THE SLEEPING VIRGINS

    (Mt. 25:1-6) Then shall the kingdom of heaven be likened unto ten virgins, which took their lamps, and went forth to meet the bridegroom. And five of them were wise, and five were foolish. They that were foolish took their lamps, and took no oil with them: But the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps.  While the bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered and slept. And at midnight there was a cry made, Behold, the bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet him. In this passage our Lord Himself is telling us that His Church will be sleeping when the end-time activities begin taking place. To understand why it will be sleeping at this time, let's look at a few more Scriptures.

(II Thes. 2:3a) "Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first…"

Like so many of the prophecies concerning our Lord's return, this one has already been fulfilled, at least in great part. Simple observation will disclose church buildings and grounds in disrepair and need of attention. Sunday morning finds large Sunday school rooms strangely quiet. And even more alarming has been the church's indifference to the Bible. At first, this was simply a matter of neglect; but then, because of their spiritual anemia, the onslaught of liberal theologians on the inerrancy and authority of the Scriptures took its toll. In its wake we find a church with little or no confidence in its source of life, hope, and strength, the Bible. And one doesn't have to read the Bible to see the effect that this falling away has had on the individual Christians, the church overall, and the nation it was supposed to have enlightened and served.

THE REPROBATE OF THE LAST DAYS

The next passage we'll look at that reflects the prophesied atmosphere of the end-time (present?) church is II Timothy 4:1-8, and it is rather confusing at first glance. Verses 1-4 sound as though Paul was writing about the lost and ungodly in the world:

    (II Timothy 4:1-4) This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God.

But then beginning with verse 5, it seems that he is talking about the church.

    (II Timothy 4:5-7) Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away. For of this sort are they which creep into houses, and lead captive silly women laden with sins, led away with divers lusts, Ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.

As with much of prophecy, those who lived prior to the last couple of decades had trouble with this passage--but they didn't have the vexing scandal sheets at every grocery checkout, staring them in the face. However, there is one more bit of difficulty in interpreting this passage and we find it in verse 8.

    (II Timothy 4:4-8) Now as Jannes and Jambres withstood Moses, so do these also resist the truth: men of corrupt minds, reprobate concerning the faith.

The tradition of the New Testament Church has it that Paul was familiar with the traditions of Israel and that from those traditions he was identifying the Pharaoh's magicians that withstood Moses at the time of the exodus from Egypt as being Jannes and Jambres. If this is so, then our interpretation has more difficulty, because Jannes and Jambres were magicians who were into witchcraft and who were opposed to God's delivering His people. If all this "if'ing" is correct, then could it be that God looks upon the vile liberalism (cf. Isa. 32:5-6) and the strange spirits and words in the church (Heb. 13:9, cf. Gen. 35:2, Lev. 10:1, Isa. 17:10) as witchcraft? As we think on this, let's consider the words of the prophet Samuel to the self-serving King Saul. (1 Sam. 15:23) "For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because thou hast rejected the word of the LORD, he hath also rejected thee from being king."

THE FAITHLESS END-TIME CHURCH

We should also note that the leaders will not be the only problems in the prophesied, end-time (present?) church.

    (II Tim. 4:3) For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears;

    (I Tim. 4:1-3) Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils; Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron; Forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from meats, which God hath created to be received with thanksgiving of them which believe and know the truth.

To date, all of this has been fulfilled somewhere in the church; but it should be noted that this ungodliness in the church is the product of the "tares" planted while men slept (Mt. 13:25:). Oh, the true Church may play around with the cursed things, but their new nature will conflict with their behavior so that the born-again believer has no real pleasure in the unrighteousness.

    (I Jn. 3:9) "Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God."

True, the believer can play around with sin, but all he'll do is vex his spirit and torment his soul; and, if he continues in his foolishness, he'll end up corrupting his flesh (Gal. 6:7).

LOT, THE TYPE OF THE END-TIME CHURCH

And we should also note our lord's choice of Lot's deliverance from Sodom and Gomorrah as a type for the end-time Church, for we can already see His reason for this choice. Like Lot, most of the church is giving the concent of silence to the godlessness around them, even quietly accepting the installation of homosexuals in their pulpits by their church representatives. And let's face it, if the church had not been sleeping, porno would not be in our society. Perhaps the church deserves the slur that it failed to speak because it wanted to "sneak a peak." Also, like Lot's wife, the church is obviously caught up in the "things of this world." Consequently, as to the church's influence on the world, we cannot throw any stones at poor Lot."

IS THERE HOPE FOR THE END-TIME CHURCH?

There is another way in which the end-time church will fulfill prophecy. Just before its Lord's return at the midnight hour, the true Church in the midst of the religious world will awake from their spiritual slumber, trim their lamps, and let their lights shine. David wrote, "Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path" (Ps. 119:105). Consequently, the awakening Church will "trim their lamps" by returning to the Word of God on an individual basis (After all, the Church is but a Body of individuals.) However, like Lot, this end-time awakening of the Church will be too little, too late as far as the world is concerned. Nevertheless, this is not to discourage any who would follow the Lord and become fishers-of-men; for as the writer of the old hymn put it, we are each called to "brighten the corner where you are."