Golden Oil

The house of happiness must be strong. I think none of you would want to live in a building that looks attractive but is not designed for bad weather and will not protect you from disaster, but will collapse on you and crush everyone inside. When it comes to an ordinary building, people show wisdom here and are ready to invest any means, just so that everything is reliable. But for some reason, they show surprising negligence regarding their soul, thinking that they can build anyhow or something, or not create anything at all. But it's worth paying attention to this as well.

Jesus began His ministry with the Sermon on the Mount. From the first words, He revealed the laws of happiness, explained the details of a blessed life, and ended His narrative with the construction of a house of happiness. Perhaps in previous centuries, it was not so important to pay attention to the quality of the walls, the main thing was that the house was built on the Rock. But in recent times, God wants to draw our attention to what and on what we are building, how and from what. And His goal is not just to teach us happiness, but to show the whole visible and invisible world what role love and the laws of bliss play even in critical times, and how they protect the soul that belongs to Christ.

The Lord Himself chose the means and tools for conducting the last battle between good and evil. The last victory will not be won by the blood of the saints and their death in torment for the faith, which Satan would so much like. This will happen with the help of those means that the Lord advises us to acquire in His message to Laodicea.

And in this message, He assures us that He Himself will come to sanctify our house with His personal presence and have communion with us in a cozy atmosphere.

The Lord convinces me of His love, calls for repentance, gently knocks and calls, wanting me to open. And He offers me gold, purified by fire, which, when melted, looks very much like golden oil, reflecting Heavenly light with bright iridescence. And if we take into account that the walls of my house are strong but hollow, I understand that this gold should be poured inside the walls so that all their elements are filled with golden material, which, when solidified, will give them special strength. And this is such an important process that Jesus came personally to control it. And how gently He asks to enter my house! How unobtrusive, but purposeful! Will I open?

I understand that if I ignore this voice of Christ, I will have problems. But I am very confused that the goods offered to me need to be bought. After all, in exchange for them, the Lord expects to receive what makes me wretched, pitiful, poor, blind, and naked. He wants to take all my time to teach me how to own these goods, and I value my time very much and strive to spend it on anything but studying what is offered to me. Besides, I'm very used to an unhappy life, and I don't want to change anything in it.

But the Lord doesn't leave me alone and tells me a story about 10 girls, five of whom were wise, and the others were like me. I began to observe the behavior of the wise ones. They began to stock up on oil from the Laodicean shop and spent a lot of time on it. And I watched and didn't understand why such a waste of means? Everything seems to be going as usual, and why do they need such strong houses to store this oil? And the knock and voice at my door constantly called me to join the wise girls. And I know that they are doing something interesting, and I see from Whom they are buying oil for themselves, but I don't have time to join them, because I need to serve and do deeds, and they are constantly studying something and rejoicing in some new discoveries and revelations. They constantly call me to join them. But I decide to wait.

And in general, I'm very tired of my load. I should rest. And the wise ones don't mind sleeping. I know that the Lord will warn me about events if they are approaching, so there's no need to worry about the future. If something happens, I know where I can buy everything necessary, and my unwise girlfriends support me in my understanding. I look, and the wise ones have already dozed off, and we are also getting sleepy, and as a result, we all fell asleep.

The Lord will not leave us, because He promised that He would be with us until the end of the age. Moreover, He has already come, and stands at the door, but wants to enter, however, only after my purchase.

Oh, this gold, this white garment, this eye salve! How long can they be offered? I even constantly dream about all this.

And how nice it is to sleep! They say that during sleep, the brain is rebooted, and it can work further with new strength.

Oh, I'll rest! And if something dangerous, then the Lord will warn me in advance. He loves to warn.

But here the midnight cry wakes us up. How dark! And the Bridegroom is coming. Where is my lamp? Everything is in place. But somehow it doesn't light up. Yes, there's no way without oil. And without a lamp, they won't let you into the wedding feast. And the wise girls can't give me anything, but advise me to go to the sellers and buy from them. But the Seller has gone! And what to do? I didn't expect such a turn. And the wise ones were really wise, and we laughed at them and twirled our finger at our temple. And they are already at the celebration. Well, I bought something, and my lamp seems to be burning, I need to hurry to make it. But the doors leading to the celebration closed. Wait!!! Me too!!! Wait!!! We want too!!! Oh, Jesus, it's us, please open! We're already here. Don't you know us? Stop mocking, you called me by name for so many years and held my right hand, and now you say you don't know? And didn't we prophesy in Your name? and didn't we cast out demons in Your name? and didn't we do many wonders in Your name?

Why don't You know us? We need to depart from You? We do lawlessness? Where did You get that from? Well, open, I'm asking you, Lord!!!

How terrible it is to be behind the door! And I heard this voice and these warnings for so many years. I saw how the wise ones prepared, and I knew that they had something valuable, but I was ignorant, expecting that the Lord would again gently convict me and offer something else, not expecting anything from me. After all, I'm used to getting everything just like that and for free. And He didn't warn me, but simply moved away from me when I finally fell asleep. And I so believed that the time of grace would never end, and I can improve my financial condition during this time and build large warehouses for my goods. Oh, how much I have of everything, and how rich I have become! And who will all this go to? And now I am wretched, and everyone around me is wretched. And suddenly we realized that we had lost something very important and valuable that would never become ours again. And it was so close! So accessible!

And my house couldn't withstand the pressure of the waters, which are the passions of the wicked, and it collapsed. And with it, all my plans collapsed. What did I live for? What did I believe for? Why didn't I take interest in the main thing and didn't listen to those who talked so much about love and happiness in Jesus?

You can still watch them on YouTube, read their books. But it's no longer possible to become like they became. And I didn't imagine that everything would end so quickly. How dark! How painful! Oh, if I could bring it all back, I would devote all my time to searching!

Questions for reflection on this chapter:

1. Please read Matthew 25:1-13; Revelation 3:14-22; and especially Revelation 3:18; Matthew 7:21-27; Habakkuk 2:9-14; Psalm 127:1-2; Jeremiah 29:5-7; 1 Corinthians 3:10-17; 4:1-5; 1 Peter 4:10 in light of this chapter.

2. What did you understand from this chapter?

3. Did you notice that after the narrative about how bad it will be for those who use the Lord's name in vain, Jesus advises building a house? Matthew 7:21-27

4. To which category of the 10 virgins do you currently relate yourself?

5. Is it worth knowing in our last times what the oil for the lamp represents?

6. Did you notice the common parallels from the parable of the ten virgins and the message to Laodicea? What exactly is common in this?

7. Why doesn't Jesus send any messages to the ten virgins?

8. Who do the ten virgins symbolize, and what time is being referred to there?

9. Is it worth building your house of happiness in the last time?

10. What relationship does agape love have to the parable of the ten virgins?

11. Are you not afraid to be left outside the door when the Bridegroom comes?

12. When will the favorable time come for building the house of your happiness?

13. How important is it now to understand what happiness is, how to build it, and what it consists of?

14. What should I do if I understand that everything I have built so far is wrong and dangerous, although it partially has eternal materials?

15. Should I start building happiness if I'm about to retire soon, and I don't have much time left to live in this world, and I have no heirs?