“Making Jesus Personal”

**INTRODUCTION 

Hello and welcome to “Key to the Kingdom”. My name is Bret McCasland. There are lots of different views about what religion is supposed to look like, formal or informal. Can it be something we practice on our own or is it only connected to a church? Discussions like that take place all the time. An issue seems to revolve around how is it supposed to look like in our daily lives? And then there are some who suggest it really doesn't matter because God will save everybody. You know, perhaps all of us have been engaged in such conversations and we have asked such questions. In our lesson today on “Key to the Kingdom,” we will consider the fact that our spiritual life is a matter of great importance. Through a familiar story in the Bible, we will notice how we are to take responsibility for our relationship with the Lord. That is something nobody can do for us. There is coming a day when all of us will have to be accountable to the Lord for the life we have lived; and that will be the focus of our time together. I hope you will join us for the lesson. I invite you now to open up your heart and your Bible as we study together.

**LESSON

Have you ever had an ‘Aha’ moment, when something happens in your life and you did not see that coming at all, totally unexpected? It might even be something that is unbelievable. I had an ‘Aha’ moment one time, when my daughter was born. After a couple of days in the hospital, my wife and I were about ready to take her home for the first time, and we looked forward to that. I put her in the back seat, in the car seat, and was about ready to leave and I sat down in the front seat of the car and I thought, “I did not get an owner's manual. How am I going to take care of this girl?” And it was an ‘Aha’ moment for me as I realized she is now my responsibility. A preacher friend of mine once told me a story about a man who approached him after the sermon and he said, “I don't agree with your statement;” which was, you can either take Jesus as your personal Savior or you don't take Him at all. Well, the preacher refused to withdraw that statement and so the man eventually left that church. You know, those illustrations make the following point. Living as a disciple of Jesus Christ is nobody else's responsibility except mine. I have to say that for myself, and no doubt you are to say that for yourself, as well. And yet, if we cannot make that statement, we may be, we may be depending upon someone or something else to save us, and that's not good. Religion, that is not personal, or we might say depersonalized religion, is an attempt to either blame the church for one's own spiritual problem or to depend entirely upon the church for one's salvation; and neither one of those are very good options. That truth is made quite clearly in three parables, or stories, which Jesus tells in Matthew chapters 24 and 25. We're going to look at just one of those in our lesson today. We're going to read the whole story. It’s somewhat of a lengthy reading, but I believe it teaches a very important lesson. Let's begin reading here in Matthew chapter 25 with verse 1. <“At that time the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. Five of them were foolish and five were wise. The foolish ones took their lamps but did not take any oil with them. The wise ones, however, took oil in jars along with their lamps. The bridegroom was a long time in coming, and they all became drowsy and fell asleep. At midnight the cry rang out: ‘Here’s the bridegroom! Come out to meet him!’ Then all the virgins woke up and trimmed their lamps. The foolish ones said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil; our lamps are going out.’ ‘No,’ they replied, ‘there may not be enough for both us and you. Instead, go to those who sell oil and buy some for yourselves.’ But while they were on their way to buy the oil, the bridegroom arrived. The virgins who were ready went in with him to the wedding banquet. And the door was shut. Later the others also came. ‘Lord, Lord,’ they said, ‘Open the door for us!’ But he replied, ‘Truly I tell you, I don’t know you.’ Therefore keep watch, because you do not know the day or the hour."> This parable story that Jesus told is what we might call today an allegory. Everything in the story matches up to something that we can relate with today. For example, the ten virgins were the bridesmaids who were preparing the bride for the bridegroom to come, and the bridegroom represents Jesus. The bridesmaids also represent those who would claim to follow Jesus Christ, today. And the bridegroom's delay in his arrival alludes to the fact that Jesus has not yet returned to gather unto Himself all of those who belong to Him. And then we go to the marriage feast; it symbolizes eternal life, which is to come. And the closed door, obviously, represents the judgment, as some are able to enter in, while some are not. In the story we read about the lamps that the women held as they were waiting for the bridegroom. Some believe it was a smaller lamp, where you put oil in one end and then a wick comes out the other that is moist and filled with oil and it gives off light. Perhaps that was true. Maybe some of these women had such an item. And yet to light a big area, those lamps would not put out much light. They were used more typically in the first century home. However, a torch, something that we would consider a torch today, was perhaps used. A rag was doused in oil. It was wrapped around the top of that pole or that stick, and that is what lit a much larger area. And we notice in the story, when the announcement was made that the bridegroom had arrived, the women trimmed their lamps. In other words, they may have trimmed off part of the cloth or the rag that was of no value any more, and they added more oil to the lamp. What was happening was that a continual supply of oil had to be available because those rags needed to be doused with oil every 15 or 20 minutes. But we notice in this story, half of the women did not have any oil with them. Oh, they had their lamps and they had enough to keep it burning for a while, but they had run out of oil. But the other half had enough to keep their lamps burning. So what we see here is that half of the women were in the right place, they were holding the right lamps, but they had no oil for their lamps. And when the bridegroom finally arrived, those five unprepared women were not welcomed in to that wedding banquet feast. In Jesus’ day, there were several religious groups of people who looked good on the outside, but on the inside they were not right in their relationship with God. Some of those groups of people were called the Pharisees, the Sadducees, teachers of the Law, the Essenes, various groups; and on several different occasions Jesus had a specific message for them. He scolded them because of that false, pretentious look on the outside, while their religion was not very good on the inside. One of those places is found in Matthew chapter 23, and I want to read this passage of Scripture because I believe it falls in line with the parable we just read in Matthew chapter 25. And as we read, let's begin to make that connection. We start here with verse 23 in that chapter. <“Woe to you, teachers of the Law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices -mint, dill and cumin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the Law -justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former. You blind guides! You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel. You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. First clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside also will be clean. You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of the bones of the dead and everything unclean. In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness."> That last phrase is a key. On the inside of the people to whom Jesus was speaking was a spirit of hypocrisy, an attitude or a lifestyle of wickedness. Even though they were trying to look good on the outside, it wasn't working because the inside was messed up. These teachers of the Law, the Pharisees, as they are called here in chapter 23, went through the motions of doing the right thing. They appeared to be religious, but their heart was not right with God. And so they showed up at the right time and at the right places, but they were spiritually empty on the inside. Now you think about that and you go back to the parable we just read at the beginning, in chapter 25, the lamps of those women who were unprepared had no oil on them. They were empty on the inside, therefore, the light did not shine. You know, there are times in our life when we might look good on the outside. We might attend a church service dressed in our Sunday best, and yet we come with an attitude or a heart that is not right with God; but we try to cover it up by looking nice on the outside or being at the right place at the right time. And yet Jesus would tell us, something is wrong in your heart. The thoughts of your mind, the attitude of your heart are not right. And therefore, as He stated, that would be somewhat of a hypocrite. And so Jesus said don't do that. Make sure that your religion is real. And so the point Jesus is making, in Matthew 23 and 25, is this: One cannot be expected to be welcomed in to the wedding banquet just because he or she looks right on the outside. Even though one might cling to certain traditions or practices that does not make us right with the Lord. And so here is the point: Our salvation comes from a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. It is found in knowing Him and having submitted to Him as the Lord of our life. When we became one of His followers, we embraced a new responsibility. We made the decision to become a disciple of Jesus, and that was a game changer; or we would say a life changer. And it is now up to us as to what happens next. It is a matter of taking responsibility for our own salvation. And that should be more personal than anything else in our life. It has been said, we cannot make it to heaven on the coattails of our parents or our grandparents. And we understand what that means. We cannot make it to heaven based upon the religion of our forefathers. That is something that we have to take a responsibility for if it is ever going to happen for us. When we decide to become a child of God and to submit ourselves to Jesus’ lordship, that is a really big deal. That is a personal decision only we can make. And so we stand by that decision. We live out that decision in our daily lives. And that is our responsibility, no one else's. And so we cannot depend upon the church and its programs, its doctrines or its teachings to save us. We cannot rely on the preacher or the church leaders or even our friends to get us to heaven. Yes, it is my responsibility to have a relationship with Jesus Christ and to acknowledge Him as my personal Savior. Nobody else can do that for me. Nobody else can do that for you. It's what we call having a personal relationship with the Lord. We go back to that story there in Matthew chapter 25. It took the constant effort of five women to keep their lamps trimmed and burning until the bridegroom arrived. A never ending supply of oil had to be nearby. Well, as a child of God, it likewise takes a constant effort on our part to keep our light shining. When we become a child of God and receive that salvation from the Lord, we are given the Holy Spirit to remind us that we belong to God. We perhaps are familiar with that. The Holy Spirit leads us and guides us in the way we are to go. The Holy Spirit is the constant reminder that we belong to Him and He belongs to us. The Holy Spirit is the reminder of our connection with God and that He is our personal savior. In other words, we might state it like this: The Holy Spirit is the oil that empowers and strengthens us to live the Christian life. If it runs out, our lamp goes out. Our light quits shining. And that, too, is not good. If we are not depending upon Jesus as our personal Savior, then we are depending upon someone or something else; which obviously cannot save us. If we are not being continually filled up with God's Holy Spirit, then our spiritual life will eventually run out of strength. It will run out of oil. You know, some may say, “Well, I have put my faith in Jesus. I am a baptized believer. I am one of God's children.” But they ask a very sincere question, and that is how do I have enough oil in my lamp for when the bridegroom comes back? Where do I get this energy source? And that's a legitimate question. In the Bible, we find that oil is a symbol for the Holy Spirit. In 1st Samuel chapter 16, God has identified David to be the next king of Israel, and so Samuel goes to him and anoints him with oil. And as he does, immediately, the Holy Spirit fills his life. And the Holy Spirit is with David from that point forward, as he becomes the next king of Israel. And that story is told for us in 1st Samuel chapter 16, the first three verses. But it was very important for God's Holy Spirit to indwell within David, to lead him and to guide him in his role as the leader of God's people. We don't know if Jesus had that particular story in mind when He told this parable, yet the application is still the same for us. We are to be filled up with and living by God's Holy Spirit when the Lord comes, whenever that might be. And that's why Jesus told us, there at the end of the story, we are to always be watching because we don't know the day nor the hour. In John chapter 7, Jesus is in the city of Jerusalem and at the Feast of the Tabernacles. On that occasion, He stood up and He offered these words, according to verses 37 and 38. <“Let anyone who is thirsty come to Me and drink. Whoever believes in Me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.” By this He meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in Him were later to receive.> That later time came in the Book of Acts. In chapter 2 people are there at the day of Pentecost, and the disciples are teaching the people about Jesus and their rejection of Christ. And they ask the question, “What shall we do?” And the response was, repent of that, be baptized, receive the forgiveness of sin and the gift of the Holy Spirit. And on that occasion, when they became Christians, when they were baptized, the Holy Spirit came into their life. And from that moment on, they had the Spirit; and that was the fulfillment of the prediction Jesus had there in John chapter 7. And likewise, when we receive the Lord's salvation we too receive the Lord's Holy Spirit. We receive that oil, or that energy, to keep our spiritual light from going out. We drink deeply from those rivers of living water. The apostle Paul reminds us, in Ephesians chapter 5, to not be filled up with the things of this world. Instead, he writes, we are to be filled up with the Spirit of God. And when we are, we can be prepared for the Lord whenever He will return to receive us into that eternal wedding banquet. And so those who belong to the Lord cannot rely on a system of faith more than we rely upon our personal Savior. And when the system becomes more important than the Savior, then we will soon run out of oil. We will soon run out of spiritual energy we need to stay connected to the One who saves us. At times we might get careless about filling up our spiritual lamp. We overlook the need to receive that continual spiritual strength that comes from the Lord. We may even depend upon the religious activities of the church to save us instead of our personal relationship with the Lord. And when that happens then our spiritual lamp has run out of oil. Our lamp quits shining, and we may even be unprepared when Jesus returns. Yes, on the day when the Lord comes back, we cannot rely upon our efforts to be in the right place at the right time and doing right things if there is no oil in our lamp. The statement once was made, the energy of the group can never replace the spiritual energy of the individual members of the group. And that's true. Groups of Christians come together to worship God. That's good. Groups of Christians go out and serve people and minister to those who are in need. Those things are good also. But yet, we cannot rely upon that to get us in a right standing with God. We cannot rely upon the group to do what we are to be responsible for ourselves. The parable of the ten virgins teaches us that it is possible to be part of a group that belongs to the bridegroom, and yet at the same time, we may not even be part of the bridegroom. We may have run out of oil. Our spiritual strength is gone and we are not in tune with that personal relationship with Jesus Christ. Being His disciple means so much more than having the right doctrines, showing up at the right time or looking good to those around us. Being His disciple means being filled up with the Holy Spirit of God. I would encourage and invite us to be filled up with that Spirit so we can be prepared when the Lord returns.

**VIDEO CLIP

For many people, a church building like this one represents their religion or their relationship with God. They can connect to a church like this, or a church that represents their faith, and they feel comfortable. They believe in its doctrine and its teaching, and this is where they can connect and feel that connection. Some people even take it so far as to say, “Well, the name of the church is what determines my salvation.” And yet we find in Scripture that doesn't seem to be the case. We realize that it is only through a personal relationship with Jesus Christ that we experience salvation. According to Acts chapter 4 and verse 12, it is the name of Jesus, Himself, that saves us, not a particular church, doctrine, religion or creed of faith, whatever it might be. And with that in mind, we recognize the importance of having that deep connection with Jesus, that personal relationship with Him that we know from our heart, that it begins in our heart, that commitment with Him. Our thoughts and our intentions begin to be changed and molded and shaped by who Jesus is and what He has done for us. And that is nobody else's responsibility except ours. We have to take the responsibility to grow, to develop, to nurture and mature that relationship with Jesus Christ, the One who saves us. And then we connect to the church. Then we connect to the doctrines and the teachings a particular church represents. I would encourage us today to be very mindful of developing that deep connection with Jesus Christ. Having that personal relationship with Him and then taking personal responsibility for it.

**CONCLUSION

Thank you for being our guest today on “Key to the Kingdom.” I trust this familiar story reminded us of how important it is to take personally our relationship with God. If you would like to hear it again, it can be found on our website. Go to keytothekingdom.com, and there is no cost or obligation to download the lesson in a variety of different formats. On the website you can also find other information and news about this Mass Media ministry. Additional lessons, Bible studies and devotional thoughts are also available on the website. It might be convenient for you to download “Key” on to your smart-phone; and that can be done by downloading the free app. This will give you direct access to the website. You can also find us on Roku® television. On Facebook®, a short one minute or two minute message is uploaded every Sunday night, and I hope you will find and like it. Please feel free to use one or more of these media outlets. It has been our pleasure to share today's Bible message with you. I hope it was a blessing. You are invited to join us again next time as we continue to study the Bible on “Key to the Kingdom.”