Delayed Broadcast from Night Prayer Service, June 17, 2015 in Surabaya
Praise the Lord.
We will read in Matthew 25: 6
25:6 "And at midnight a cry was heard:'Behold, the bridegroom is coming; go out to meet him!'
It is about ten virgins meet the Bridegroom of Heaven.
At midnightmeans the darkest time when we face the situations as follows:
There are two things that we must watch at midnightas follows:
We face the darkest night or the world that is already destroyed and Jesus' second coming. For that reason, the lamp must keep on shining. The things that must be watched are as follows:
Let us use this opportunity. When the flesh is weak, the spirit is powerful. Do not give up. If the flesh is weak, let us surrender to God and Holy Spirit will help us worship Him.
On the contrary, if the flesh is strong, Holy Spirit does not have power.
Matthew 6: 6
6:6 But you, when you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who isin the secret place;and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly.
Worship prayer is the same as shutting the door.
It means the personal, closest, or secret relation with God heart to heart. We cry, surrender and put our hope to God.
In worship prayer we tell everything to God, our condition and sin, until we feel unworthy and powerless. Then, Holy Spirit will be poured on us abundantly.
2 Kings 4: 1-7
4:1 A certain woman of the wives of the sons of the prophets cried out to Elisha, saying, "Your servant my husband is dead, and you know that your servant feared the Lord. And the creditor is coming to take my two sons to be his slaves."
4:2 So Elisha said to her, "What shall I do for you? Tell me, what do you have in the house?" And she said, "Your maidservant has nothing in the house but a jar of oil."
4:3 Then he said, "Go, borrow vessels from everywhere, from all your neighbors--empty vessels; do not gather just a few.
4:4 And when you have come in, you shall shut the door behind you and your sons; then pour it into all those vessels, and set aside the full ones."
4:5 So she went from him and shut the door behind her and her sons, who brought the vesselsto her; and she poured itout.
4:6 Now it came to pass, when the vessels were full, that she said to her son, "Bring me another vessel." And he said to her, "There isnot another vessel." So the oil ceased.
4:7 Then she came and told the man of God. And he said, "Go, sell the oil and pay your debt; and you andyour sons live on the rest."
The widow of a servant of God is in difficult situation. She has debt that cannot be paid and her sons are going to be slave. She tells Elijah.
'Your servant feared the Lord,' means there is already the fear of God, faithfulness, and righteousness as the servant of God, but there is not one thing, namely worshiping God or shutting the door.
We may become God's servant who have fear of the Lord and sin as well as serves to Him in faithfulness and righteousness but we lack of worship. For that reason, Holy Spirit encourages us to worship Him.
The functions of the oil of Holy Spirit are as follows:
The result is everything is successful and we are protected, cared, and helped by God. The miracle happens and everything is finished in due time.
God blesses us.
Praise the Lord.
We will read in Matthew 25: 6
25:6 "And at midnight a cry was heard:'Behold, the bridegroom is coming; go out to meet him!'
It is about ten virgins meet the Bridegroom of Heaven.
At midnightmeans the darkest time when we face the situations as follows:
- The sin up to the peak of sins (the sin of eating-drinking and marrying-being given in marriage).
- The difficulties up to the peak when Antichrist reigns for three and a half years. Everything becomes impossible for us. We can only live by worshiping Antichrist, but it means we perish forever.
There are two things that we must watch at midnightas follows:
- The light of the lamp.
The light refers to the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ that is the image of God or the Bride Tidings.
'Behold, the bridegroom is coming; go out to meet him!' means the Bride Tidings, the Word that is sharper than any two edged of sword.
The thing that we must watch nowadays is do not doubt in teaching Word but we must hold fast and obey it so the lamp keeps on shining.
Watch our lamp, do not let it go out!
There is good news--the gospel Word--, but it must be continued to the Bride Tidings--the teaching Word--that prepares us to become the Bride of Heaven. - The oil.
There are two kinds of oil as follows:- The oil in the lamp.
The ten virgins have already had it.
It refers to the gift of Holy Spirit and ministry that we must work. It is given by God through the laying hands of the elder so we can minister to Him in faithfulness and fervency according to the ministry and gift that is entrusted by God. - The oil in the vessel.
The five wise virgins bring the oil in the vessel but the rest do not.
The oil in the vessel is the abundant oil or the overflowing in Holy Spirit.
It means the activities of Holy Spirit as follows:- Isaiah 11: 1-3
11:1 There shall come forth a Rod from the stem of Jesse,and a Branch shall grow out of his roots.
11:2 The Spirit of the Lordshall rest upon Him,the Spirit of wisdom and understanding,the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord.
11:3His delight isin the fear of the Lord,and He shall not judge by the sight of His eyes,nor decide by the hearing of His ears;
The title of the passage is King of Peace, that is Jesus.
The first activity of Holy Spirit is encouraging us to fear to God.
If one serves faithfully but he does not fear God (he keeps on sinning), everything will become useless. The lamp will go out because there is no oil in the vessel.
Proverb 8: 13
8:13 The fear of the Lordisto hate evil;pride and arrogance and the evil wayand the perverse mouth I hate.
The fear of the Lord means one fears and hates sin until lies.
Such person has the oil in the vessel.
If we have Holy Spirit (the oil in the vessel), we will be active in ministry.
If one is unfaithful, he does not have the oil in vessel and the oil in his lamp is used up already. He will not greet the second coming of Jesus.
Proverb 9: 10
9:10 "The fear of the Lordisthe beginning of wisdom,and the knowledge of the Holy One isunderstanding.
The result of the fear of the Lord is we receive the wisdom of heaven to do the things as follows:- Determining our success in the midst of the crisis of the world.
Ecclesiastes 10: 10
10:10 If the ax is dull,and one does not sharpen the edge,then he must use more strength;but wisdom brings success.
'Dull'means the crisis of the world.
The wisdom here means the wisdom of heaven. It is not from the world. - Protecting us so we will not be sealed by Antichrist.
Revelation 13: 18
13:18 Here is wisdom. Let him who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man: His number is 666.
- Determining our success in the midst of the crisis of the world.
- The second activity of Holy Spirit is encouraging us to become the servant of God that is right and faithful, wearing the belt of faithfulness and righteousness.
The result is as follows:
Luke 17: 8
17:8 But will he not rather say to him, 'Prepare something for my supper, and gird yourself and serve me till I have eaten and drunk, and afterward you will eat and drink'?
The servant of God who serves in faithfulness and righteousness will satisfy God and He will satisfy him, the business of eating-drinking is God's business ('you will eat and drink').
Just like a baby, the things about eating-drinking are the business of his mother.
Our business is only serving in faithfulness and righteousness; the business of eating-drinking is God's business.
If we take care of eating-drinking until we serve unfaithfully and wrong, we will not get the physical and spiritual things.
If we serve in faithfulness and righteousness, the business of eating-drinking, the joy and satisfaction is God's business. We will experience the satisfaction and the joy of heaven.
Even though the world is difficult, He helps us.
Tonight, we ask God to fill our lamp with the oil of Holy Spirit. Do not leave the gifts and ministry which are established by God, but we keep faithful and fervent. We are filled with the oil abundantly. The sign is we fear God and serve in faithfulness and fervency. - Romans 8: 26
8:26 Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.
The third activity of Holy Spirit is Holy Spirit helps us worship God. It is the peak.
- Isaiah 11: 1-3
- The oil in the lamp.
We face the darkest night or the world that is already destroyed and Jesus' second coming. For that reason, the lamp must keep on shining. The things that must be watched are as follows:
- The light.
Do not decrease or doubt in the Teaching Word, but we must hold it past.
Even though others say that the teaching is like this or that, the important thing is we hold fast the teaching Word that has been our life experience. - The oil.
- The oil in the lamp refers to the ministry and gift of Holy Spirit.
We pray to God that our ministry and gift are established by Him so we can serve Him in faithfulness and righteousness. - The oil in the vessel means that we fear God.
We are faithful and right (wearing a belt) then the result is the joy and satisfaction of Heaven, the guarantee of caring from God. The business of our eating-drinking is God's.
The example is the widow of Zarephath who has only a handful of flour in a bin and a little oil in a jar but God cares for her.
Elijah is cared for through the ravens that give him bread every day.
It is the proof that God is able to care for us through many ways.
The last one, Holy Spirit helps us worship God. - The oil in the lamp refers to the ministry and gift of Holy Spirit.
Let us use this opportunity. When the flesh is weak, the spirit is powerful. Do not give up. If the flesh is weak, let us surrender to God and Holy Spirit will help us worship Him.
On the contrary, if the flesh is strong, Holy Spirit does not have power.
Matthew 6: 6
6:6 But you, when you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who isin the secret place;and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly.
Worship prayer is the same as shutting the door.
It means the personal, closest, or secret relation with God heart to heart. We cry, surrender and put our hope to God.
In worship prayer we tell everything to God, our condition and sin, until we feel unworthy and powerless. Then, Holy Spirit will be poured on us abundantly.
2 Kings 4: 1-7
4:1 A certain woman of the wives of the sons of the prophets cried out to Elisha, saying, "Your servant my husband is dead, and you know that your servant feared the Lord. And the creditor is coming to take my two sons to be his slaves."
4:2 So Elisha said to her, "What shall I do for you? Tell me, what do you have in the house?" And she said, "Your maidservant has nothing in the house but a jar of oil."
4:3 Then he said, "Go, borrow vessels from everywhere, from all your neighbors--empty vessels; do not gather just a few.
4:4 And when you have come in, you shall shut the door behind you and your sons; then pour it into all those vessels, and set aside the full ones."
4:5 So she went from him and shut the door behind her and her sons, who brought the vesselsto her; and she poured itout.
4:6 Now it came to pass, when the vessels were full, that she said to her son, "Bring me another vessel." And he said to her, "There isnot another vessel." So the oil ceased.
4:7 Then she came and told the man of God. And he said, "Go, sell the oil and pay your debt; and you andyour sons live on the rest."
The widow of a servant of God is in difficult situation. She has debt that cannot be paid and her sons are going to be slave. She tells Elijah.
'Your servant feared the Lord,' means there is already the fear of God, faithfulness, and righteousness as the servant of God, but there is not one thing, namely worshiping God or shutting the door.
We may become God's servant who have fear of the Lord and sin as well as serves to Him in faithfulness and righteousness but we lack of worship. For that reason, Holy Spirit encourages us to worship Him.
The functions of the oil of Holy Spirit are as follows:
- 'Pay your debt' means Holy Spirit is for paying the debt.
The debt is something that is not finished yet. Holy Spirit will finish all things. - 'You and your sons live on the rest' means the lamp keeps on shining until Jesus comes a second time. We are ready to greet Him.
We are purified and changed by Holy Spirit until perfect like Jesus is so we are worthy to greet Him on glorious clouds.
The result is everything is successful and we are protected, cared, and helped by God. The miracle happens and everything is finished in due time.
God blesses us.