Ten Virgins — Hattie Hammond

Thank you for coming out on this night, and the atmosphere that's here tonight is so beautiful. I think if you just had a little encouragement, you'd take off, wouldn't you? And go to be with this wonderful Lord Jesus.

He is coming soon. Oh, so soon. He's coming. Do you believe that? Yes. Yes. Wonderful Jesus. Wonderful Jesus. Thank you for what you have done in each one of our hearts and lives. Thank you for your presence with us here now.

Jesus, just get your will done. Fulfill your whole purpose in bringing us together tonight. And as we open this sacred book, will you please open up its treasures to us? In Jesus' sacred name we ask it.

Amen. And everybody said, Amen. Amen. Thank you, Brother Cuisenberry. It's nice to be with you and Sister Cuisenberry tonight. Open your Bibles to this wonderful 25th chapter of Matthew. I've been waiting on the Lord, and I feel His word to us tonight is this parable of the ten virgins.

The Parable of the Ten Virgins

Let's read it. Matthew 25, beginning with the first verse. Then shall the kingdom of heaven be likened unto ten virgins, which took their lamps, and went forth to meet the bridegroom. Five of them were wise, and five were foolish.

They that were foolish took their lamps, and took no oil with them. But the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps. While the bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered and slept. At midnight there was a cry made, Behold the bridegroom cometh, go ye out to meet him.

Then all those virgins arose and trimmed their lamps. And the foolish said unto the wise, Give us of your oil, our lamps are gone out. But the wise answered, saying, Not so, lest there be not enough for us in you.

But go ye rather to them that sell, and buy for yourselves. And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came. And they that were ready went in with him to the marriage, and the door was shut. Afterward came also the other virgins, saying, Lord, Lord, open to us.

But he answered and said, Verily I say unto you, I know you not. Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of Man cometh. There are a lot of interpretations of this parable, but there's in every parable a central truth.

And if we get the central truth, we'll hear what the Lord wants to say to us. There is this word that I want you to carry out of this meeting tonight. I want you to, I want you to hold it in your mind, I want you to think about it, eat it, drink it, meditate on it, live by it, live in it.

The bridegroom, say it everybody. Oh, thank you, brother. Thank you, we heard that. Yes, the bridegroom is coming. Tell everybody that you know. And let the whole world know it. Let everybody hear it.

The bridegroom is coming, and he's coming very soon. This is no fable either. It's no fable. What glory is true? And then there are those who say, but this is only a parable. A parable is a story that's thrown alongside of truth to clarify the truth.

But this is one of the Lord's parables, and he would, and there was a truth that he wanted us to get, or he wouldn't have used the parable and used parable form. Jesus always used the simplest language.

There's no complicated terms in any of his messages, in any of the four gospels, in any of his truth. Language and small words. He wanted us to hear what he said, and he spoke the language of the people.

Simple truth, but oh, how meaningful and profound that we must have the Holy Spirit to open to us and reveal it to us and illuminate that truth. But he gave it in just as simple a message and word as possible.

So carry that with you. Greet each other with the truth. The Bridegroom is coming. Instead of saying, good morning, how are you? The Bridegroom is coming. Until it rings in every part of our being in this hour, because we really are right on the verge of the coming of the Bridegroom.

The Imminent Coming of the Bridegroom

I believe he could come now. He really could. He really could. And one of these days, it's going to happen. It's going to happen. In this parable, the Bridegroom is absent, but everybody knows he's come, such a Bridegroom, as to make it available to everyone to be ready for his coming.

He's such a Bridegroom as this. Disciples to whom he's giving this message, they ask him questions. I wish they had asked him more questions. There are things that Jesus taught, things that he said, truths, that if those disciples had ears to hear, oh, I wish they had asked him many more questions.

They said, when shall these things be? This is part of the Olivet Discourse. What shall be the sign of thy coming in the 24th chapter, end of the world? And Jesus told them there would be certain signs, and they could know, they could know the time of his return, that he can do to alert our hearts, to awaken us, to let us know that he's coming.

Every newspaper, every television report, news report, every time you turn on the radio, you don't listen but a very few minutes, until the message is there and it's plain, and it's being thundered at us from every billboard, just saying Jesus is coming soon.

But he told us all the signs to look for when you see these things, these things, and a lot of it isn't very pleasant, it isn't very holy, it isn't very righteous. But when you see these things, look up, lift up your voice, your redemption draweth nigh.

And that's just heralded at us from every direction. The bridegroom, the bridegroom is coming. I think it is always wisdom, look at the bridegroom, talk about him. He's the one who's coming. And before we get into all that he says and so on, let's look at who's a bridegroom like this bridegroom, who's not getting ready to shout.

Christ the Bridegroom and the Marriage Supper

There never was a bridegroom. He's a redeemer, he's a high priest bridegroom that you could ever dream about or desire or long for, and he promises in a bridegroom he will satisfy every thought, every desire.

I can prove that to you in the scriptures. When the bride comes into his presence, he says, he, him, and this is not he's going to pass out some kind of food, he himself is the food of the bride. From all times he's the bread of life.

And the marriage supper of the lamb begins in our hearts and lives the day we begin to feed on Jesus. Say his name everybody. Praise the Lord, praise the Lord. This is a marriage the death will never dissolve.

This bridegroom's bride will never ever be a mourning widow, but it's forever and ever and ever, and we don't even have to say until death do us part. There is no death, there is no parting, but throughout the countless ages of eternity, she's his and he is hers forever and ever.

I love what John the Revelator says, I heard as it were the voice of a great multitude, and as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of mighty thunderings, saying, Alleluia for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth.

Let us be glad and rejoice and give honor to him, for the marriage of the lamb has come at last, and his wife hath made herself ready. Do you know God has been preparing for the marriage of his son since before the foundations of the world were laid?

He's been preparing for this wedding created when it was in the heart of God, before the foundations of the world was laid, it was ordained that this son of God should have a bride. God began to plan the wedding.

There'll never be a wedding like that one. Wasn't it lovely to see Prince Charles and Lady Diane? She looked like a lady, didn't she? And it was beautiful, they were so handsome, so royal, so in love.

Storybook, that's a storybook wedding compared to the one we're headed for. Suppose on her wedding day, she had awakened and realized it was her wedding day, but she hadn't made preparation for it. She hadn't made any preparation for it, and she really was not ready to be united to this prince in marriage.

What happened? She prepared, had she not made ready, the whole world would have rejected her and said she's not worthy of such a bridegroom, right? All right, this is what happens here. Virgins are, and there's a reason why ten, the number ten is used, the reason why it's not five or six or eight or ten, the number, or seven.

The Bride Made Ready

Ten is, the number ten is the number of completion. Seven is the number of perfection. But ten is the number of completion, and the bride is going to be a complete bride. She is going to be the thing to behold the bride should be.

She's going to be that. It will only be because there are some tracings, some etchings be made on the bride. Come, because the Jews have gone back to Jerusalem. That's not what's going to bring him. It doesn't matter how many Jews go to Jerusalem or how many Jews stay out of Jerusalem.

This is part of the last hour tapestry and all that's going on. But the thing that's going to bring Jesus back is his wife hath made herself ready. And when she's ready, he's coming. And God started this preparation before the foundations of the world were laid.

And he's working. The Father is working. This marvelous bridegroom, this wonderful son of God, oh, what preparation he has made. You know, there are many novels written and fairy tales about some prince, wealthy, handsome, beautiful prince, who left his royal estate and went off into some foreign country and out into some village and adorned himself with the dress of the common people because there was some little village girl that he was trying to woo out there.

And so he laid aside his true identity to win her and raise her out of that estate that he found her in and make her his queen. Well, there's a lot of that in novels and fiction and so on, but how many of you ever heard that fact is more wonderful than fiction?

The Incarnation and Redemption of the Bridegroom

And this is a foreign land clothed with human nature. Who can tell how far? The song speaks of the nine months by the way. Oh, to the bosom of the Heavenly Father to lie on the bosom of a little 15-year-old girl.

This did this. Turn to the bosom of the Father to lie on the bosom of a little 15-year-old girl. Mary was 15. What a bridegroom. And talking about carnation, everything about it. It was my privilege to, for 25 years at Bethel, it was my privilege to give the Christmas message every year for 25 years.

And in 25 years, I never gave the same message the second time. And there's so much in the incarnation. There's so much of the coming of this marvelous Christ to us. Our bridegroom. This is who he really is.

But oh, how he disgusts to come to us. And there's so much in the incarnation. So much to talk about. It's a royal virgin's womb. His way to us. Coming to get us. Coming to purchase us. Coming to redeem us.

Coming to redeem us. And all that. One thing he prayed before he went to Calvary, that God would give him back the glory that he had with the Father before the world was. And he gave up all that glory he had with the Father before the world was to come down here to a feeding trough in the Calvary.

Talk about facts being more wonderful than fiction. This is a fact. You can understand, I can understand a little bit of why the Jews wouldn't receive him as their Messiah. They were looking for a deliverer to deliver them from Egypt, deliver them from Roman bondage, deliver them.

And here's a little tiny baby lying in a feeding trough in a cow stable, and we are to believe this is our Messiah? Lying in a feeding trough, a baby is our Messiah? Had to come where we were. I'm not really preaching a Christmas message tonight, but I'd love to tell you why, why he was born in a stable, why he laid in a cow's feeding trough.

There's a reason why he was found in that manger. There's a reason why. There's a reason why for everything God does. The stroke of his pen, everything that he does, there's a reason for it. Thousands of angels singing his praise and worshiping and adoring him.

He gave that up and came to a mob that crucified him and hung him on a tree. Do you think we should weep and quarrel and complain because of what we have to give up? Please say something. That's the bridegroom in his humiliation, isn't it?

Right, that's the bridegroom in his humiliation. He's not going to stay there forever, but I'm just telling you the trip that he took to come where we were, this prince that came and disguised himself.

If that isn't the disguise of who he really is, who he really is, and came where we were to dress in our clothes, took on his human nature, the Word became flesh and dwelt among us. A little tiny baby.

Sometimes when people say they're afraid of God, they're afraid of him, they're afraid to receive this baptism in the Holy Ghost, they're afraid of the power of God. Well, God told me, you tell them, that's why I came to earth, a little tiny baby, because nobody's afraid of a baby.

And they don't have to be any more afraid of my power and this wonderful power of God in the baptism of the Holy Ghost coming upon you. Don't have to be any more afraid of that than a little tiny baby.

He won't hurt us, he'll only heal us. Amen. He'll only mend our woes if you'll only come. He has promised to men, to salvage, to rescue, to do for us everything that we needed. And we needed everything.

We needed everything. When he found us, every one of us were deep in debt, right? We owed such a debt and paid it all, didn't we? What did he do? Take your death? I'll take your death and he died for us.

If there's a sinner here tonight, honey, if you accept his death for you, if you don't accept his death for you, you have to die for your own sins for us. He took off his royal robe so he could clothe us in a robe of righteousness.

A robe of righteousness that the angels revel at it. The bride clothed in white linen, which is the righteousnesses of the saints. Hallelujah. We needed to be washed. He poured out his own blood because it was so deep that nothing else would reach it.

It took his precious blood to reach the depths and cleanse out our wound. But he did. He did. And then finally to winter, agonizes with a broken heart in Gethsemane. And then he says, Father, if she'll only come, I'll endow her with all my goods.

Everything that I inherit from the Father will be hers. Oh, you sure act like you're thrilled. Millionaires to millionaires of God and joint heirs with Jesus Christ of all that he inherits with the Father.

I'm so glad. I'm so glad that says we're heirs of God. You know, the singing book says we're heirs of the things of God. And somebody wants to make it a heap big harp and they sing. But that's just saying that we're heirs of the things of God.

But we're heirs of God. His life, his nature, his glory, his power, his wealth. We're heirs of him. Jesus sits there on the throne. This is why it takes our time for him to work on us. I'm far from perfect yet.

What about you? It takes a whole lifetime for him to work on us and work in us. Oh, I don't want him to stop. I don't want him to take a recess. But just keep on. Yes. Amen. Working with us. Hallelujah.

The Bridegroom's Beauty and the Bride's Preparation

This lover divine. Well, they say he's the fairest of 10 ,000. What do you say? Like this. Of all the princes, of all the kings of the earth, he's the prince. That means he's the fairest. He's the youngest.

Everything about him. He's the prettiest of them all. None can compare with him. In every detail. A bridegroom. No bride. About her bridegroom. He's pretty wonderful. But she can't say he's without spot.

Now he is. You hold his hand, but he's not without spot. If he was without spot, he'd have left us today. Yes. The first one that gets ready, they're gone. He won't keep us here one moment after we're ready.

He won't let us stay here to be spoiled. He'll get us out of here just as soon as he can. But we're all here. What does that say? Not ready yet. We're not ready yet. He's still working on us. Still working on us.

How precious. There were ten of these virgins, and only five of them made it. They all knew there was a bridegroom. They all knew the bridegroom was new. They had to make preparations. They all knew they had to be back here together.

I wonder if it has absolutely nothing to do with works. It has absolutely nothing whatsoever to do with our service for the Lord. Nothing whatsoever. The whole parable is a parable of relationship to the bridegroom.

There's a difference between our works and our relationship to the bridegroom. The whole thought here is dealing with the bride. And it's a bridal relationship. And nothing, nothing to do. We are rewarded for works, but we're not united to the bridegroom because of our works, but because of our relationship.

And this hope of meeting the bridegroom, but their actions were so different. They all went out to meet him. They all had lamps. You have to have a lamp to meet the bridegroom. I've seen these lamps. In fact, it was my privilege to attend.

The Lamps, Oil, and Readiness for the Wedding

The first time I went to Israel, it was Palestine then, 40 years ago. Palestine, this Ramallah that is much in the news today, that's on the Arab side, that is one of the most colorful villages in Palestine.

The women there will work on their wedding garment for a whole lifetime, embroidering it and getting it ready. Isn't that a beautiful symbol? But the young girls, they start embroidering and working on their wedding gown.

A whole lifetime they're working on it. And it was my privilege to attend a wedding of a wealthy, had to do with wealthy people in the village of Ramallah. And I saw this whole thing just as it is in the Scriptures.

Before I went over there, I prayed, Lord, please let me attend a wedding. There's one thing I ask that you let me attend an Eastern wedding. They're at night. Do you get that? Most of them are at night.

They're at night. And so they have to have these lamps. These lamps. And it's a long, they're just a long straight pole. And up at the top of this pole is like a bowl. And that's where the oil is carried, in that bowl.

And then they put a wick. We call it a wick. They just use rags, usually. Put a rag in there and light that rag. And it burns as long as there's oil in that lamp. It burns. And of course they're not too, those bowls aren't too big.

And the bridegroom carried. And they know there's a possibility of this. So they have to carry an extra supply of oil with them. And they keep replenishing the oil that's in that bowl. And so they carry this extra, extra vessel of extra oil.

And keep the supply. And so five of these virgins carried the extra supply of oil with them. They have to have abundant supply. Five of them carried that extra supply. And that's where they got caught.

Now they knew they had to have. All of them, they knew the wedding would be at night. And we keep talking about the midnight hour. The midnight hour when Jesus will come. And they knew they had to have light.

Because it was going to be night. And they would have to have this. And they have to prepare. And if they didn't prepare that he was coming that night. That the marriage was going to take place that night.

It reflects on what they think of his word. And that's what I said. So prepare. The whole world would have.