Do You Have Enough Oil in Case of An Emergency?

They that were foolish took their lamps, and took no oil with them: but the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps. (Matthew 25:3,4)

One time the writer asked the Lord why he would not be allowed to share his "oil" with the needy in the Day of the Lord. The Lord seemed to reply that in that Day one would have only enough oil for himself. Even the righteous are saved with difficulty. A sobering thought!

In the eighth chapter of Romans, Paul reveals to us why "oil" is so important in the Day of Christ.

We Christians possess a physical body that is dead because of the sin that resides in it.

God already has placed within us the Spirit of life that, in the Day of Christ, will raise us from the dead:

We have a dead body but within us is the Spirit of the resurrection.

If we choose to put to death through the Holy Spirit the deeds of our body, overcoming the lusts of our flesh and our pride and self-will, the resurrection life within us will be powerfully present, awaiting only the trumpet of God to make alive our mortal body.

But if we choose instead to live "in the flesh," thinking and acting according to the desires of our flesh and fleshly mind, the resurrection life within us will decrease in vitality until it is present in minimal amount or not at all:

We still have our Christian "testimony"—our profession of belief in Christ, but the resurrection life is gone out of us.

When the trumpet of God sounds there will be no response from within us. We shall understand, because of our knowledge of the Word of God, what is taking place. But we shall find, to our panic and terror, that there is no eternal life rising up from within us. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth in that hour.

Satan will then turn against us and mock us because he has been successful in causing us to believe we can be involved in the prosperity of this world's culture and still be a servant of Christ Jesus. Satan will gleefully remind us that we have been as faithless as he himself.

The Day of the Lord will fall as a snare on the inhabitants of the earth, including the believers who have not been looking constantly to Christ Jesus. The Christians who have allowed the love of the world to interfere with their sowing to the life of the Spirit of God will not have the inner power to enable them to join together with the elect who have been raised from the dead.

It is not possible to be entangled with the things of the world, as so many Christians are today, and then respond successfully to the trumpet of God in the Day of Christ.

How about you? Are you carrying a good supply of oil in you? (From The Day of Messiah)