandez in
33:10Florida. Go get
33:14him. Whatever your name is. I see I call
33:17my name cuz I don't call your name to
33:18think about. You want me to be dead real
33:25fast. See, I'm wise. So, I didn't call
33:27nobody else name. I called mine cuz I'm
33:30pointing to some of you looking at
33:32like don't be don't be looking at
33:37me. No matter how much you're trying to
33:40dodge this
33:42death angel,
33:44it's going to
33:46come. And that's the day when God's
33:48going to shut the door to the oxygen.
33:56And that would be the last one.
34:00Here's the interesting thing about the
34:02story. They made it
34:05in. These five wise virgins got
34:09in. They didn't have to worry about
34:13unrepented sins.
34:16didn't have to worry. Did Did they
34:19please God? They had a
34:22season of
34:24opportunity and the door was open. They
34:27got in and God says, "That's
34:31it." But
34:33then there were five of
34:36them from the time they woke up and
34:39heard the
34:40appeal. And the five wise ones said to
34:43them, "I'm sorry, we can't give you an
34:45ever o oil. You got to go and buy oil."
34:48Watch what's the delay. They spent time
34:53running into the cities to find oil.
34:58You see what disobedience can do? How it
35:02can delay youow
35:04from getting to where God wants you to
35:06be. They were out busy buying oil cuz
35:10watch this. They made it.
35:13They got to the door. Think about that.
35:19They finally made it.
35:21I know it. They had a huge delay because
35:25they didn't have enough and they had to
35:26go purchase, but they made it to the
35:30door and they started knocking on the
35:33door according to the word of God.
35:39Please let us in.
35:42We made it, man. We made it. We got some
35:44oil. We made Please allow us to come in.
35:48This This can't be happening to us.
35:52They were
35:54begging. They cried, "Lord, open the
35:57door." That's the scripture. But the
35:59response was chilling. Not the five wise
36:03ones saying it. The bridegroom said,
36:05"Truly I tell
36:07you, I don't know you."
36:11What a response
36:14that all this
36:15time they were walking on the same
36:18journey with the five individuals that
36:20the bridegroom knew the five wise one
36:23the moment they opened they entered the
36:25door. He opened the door and allowed
36:27them to go in because he knew them. He
36:29knew of their faithfulness. He knew that
36:32they were willing to hear the prompting
36:34of the Holy Spirit and did things right.
36:36And he shut the door. And now five
36:38others who were foolish came to the
36:41door. And he said something that some
36:44people are struggling to understand
36:46about God. Why would a loving God who
36:50made us and created us, why would he
36:53ultimately punish us?
36:58Why would he close certain doors on us?
37:01Well, it is a parable to tell you how
37:05the kingdom operates.
37:09Cuz he's saying ain't in the kingdom.
37:13Many virgins, Christians are going to
37:15come to the
37:19door open
37:22up on their deathbed. God, I know I
37:25goofed up and I did all kinds of stuff.
37:28Open
37:30up. I'm I'm trying. I know I'm going to
37:33die, but Lord, forgive
37:36me. And even if the rapture would come
37:38while you're
37:41alive, there are many who are going to
37:43stand
37:44before
37:45him and he's going to
37:48say, "Yes, you went to church.
37:52Oh, I believe I saw you in the sixth row
37:55in section 300. That's your favorite row
37:58every
37:59Sunday. Oh yes, you gave
38:03offerings. Oh yes, you did this, you did
38:06that. But this is the master. Who are
38:10you?
38:12[Music]
38:13It is a horrible position to find
38:16yourself in when
38:19God looks at you and don't know you.
38:24It's not that he doesn't know the man or
38:26the woman. He's just saying the person
38:28you have been on the earth, that person
38:32I don't
38:35recognize. The best version of yourself
38:38that you're supposed to be. You've been
38:40living your life your way. You've
38:42allowed the system to control you. Who
38:45are you? I don't know
38:48you. I'm not going to open up my eternal
38:53kingdom for somebody I don't
38:56know. That's the sad part about the
38:59text because we think church attendance
39:02and religious appearances is enough.
39:05But the only thing that matters we need
39:08to understand is a genuine relationship
39:09with Jesus Christ and having watch this
39:12the spiritual oil, the power of the Holy
39:15Spirit. When I referred to the spiritual
39:16oil, I'm talking about the Holy Spirit.
39:18He lives in us. He moves in us. That
39:22every decision you're supposed to make
39:24every day, he'll guide you.
39:28that even if you don't understand God,
39:30if you open up to his prompting as he's
39:32moving even in this service that you
39:35will never run the risk ever again and
39:38walk out these doors or log off and you
39:41not say I
39:43surrender. You not say, "God, I I quit
39:47running from you. This is not about
39:48religion. This is not about a preacher.
39:51This is about my relationship with you
39:53because ultimately I do not want the
39:56door to be closed in front of me. Number
39:59six, finally, always be ready for what's
40:02ahead of you. Jesus ends the parable
40:06with a sobering call. Look at verse
40:1013. He said,
40:12"Therefore keep
40:14watch." Wow.
40:17When I read that, keep
40:19watch. Oh my goodness, man. We're in a
40:22society today where many of us as
40:25Christians, we're not
40:27watching. We're not keeping
40:30watch. We want to be
40:33entertained. We want to ride on other
40:36people's anointing and
40:38power. But when it comes to strategizing
40:42and say,
40:43"God, I know who I am. I know where I'm
40:46at today, but I need more more of you.
40:49Every day, I'm going to make the
40:51decision to get up and read the word and
40:53pray. I'm going to findelves in groups
40:56that will support me. God, I will do
40:58everything to make sure I keep myself
41:01strong because I do not know
41:06when
41:07when I just don't want to be a virgin, a
41:11Christian, and become a foolish one.
41:15Yes. I don't want at the end of my life
41:18I did. Couldn't you think about this?
41:21I've been a Christian since I was around
41:248 going nine. Think about this. I'm
41:27going to use myself as an example. A
41:30Christian that young. I was literally
41:32born in the system in church. Can you
41:36imagine? spent all of my life, more than
41:39half of my life on the planet in
41:43ministry to get to the door
41:47and it shut.
41:50What was what was the purpose of doing
41:53all of this?
41:56Can you imagine? You've gained all the
41:58properties you own, the career, the
42:01degree, right? Many of you, you got all
42:04kinds of degrees.
42:07which you haven't fully paid for
42:10yet. Making income that will probably
42:14never pay off your loan if you're
42:17staying. Come on, that's a
42:19reality. You've done all of that. You
42:22got married or you're dating somebody.
42:24You have
42:25children and you get all of these
42:29things and you're looking
42:31beautiful. You became an influencer.
42:35He made money. He did all of
42:39that only to hear him
42:43say, "I don't know you.
42:50I don't know you." I'm sorry if today's
42:52message was the message to let Oh,
42:54Google.
43:00I'm sorry.
43:02I'm just going to give you what God told
43:03me to tell you.
43:07[Applause]
43:10[Music]
43:11[Applause]
43:12Write this down. There are five truths
43:15from this message. Number one, bearing
43:18the name of Christian is not
43:22enough. You need daily oil to finish
43:27your journey.
43:29You need it.
43:32It's okay to say no at
43:34times. It's okay to say
43:37no. Then don't wait until it's too late
43:41to get right with
43:43God. Stay ready because the bridegroom
43:47is
43:50coming.
43:52Notice and I'm done. I'm going to pray
43:54for some people and we get you out of
43:55here.
43:57Isn't it interesting that in this
44:00story, the story was not referring to
44:04unbelievers?
44:10This parable has nothing to do with the
44:13unchurched.
44:15This wasn't about people who haven't
44:18surrendered to Jesus Christ. This is a
44:21story about the state of the
44:24church, the condition of the church
44:28that at the end of the
44:32day, he's saying to us, let's be
44:35sensitive to the prompting of the Holy
44:38Spirit. And I don't know, you may say,
44:41"Well, Henry, well, you just came this
44:42morning to scare me." I ain't scared
44:45nobody.
44:47All I'm just telling
44:48you, I want to get in before the door is
44:51closed.
44:56That's
44:58all. Cuz when you run out of time,
45:02that's it.
45:04Do you know how many Christians who Woo,
45:06thank you, Holy Spirit.
45:09I felt that. Do you know how many
45:13Christians have
45:15died with foolish behavior?
45:23Just because you're a Christian doesn't
45:25mean you get in.
45:27Read read the
45:30parable. They died in the grave
45:34now. And on that day, if you read your
45:38Bible, they're going to hear from Jesus.
45:42And he's going to say, "I don't know
45:47you, but they died as a Christian. They
45:50got to the door as
45:54virgins." But he said, "I don't know who
45:56you
45:57are." Please, this is a powerful
45:59statement, and some of you may kind of
46:03take issues with it.
46:06do not go through the kingdom of
46:10God end up being
46:14lost.
46:15Why? Why come to church? Why go through
46:19the
46:20motion? Why go through all these
46:22rituals? Why do all of this and in the
46:25end he going to look at you and say, "I
46:29don't know you, man. Just go live a
46:32sinful life. Just party. party all
46:36night till you drop. See, some of you
46:39take issues with that cuz, oh, he's
46:42giving people license to go sin. If you
46:44ain't going to make it
46:46in, why you missing
46:49out? See, religious people not going to
46:52get there.
46:54But if you really want to make it in, do
46:58what is right.
47:01Do what is right.
47:03Bow your heads with me quickly. Those of
47:06you are streaming, I just need to
47:08encourage you. I believe somebody in
47:11this building, somebody streaming, if
47:12that's you, identify yourself. Say,
47:15"Pastor, please pray for me. I need to
47:20secure my faith in Jesus
47:23Christ. I want to surrender everything
47:25to him." There are people in this room,
47:27I know you're here. This is not to
47:30embarrass you. I know what God told
47:32me. That's one of the things I love
47:34about this church. We don't judge
47:37anybody. We're all virgins
47:40trying to be wise.
47:43If this message touched you this morning
47:46and you believe that God sent it
47:48directly to give you a wakeup call, if
47:51you believe that God spoke these words
47:54today to make sure you don't get left
47:57behind, maybe you're not a Christian
47:58yet, or maybe you're a person in the
48:01faith, but you've been acting foolish
48:03for a while. I don't want you to to to
48:06think about your neighbor. I don't want
48:08you to think about people in this
48:10auditorium. I want you to move from your
48:12seat and I want you to come right here
48:15because I want to pray for you. Somebody
48:17prayed for me years ago because I didn't
48:19always get it right. I didn't always get
48:22it right. Come on, move. If you know God
48:25spoke to you
48:26today, come on quickly. Quickly, get
48:30down here. Don't you move. Don't you
48:32move. Unless you're coming down here.
48:34Come on. Quickly. Come on. Can we
48:35celebrate these people as they're coming
48:37there? Come on. Come on.
48:41Make it right with God this morning.
48:43Come on, look at all these people. Make
48:45it right with God this morning. Come on,
48:48ministers, help us squeeze them in.
48:50Squeeze them in. Make it right this
48:52morning. Make it right. Make it right
48:55this morning. God bless you. I want to
48:57pray with you this morning. I want to
49:00pray with you. Many of us, we're going
49:01to pray with you this morning. God bless
49:04you. God bless you. God bless you. Can
49:06some of you squeeze into the center?
49:08Send them in. I want them out of the
49:10aisles. Come on, get them in. Come a
49:13little bit forward, please. Thank you.
49:15Thank you. Thank you. Guide them. Guide
49:17them, please. Minister Brown, guide
49:20them. Send them all the way over. All
49:22the way over. We got more room. We got
49:24more room. We got more room. Can
49:26everybody stand? Everybody stand. We're
49:28going to do this together. Just hang in
49:30there with me for a moment. Hang in
49:33there with
49:34me. Hang in there.
49:37I want to thank you guys for coming here
49:39this
49:40morning. I hope you will take the text
49:44that was given to you this
49:45morning and apply it to your own
49:48lives and see that God is using this
49:52sermon today to get you on the wise
49:56side. Cuz at the end of the day, I'm
49:59telling you, you want to hear him say to
50:01you, "Well done, good and faithful
50:06servant." That's what we all want to
50:09hear. And you have to guard your
50:12heart from how society is trying to
50:16influence you.
50:19Society is dysfunctional right now, but
50:23yet still they're trying to tell you
50:25that your faith is not worth
50:28it. Don't allow society to brainwash
50:31you. You stay in the word of
50:34God and people will laugh at you. People
50:37will mock you. People will say, "Well,
50:40you go to church, you talk about you
50:42serving God or the sacrifice you have to
50:45make to live for God." Oh, they will
50:47mock you. And sometimes your mind will
50:49play tricks on you to tell you it ain't
50:51worth it. Doesn't make any sense. But I
50:53am telling you, no one who serves God
50:57will ever lose in the end.
51:01Nobody.
51:04Nobody. When you put your complete trust
51:07in God, I'm telling you, he'll take care
51:10of you. But at the end of the day, let's
51:13all be wise.
51:15wise women, wise men, wise
51:19fathers, wise mothers, husbands, and and
51:22so forth. You know, let's all be wise.
51:25Whatever you do, be wise. Would you lift
51:28your
51:29hands? Father, in the name of Jesus, I
51:32thank you for these your people who are
51:33standing here today.
51:36I thank you for their willingness to
51:39say, "I needed to come down cuz I needed
51:42to be among the wise individuals who
51:46were going to make that decision to say,
51:48Lord, I need extra
51:50oil." You told the 120 to go in the
51:53upper room. They could have said to
51:54themselves, "I don't need extra power."
51:57We had the Messiah who taught us all
51:59these years, so we don't need that. But
52:02they went to the upper room to be
52:05empowered. And when the Holy Spirit fell
52:07on them, they were empowered to go into
52:10the uttermost part of of the world to
52:13preach the gospel. These people with
52:14their hands lifted up, God, I ask that
52:17you would touch them today, that they
52:20too will walk in the path of the
52:22wise, that they'll never find themselves
52:25as foolish believers. That the door will
52:28never be closed. That God, they will
52:31enter in. They'll become the best
52:32version of themselves here on the earth.
52:35But most importantly, when you choose to
52:37call them home, they won't find
52:40themselves on the
52:41outside, but they'll find themselves
52:44literally having supper with you, having
52:49fellowship with you, Holy Spirit. I pray
52:53that they will embrace you this morning.
52:55that when they leave here, they will see
52:59that you have come on the earth and
53:01you're still here to empower them. Heal
53:05every broken heart right now. And for
53:07those who need salvation, who don't know
53:10you as Lord and Savior, God, I pray
53:12today that they'll surrender to you and
53:15we give you praise. Now, if you don't
53:16know the Lord as your savior, I want you
53:18to repeat this prayer after me. Say,
53:20Lord Jesus, Lord Jesus, I'm a sinner. I
53:23repent of my sins.
53:25I embrace the free gift of
53:28salvation and today I'm born again in
53:32Jesus name. Amen. Come on. Can we
53:35celebrate them?
53:37Celebrate