A little while ago we were talking about praying in tongues, energising your spirit man, and letting God fill you with life, fill you with vibrancy. So this having oil has to do with our spirit life. It has to do with the kind of life you're living with God, where no one sees. It's the kind of life - what kind of prayer life you have; what kind of time in the word of God? Are you letting God's word change your life? Are you letting God's word shift your mind? That's how you become filled. The word of God is power to change us, and fill us afresh with the Holy Spirit; so the wise virgins had oil, and the oil of the Holy Spirit touches your heart. He softens our heart. He shows us where we've gone wrong. He helps us to repent. He gives us grace to stay on course. He brings things, and reveals things, to us. We need the Holy Ghost in our life. That's why - church without the Holy Ghost, what is it? It's dead. Something is missing in there.
You and I need that light with the Holy Ghost; and listen, you come into Bay City, it is a Holy Ghost church. There's a great dimension here, but you've got to make sure you've got the oil yourself. You've got to get the oil yourself, so we're teaching some of our leaders here how to become conscious of God, conscious of the Holy Spirit, so they learn how to yield and flow and work with the Holy Spirit. We all need to be able to do that. All of us can do that. It's why I've got a seminar on activating the gifts, but it's more than activating the gifts. It's getting oil inside you, so you're full of the life of God.
So what about the five foolish virgins? The five foolish virgins took no oil. They had no oil. In other words - get this, I want you to see what this means; it means they were so busy with life, doing things, they failed to build an adequate personal devotional life; just like Mary and Martha. Mary was commended for placing priority on relationship over works. It's not either/or. Works, what we do, needs to come out of what we are in His presence; and the only way you can do that is if you build a prayer life, build a life in the word of God. Build one - you say: well, I can't do it, I'm not good at it. Everyone can! Everyone can, and if you don't know what to do, put your hand up and ask. Don't say in that day: I'm sorry, I didn't have enough.
Notice there was no room for the virgins to give an explanation of why they had no oil. There were just consequences for no oil; and so in this last day before the coming of the Lord, there'll be increasing emphasis on a number of things: one, there'll be increasing emphasis on the marriage relationship with Jesus, that He loves us, that He desires us, on intimacy with Him. There's going to be an increasing emphasis on that. Second, there'll be an increasing emphasis on the kingdom advancing through the earth; and thirdly, there'll be an increasing emphasis on social justice; and Christians need to be full of the Holy Ghost. So they didn't, now look what happened; there came a cry at midnight. Midnight's the darkest hour - so they all slept and slumbered because He delayed; and there's a tendency when the Lord's not come, and we don't know that He's coming, and we think it's a long way off, or it's not going to happen soon; we tend to just sleep and slumber, and not really notice what's going on.
Finally there is a cry comes, and there is definitely going to be a prophetic voice. It's already started speaking to the church: Jesus is the lover of your soul! Jesus is a coming bridegroom. Notice what the voice was - behold, He comes. Go out and meet Him. So three things: number one, Jesus is coming! He is coming! He will return! Two, He will return as a bridegroom, passionately in love with you. Three, go out and meet Him. Rise up and begin to engage personally in your personal life with God. Engage personally in intimacy with Him. Don't neglect that side of your life and think oh, somehow it all works out. It doesn't. It doesn't. There's just consequences and choices.