The Need to Ultimately Pay the Price to Buy the Oil Even though we have the Spirit of God in us, who is glory, this glory has not been manifested because it is only in our spirit and has not yet been manifested in our soul, our outer man. Therefore, whenever there is a struggle in our mind, emotion, or will, we have to drop all that is in our soul and pay the price to let the Lord win. Once we submit and lay down ourselves, the Lord will win, and we will gain the Spirit. This is what is meant by paying the price to buy the oil. At every time and in all matters, whenever we struggle with the Lord in our thoughts, preferences, and decisions, we have to be subdued, admit defeat, and lay ourselves down in order to let the Lord win and to let the Spirit spread out. In this way we will have the Spirit in our soul. This is the way to prepare oil in our vessel. First, we are regenerated and have the Spirit in our spirit. The Spirit is in the lamp of Jehovah; in other words, we have the oil in our lamp. Gradually, we become mature and the Spirit spreads from our spirit to our soul that we may have the oil in our vessel. This is the preparation that we need after salvation. Only transformed and matured people can meet the Lord and be co-kings with the Lord. In the parable of the ten virgins, the virgins woke up and trimmed their lamps when the bridegroom came at midnight (Matt. 25:6-7). This means that whether they were foolish or prudent, the first thing that they paid attention to after their resurrection was their spirit. This is the meaning of the phrase trimmed their own lamps. By that time, the foolish virgins discovered that they had not received sufficient dealings with their person and that in their soul, their vessel, there was a lack of the Holy Spirit and of the element of the oil. They still had to pay the price and go to those who were selling oil in order to buy the oil. This is the parable of the virgins. It shows us the way for a Christian to mature in life. May the Lord have mercy on us that we may prepare the oil in our vessel while we still have time. Extracted from “The Way for a Christian to Mature in Life“ (55), a collection of messages given by Brother Witness Lee in Taipei in 1955, published by Living Stream Ministry
Posted on: Sun, 30 Nov 2014 20:39:44 +0000
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