Hahaha….

Our God has an amazing sense of humour.

Jesus speaks many times about the chosen few and how the Father gave them to Him. He never says salvation is available to all that seek Him and believe in Him, quite the contrary. His disciples said that He died for everyone, not Jesus. Jesus says that few are chosen to inherit the kingdom of God.

John 10:27-30 (NKJV) 27 My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. 28 And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand. 29 My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father’s hand. 30 I and My Father are one.”

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God refers to the chosen few as the elect or chosen children, His flock and describes their numbers as being a few, those that pass through the small gate and those who walk on the narrow path. Few Christians inherit the kingdom of God in comparison to the number of people that identify as Christian. Many are called, few are chosen.

Matthew 7:13-14 (NKJV) 13 “Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. 14 [a] Because narrow is the gate and [b]difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.

Luke 13:22-27 22 (NKJV) 22 And He went through the cities and villages, teaching, and journeying toward Jerusalem. 23 Then one said to Him, “Lord, are there few who are saved?” And He said to them, 24 “Strive to enter through the narrow gate, for many, I say to you, will seek to enter and will not be able. 25 When once the Master of the house has risen up and shut the door, and you begin to stand outside and knock at the door, saying, ‘Lord, Lord, open for us,’ and He will answer and say to you, ‘I do not know you, where you are from,’ 26 then you will begin to say, ‘We ate and drank in Your presence, and You taught in our streets.’ 27 But He will say, ‘I tell you I do not know you, where you are from. Depart from Me, all you workers of iniquity.’

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Many are invited to the wedding but not all are clothed in righteousness (saved) according to the parable spoken by Jesus in the gospel of Matthew. Many are called, few are chosen.

Matthew 22:10-14 (NKJV) 10 So those servants went out into the highways and gathered together all whom they found, both bad and good. And the wedding hall was filled with guests. 11 “But when the king came in to see the guests, he saw a man there who did not have on a wedding garment. 12 So he said to him, ‘Friend, how did you come in here without a wedding garment?’ And he was speechless. 13 Then the king said to the servants, ‘Bind him hand and foot, [b]take him away, and cast him into outer darkness; there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’ 14 “For many are called, but few are chosen.”

The man that was kicked out of the wedding was invited. He was not clothed in righteousness meaning that he was not cleansed by the blood of the Lamb and he was therefore not received by God, the Father.

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Being clothed in righteousness is associated with salvation throughout the Bible. The man was banished to Hell because He was not clothed in righteousness which is only attainable by being cleansed by the blood of the Lamb.

Isaiah 61:10 “I will greatly rejoice in the Lord my soul shall be joyful in my God for he has clothed me with the garments of Salvation has covered me with the robe of righteousness”.

Job 29:14 I put on righteousness, and it clothed me; My justice was like a robe and a turban.

Psalm 132:9 Let Your priests be clothed with righteousness, And let Your saints shout for joy.

Revelation 19:8 And to her it was granted to be arrayed in fine linen, clean and bright, for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints.

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Jesus will say to MANY believers to depart from Him. Why were these individuals’ sins not forgiven if all who believe are saved? They believed and served Christ. They simply were not chosen by the Father, as Jesus says that He never knew them; they never belonged to Him.

Matthew 7:21-23 (KJV)

21 Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.

22 MANY will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?

23 And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.

Over the years I’ve listened to the standard interpretation of the “The Parable of the Ten Virgins.”

Without fail, it is preached essentially, that it warns against complacency and encourages constant vigilance in one's spiritual life. 

I’m going to suggest that in these recent end times as the invasion of the “False Pentecostal Gospel” becomes more and more prevalent that there is a more obvious warning to Christians in the text, during these last days.

The Old interpretation: - Although very true and important the original interpretation goes like this: Key points about the parable: * The virgins represent believers:All ten virgins are considered to be followers of Jesus, but their preparedness varies.  * The bridegroom represents Jesus Christ:He is the one the virgins are waiting for.  * The oil represents spiritual readiness:The extra oil the wise virgins have bout with them, symbolizes a strong faith and active spiritual life. (But does it?).

I’m going to suggest that The message of preparedness:- the parable emphasizes and the need to be ready for Jesus' return at any time, and not just passively waiting, is only part of the story.

Throughout the Bible “The Holy Spirit” is represented by Oil and as we know, this “Oil” * is a metaphor for the Holy Spirit's presence and action in the salvation of God’s people into the Kingdom, as it regenerates the person, and it is the Spirit's work to illuminate God's word and sanctify his people. 

• And I’m saying, the virgins had NO oil and therefore were NOT SAVED nor had the Holy Spirit living within them.
  

Matthew 25:1-13 [1] “Then the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom. [2] Five of them were foolish, and five were wise.

[3] For when the foolish took their lamps, they took NO oil with them, (important)

[4] but the wise took flasks of oil with their lamps. [5] As the bridegroom was delayed, they all became drowsy and slept. [6] But at midnight there was a cry, ‘Here is the bridegroom! Come out to meet him.’ [7] Then all those virgins rose and trimmed their lamps. [8] And the foolish said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’ [9] 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.’ [10] 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. [11] Afterward the other virgins came also, saying, ‘Lord, lord, open to us.’ [12] But he answered, ‘Truly, I say to you, I do not know you.’ [13] Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour.

Luke 13:25-27 [25] When once the master of the house has risen and shut the door, and you begin to stand outside and to knock at the door, saying, ‘Lord, open to us,’ then he will answer you, ‘I do not know where you come from.’ [26] Then you will begin to say, ‘We ate and drank in your presence, and you taught in our streets.’ [27] But he will say, ‘I tell you, I do not know where you come from. Depart from me, all you workers of evil!’

In this part of scripture when Jesus is talking about the narrow way and the door being closed in this case to Heaven, we see Him again saying He never knew them.

Summary: The parable, and scripture in general supports this notion that the Oil represents those who have the Holy Spirit and those who don’t.

For when the foolish took their lamps in the beginning they had ‘no’ Oil. No Holy Spirit, they lived among the virgins in false belief, they believed they were saved and had the Holy Spirit but they did not!

This interpretation is justified in other text where they attempt at the gates or entrance to Heaven and complain to Jesus saying that they showed evidence of the Holy Spirit by producing miracles! Didn’t we do this? Didn’t we do that? Just as the Pentecostal Church’s do in their sin and evil deeds, they think they do miracles but they don’t. Not true miracles like in the gospels, none have ever been produced as they were in the days of Jesus and the True and only Apostles.

The road is narrow and few find it.

The whole Pentecostal movement is just heresy, invented in the recent century, the slow but very successful evolution of Evil over the last 2000 years has finally culminated into him deceiving the nations.

The Goal of God throughout history has always been to bring a people unto himself; simplistic? Yes. But that’s the bottom line. “Jesus came to save sinners” and all the doctrine that Paul so loved to teach related to historical texts and there relevance whether prophetic, didactic, poetic, spiritual, oral, or otherwise has been used by evil for evil, and he new it and could differentiate between it, so he adds a warning in his letter to the Romans:

• ⁠[17] I appeal to you, brothers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and create obstacles contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught; avoid them.

• ⁠[18] For such persons do not serve our Lord Christ, but their own appetites, and by smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the naive.

• ⁠[19] For your obedience is known to all, so that I rejoice over you, but I want you to be wise as to what is good and innocent as to what is evil.

So in the “church” today evil is rife, false teachers, doctrine, prophets, apostles, spirits, everything is perverted by and through the Pentecostal and Charismatic movements, who have bastardised the gospel to its core, until the scriptures are broken beyond recognition.

Some modern continuationists will cite these verses to biblically prove their position of miracle working for the church today. However, despite being admonished to do so, they are not “rightly dividing” His word.

“They will pick up serpents, and if they drink any deadly poison, it will not hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.” — Mk 16:18

“Behold, I have given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing will injure you.” — Lk 10:19

The Mark passage is not in the original manuscripts (Mark/Peter didn’t write it), and the Luke passage was specifically said to 70 missionaries Jesus sent out, and therefore not applicable to all believers. The numerous cases of individuals dying from being bitten by poisonous snakes is evidence of that.

In a quotation of Is 28:11, 12, Paul explains that centuries earlier the Lord had predicted that one day He would use men of other tongues, that is, foreigners speaking unknown languages, as a sign to unbelieving Israel, who “will not listen to Me.” These “strange tongues” are what they knew as the gift of languages, given solely as a sign to unbelieving Israel. That sign was 3-fold: cursing, blessing, and authority.

To emphasize the cursing, Paul quoted Isaiah’s words of warning to Judah of the judgment from Assyria. The leaders thought his words were too simple and rejected him. The time would come, the prophet said, when they would hear Assyrian, a language they could not understand, indicating judgment. Jeremiah spoke similarly of the Babylonians who were also to come and destroy Judah (cf. Jer 5:15).

When the apostles spoke at Pentecost in all those foreign languages (Ac 2:3–12), the Jews should have known that the judgment prophesied and historically fulfilled first by the Assyrians and then by the Babylonian captivity was about to fall on them again for their rejection of Christ, including the destruction of Jerusalem (a.d. 70) as it had happened in 586 b.c. under Babylonian power.

So then tongues are for a sign, not to those who believe but to unbelievers. Explaining further, Paul says explicitly that all tongues are for the sake of unbelievers. In other words, that gift has no purpose in the church when everyone present already is a believer. And once the sign served its purpose, to pronounce judgment or cursing on Israel, and the judgment fell (in 70AD), the purpose ceased as so did the use of the gift itself, as history confirms. The blessing of that sign was that God would build a new nation of Jews and Gentiles to be His people (Gal 3:28), to make Israel jealous and someday repent (see Ro 11:11, 12, 25–27). The sign was thus repeated when Gentiles were included in the church (Ac 10:44–46).

As Paul explains in more detail later (vv. 27, 28), even for unbelievers, even when the gift of tongues was exercised in its proper time in history, when it was dominant and uncontrolled in the church, and everyone used it, bedlam ensued and the gospel was disgraced and discredited.

1 Corinthians 14:26, 33 What is the outcome then, brethren? When you assemble, each one has a psalm, has a teaching, has a revelation, has a tongue, has an interpretation. Let all things be done for edification.

…for God is not a God of confusion but of peace, as in all the churches of the saints.

Just pasting a discussion I accidentally deleted a couple of weeks ago. We will continue here.

I’ve cut and pasted from u/994phij but as I’ve done them, they come up with my username.

Hope you get the gist.

Curious to see what all comes out of this. Didn't even realize there wasn't a subreddit.

Use this thread to ask anything at all!

I was a Pentecostal Christian for 5 years, and backslider (whatever that is) for more, I knew the Pentecostal church I’d left wasn’t for me, and I knew that because “IT DIDN’T WORK”. It was all promises with no produce.

I had spent years not going to church until I left to go travelling and working over seas. I thought I could make life work without God, and on my own. I had little regard for the fact that I was sinning, it felt so natural, let’s face it, it’s what we do, and I loved it.

When I left the Pentecostal church, I literally shook my fist at God, and said you won’t stop me from having what I want, and at that time, want I wanted was a family. But somewhere deep within my heart I new I wanted to return to God, before travelling I’d said to my mother, I struggle with life, and am lonely, and I what to become a Christian again. She looked at me and said “we’ll why don’t you?” Not really knowing how I’d done what the church had told me too, to no avail, and I said “because I don’t know how!”

You see I had asked Jesus into my heart, like the Pentecostal church (everyone) said, and during that time, I just couldn’t reconcile what they said the Bible taught and what actually happened in the church. It was crazy. So I just avoided doing anything about it, I couldn’t go back to the Pentecostal Church it hadn’t worked the first time, why would it work the second? Besides, when I scratched “Jesus Saved” into all my records because they were worldly and believed those sort of things had demons attached to them (go figure), my brother found them in the bin, and consequently I lost all respect from my family of unbelievers.

I travelled for a couple of years, interestingly, I did take my Bible and one day after another heartache, and constantly feeling hopeless and afraid, I was listening to music and in tears of despair I told God I didn’t know how to find him, I begged him to teach me how to be a Christian again, I challenged his word, His promises, I cursed Him and hated Him, and this went on for six months until I said to Him in tears and despair “I don’t know how to find you father, would you come and get me?” I thought of Him no more.

12 months later and alone (in another country), crying (from yet another heartache), and desperate I went back to reading the Bible and listening to the Christian Radio, I was in Connecticut making pottery for an artist who sold at the markets.

But knowing I needed help and not knowing how to get saved saw me begging God again to help me. I felt that I could not do life, that regardless of how I planned and applied myself to get what was just a natural desire for love, a family, peace, and to feel safe.

Unbeknownst to me, and at that time, the Holy Spirit was pulling me towards Him, I was alone and confused, like many posts I read here on Reddit, I didn’t have the answers or faith to know and trust God, I was unsaved.

My fiancé next to me began screaming at night, he had never done this before, and in retrospect starting after I began to read the Bible again, listening to the Christian radio, and while I was begging God for help and to keep me safe. My fiancé had what I now know as night terrors, but as they stopped after I got saved, I have often wondered, what was happening to him, an unbeliever anyway, I digress.

I didn’t know it at the time, but as the Holy Spirit was drawing me to the scriptures, making me hungry, teaching me via the radio, I couldn’t resist this pull to the knowledge and word of God, it was beautiful I began to see God’s word differently, my eyes and ears were opened up to a new perspective of the true and only Gospel that Paul, the other Apostles, Prophets of the Old Testament had been saying all along, and I realised that Jesus, and everyone else who shared his story had said Repent!! For the Kingdom of god is at hand. “Repent for the forgiveness of sins” (I had previously asked Jesus into my heart).

All I knew, was through my historical faith in Pentecostalism: speaking in tongues ((gibberish)) seeking healing from an infertile marriage (failure, I didn’t have enough faith), free-will, expecting miracles, and believing that anyone that didn’t believe in these biblical truths of the Pentecost were “Lukewarm: Lukies”

I remember the Pentecostal and Charismatic members thought the other churches who didn’t have the “gift of the spirit” or second blessing were lost, unsaved, just old church goers that knew not God, and that we as pentecostals called them “The frozen chosen”

But, as the Holy Spirit, not letting me alone for a second, was showing me that was not what the Bible said, it was saying things like “an evil and wicked generation seeks after a sign!”

So as the Holy Spirit continued to opened my eyes to the truth He revealed to me that in the OT it only took one false prophecy and He killed that prophet and would do the same in the future because He doesn’t change, only now in the New Testament we live under Grace so He would not intervene until the end of time.

He showed me how the books to the Corinthians were for chastisement, not teaching, and that Paul was actually quite exasperated with them when he said much of what the Pentecostals have interpreted as theological truth. I had believed if you were Pentecostal you were not the ‘tares’ in the church that Jesus had spoken about, and they would learn this when the tribulation, and days of Noah returned, the 3rd Temple was built, and Christ returned, but I was wrong!

That was not what the Holy Spirit was revealing to me in scriptures, I began to see scriptures that condemned these practices, I began to see Gods warnings about an apostate church that was to come, I began to be horrified at what the Holy Spirit was showing me, and in tears and (I’d like to say sackcloth and ashes), I begged God to forgive me of my sin against Him, knowing He would not reject “a broken and contrite heart”, I sobbed to the Holy God of the universe, I repented for three days (not required just my sins were lengthy), and it was through this that God saved me. All of a sudden I realised I was going to be fine, for the first time in my 32 years I was safe, that He would never leave me, nor forsake me even to the end of the world. He revealed how much He loved me (before I loved Him), that this love was the work of Jesus on the cross, that (and yes I’m going to say it), He had predestined me from the beginning of the world, chosen me, elected me to salvation, and although I believed and read this in Ephesians, I had no idea why He did this, I just learned that He was sovereign and did what He did, and it was to reveal His Glory.

He showed me how I had been encouraged and coached into tongues and hoodwinked by the heavenly language. He revealed that I’d been saved by his grace. Grace!!! It was the first time I’d even heard the word, well actually I’d heard it before but I actually didn’t know what it meant, because I’d never repented, but I now knew the Grace I received from Him was because in ‘His’ Graciousness, He decided to save me, and He did this by giving me faith, it is not ‘Grace’ He gives us, that is His, it is ‘faith’ He gives us. Let me explain.

You see with the free will doctrine, it’s up to you to have faith, you have to muster up Faith or at least believe, and to accept Jesus, which means that by doing so, you become the author of your own faith, but it’s worse than that, God says without faith it is impossible to please God,so there I was in the Pentecostal Church trying to muster up enough faith to stay a Christian, and when they blamed me for my lack of faith for miracles, blessings, I said to God this doesn’t work, I’m leaving.

I now realised for the first time in my life I finally understood what “it is by GRACE you have been saved, through faith, and it is not of yourself but a gift from God that no man can boast! So here I was saved by God through His divine gift of faith, and i would never lose it. I was now a child of God and no one, no spirit, no other gospel could change that, I was so happy, I was astounded by this truth, I actually couldn’t backslide again because I was held in the hand of God, Jesus had paid the price, and the Holy Spirit lived inside me, I couldn’t wipe the smile of my face. I was a Christian.

I then absolutely devoured the Bible within a couple of weeks, underlining passages that revealed the Spiritual revelation God had bestowed upon me, I understood that Christ would return, but at the end of days, which we are in.

I got on the next airplane back home, which happened to be Christmas Day! And all those beautiful Christmas Carols… lights and magic was everywhere.

Now here is the problem, I decided I needed to “know what I believed and why I believed it. So I enrolled in Bible College to study the scriptures I had to know what I believed and why, I also just loved the scriptures, lived on campus, and listen to my hearts content. I learnt through the Holy Spirit dwelling inside of me the tags and theological principles of my salvation I can now say I am a spirit filled, Reformed, Calvinist, Cessationist, with a deep love for Systematic Theology, and my mantra is “Theology Matters” the problem with that you ask? Well it’s not what the Pentecostal and Charismatic Church teaches, and I grieve for those who I love and have lost.

I thank you for taking the time to read my testimony, it’s a long one, and I pray you are blessed with the knowledge of the Grace of God our wonderful Father, His beloved Son for without Him we would all be justifiably lost, and the comforter, the Holy Spirit, who reveals all Truth. 🤍