Are you a wise or a foolish virgin?

Jesus told a story of ten virgins who went to meet the groom. While waiting, all ten fell asleep. Then, a midnight cry woke them. But only five of the ten virgins had oil in their lamps. While the other five went to get more oil, the groom came and shut the door.

The immediate context and meaning of this parable concerns the final judgment. Jesus warns Christians that, if they don’t prepare for his coming, they will be shut out of heaven. To prepare for Christ’s second coming is to obey God by faith and in love.

But this parable also warns us that if we don’t choose to trust Jesus now, we won’t be prepared to trust him in a crisis. If you’re used to self-reliance, you won’t turn to Jesus when you lose your house or job. Likewise, you won’t turn to Jesus on the Day of Judgment. You may protest and lift up your self-righteous works, but your conscience will agree with God as he sentences you to hell.

This broadcast is a midnight cry. Is there oil in your lamp today?

John Wesley said, “Give me one hundred preachers who fear nothing but sin, and desire nothing but God, and I care not a straw whether they be clergymen or laymen; such alone will shake the gates of hell and set up the kingdom of heaven on earth.”

As we spoke about in Early Church Repentance, true repentance means that we leave sin. But, it also means that we fear sin. We respond to a listener’s question, “Do you believe that a Christian cannot repent a second time?” First, we clarify that we’re speaking about true repentance that results in the believer ceasing from sin. Then, we answer, “There is no guarantee of a second repentance, though some Christians have repented a second time.” We then look into Scripture, history, and personal experience to thoroughly explain this view.

So where does this leave you, as a listener? If you’re part of the majority, it’s extremely likely that you never left your sin. This means that you didn’t repent. You may be confessing and apologizing, but that isn’t true Biblical repentance. To be saved, you must repent and believe unto righteousness–so that you stop sinning and walk in obedience to God.

Secondly, if you are free from sin, we exhort you along with Jesus and the apostles to continue! Persevere! There is no guarantee that you can ever come back to Jesus Christ if you leave him. May these startling truths spur you to love God and fear sin!

Pastor Ray's testimony of victory by faith in the blood of Jesus...

In this testimony-interview, Alexandra shares that righteousness from God is a present experience. To be innocent in the sight of God is the present reality of every true Christian. For Alexandra, this began at conversion, and deepened through several later experiences.

These further revelations included the 1) holiness of God, 2) the evil of sin, 3) that the gospel makes us holy in reality right now, 4) that God will judge every one of us based on our actions, 5) that each person truly deserves hell for his own sin, and 6) that repentance involves making restitution. Though God intends these revelations to occur at the same time–in conversion–what is essential for your salvation is that these truths become a present reality for you.

Is your conscience clean today? If you have a feeling of sin, we urge you to first determine whether it’s because you did sin, or if it’s false condemnation. If you didn’t sin, then praise God! Give him the glory for keeping you blameless! If you did sin, what did you do? Then confess every one of those sins, and make it right with God and with those you’ve offended. And, be sure that you belong totally to Jesus Christ.

We pray that you rejoice today in a full, present experience of righteousness!

Pastor Ray shares his testimony of finding true joy and freedom in Jesus. His Christian journey began at the age of six or seven. He became a pastor and grew churches. But, he experienced inner conflict. On the one hand, he felt a burning desire to serve Jesus. On the other, he’d been taught that he could never overcome sin.

Finally, Ray reached a crisis, repented, and entered into total freedom from sin. Now, for decades he has been walking free from sin! His heart loves righteousness and hates sin. He lives in the joy and peace of Jesus! May this testimony encourage you to enter and remain in this freedom, too!

God’s throne room is a place of holiness and power. To enter God’s throne room, we first leave all rebellion against God. This is the only kind of true repentance. It means submitting yourself totally to Jesus Christ, giving up a love for sin, and with victory shouting, “I will sin no more!”

One aspect of this submission is to renounce a love for the world. Thus, your first focus in life is not on temporal things. Instead of focusing on this present world, you focus on the world to come.

Your life will plainly show if this is the first focus. For example, you won’t spend money or time on anything that doesn’t help prepare you and others for eternity. Instead of spending your weekends at family football games, you will be serving the church and the needy. Because you see the holiness of God, you will be afraid to sin. Moreover, the love of the Holy Spirit who lives in you will move you to help others.

Even if you’ve been taught gradual repentance and conversion, your conscience testifies against it. You know right now whether your actions are right in the sight of God. And, you know that there’s no excuse for continuing to do what you know is wrong.

If your conscience is guilty today, won’t you give up the fight with God, and rejoice in Christ with a new, holy life?

We must be confronted by the truth of the gospel.

In every age, God has had a present truth to address the particular sins of the people. During the Reformation, the present truth was expressed in Luther’s 95 theses. Later, John Wesley brought forth the truth of the necessity of holiness in order to enter heaven. Today, the present truth is that this is the last call for the Gospel. God’s judgment is coming! The hour of compromise is over. It is either heaven or hell! Are you proclaiming this truth? Or are you on the other side, caught in compromise?

Have you consecrated everything to Jesus?