Classic Quotes From Classic Ministers

Classic Quotes From Classic Ministers

The Gift of Exhortation

Romans 12:3-8

The church is filled with people who have different passions and interests. Christ designed His body to function this way by supplying various spiritual gifts by which His work is accomplished. Yet sometimes these differences can lead to misunderstandings because we each see through the lens of our own gift.

Exhortation is one of those spiritual gifts that can be misconstrued. People with this gifting may use strong words to urge fellow believers toward spiritual maturity. Sometimes this involves identifying foundational problems like pride, selfishness, or a desire for control and prescribing corrective steps based on biblical principles. Other times, exhortation may include an explanation of the blessings of obeying the Lord as well as warnings about the consequences of disobedience.

You may have noticed this gift is often given to pastors who regularly exhort God’s people from the pulpit, but there are also individuals in the congregation who may have this spiritual gift. As Christians, we need to hear the truth about ourselves and how we are living, yet sometimes we may be resistant. Perhaps we think the exhorter has oversimplified our situation or is trying to “help” God out. Or maybe the way in which the advice is given strikes us as overconfident. At other times, we may question how Scripture is applied or doubt the genuineness of the one who exhorts us.

Although we should always compare what we hear with God’s Word, we must not reject correction simply because we don’t want to hear it. Wisdom comes with careful consideration of counsel as we hold firmly to the Word.

~Dr. Charles F. Stanley~

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What a contrast!

("Every Day!" Author unknown)

"Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts.
 See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the everlasting way!" Psalm 139:23, 24

What a contrast there is between a man of this world--and a child of God! 

The one wishes to avoid the scrutiny of God--and the other desires and prays for it. 

The one loves sin, and cherishes it--the other abhors sin, and desires to be delivered from it. 

The one walks hand in hand with iniquity--the other grieves that he bears about with him a body of sin and death.

It is the earnest desire of all who are born of God, and made partakers of the Divine nature--to be delivered from the power of sin that dwells in them. They would have no lust spared--and no corruption unmortified. 

Chosen by the Father in eternity past, 
redeemed by the precious blood of Christ and justified freely by His grace
--they would also be sanctified by His Spirit.

They would be holy as He is holy--and their desires will eventually be satisfied! He who has begun a good work in them, will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ. He will present them "faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy!"

"Search me, O God, and try my thoughts,
 And make my heart sincere;
 Let sin have no dominion, Lord,
 And keep my conscience clear!

"Make me to walk in Your commands,
 'Tis a delightful road;
 Nor let my head, or heart, or hands,
 Offend against my God!"

"The desire of the righteous will be granted!" Proverbs 10:24 

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That spiritual chemistry which turns all metals into gold!

"But his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on His law he meditates day and night." Psalm 1:2 


William Bates: "Meditation is the serious exercise of the mind, whereby our thoughts are fixed on the observation of spiritual things, in order to practice them. Meditation is that spiritual chemistry which turns all metals into gold!" 


Arthur Pink: "Reader! You will derive far more benefit from a single verse of Scripture read slowly and prayerfully, and duly meditated upon--than you will from ten chapters read through hurriedly! Meditation is nearly a lost art. Lack of meditation is at the root of most of our spiritual troubles."


Edmund Calamy: "The reason why all the sermons we hear do us no more good, is for lack of divine meditation. For it is with sermons as it is with food--it is not having food upon your table that will nourish you, but you must eat it. And you must not only eat it, but digest it--or else your food will do you no good. 
So it is with sermons: it is not hearing sermons that will do you good, but pondering in your hearts what you hear, and digesting them by meditation. One sermon well digested, well meditated upon--is better than twenty sermons without meditation! I am confident the great reason why we have so many hunger-starved Christians who are lean in grace and lean in practice, though they hear sermon upon sermon--is because they digest nothing. They never ponder and meditate upon what they hear! There are some men sick with a disease that makes them vomit up whatever they eat--the food never does them any good. So is the custom of many of you: you hear a sermon, you go away, and never think of it afterward. This is just like food that you vomit up! That is the reason why you are so lean in grace--though you are so fully fed with sermons!" 

The Hope of the Church # 2

The Hope of the Church # 2

This truth seems to have gripped these Thessalonians, they revelled in it, they could think of little else. Some became so occupied with it that they were not much good for the ordinary affairs of life. There is always a danger of going too far in regard to any truth of God, and the apostle Paul was this. "Since we have been there some of them have died; they have fallen asleep in Christ, and their friends are disconsolate; they feel that they won't be here to welcome the King when He comes. They feel that they have missed so much that their hearts are really broken because of it." And Paul says, "I will just write them a Letter, and clear that up." So in the course of this Letter, he expounds the part that both those who have died before Christ's return, and those who are living at His Coming, will have in the glorious future day. "I would not have you ignorant", he says, "concerning them which are asleep." What does he mean by "those which are asleep?"  Does he mean when our dear ones in Christ close their eyes to the scenes of earth, when the body is dead, that we put them away, body, soul, and spirit, in the tomb, and that the whole man sleeps in utter unconsciousness until the glorious morning of the first resurrection? No, he certainly does not mean that, because that would contradict very definitely what he taught elsewhere. Take that wonderful passage in the third of Ephesians. He says,  "For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named." Where does he locate the family of God? In only two places - in heaven and on earth. If he were a soul-sleeper he would have said, in the grave and on earth. But he did not say that. He locates those who have left this scene as in heaven. There is not even a third place. I look up a paper in our country not long ago that stirred me to preach a sermon. It had an article beseeching the faithful to come through with more cash, because the poor souls in purgatory are suffering so dreadfully because of the depression that has swept all over the world. And so I preached a sermon one Sunday on the subject, "What can we do for the poor souls in purgatory?" We had over five thousand people to hear it, and when we got looking into the Book to find out about it we found out that there was not any soul in purgatory, and that the only purgatory there is in the precious blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, which purged our consciences from dead works to serve the living God. No, Paul does not locate  any of the believers in purgatory, and he does not leave them unconscious in the grave. He speaks of "the whole family in heaven and on earth." And you remember that elsewhere he says that the believer who dies is absent from the body - not asleep in the body - and is present with the Lord. And he says that he himself had a desire to depart and to be with Christ which is far better. How did he know that? Was it simply the word of an inspired man who had been commanded so to write? No, not that alone; he knew it by practical experience.

We say sometimes, "No one has ever been to Heaven and come back to tell us what it is like? We are wrong, for He had been there. He says; "I knew a man in Christ above fourteen years ago (whether in body I cannot tell, or whether out of the body I cannot tell; God knoweth) such an one caught up to the third heaven. How that he was caught up into paradise, and heard unspeakable words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter." Now, mark you, the apostle clearly gives us to understand there that a man can be conscious and out of the body. For when he had this experience he says a it were, "If I had a body, I am not conscious of it; and if I was out of the body, I did not miss it!" That helps me in regard to my friends who have gone to Heaven. He saw and heard something; he was thoroughly conscious, and he was caught up into Paradise. Paradise is a Persian word, it is used three times in the New Testament. It means "a royal garden." Paul says, "I was caught up; and I found myself in a royal garden." I never go into one of your beautiful English gardens without saying, "This is a little, wee bit of Paradise." Paul found himself in a scene of ineffable beauty and glory. Then he says, "I heard something, I heard unspeakable things which it is not lawful for a man to utter." So he was conscious; he could see and hear. I was in a meeting down in Florida some few years ago, and on one night each week we used to have questions and answers. Among the questions sent up was this one. "Will you please tell us what the unspeakable things were which Paul heard when he was caught up into the third heaven?" I had to admit that I could not tell. Why Paul himself could not tell. In other words, it was so wonderful that he could not put it into our language. Yet he heard it at the time and understood.

~Harry A. Ironside~

(continued with # 3)

The Hope of the Church # 1

The Hope of the Church # 1

1 Thessalonians 4:13-18

"But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so then also which sleep in Jesus will God bring him. For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. For the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, the the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first. Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore comfort one another with these words."

It is a very interesting fact, I think, that this first Letter to the Thessalonians is the earliest of the writings of the Apostle Paul which the Spirit of God has preserved for the edification of the Church; and yet it abounds in reference to the great doctrine of the Second Advent of our Lord Jesus Christ. Then, too, it was written to a very young Church. Some people are inclined to think of the doctrine of the Lord's Return as something so difficult to understand, and as a truth so deep, and so hard for simple men to lay hold of, that it should only be proclaimed to Christians who are well advanced, and who are mature in their experience, and who have a very full understanding of the divine truth. But this Church to whom Paul wrote this Letter was composed of very young Christians. Only a few months before the writing of the Letter, at the most, they had been in the darkness and ignorance of heathendom. A few, perhaps, were Jews who had been brought to a saving knowledge of Christ, but the majority of these people in the Church at Thessalonica were heathen who had been reached by the Gospel, and who were now rejoicing in Christ Jesus. Then you remember that the Apostle Paul was only permitted to spend a very brief period with them. Luke speaks of his preaching in the synagogue for three Sabbath days, but how much longer he was there we are not told, possibly a little longer. Then persecution broke out, and in obedience to the Lord's word, "If they persecute you in one city, flee to another" (the apostle did not then have the ultra-dispensational teacher of today to tell him that the Lord's words did not then apply to him) he left there, and went on to Berea, and then on to Athens; and he left Timothy behind him to care for the young Church, and then to report. As a result of a letter that came to him at Athens he was so exercised that he sent Timothy back, and he could not rest until he returned the second time, and told him how well they were getting on. It was a wonderful report he brought back. Paul was fearful lest these young believers might have been disturbed by the enmity of the unbelieving Jews, and of their former friends in heathenism, who were opposed to the Gospel of Christ. But when Timothy returned he said something like this: "You know, Paul, it is remarkable the way they are going on. They are not only standing steadfast, and holding fast the Word of truth, but they are holding forth the Word of life. They have all turned preachers, and everywhere in Thessalonica they are carrying the message, and not only there but into Macedonia they have gone, and into other parts and into Achaia, and are telling out the story with great assurance." And he must have added, "You know, Paul, they are greatly distressed over one thing. You remember you told them that the Lord Jesus Christ was coming again to reign as King." He did proclaim that truth, and persecution broke out, and the accusation was made against Paul that he was a disturber of the peace. His enemies said of him, "He is preaching another King, one Jesus." And if Paul were preaching another King, one "Jesus" then he was preaching the Second Coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. When our Lord Jesus was baptized in the Jordan and anointed with the Spirit He was set apart for three offices - prophet, priest, and King. He exercised His prophetic office here on earth. He is exercising His priestly office yonder in the glory. But His is to reign as King when He comes back again, when the kingdoms of this world shall become the kingdoms of our God, and of His Christ.

~Harry A. Ironside~

(continued with # 2)

Antichrist

Antichrist

This name introduces to us one of the most solemn and foreboding subjects in the Word of God. An antichrist - one absolutely opposed to Jesus Christ - we are told, shall come (John 2:18). The spirit of antichrist is already in the world, denying the coming of Jesus Christ in the flesh, either in the past (1 John 4:3) or in the future (2 John 7).

This spirit of antichrist, now possessed by many, will culminate in one person, the antichrist, who will deny both the Father and the Son (1 John 2:22).

That he is a single individual is plainly taught in 2 Thess. 2, where he is called "that man of sin ... the son of perdition" _ "that wicked," the lawless one.

As Christ is the express image of God (Heb. 1:3), so it appears that antichrist is the culminating manifestation of satan, "the prince of this world" (John 14:30). His coming is "after the working of satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, and with all deceivableness of unrighteousness..." (2 Thess. 2:9-10).

He will be a "strong delusion," to them who believe not the truth (2 Thess. 2:3-12).

This mystery of lawlessness already worked in the days of the apostle, but there has been a hindering power, which, we believe, is the Holy Spirit, in His present manifestation, or office (as the reprover of the world and gatherer of the Church). When He, the restraining one, is taken out of the way, at the rapture of the Church, then shall the mystery be unveiled, and the lawless one be revealed (2 Thess. 2:7-8).

He will be received, even by the Jews (John 5:43), who, having returned to their own land and rebuilt their temple, will make a treaty with him, called by the prophet a covenant with death and an agreement with hell (Isaiah 28:14-18). And antichrist will exalt himself above all that is called God, or that is worshiped, so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God (the rebuilt temple) and sheweth himself that he is God. (2 Thess. 2:4). Doubtless he is the king described in Daniel 11:36), who shall do according to his own will and magnify himself above every god. Again, he is seen as the beast described in Revelation 13:11-18 whose number is the number of man, 666, and who performs "great wonderes...and deceiveth them that dwell upon the earth," by means of his miracles, and has the power to kill those who will not worship the image of the beast. And again he is seen in lucifer, or the day star, of Isaiah 14:12-16) of whom the king of Babylon was a type, and who weakens the nations, exalts his "throne above the stars of God," and sits "upon the mount of the congregation."

Such, in brief, is the awful picture which Scripture gives us of this great opponent of Christ. Many think that he has already been manifested in Antiochus Epiphanes - or the Popes of Rome - or Mohammed and his successors, all of which we regard as erroneous. The Popes have received their exaltation and power, as the pretended vicars of Christ, and not as His opponent. It is a great mistake, therefore, to call them the antichrist, or the opposing one. Antiochus was doubtless a type of antichrist. And in his opposition to the worship of Jehovah, his sacrifice of the hated swine in the temple and his merciless treatment of the Jews, he has given us a miniature picture of what the final antichrist will do. But he passed away long before Paul and John wrote of the antichrist to come. Likewise Mohammed may be in some sense a type, but that is all.

No, antichrist is still in the future, and he will not be manifested until the true Church has been taken away, at the rapture, as described in 1 Thess. 4:16-18). For Paul says "We beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto Him" that is, by this very fact of the rapture, of which he had previously written them, and which must first occur before the apostasy should come to the full, and the man of sin be revealed. This is confirmed by verse 7. (1 Thess. 2:1-2; 7; 1 Thess. 4:16-18). The Holy Spirit who, while He is gathering the Bride (1 Cor. 12:12-13); Eph. 4:30), reproves the world of sin, righteousness and judgment (John 16:8), will, when He is taken out of the way, catch up the Bride to meet the Lord in the air, leaving the apostate church, adulterous Israel and the ungodly world, to believe a lie (2 Thess. 2:11), and then shall the lawless one be revealed. Praise God, that the Church is kept from this awful hour of temptation (Luke 21:36); Rev. 3:10). She shall be with her Lord (1 Thess. 4:17-18; 5:9-10), while the world is ruled by antichrist.

But, though antichrist shall so greatly exalt himself and rule over the world with such power, yet "shall he come to his end, and none shall help him" (Dan. 11:45). The Lord shall destroy him "with the brightness of His coming" (2 Thess. 2:8), when He shall come, with His saints, to execute judgment upon the ungodly (Jude 14:15). Yes, he shall be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit." They that see him shall narrowly look upon him and consider him, saying, "is this the man that made the earth to tremble, and did shake kingdoms, that made the world as a wilderness, and destroyed the cities thereof?" (Isaiah 14:15-17).

We would call special attention to the fact that antichrist denies the Father and the Son and that the Greek words in 2 Thess. 2:7-8 could be rendered "the mystery of lawlessness". This, we think, gives an alarming significance to the atheistic and lawless trio of socialism, nihilism and anarchy, so rapidly spreading in our day, and which seeks to wipe out all law relating to marriage, property, etc.

It may be that these are the immediate precursors of anitchrist. At any rate, he is surely coming, and sad indeed is the thought of a godless world, rushing on to such a culmination of evil.

~W. E. B. Blackstone~

(The End)

Show Thyself A Man # 2

Show Thyself A Man # 2

Settle the question in self-control by making timely decisions about what you are going to do about such important matters as temperance, morality and religion. Settle the question very early that your life shall be directed by principles and not by impulse. If you are not willing to deliberately take the risk of becoming a good-for-nothing sot, settle the question at once and finally that you will never take your first drink. Not to do this is to have about half decided that you will yield when the temptation comes. It means that you have concluded that you may yield, and so the probability is great that you will.

If you are not willing to take the risk of becoming a social outcast, decide as Joseph did long before he reached Potiphar's house that you will have a moral life.

To be a man means to be strong in purpose and self-control. If our manhood is buried under doubt, dig it out. There's a Gettysburg in every man's life which he has to fight. To be ready is half the secret of success.

Having oil or no oil in your lamp is the difference between light and darkness, between happiness and despair.

If you are not willing to run the risk of losing your soul take the only step that can make it safe by taking Christ into your heart and life at once. 

Decision determines what life is to become for every man in this world, and also decides it for eternity.

The man who lets the devil choose his company for him will soon do anything the devil wants him to do. Strive for self-control by forming good habits before bad ones fasten themselves upon you. A thread can be broken, but a rope will hang you. 

Be prudent by learning your own strength and weakness. Get the best training possible. Remember that knowledge is power. There is no excuse for ignorance in this day, when colleges are everywhere, and books seem to almost grow on trees.

The life of an uneducated man is like that of a mole living in the dark, while that of the man with culture is like the eagle, mounting above the clouds and soaring towards the sun.

Take the great men of the Bible and stand before them long enough to realize how great they were, and then ask yourself what there was in them that you ought to have in you, and then spend some time every day in considering the man who had in himself the great and manly qualities of them all in a superlative degree - the divine man - the God man - the man of Galilee.

Learn how to behold Christ's glory and so be changed into His likeness from glory to glory even as by the Spirit of the Lord. Let your soul go out to Him and be filled with Him, and you will soon begin to see that everything that is not like Him is unmanly and mean. Spend three months in studying His life on its man-ward side, and you will have a more exalted knowledge of what it means to be a man than you ever before possessed. A knowledge that will quicken you and inspire you to live for God and man as you never lived before.

Study the purpose of Christ and notice that He never swerved from the business for which He came into the world.

Study His prudence and courage and you will also find it true of His self control, faithfulness, charity, unselfishness, benevolence and sympathy.

Surely this man was the Son of God and the most glorious promise for us ever given that when He shall appear we shall be like Him. "Be thou strong, therefore, and show thyself a man."

~Billy Sunday~

(The End)

A Sermon For Erring Christians # 1

A Sermon For Erring Christians # 1

"If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land" (2 Chronicles 7:14).

Theme: Plain directions to Christians who are out of the King's highway, telling them how to get back into the way.

This text is God's answer to Solomon's prayer at the dedication of the Temple. That prayer is remarkable for these three things:

1. A distinct recognition of the fact that all of God's people will and do sin.

2. That divine chastisement for purposes of correction will certainly follow every such sin.

3. A petition that God would accept and honor as adequate provision for the forgiveness of such sin.

These three notable characteristics of this famous prayer are very carefully stated because they embody a great deal of doctrine. And doctrinal statements ought never to be loosely and incautiously worded. Let us elaborate somewhat on each characteristic of this prayer.

Observe carefully that the first notable characteristic is not a recognition of the fact that some of God's people will sin nor the mere possibility that all of them may sin, but that all of them will and do sin - all of them, without one exception.  If this statement be correct, it forever settles some things. It forever negatives as unscriptural certain modern doctrines touching sanctification. If it be urged as an objection that Solomon in his prayer continually said, "If Thy people sin," the "if" implying contingency only, or mere liability, the answer to such objection is obvious, conclusive, and crushing that he himself carefully guarded against such construction of his language. The possibility expressed by the "if" relates only to the particular form of the sin and never to the fact that sin would come in some form. The "if" was designed to cover any or all forms. It is as if he had said, "If it take this form or that?, whatever form it may take and some form it will take - then hear thou in heaven and forgive."

Would you hear and consider some of this proof? We have two inspired records of this prayer. In both, the "if" is not designed by him to convey the idea of doubt or uncertainty as to the fact of sin.

"If they sin against Thee (for there is no man that sinneth not" (1 Kings 8:46 and 2 Chronicles 6:36).

The full import of this broad negative as to the existence of sinless men is emphasized by its enlarged restatement by Solomon in another and much later connection: "For there is not a just man upon earth, that doeth good, and sinneth not" (Ecclesiastics 7:20). This, for the present, at least, is sufficient proof of the correctness of the first statement, that Solomon's prayer distinctly recognizes the fact, not that some of God's people will sin, nor that all of them may sin, but that all of them will and do sin. 

The second characteristic of the prayer is that divine chastisement, for purposes of correction, inevitably follows such sin. There is no doubt here, no ambiguity. Every element of uncertainty is excluded. You, O Christian is not the only inalienable and precious heritage of every child of God, but it is also a distinguishing mark to evidence the fact that he is a child of God. No chastisement, no child. What saith the scripture?

My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, Nor faint when thou art rebuked of Him; For whom the Lord loveth He chasteneth. And scourgeth every son whom He recevieth. If you endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not. But if ye be without chastisement whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards and not sons. Furthermore we have had the fathers of our flesh who corrected us, and we gave them reverence. Shall we not much rather be in subjection to the Father of spirits and live? For they verily for a few days chastened us after their own pleasure. But He for our profit that we might be partakers of His holiness. Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous but grievous; nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them who are exercised thereby. Wherefore lift up the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees; and make straight paths for your feet; let that which is lame be not turned out of the way; but let it rather be healed." Now, do observe how this Scripture corroborates the first proposition that all God's people sin. All His people are partakers of chastisement. Any self-styled child of God who is without chastisement is a bastard and not a son. He chastises to correct come wrong, to heal some lameness. He chastises not willingly, but for love and for profit.  Mark this, that the object of chastisement is that "Ye might be partakers of His holiness."

To claim to be holy as God is holy is to claim that you have passed out of the realm of chastisement. The school of discipline for the spirit ends only with death of the body or its glorification without death. Death is the last stroke of discipline. With death all chastening of the spirit ceases. Seen after death they are at last "the spirits of just men made perfect." (Hebrews 12:23).

~B. H. Carroll~

(continued with # 2)

Classic Christian Quotes From Classic Ministers

Classic Christian Quotes From Classic Ministers


The most unpopular, hated and feared teaching in the entire Bible!

(Brian Schwertley, "The Biblical Doctrine of Hell Examined")

"The rich man also died and was buried. In Hell, where he was in torment . . ." Luke 16:22-23 
 
The doctrine of eternal punishment is probably the most unpopular, hated and feared teaching in the entire Bible. The thought of people burning in Hell for eternity is most repugnant to the human mind. 

Yet in spite of the terrifying nature of the doctrine, and in spite of the fact that people find the idea of everlasting torment revolting, the strongest support of the doctrine comes from the lips of Jesus Christ. Think of it: the most terrifying imagery and detailed descriptions of Hell are found in the discourses of the Redeemer! Jesus continually warned men and women of the danger of going to Hell. Jesus Christ, who foretold that He would come again to judge the entire human race, spoke more about Hell and its terrors than all the prophets and apostles combined. To ignore and disregard the clear teaching of Jesus, is to deny Christ. 

The Bible sets before us many differing aspects of the torments in Hell as a warning. The torments of Hell help us to understand how much God hates sin. Oh what dreadful torments await those who die without Christ! 

"Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in Hell." Matthew 10:28 

"They will throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth!" Matthew 13:42 

"Then He will say to those on His left: Depart from Me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels!" Matthew 25:41
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0-12

(10) And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the wedding; and the door was shut. (11) "Afterward the other virgins came also, saying, "Lord, Lord, open to us!" (12) But he answered and said, "Assuredly, I say to you, I do not know you."
New King James Version   

The door is shut with finality. The verb tense says the door is shut to stay shut. Therefore, at that point, no one's repentance, prayer, or pleading can change that fact. Noah's ark having its door sealed shut is a similar vivid illustration of its finality (Genesis 7:16) - it was shut to stay shut throughout the Flood. All the pleading in the world would not open the ark's door to others after it was shut. Once Christ has come or we have died, our opportunity to be among the firstfruits of the Kingdom will have been decided. The door's closing is fair because everyone had ample time to prepare for the bridegroom's coming. He does not come early in the evening but late. He is even delayed (verse 5), giving extra time to be ready. We have our whole lives - all the years of Christ's longsuffering and patience with us - to prepare. Therefore, it is just and fair that the door is shut when our last hour comes. Isaiah recognizes man's tendency to procrastinate in his warning, "Seek the Lord while He may be found, call upon Him while He is near" (Isaiah 55:6).

The foolish Laodicean attitude dictates that one needs nothing else spiritually, but such a one will be rudely awakened to realize his terrible unpreparedness. This attitude is bankrupt of vision and foresight. It sees no need to prepare for the eventualities of life either physically or, more importantly, spiritually. Opportunities come and go through life, and no opportunity is so greatly lost than that of the foolish virgins. They fail to realize that the bridegroom would probably come later than expected. They lack faithful perseverance in thought and action.

The lesson Christ emphasizes in this parable is to be prepared for the future, namely, the coming of Christ. The prophet Amos expresses this powerfully: "Prepare to meet your God, O Israel!" (Amos 4:12). Human beings have little trouble preparing for everything, except meeting God. The last verse of the parable (verse 13) makes its purpose ring in our ears: "Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour in which the Son of Man is coming."

~Martin G. Collins~