This would have been funny if it weren’t for the fact that millions are being deceived by TPM. Here is another example that shows TPM is ill-equipped in any kind of meaningful exegesis of scripture. In TPM, “up” means “down” and “down” means “up”. They package every sermon inside a wrapper that reads “deeper truth” and sends it to millions who take it in without thinking twice.
As a Sunday school kid in TPM, I was taught that the meaning of the parable of the 10 virgins was contrary to what the text obviously said. I was taught that the wise virgins were not really wise, but were, in fact, the opposite, who were not ready to meet Jesus at his second coming. The 5 wise virgins were left behind because they weren’t “pure enough”. Jesus left them behind and they experienced the wrath of God that was poured on the earth and had to die as martyrs.
I recently came across this message series by a TPM pastor( Bro Thomas) who reiterated what I was taught as a kid. This series lays bare the competency of TPM when it comes to biblical exegesis. As you listen to it, it becomes pretty apparent that TPM just makes up things that only sound “deep” and “spiritual” but in reality, they are of no value.
“Then the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom. Five of them were foolish, and five were wise. For when the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them, but the wise took flasks of oil with their lamps. As the bridegroom was delayed, they all became drowsy and slept. But at midnight there was a cry, ‘Here is the bridegroom! Come out to meet him.’ Then all those virgins rose and trimmed their lamps. And the foolish said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’ But the wise answered, saying, ‘since there will not be enough for us and for you, go rather to the dealers and buy for yourselves.’ And while they were going to buy, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the marriage feast, and the door was shut. Afterward the other virgins came also, saying, ‘Lord, lord, open to us.’ But he answered, ‘Truly, I say to you, I do not know you.’ Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour.”
TPM’s Refuted By Their Own Words
Before I show you the internal inconsistency of TPM’s doctrines, let’s look at TPM’s eschatology. According to TPM, Jesus is coming back to take those who have followed every doctrine and practice of TPM to the letter. He is coming to take those who are practicing a sinless life (meaning, those who live by the rules of TPM). They are Christ’s bride who will live in “New Jerusalem” and “Zion” in eternity. Those who don’t follow TPM’s doctrines/practices will be left behind and face the wrath of God for 3.5 years. After 3.5 years Jesus will return to take those who are martyred during these 3.5 years. These martyrs will be put in a faraway “planet” called the “New Heaven”.
This is how TPM refutes itself
- Jesus ends the parable by saying “Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour”. If this was the harvest at the end of 3.5 years, then the virgins absolutely know the hour and time of Christ’s return. They only need math skills of a 5-year-old to count 3.5 years from the time of the rapture.
- TPM says the martyrs go to New Heaven. But we read “..the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the marriage feast”. TPM’s “plan for eternity” absolutely falls part here.
- Jesus is using an analogy of a Jewish wedding to teach his disciples to be ready for his coming at all times. In a Jewish wedding, the bridegroom leaves his house at midnight and goes to the bride’s house to take her to the marriage feast. TPM has no clue about the historical setting for this story and therefore says “midnight” mentioned there means “tribulation after the rapture”.
- TPM also says when “they all became drowsy and slept” Jesus came and the virgins missed the rapture. This is called adding to the text of scripture. We see that as soon as the bridegroom came the 5 wise virgins were ready to meet him.
TPM’s Atrocious Exegesis
In the clip, TPM says there are 3 types of virgins namely the chaste virgin, the wise virgin, and foolish virgin. They say the chaste virgin is the bride of Christ, the wise virgins are the ones that are left behind to die as martyrs and the foolish virgins are the ones who side with the anti-Christ.
On day 3 of the bible study, the preacher goes on to the topic of “wise virgins”. In that, we can hear him say that in Greek, the meaning of the word “wise” means “proud”. This forms the basis of his bible study for the next 3 days.
Remember when I said, in TPM “up” means “down” and “down” means “up”? There are absolutely no Greek scholars or Greek lexicons which say “phronimoi” means “proud”. TPM which has absolutely no background in biblical languages just made up a definition of a word in a language they have no clue about. And what’s worse? They preach it to millions who are under the impression that the preacher knows what he’s talking about. When you listen to the whole sermon series, you can see the preacher frequently say “the holy Spirit is guiding me to say this”. This kind of deception makes one think God himself is speaking through the preacher when he’s preaching. This couldn’t be further from the truth.
Let us look at what the Greek actually says.
As you can see, the meaning of the word “phronimos” clearly means “intelligent, prudent, sensible, wise”. It is the same word used in Matthew 7:24 in which Jesus says the wise man built his house upon the rock which is Christ. According to TPM’s understanding of the word, it becomes the “proud” that built his house upon the rock!
Conclusion
Dear readers, this is what TPM calls “deeper truth”. Don’t be duped by their self-exaltation and sweet talk. TPM claims they don’t need a real education like other church pastors because, in TPM, the Holy Spirit speaks via every TPM pastor. They like to present their sermons as though there is no difference between God-breathed scripture and the words that come out of their mouth. In reality, since they aren’t trained in biblical languages or biblical history, they are ill-equipped at making coherent sermons. The training that people who step down for ministry in TPM isn’t a theological one. They merely learn how to become more of a sheep than they already were as a believer. Then through the course of their ministry, they learn how to control the masses like blind sheep, a trait they picked up from their leaders.
You heard the sermon clip. This is not what sound biblical exegesis looks like. They merely throw around Greek words to make it seem like they know what they are talking about. They give out wrong meanings of the Greek words to reconcile their false doctrines with scripture.
In the same message series, the preacher uses Galatians 3 to say the Galatians were called “foolish” because the Galatian church did not follow all the rules perfectly. What kind of church uses a scripture portion that preaches AGAINST legalism to actually teach legalism? This is because nobody has taught TPM pastors that context matters. They read one or two verses and don’t bother reading what is written before and after it. But that’s a discussion for another day, so I digress.
Peter in his epistles had warned that there are unlearned and unstable that distort scripture.
“As also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things; in which are some things hard to be understood, which they that are unlearned and unstable twist, as they do also the other scriptures, unto their own destruction.” (2 Peter 3:16)
Peter was speaking about Paul’s epistles. TPM does this with all scripture. My only wish is that the hearers of these twisted doctrines come to realize of it as soon as possible.
References
Nothing short of prefect! A very well researched and explained article. I’ve been in this group since childhood so I can relate very well. Lack of knowledge of Greek and Hebrew is a huge drawback, yet that is what they boast in. Context is never in the picture. A very good article. Thank you. Hope people get to see the truth. God bless you.
I have a query on this parable.
Theres lot of different interpretation available on internet for this parable. Some like TPM says oil means HS. Others say oil means truth. If oil means Holy Spirit how is it possible to share Holy Spirit or anointing with anyone (Foolish asked wise to share HS ?). If oil means truth, how can my sharing truth with others lessen it in my account ( wise ones said no we cant share truth?)?
Does oil really signify anything or its just to be taken in larger context of being ready and being not ready? What does it mean to be ready & not ready ?
In this context, I know the Oil does not signify the Holy Spirit as Holy Spirit is not for sale(Acts 8:18). The Wise asks the foolish to go and Buy it from Sellers(Matt 25:9). Moreover as mentioned by you, we cannot Share the anointing of the Holy Spirit as it is dependent on God himself, not us.
As far as I understand, the Oil is a measure of Obedience to the Truth. It’s not the head knowledge but experiential following. As far as the transactional aspect is concerned, it aligns with Proverbs 23:23. In the Process of acquiring this experiential truth, we will have to pay a COST (The act of Buying). This cost can be anything that we hold dear. It could even be our lives.
As far as lessening the amount of Oil Question is concerned, My Opinion is that, we may end up diluting many truths in the process of sharing(accommodating) others. That will render our preparedness WEAK.
I could be wrong. If anybody has a better explanation, please post it.
Thankx for your input .Agree 100% that HS can neither be bought nor sold. It cannot be exchanged too. It is a gift of God!
Looking for something better!
Where are TPM talented ones? Ones with the deeper truth ! Come ! Explain !
Dear Admin,
Please make an article on the following topic.
TPM shames other churches that have seminaries and Bible schools and Bible colleges where literal knowledge is taught. But they on the other hand make up their own facts and flaunt it like their truth is the only truth and is not refutable. Every other church have higher educations which ends in bachelor and master degrees if not Doctorate degrees. This organization despises these educational qualifications and thinks that everything they conjure out of thin air will be believed by their believers… And to a a certain degree the majority of the believers do believe them too… This is your challenge Admin… Make an article that will turn their heads from being held up high in false haughtiness to shame.
The reason TPM says for this is ‘almost all the apostles were uneducated’.Even though God can use an illiterate,I think a sound knowledge about the background, geography etc.of the bible,bible period and places are needed when we teach bible. And these people forget that apostles lived with Jesus and they are real characters from the bible.We who live in another period and geographical area need to learn many things.So bible colleges are really helpful.Only through studies we can understand how many children of God sacrificed their lives to translate bible in to other languages. So those who want to do ministry should learn all these history.
My take on this parable is that the foolish virgins weren’t saved, but the wise ones were. The wise virgins had true saving faith and the foolish ones did not. The foolish virgins had outward religion but were empty on the inside. They “acted” Christian all the while they never actually believed Christ. The key is when the bridegroom says “I do not know you”. So what was missing in the lives of the foolish virgins was a relationship with the bridegroom.
“I know my own sheep, and they know me” (John 10:14)
I think the fact that in the parable, oil can be bought is merely incidental. Because even the wise virgins would have bought oil from dealers. The point of the parable is that the virgins had to do certain things to be considered “ready” i.e have oil and lamps. In a Jewish wedding when the bridegroom came to take the bride at night, they had to be ready with torches (lamp) to light the way as the bridegroom takes the bride to his home. The wise were ready with their lamps and oil but the foolish had no means to shine the light since they had an empty lamp with no oil. So, as a Christian, how are we considered “ready”? Faith. We are saved by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone. That’s how one becomes a sheep of the Chief Shepherd and He knows every one of His sheep.
Dear Richard,
I sincerely believe that every parable or hidden truth in the Bible has scope for a liberal exegesis. In other words, each one’s interpretation of the same one example may slightly vary and still stay true and faithful to the testimony of Jesus.
I see your ‘understanding’ to be just as sincere and faithful to the Word.
Thanks for the share
Nice one! I think our minds are so modelled by hearing so much erroneous TPM teachings, that we remain glued to one word “oil.” The parable must be taken as a whole to understand what Jesus is trying to say rather than trying to find deeper truths like what is ‘oil’, or what does number 10 or number 5 signify, or what midnight signifies etc etc. In attempt to find deeper truths we miss the simple ones. In attemt to find deeper truths one gets going deeper in abyss of errors!
Here’s one more interesting interpretation of this parable.
http://www.gotquestions.org/amp/parable-ten-virgins.html
Sensible !
Can somebody explain here what is the difference between a virgin and a chaste virgin?
Does that mean that the 10 virgins here are disqualified from being virgins, by the definition?
By the definition of the word, virgin is someone who has not had sex. TPM does this thing where they insert categories in passages. What I mean by that is this. For example, when Jesus was talking about virgins, he had 2 categories in his mind, “wise virgins” and “foolish virgins”. When Paul was speaking about virgins he had 2 categories in his mind, “chaste virgin” and “unchaste virgin”. We need to read passages of scripture in its context. The two passages (Jesus’ parable and Paul) must NOT be conflated to create 3(or 4) categories.
The 5 wise virgins are the picture of the church. The point of Jesus’ parable is to teach that we must be ready at all times. These 5 are not disqualified. Only the 5 foolish ones are.
Paul says that the church is betrothed (engaged) to Christ and that we must remain as the pure virgin.
“..since I betrothed you to one husband, to present you as a pure virgin to Christ. But I am afraid that as the serpent deceived Eve by his cunning, your thoughts will be led astray from a sincere and pure devotion to Christ. For if someone comes and proclaims another Jesus than the one we proclaimed, or if you receive a different spirit from the one you received, or if you accept a different gospel from the one you accepted, you put up with it readily enough.” (2 Cor 11:2-4)
The point Paul is making is this. We are betrothed to Christ. But if our minds are led astray to a “different Christ” or a “different gospel”, we wont remain chaste anymore.
Dear Richard,
I was expecting someone else to defend the three types of virgins theory, per the audio message.
I completely agree with you, since we are on the same side of the debate, am looking for a counter from some die-hard TPM fan who classifies Virgins as Chaste, Wise (proud) and foolish (sleeping).
You and me both, brother. It’s a rarity to find a die-hard TPM believer who is actually willing to debate. Hope somebody shows up!
Gud one! Especially pointing 2 Cor 11:2-4
So the term “virgin” is a general term referring to the unmarried who are sexually pure. Chaste Virgin is someone who is engaged to a man and from that point onwards, her heart is devoted to the man she is engaged to. If she follows other men while being engaged, she wouldn’t be considered chaste, because the loyalty of her mind is corrupted. Hope that answers your question.
I am in total agreement brother
The wise virgins are the Christians who meet Jesus at the rapture. It also represents Jews who accepted Christ and had a real reason to, from within their hearts.
The foolish are the Jews who kept waiting for the messiah and miss the signs.
The oil signifies the inner conviction and the calling of each individual.
While Christians understand about personal salvation, Jews believe in national salvation. They are the ones who were willing to rejoice in the light of prophets like John the Baptist, for a season. John 5.35
The miserly attitude in sharing the oil is a reflection of the scarcity of true prophesies and true grace that can help us shine brighter.
No longer is the true/ pure oil available in the mart (Churchly ministries)- just contaminated truths and false dealers/prophets who will make you ‘pay’ literally and spiritually. And even after you paid, you’d still not have the true light but a smoking lamp.
Jewish Angle-Who are the dealers?
That’s the world bodies like UN, EU, NATO that will betray the Jews, and make them sign a ‘costly’ treaty with the false bridegroom, for the sake of crude oil.
Christian angle- Who are the dealers?
The dealers are the Church bodies that make you pay, to receive the free gift of God.
Why did they refuse to share?
The Jews and Christian perspectives on the messiah is so disparate that it is impossible to have a meaningful discourse, with intelligent and apologetic words.
They (Jews) cannot become the bride of Christ, at the last minute because all the while they were looking for signs and wonders- But alas the sign of Jonas was given them.
So they are asked to go to the dealers- Any thing that is ‘bought’ at the wedding party does not have any affiliation with the host. These dealers have not the spirit of Christ but are merely middlemen in the things of God.
(Jer 3.23- Truly in vain is salvation hoped for from the hills, and from the multitude of mountains: truly in the LORD our God is the salvation of Israel)
A completely new take-
The virgins are divided on the basis of the quality and quantity of the personal time and hope of the calling and the fruit of patience, they invested in- to know the Lord Jesus, and wait for Him eagerly.
In the beginning of their waiting period, all ten virgins were wise, but slumber and self crept in. Soon, they invested a small portion of the time towards themselves and that ‘small’ became ‘sizeable’
At the end of the wait, 5 wise virgins who were multitasking thought that they had connections and could easily bargain for an ounce of oil. Alas, their wisdom became their foolishness and thus these 5 wise virgins became known as foolish virgins.
Just curious: if the five wise virgins are Christ’s bride, or the group ready for the rapture, why were they unwilling to help other who also wanted to be ready? What has God given us, that we don’t have enough of, for ourselves and for others?
Hi Warren, Not sure if you have lain an open-to-all question, or if this a reply to my post.
More comments are pouring in and your answers are likely to be found scattered around.
I shall be very happy to reply, if you meant to be awaiting my reply.
Yes, I would appreciate a reply directly. In the multiple answers given, it seems there are many differing ideas, but no one clear interpretation.
Warren, John Piper explains it beautifully.
” impossible. Give us from your oil. The fact that the five wise virgins won’t give them any oil is not meant to teach selfishness. It’s meant to teach the impossibility of borrowing faith. It’s meant to teach the impossibility of borrowing the power of the Holy Spirit—the impossibility borrowing obedience and faithfulness. It’s too late. That is what we will see.
What the wise virgins mean when they say in verse 9, “There won’t be enough both of us, go buy your own oil,” is this: We can’t have faith for you and for us. We can’t have inner spiritual life for you and for us. We can’t give you obedience and the faithful use of God-appointed means. If you neglect them, in this life, we can’t create them for you. Each one bears his own load. So in desperation the foolish virgins, who wasted their lives, ran for the impossible: instant end-time obedience. Instant end-time faith.”
Warren, John Piper explains it beautifully.
“A life of foolishness deepens foolishness. When the shout goes out that the bridegroom is here, they trim their empty lamps. Still no oil. Just outward form. They trim their empty lamps when the cry rings out! This is deep folly. They have neglected the means appointed for doing their duty, and not even the shout wakens them to their empty lamps—not at first anyway. They trim their empty—their useless—lamps.
And then they ask the impossible. Give us from your oil. The fact that the five wise virgins won’t give them any oil is not meant to teach selfishness. It’s meant to teach the impossibility of borrowing faith. It’s meant to teach the impossibility of borrowing the power of the Holy Spirit—the impossibility borrowing obedience and faithfulness. It’s too late. That is what we will see.
What the wise virgins mean when they say in verse 9, “There won’t be enough both of us, go buy your own oil,” is this: We can’t have faith for you and for us. We can’t have inner spiritual life for you and for us. We can’t give you obedience and the faithful use of God-appointed means. If you neglect them, in this life, we can’t create them for you. Each one bears his own load. So in desperation the foolish virgins, who wasted their lives, ran for the impossible: instant end-time obedience. Instant end-time faith.”
That’s a great explanation: thanks!
Is rapture is unbiblical doctrine ??
No word rapture mentioned in Bible??
Who cook this Rapture theory”
I think it is in 18s.
One thing is sure.
Jesus will come, ( 2nd coming)
Brother,
There is only ONE Second Coming as per the Bible and the Words of Jesus. Churches like TPM Have tricked people with Multiple stages of the second coming. We will be writing few articles refuting this teaching of TPM and many other churches which are commonly called Pre-Trib Rapture Theory.
Hello Admin,
All my life I have grown up hearing the ‘rapture’ theory and have fully believed in them.
Given the spate of false doctrines that are being exposed, I am also now being open minded to fully understand with sincerity what the true word is.
I welcome your future articles and would be eager to gain learning and warning.
I feel so saddened that I had also once taught and defended and ministered to half cooked/ eisegetical doctrines.
I will pray that the Lord fills you with wisdom and grace and blesses your online ministry.
Sincerely,
(Former TPM minister)
great brother …
may god bless you.
bro, when i was kid, i went to ministers for requesting oray for my studies.
they told first you seek kingdom of god, then u will get all thing.
i dnt know what is the kingdom of god.
they dnt explain what is kingdom of god,
now am serching kingdom of god.
can you explain in detail..
bro , am also wondering , jesus sent the disciplines to world to spread the gospel of god kingdom.
but nowdays different gospels
different doctrines. different intrepretations, different visions….
Brother,
I have heard this from Pastor MT Thomas. He also says that if you seek the Kingdom of God, You will get ALL THINGS. But that is a GROSS TWISTING OF THE SCRIPTURES. Let us turn to the reference.
Matt 6:33 says “But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.”
Here Christ is referring to ALL THESE THINGS . He did NOT say ALL THINGS. Removing the word “THESE” just removes the context of the verse.
In the context, Jesus is speaking about Food and Clothing (Matt 6:31). He is not speaking about ALL THINGS. Preachers like these are just feeding the Greed of People by twisting the scriptures.
The Same is echoed by Paul, the Apostle in 1 Timothy 6:8 “But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that.”
Let us not fall into the trap of Preachers twisting scriptures.
Please listen to Bro Zac Ponnen’s take on the second coming. It sounds very Biblical and sensible. After listening to it, you’ll know for sure that Tpm concepts like “Secret Advent” and “Public Advent” as a part of the second coming of Christ are completely false. And not just Tpm, a lot of denominations have got it wrong when it comes to the second coming of Christ.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jhRzCqmFQNc
check out this link, John MacArthur presents what most denominations including Tpm believe and preach about the rapture and Zac Ponnen presents a completely different view, see for yourself to see who makes Biblical sense.
the return of Christ to establish the government of God on earth. The return of Christ is the most important event for all humanity. Therefore, we are admonished in the Parable of the Ten Virgins to be sober and always filled with the Holy Spirit of God.
Matthew 24 ends with emphases on readiness for our Masters return. Then, Matthew 25 begins with another parable emphasizing the same principle. Revelation 14:4 teaches us that virgins are those that follow the Lamb. Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 11 that the Church is to be presented as a chaste virgin to Christ. Now, we read in Matthew 25:
1 Then the kingdom of heaven shall be likened to ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. 2 Now five of them were wise, and five were foolish. 3 Those who were foolish took their lamps and took no oil with them, 4 but the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps. 5 But while the bridegroom was delayed, they all slumbered and slept.
This parable begins with the word then, which refers to the time just spoken of in previous chapter the coming of Christ. Oil in the Scriptures symbolizes the Holy Spirit. No one can be a true Christian without the indwelling Holy Spirit. Romans 8:9 clearly says, „now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His“. The foolish virgins lacked that crucial spiritual ingredient.
Not knowing precisely the time when the Bridegroom would come, the virgins went out early. Ten is the number connected to public solemnities among the Jews. All 10 had the lamps. The longest Psalm, Psalm 119, tells us in verse 105 what are the lamps:
„Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path“.
So the lamps in this parable is the Word of God. All 10 virgins had their Bibles and had to get ready for the marriage with the bridegroom when He appeared. Since the oil reservoirs in those lamps were very small, it was the custom to carry spare oil supply. The wise virgins recognised that they must have with them that spiritual ingredient in order to endure to the end.
Before the coming of the Bridegroom was announced, no difference could be detected between the virgins. They were all alike. But with the foolish ones it seems that it was only an outward appearance. Perhaps they started to build a tower without counting the cost as adominished in Luke 14.
The children of light, who accept the true Gospel of Christ about the Kingdom of God, must shine as lights:
„that you may become blameless and harmless, children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, holding fast the word of life, so that I may rejoice in the day of Christ that I have not run in vain or labored in vain“ (Philippians 2:15-16).
The Bridegroom was delayed. In previous chapter (verse 48) the evil servant said: „My master is delaying his coming. Many professing Christians are self-content with the outward forms which cause blindness to the real personal spiritual condition. The natural pride of the heart causes that blindness because the heart is deceitful above all things. The parable continues in verse 6,
6 And at midnight a cry was heard: Behold, the bridegroom is coming; go out to meet him!
In the original Greek text the verb is coming is omitted, which makes the expression even more graphic: Behold, the bridegroom! It was a midnight cry. The Lord will come „as a thief in the night“. To meet here is the same Greek word in 1 Thessalonians 4:17:
„Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord“.
7 Then all those virgins arose and trimmed their lamps. 8 And the foolish said to the wise, Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.
They suddenly remembered that they didn’t bring some more oil. They recognized the wisdom of the others and asked for their assistance in order to hide their own deficiencies. Spiritually speaking, the idea of the foolish virgins seems to be that the character of others could supply their lack, or that there was a store of grace to rely on instead of their personal preparation for the Bridegroom coming.
9 But the wise answered, saying, No, lest there should not be enough for us and you; but go rather to those who sell, and buy for yourselves. 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.
To meet the Bridegroom it requires constant personal preparation, personal faith and holiness. We are being judged individually. Christ-like character must be entirely built through our personal yielding to Holy Spirit which leads us into all the truth.
The foolish virgins followed the advice. But their return was too late. The opportunity they had had was not properly used. They neglected to prepare in advance. Perhaps they had been once converted, and relied on that fact thinking it was sufficient for eternity, and were omitting to seek for daily supplies of oil. And now they find themselves terribly deceived.
11 Afterward the other virgins came also, saying, Lord, Lord, open to us!
They were too late to join the wedding. The Lord said, not everyone who says to Me, Lord, Lord, shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven”.
12 But he answered and said, Assuredly, I say to you, I do not know you.
In the Sermon on the mount Christ declared that his sentence on those that professed Him, but didn’t practice what He taught, would be, “I never knew you: depart from me!” (Matthew 7:23).
13 Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour in which the Son of Man is coming“.
Christ-like character is a personal thing, and cannot be transferred from one person to another. It must be acquired and manifested by each individual follower of Christ. It would be perilous to leave preparation for the testing times that are coming upon us. The foolish virgins found their lamps going out when their light was most needed – at the midnight hour. The bridegroom said: „I do not know you. In other words, You have never really been mine; you have only seemed to be such.
2 Peter 1:5 instructs us to Add to your faith virtue and lists the necessary character traits before concluding in verse 10 that, by doing so, we would make our call and election sure and will never stumble. We are to seek that character from God through His Spirit. The true watcher is the virgin who has oil.
Conclusion
Solomon said in Ecclesiastes 2:13 that wisdom excels folly, as light excels darkness“. People can have the same outward profession and be of different characters in the sight of God. Sincere disciples of Christ are the wise virgins. Hypocrites are the foolish ones. Sin is folly. The greatest fools are those that are wise in their own conceit, pretending to be righteous, or being self-deceived that they are righteous before God.
We are to be in constant expectation of, and preparation for, the coming of Christ, „ looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ“ (Titus 2:13). This preparation is real and lasting. It is both inward and outward.
We are called to prepare for the marriage of the Lamb with virginal purity. The light that comes from God is to be ever burning in our lives through the continual inpouring of the Holy Spirit.
The lesson of the parable of the Ten virgins is – be ready. If we are not ready, no one else can help us. No one else can give us their oil.
You have presented some excellent points brother, in your long post. I only wished it could be formatted better so that the best lines meet the eye sooner.
Brother Denzel, please write one article about your experience in tpm as a minster. Lame men like me are knowing more and more brazen, blatant, blooper inside stories of tpm through various articles. Thanks a lot for all the writers for exposing these unknown truths to the entire world. May God bless each one of you.
I do not wish to reveal my identity by giving very precise examples.
There is much internal jealousy among worker brothers, especially among those of same batch, financial and educational background. Jealousy in sisters is very common and open, but in brothers side, its often hidden, undiscovered for years.
There all of a sudden, there will be a so called ‘trial’ I was accused of immorality and was advised to confess the same to the Pastor. Instead, I chose to confront them asking for names of those who are accusing me. They chose to hush up the issue because I had enough proof that I was already injured and it is not possible for any injured person to dare to do that.
At the same time, there were strong cases for suspicion (I am not accusing) against a few others- but they chose to ignore that.
You cannot reason with anyone there
You cannot take anyone into confidence there.
I also see the nexus of rich believers with certain workers and they manipulate information and as a result, innocent poor workers suffer most.
Some are very simple and they think it is God who is giving them a privilege to suffer. Such simple ones, later grow onto become bitter and few end up as taskmasters in the years to come.
When you really need counsel, you will get none- No time to read Bible, but you get time to huddle- Its true…
You lose your identity, which they called self pride.
Some lose confidence, some become over confident.
End of day, when you need help, help comes on the basis of language and caste.
My idea is not to mud-sling, but to shake off the dust.
I do not expect anyone to believe me nor will I welcome a counter.
Sorry to hear what happened to you. Much of it stems from unbiblical practices in TPM. Scripture is crystal clear on the requirements of a church elder. TPM throws that in the bin and borrows beliefs and practices from the RCC.
Actually, a lot of them are super sincere folks- I feel very sad- I don’t know what to say. I feel bad that they are in a delusion.
Hardship without love makes them radicals.
That is exactly the reason for us to start this website.
and certainly this website has ruffled some BIG feathers! Praise God.
I don’t know how I missed this well written article. I think the false prophet Pastor Geehan from Canada should read this and get himself educated. I remember one Canadian believer who testified here in Australia strongly pushing a CD by Geehan about the foolish Virgins. I never bothered to listen to it because I knew it was more TPM propoganda. But there are lot of Geehan fans who swear by his deep doctrines.
He goes around telling he is a PhD and worked for United Nations. I still wonder how an educated man like him can be deceived and continue being deceived and in turn continue to deceive others. Or is it his pride which is preventing him from seeing the Truth. It takes lot of humility to accept that you made a mistake by joining this cult.
This man is so full of himself that in one Aussie convention he was challenging the believers that if they let their children find life partners from other churches, TPM ministers will conduct their wedding but will have to be done at the hands of the Left Behind church pastors.
Truly TPM – The Perverted Morons.
The last sentence should read…TPM ministers will NOT conduct their wedding
@ADMIN
Kindly gave me answer on following two questions
As per Bible Matthew 25:5 “Now while the bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered and slept” does this supposed to mean that Since First Century people are waiting for the Second Coming of Christ, and Christianity backslid because of Catholicism? That omniscient Jesus foretold us about the Blacksliding nature of the Church? (these two questions are one and the same)
Matthew 25:8-9 ” And the foolish said unto the wise, Give us of your oil; for our lamps are going out. But the wise answered, saying, Peradventure there will not be enough for us and you: go ye rather to them that sell, and buy for yourselves.” As foolish virgins tried to Buy Oil for the Lamp; Which represents “Oil” as in “Holy Spirit” and Lamp “their Lives” without Holy Spirit their Lives will turn into Darkness. I meant to ask, before the Coming of the Lord such people who would be foolish enough to try to buy Holy Spirit (go ye rather to them that sell and buy for yourselves) this kind of mentality will coexist along with the true believers?
Yes from the very first century people are waiting for his coming. This is clearly visible in the epistles of the apostles. However, they also know that the time of his coming can’t be predicted. It has to be known by the signs which were foretold.
Catholicism became prevalent only after the 4th century. Jesus coming has not been delayed because of the catholic church. He will come in his time. The time decided by the father. But till then all prophecies regarding his coming need to be fulfilled. The gates of hell need to be fighting against the church all these years.
@Admin
Thank you very much for your Reply! I’m extremely sorry if my question sounded like “is it possible that due to catholicism, second Coming of the Lord was delayed?” what I meant was ‘Lord actually foretold “Now while the bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered and slept” does it mean ‘Because delay in Second Coming of the Lord, Church was in backslidden stage, and “they all slumbered and slept” it might mean “catholicism”, am I right? (As the Answer was “yes” I Understand!!)
Well, so, here’s what I Understand
As Parable is about “Five Wise Virgins” – Then shall the kingdom of heaven be likened unto ten virgins, who took their lamps, and went forth to meet the bridegroom. And five of them were foolish, and five were wise (Matthew 25:1,2) which means “Five” represents- “Those made of Five senses-or Humans for lack of the better word”.
In other words “Spiritually Wise Humans & Spiritually Fool Humans ” are there, who took their Lamps,
Lamp= Spirit
“The spirit of man is the lamp of Jehovah, Searching all his innermost parts” Proverbs 20:27
or the life which was in their Spirit given by Jesus (John 6:63; Romans 5:17-21, 6:23; Ephesians 5:14 -See John 1:4)
Now, I’m going to skip 2 verses and will discuss it afterward.
“Now while the bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered and slept” (Matthew 25:5); This is not what TPM interprets as “In last days-or before the Coming of the Lord-And because iniquity shall be multiplied, the love of the many shall wax cold Matthew 24:12” But, it means From the very first-century people were waiting for the Coming of the Lord, but as the Promise of the Coming of the Lord has not been fulfilled till yet, the church was in backslidden stage, which is known as “Catholicism & different false doctrines”. I am going to say this “As the Church was in backslidden stage, it was in a backslidden stage or in Catholicism, I’m not saying that because of “Catholicism” Coming of the Lord was delayed! ”
Now, as 2 Peter 3:9 Lord doesn’t want that anyone should perish, but he is patient, that who would have all men to be saved (for lack of better word- Because Lord is rich in Longsuffering according to Rom 2:4)
“But at midnight there is a cry, Behold, the bridegroom! Come ye forth to meet him.” Now, Lord Jesus was giving this parable-like Jewish Traditional marriage. And so, we need to understand that In Jewish marriages the time of arrival of Bridegroom at the Home of Bride is decided by Father.
As we all can understand the Bridegroom is Christ! so the father of the Bridegroom is GOD THE FATHER! SO, at midnight there is a cry, Behold, the bridegroom!
Now, we need to understand not from the perspective of TPM, or any other Christian denomination’s adapted interpretation, or from the perspective of a believer, but FROM the perspective of “GOD the Father” whose words Lord Jesus was speaking (Jn 12:49). So, this Cry is a wake-up call for the CHURCH- TO BE PREPARED FOR THE COMING OF THE LORD! We, all can consider this as the “Protestant movement”!
All I’m saying is “Midnight” is not the Tribulation period as being taught by TPM, it means the time since the wake-up call for Coming of the Christ was or Spiritual reformation proclaimed till the Coming of the Lord!
Now, once again people might argue that according to Matthew 24 there are signs of flood, earthquakes, famines, pestilences that are fulfilled in the last two centuries only! How can I claim that Midnight means “the time since the wake-up call for Coming of the Christ was proclaimed till the Coming of the Lord!” go and learn from Christian History many people were persecuted and sentenced to death, many wars have been fought many famines. In Mark 13:9-10; Luke 21:12-16
was literally fulfilled during those times, before the concept of “Democracy” was accepted by many countries.
Now, I’m going to borrow some of the Lines which admin has kindly replied “Jesus coming has not been delayed because of the catholic church. He will come in his time. The time decided by the father. But till then all prophecies regarding his coming need to be fulfilled” How many of us understand that one of the prophecies of the Coming of the Lord is REV 6:11 “And there was given them to each one a white robe; and it was said unto them, that they should rest yet for a little time, until their fellow-servants also and their brethren, who should be killed even as they were, should have fulfilled their course .” So, we can also understand “fulfillment of Numbers of martyrdom” is a requirement before the Coming of the Lord- Not as per TPM’s understanding of 1,44,000, and Bible is not showing that number in the first place.
v7 )Then all those virgins arose, and trimmed their lamps. In other words, both “Spiritually wise & Spiritually fool” people tried to prepare themselves for the Coming the Lord.
Now, we are going to emphasize v3 & v4) For the foolish, when they took their lamps, took no oil with them: but the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps
As discussed earlier, Lamp shows our “Spirit” so what “oil” represents? It represents the “Holy Spirit”! How? We’ll learn it from the Bible!! In 2 Corin 3:17-18 we read “Spirit of the Lord” is the one who can transform us for the Coming of the Lord. Is there any other clear answer then this!
Now, someone commented “Some like TPM says oil means HS. Others say oil means truth. If oil means Holy Spirit how is it possible to share Holy Spirit or anointing with anyone (Foolish asked wise to share HS ?). If oil means truth, how can my sharing truth with others lessen it in my account (wise ones said no we can’t share the truth?)?”
Now, we all can agree that the Holy Spirit is not for the sale! (Acts 8:11) But, shouldn’t we understand that it was a parable about the Coming of the Lord! And we know something as Sign of Coming of the Lord, that people will try to Deceive the CHURCH! I’m going to borrow some of the Lines of a Sermon by Zach Poonen in which he explained: “In the whole Bible, there’s no reference except 2 Thess 2:12 God is allowing people to be deceived, but it’s for those only who are not willing to accept their own sins and repent from theirs sins!” now, the original question which was asked was very nice one “if Oil represents Holy Spirit then how can it be for sale & if it’s the truth then How it can’t be shared? ” In both cases shouldn’t we try to understand “who can sell oil at midnight?” The answer is “No one”, then why it was even given as an answer to Foolish Virgins by Wise virgins? Now, who except the Holy Spirit can show us the “Truth?” “Spirit of Truth” is one of the names of the Holy Spirit, isn’t it? “One of the Gifts of Holy Spirit is “discernings of spirits” 1 Corinthians 11:10! Now, we can also learn From 2 Peter 1:3-11 (This portion of Bible also speaks about Character Transformation and Salvation of Soul)that both truth and Spirit are essential for preparation for the Coming of the Lord. In 2 Peter 1:3,4 Holy Spirit is represented by “Divine Power” & great promises represents the word of GOD. To clarify this John 1:14 when we understand “Grace and Truth” we need to understand it represents both “Word of God” is mentioned as “Words of Grace (Acts 14:3; 20:32)” and “Word of Truth (James 1:18) and “Spirit of God” is also mentioned as “Spirit of Grace (Heb 10:29; Zech 12:10)” and “Spirit of Truth (John 16:13)” (I personally believe that Oil is a symbolic representation of the Holy Spirit, if you wish to believe other than this you are free to do so )
Well, still “Foolish Virgins” believed that someone would sell them the “Oil” at “midnight”, isn’t this is how it’s happening nowadays, that “Spiritually Fool” people are trying to buy the Spiritual blessings by TITHES, Offering, Gifts to their- so-called “Leaders”! And that is one of the things that “Spiritually wise” people tell “Spiritually fool”, go do whatever you please to do! Because except the Holy Spirit no one can show what is it that you lack- for the Coming of the Lord!
Brother,
I did not understand your point. If you think Catholicism is the cause for Jesus Delay. You can believe it. But If you read Paul’s Epistle to the Thessalonians, he did not think so. He, in fact, promised that Apostacy would happen and then the son of Perdition would come before the coming of the Lord. You can read it in 2 Thess 2:1-5.
And please bear in mind that what we call as the corrupt institutional church did not happen so easily. One of our brothers did post a youtube link about how the church became corrupted to this extent. You can view it in this playlist.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FTz_YsGpg-c&list=PLfI2T2K6TQaeJOsva6XaznoUZ_Dg9NHpU
If you could break your points to smaller bits, it would be easy to understand your point. Sorry for making you type again.