The Bride Who Lost Her Oil
A Sorry state of affairs
1. A Familiar Parable, a Forgotten Warning
Many read this parable with comfort, few with trembling.
It is not a message to the world — it is a solemn address to the Church.
All ten were virgins — all professed purity, all waited for the Bridegroom, all had lamps. Outwardly, there was no difference. But when the cry rang out at midnight, half were found wanting. Their lamps flickered, their oil was gone, and the door was shut.
The most terrifying truth of this passage is that five were lost inside the Church.
2. The Tragedy of Empty Lamps
We live in an age of bright lamps but little oil.
Religion abounds, yet revival tarries.
There are sermons without fire, songs without tears, altars without sacrifice.
Many have the form of godliness but deny the power thereof (2 Timothy 3:5).
They carry lamps — the appearance of devotion — yet their vessels are dry. They once burned brightly, but neglected the secret place where oil is bought: the closet of prayer, the crucible of obedience, the Word of truth.
The foolish virgins wanted the glow of faith without the cost of faithfulness.
3. The Midnight Cry Approaches
We are living in the midnight hour.
The nations tremble, Israel is stirred, sin flaunts itself unashamedly, and yet the Church sleeps.
We analyze prophecy but ignore purity.
We discuss revival but despise repentance.
Yet the cry will come — sudden, piercing, final:
“Behold, the Bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet Him!”
And in that moment, no preacher can lend you oil, no friend can intercede for your negligence, no memory of past fire can replace present emptiness.
4. The Meaning of the Oil
The oil represents the inner life of the Spirit — the secret communion with Christ that sustains the flame of faith. It is the daily surrender, the prayer in secret, the Word cherished in the heart, the self crucified on the altar of obedience.
This oil cannot be borrowed, imitated, or counterfeited. It is bought in the hidden life of intimacy with God.
As Leonard Ravenhill wrote,
“You can’t develop intimacy with God overnight. You can’t suddenly whip up holiness. Oil is bought at the price of time, tears, and truth.”
5. The Bride Must Awaken
The Bridegroom tarries, but not forever.
This delay is mercy — a last call to repentance, a divine pause for the Bride to prepare.
Let us use it wisely.
Now is the time to buy oil — to restore the prayer altar, to wash our garments, to seek the infilling of the Holy Spirit, to walk blameless before our Lord.
It is not enough to look ready; we must be ready.
The Bride of Christ must shine with purity, not popularity; with devotion, not display.
6. When the Door Shuts
“And the door was shut.” — how final those words sound!
When grace’s door closes, no pleading can open it. The foolish virgins knocked, cried, and begged — but the answer came:
“Verily I say unto you, I know you not.”
These are not strangers, but those who once stood among the saints. The test was not attendance or enthusiasm — it was intimacy.
The Bridegroom recognizes His own by the oil they carry.
7. A Prayer for the Waiting Bride
Lord Jesus, awaken Your Church from slumber.
Deliver us from the pride that blinds and the sin that dries our oil.
Teach us to love Your appearing more than the pleasures of this world.
Fill our hearts with the oil of Your Spirit until our lamps burn through the darkest night.
Come quickly, O Bridegroom of our souls. Amen.
