"I've Got Oil Tonight."

“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 look oil in their vessels with their lamps. While the bridegroom carried they all slumbered and slept. And at midnight there was a cry made, Behold, the bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet him. Then all those virgins arose, and trimmed their lamps. And the foolish said unto the wise, Give us of your oil; for our lamps are gone out. But the wise answered, saying, Not so, lest there be not enough for us and you: but go ye rather to them that sell, and buy for yourselves. And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came; end they that were ready went in with him to the marriage: and the door was shut. Afterward came also the other virgins, saying, Lord, Lord, open to us. But he answered and said, Verily I say unto you, I know you not. Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour.”— Matt. 25:1-131Then shall the kingdom of heaven be likened unto ten virgins, which took their lamps, and went forth to meet the bridegroom. 2And five of them were wise, and five were foolish. 3They that were foolish took their lamps, and took no oil with them: 4But the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps. 5While the bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered and slept. 6And at midnight there was a cry made, Behold, the bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet him. 7Then all those virgins arose, and trimmed their lamps. 8And the foolish said unto the wise, Give us of your oil; for our lamps are gone out. 9But the wise answered, saying, Not so; lest there be not enough for us and you: but go ye rather to them that sell, and buy for yourselves. 10And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came; and they that were ready went in with him to the marriage: and the door was shut. 11Afterward came also the other virgins, saying, Lord, Lord, open to us. 12But he answered and said, Verily I say unto you, I know you not. 13Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh. (Matthew 25:1‑13).
“I’VE got oil tonight.” The speaker was a young woman whose face was radiant with joy, spite of profusion of tears which were rapidly flowing down.
Fully fifteen years have rolled away since these striking words fell on my ear, one Lord’s Day evening, in the Town Hall of a royal burgh in Mid-Scotland, where I had been preaching on the Lord’s Second Coming. The scripture before us that evening is given in the verses which head this paper, which I would beg my reader to ponder.
We had been studying this picture of Christendom at the moment of the Lord’s return. Some were seen to be ready for the Bridegroom at His return, others were not. The Lord says of the ten virgins (who evidently prefigure professing Christians, of whom there are countless numbers today), “Five of them were wise, and five were foolish.” The folly of the foolish, who took their lamps and went forth to meet the Bridegroom, lay in this, that they took their lamps—the mark of profession—and took no oil (whatever that may mean) with them.
The wisdom of the wise lay in this, they “took oil in their vessels with their lamps.” The first thing with the foolish was their lamps, which made them look like those who were really ready, and the last thing with them the oil—the essential necessity for the maintenance of the light. That, forsooth, they disregarded. On the contrary, with the wise the first thing was the oil, which they took in their vessels with their lamps. The all-important necessity of having the oil was paramount with the wise—how otherwise could the light of the lamp be maintained? The oil, so frequently spoken of in the types of the Old Testament, is without doubt a figure of the Holy Ghost, which no unbeliever today possesses, and which every real believer in the Lord Jesus does possess. The possession of the Holy Ghost is an integral part of Christianity, and the person who has not received the Holy Ghost is not, in the true sense of the word, a Christian.
On the day of Pentecost we found that Peter said, “Repent, and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost” (Acts 2:3838Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. (Acts 2:38)). Repentance, remission of sins, and reception of the Holy Ghost were all bound up together for the Jew in that day.
Again, in another discourse Peter says: “The God of our fathers raised up Jesus, whom ye slew and hanged on a tree. Him hath God exalted with his right hand to be a Prince and a Saviour, for to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins. And we are witnesses of these things; and so is also the Holy Ghost, whom God hath given to them that obey him” (Acts 5:30-3230The God of our fathers raised up Jesus, whom ye slew and hanged on a tree. 31Him hath God exalted with his right hand to be a Prince and a Saviour, for to give repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins. 32And we are his witnesses of these things; and so is also the Holy Ghost, whom God hath given to them that obey him. (Acts 5:30‑32)). Obedience to the gospel is followed by the reception of the Holy Ghost.
Again, in the house of Cornelius, to the Gentile company Peter thus proclaimed the truth: “To him (Jesus) give all the prophets witness, that through his name whosoever believeth in him shall receive remission of sins. While Peter yet spake these words, the Holy Ghost fell on all them which heard the word” (Acts 10:43, 4443To him give all the prophets witness, that through his name whosoever believeth in him shall receive remission of sins. 44While Peter yet spake these words, the Holy Ghost fell on all them which heard the word. (Acts 10:43‑44)).
That is to say, he said that if they believed in Jesus they would receive forgiveness of their sins. As a matter of fact, having believed they received not only forgiveness, but likewise the Holy Ghost; for he says in verse 47, “Can any man forbid water that these should not be baptized, which have received the Holy Ghost as well as we?”
When narrating this wonderful scene at Jerusalem at a later date, Peter says: “And as I began to speak the Holy Ghost fell on them, as on us at the beginning” (Acts 11:1515And as I began to speak, the Holy Ghost fell on them, as on us at the beginning. (Acts 11:15)). “Forasmuch then as God gave them the like gift as he did unto us, who believed on the Lord Jesus Christ; what was I that I could withstand God” (vs. 17). The forgiven believer, therefore, be it noted, receives the Holy Ghost.
We read also from the pen of the apostle Paul: “In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise” (Eph. 1:1313In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise, (Ephesians 1:13)). Christ is the object of faith, and when the soul believes in Him it receives the Holy Ghost, the seal of forgiveness, and the pledge of security. It is the sinner who believes the gospel of his salvation, and the believer who is then sealed with the Holy Ghost. The sinner has proclaimed to him what he needs—forgiveness, pardon, peace, salvation in Christ—and bowing to the truth and believing it, the Spirit of God seals his faith, and he becomes the possessor of the oil.
These precious truths we saw clearly that night in the Town Hall, and thus were able to understand what it was that fitted the soul to welcome the Bridegroom. The foolish, too late, found out that they had no oil, and were told to buy for themselves. “And while they went to buy the Bridegroom came; and they that were ready went in with him to the marriage: and the door was shut.” The ready ones were those who had the oil—none other. Too late the other virgins came saying, “Lord, Lord, open to us.” The solemn answer came back, “Verily I say unto you, I know you not.” They were outside, and outside forever. Such is the awful future of the one who is not the possessor of the oil when the Lord comes.
The meeting closed, and many remained to be spoken with, others going away. Among these was the young woman whose words I have quoted. She left the hall, went into the street, and after a minute or two returned, and, coming up the steps to the landing outside the hall, where I was then standing, she accosted me abruptly with the words, “I’ve got oil tonight.” Total stranger as she was to me, I inquired what she meant, and got for answer, “Oh, I’ve found Jesus tonight. My sins are all forgiven, I know I am saved, and that I have got the Holy Ghost now. I have only been a hollow, false pressor of Christ until tonight. For some time I have been a church member, but my eyes have been opened to see my true state, and the Lord has, in His mercy, led me to Himself, blessed, and saved me, and I can truly say I’ve got oil tonight.’” Her face gave ample testimony to the truth of her statement, expressing as it did, the joy that now filled her heart in the possession of Jesus, and God’s salvation. She was indeed the illustration and the answer of the apostle’s desire, “Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost” (Rom. 15:1313Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost. (Romans 15:13)).
For the previous forty-eight hours my young friend had been a deeply anxious soul. That Sunday was a never-to-be-forgotten night in her history, but it had been preceded by two very memorable days and nights of contrition, repentance, and soul-agony. It appears that on the Friday, while occupied near her father’s house about some domestic matter, she had incautiously approached a very large and deep tank of water, which was not railed in, had missed her footing, and fallen in. The tank was full, and its depth exceeded her height. As she fell in, and the cold waters closed over her, in a second the whole of her life came before her, and she was convicted that all her religious profession was utterly worthless, and that she was a sinner going to be drowned and damned. Her horror was indescribable, and doubtless added energy to the efforts which she made from the bottom of the slimy tank, in her endeavors to reach the edge. This mercifully she effected, after some time got out unhelped, and immediately ran—not to her room, to divest herself of her dripping garments, but—down the street, to the house of a Christian young woman whom she knew, and whom she urgently implored to tell her how to get saved. Her bodily comfort was nowhere; the need of her guilty, sin-stained soul was paramount.
Her friend tried to calm her, and pointed her to Christ, but all in vain. She passed two sleepless nights of the deepest agony of soul, and gladly came to the hall on Sunday night to hear the preaching of which her friend had apprised her. The end you know. Awakened to a sense of her sinful and guilty condition, by water, she was brought into peace with God and joy in the Lord through simple belief of the gospel, and thereupon to the reception of the oil—the Holy Ghost.
Not long after her conversion she married, and became the mother of a large family; and a few months since she fell asleep in Christ, having borne a bright witness for the Lord in her life, and in her death.
The history of God’s dealings with souls is wonderful, nor is this one of the least striking that has come under my notice. Reader, do you think anybody could write the story of your conversion? Twelve men at Ephesus once had this question put to them, “Have ye received the Holy Ghost since ye believed?” (Acts 19:22He said unto them, Have ye received the Holy Ghost since ye believed? And they said unto him, We have not so much as heard whether there be any Holy Ghost. (Acts 19:2)). Allow me to ask you that question. What will your answer be? If you cannot answer in the affirmative, give no sleep to your eyelids till you can happily say, “I’ve got oil!”
W. T. P. W.