QUESTION:
Will Foolish Virgins Be Lost?
ANSWER:
“Then shall the kingdom of heaven be likened unto ten virgins, which took their lamps, and went forth to meet the bridegroom. (2) And five of them were wise, and five were foolish. (3) They that were foolish took their lamps, and took no oil with them: (4) But the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps. (5) While the bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered and slept. (6) And at midnight there was a cry made, Behold, the bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet him. (7) Then all those virgins arose, and trimmed their lamps. (8) And the foolish said unto the wise, Give us of your oil; for our lamps are gone out. (9) 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. (10) 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. (11) Afterward came also the other virgins, saying, Lord, Lord, open to us. (12) But he answered and said, Verily I say unto you, I know you not. (13) Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh.” [Matthew 25:1-13]
Now, there was the virgins went out to meet Him. And the "foolish" virgins, now, did not have Oil in their lamp, but they had everything else: they were clean, they believed in Christ; they preached the Word that they believed, their denomination would let them preach, they preached that, the Second Coming, the Sacrifice, the Atonement. They believe. You ever tie up with a good Baptist scholar one time, (huh) you better know what you're talking about, uh-huh, sure had. [The Ten Virgins, and The 144,000 Jews, Jeffersonville, IN 60-1211M]
Now do you understand what the remnant of the Jews is, the hundred and forty-four thousand? Where they're setting, waiting? Right at the hour. Can you see now that the foolish virgin that won't take the... wouldn't take the Oil, and will have to rise and be separated, the rights and wrongs at the day of the judgment? Do you understand that when the--the foolish virgin begin to receive, just like now, that she needed This, she went after It; it was that very minute that the Bridegroom came? Then how close are we? Right now! We have now in just a short time, I don't know how much longer it might be. I couldn't say when, I--I don't know. Might be another year, it might be another ten years, forty years, might be forty minutes. I--I don't know, I can't say. But I know it's near, it's real near. [The Ten Virgins, and The 144,000 Jews, Jeffersonville, IN 60-1211M]
“Were the five of the virgins lost?” I presume that they are asking the question, "the five virgins," the five wise and the five foolish. Now, if you were with us in the last teachings in Revelation, you find out there that those virgins, the--the five foolish virgins were not lost; but they were not permitted to go into the wedding supper, but they suffered persecution, and was martyred, and raised again at the general resurrection in the last day. Those are the people where He separated the sheep from the goats, see, they stood before judgment. You say, "Well, Brother Branham, don't we stand, the Church?" No, sir. We do not stand before the judgment. We are now standing before the Judgment. God put our sins upon Christ, and we... "He that heareth My Word (St. John 5:24) and believeth on Him that sent Me has Eternal Life, and shall not come into the judgment but has passed from death unto Life." No more judgment for the Church, it's took up in the rapture, and comes back to pass judgment upon the people who did not receive the Holy Spirit. Does not Paul say that he dares any of us to take a--a matter to the court, to the unjust magistrate, when, "know ye not that the saints shall judge the earth?" We will set with Christ and judge, kings, and priests, and judge these people that we preached to and told them about the baptism of the Holy Ghost and they refused to receive It. Think of it. No, they were not lost, but they will never be in the Bride. They were come in the second resurrection, but never be in the Bride, to be judged according to the way they treated the Light that they received. Now, that part will be up to Christ. They were not lost though. [God Being Misunderstood, Jeffersonville, IN 61-0723E]
This thing of this Council of Churches is nothing else in the world but a--a stir of the foolish virgin, to be left here on the earth for a picking for the antichrist. But the real Church of God will float like old Noah did, and go on into Glory just as sure as I'm standing here. That's why He's gathering them together. That's what the Voice is speaking forward today. That's what God's a-doing, is gathering one from Los Angeles, and one from Philadelphia, and one from Georgia, and so forth. Gathering them together, His people that's willing to believe the Word of the living God. "As it was in the days of Noah, so will it be in the coming of the Son of man, wherein a few was saved, just a very few." All right, our Holy Ghost ark will float right above the judgments of God, 'cause we're already judged, as we confess Jesus, and He took our judgment. [Oneness, Jeffersonville, IN 62-0211]
Look what's happened now. What is it? The World Council of Churches, they talk about that. And they say all these... Like our brother Presbyterian, and so forth, coming, in. That's wonderful. I believe in that too. But did you ever wake up to think that Jesus said that that foolish virgin, when she begin to call for oil, it was right then the Bridegroom come? When they woke up and begin to realize that they'd had no oil, they went to buy oil. And it's at that minute, when they went to buy oil that the Bridegroom come and the Bride went in. Can't you see that? [Letting Off The Pressure, Green Lake, WI 62-0518]
We have two classes today that's professing. Now listen close, in closing. We have two classes that's professing to be the Bride of Christ. That's right. And the Bible speaks there will be two classes. That's right. The wise virgin and the foolish one. Is that right? [Congregation says, "Amen."--Ed.] There's two classes. The church says, "We are the Church." They go out and have these great evangelistic campaigns, bring the people into the church. The women continue on with their way of doing. The men continue on with their way of doing. They never change their doctrine. They got it all wrote out, and documented, and set down, and those Apostles' Creed, and certain prayers, and all these catechisms, and everything that the Methodists, and Baptists, and Presbyterians, and Catholic, and all, read. And they accept that catechism because some great man back behind said that was right. He might have been a great man, he might have been right, but he hasn't got the authority to say that. Cause, the Bible is God's authority. It's the written Word of God. "And any man that adds one thing to It, or takes anything from It, the same will be taken (his part) out of the Book of Life." That can't be done so, now. But we have two professing it. One said, "Well, we're the Church." The other one said, "We're the Church." All right. The wise and foolish, both are invited. But did you notice? They both had vessels. That's right. They both was virgins, believers. They both had vessels. But, Satan is more than a match for us. We know that. We know that Satan is way more than a--a match for any human being. Don't you never try to do it with your wisdom, outsmart him. You just can't do it. Jesus knew this, so He sent to the Church, That, so Satan would not outsmart them, a place to be fortified. He sent them the Holy Ghost.
And the Church does not claim to be smart. They just claim to believe. Their preachers can't go out and show you their Ph., double L., Q.U., S.T.D., and all these other things. They don't have no great, big inauguration times when they're ordained into some ministerial association. [The Conflict Between God And Satan, Clarksville, IN 62-0531]
Now there's another question here that was given me last evening: “Brother Branham, are the five foolish virgins of Matthew 25 counted as the Gentile remnant? I understand that the five foolish virgins were saved but have to go through the great tribulation period. Is this correct? If so, what will be their final destination? Could they be the sheep which are divided from the goats in Matthew 25:33 and 34?” Pretty good theologian according to what I... [Blank.spot.on.tape--Ed.]... think it too, that they are the remnant, the sleeping virgin is the remnant spoke of in Revelation; of the woman's seed that keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ. A woman will take a--a piece of goods and lay it down; well, now, that is what she's cutting her... or takes her pattern and lays anywhere she desires, which way she's going to cut that. And then what she has left over is called the remnant, but she chooses to cut it from a certain place by her own free thinking. But what's left over is called the remnant. Now, if you'll notice, there were five foolish and five wise virgins; all of them was virgins, made out of the same material. But, by election, God chose His Bride by election before the foundation of the world, put their names on the Lamb's Book of Life slain before the foundation of the world; before the world ever began, God in His mind, being infinite. And we use the word sometime, is "predestination," but it's a sure hanger in this church age that we live in. It was certainly a great thing used in the days of the martyrs, 'cause they certainly believed it. But it's got away from It now, to the legalist ideas, the legalist teaching in the church which come... Which was a good thing, because all of it had gone Calvanistic in England till they didn't even have revivals anymore, and John Wesley come along preaching the Arminian doctrine which balanced it up. God will always balance it up. So then the foolish virgin was the one who did not have oil in their lamps, that I believe that was cast out into outer darkness where there'll be weeping, wailing, and gnashing of teeth. And if you'll compare that, or your footnotes, it'll run it right back again to the great tribulation. And I think they're the ones who stays back and goes through the great tribulation. And quite a lesson there, if we had time to go into it. If you... [The Patmos Vision, Jeffersonville, IN 60-1204E]
Fire is the confirmation of the Light coming from the Word. They will fill... The smart virgin, the wise virgin, had Oil in Her lamp, and She trimmed Her lamp and lit it. Now, what is it? Now, the... God is the Word. The Oil is the Spirit. And the Fire is the Gospel Light on that Oil. God said so. See? That's the vessel. All right. The Oil is in the vessel. And the Fire, burning It, shows that It's reflecting the Light of what the Word said. See? That's the reflection. Now, that wise virgin could do that. But that other, foolish virgin, was on the outside, had no Oil, and they couldn't reflect nothing but just their church and their denomination. See? Now, you say, "The Word, you said 'the Word was--was Spirit'?" Yes, sir. God said, "My Word is Spirit." That's right. The true Bride must be unified by the Word. Now, remember, if She is a part of Christ, She has to be the Word of Christ. In order to be the Word of Christ, you have to be baptized into Christ. And when you're in Christ, you believe Christ, and Christ is the Word. [The Conflict Between God And Satan, Clarksville, IN 62-0531]
Here's the good part now. Notice, "See that thou hurt not this wine and oil." Just a little bit of it left, brother. "Don't you touch that." Now, oil is--symbolizes the Spirit, the Holy Spirit. I'll give you a few verses if you want to, a few Scriptures in Leviticus 8:12, where Aaron, before he went in had to be anointed with oil, you know; and--and Zechariah 4:12, of oil coming, pouring through the pipes and said, "This is My Spirit," oil. Another thing, if you want to see Matthew 14:25, there was a foolish virgin (25:3) the foolish virgin had no oil, no Spirit. And Matthew 25:4, the wise virgin had oil in her lamps, Spirit-filled. Spirit... Oil typifies the Spirit. Oh, glory. You get it? All right. [The Third Seal, Jeffersonville, IN 63-0320]
Something happened the other day. You read, or heard the tape, "the seven thunders," What Time Is It, Sir? See? It happened the other day. You know these things. The time is at hand, church. The time is at hand. Don't, don't, don't wait any longer. See? How do you know the Rapture is not going on all the time? First thing you know, it'll be past, one disappearing here and there. It'll be gone, the first thing you know. And you'll... Judgment will strike the world. You say, "Well, I--I thought this." "It's too late now." Remember, they didn't know it until the day they entered into the ark, and then it was too late. The foolish virgin didn't know until she come back and found the wise virgin gone, then she was left for the Tribulation period. [God Hiding Himself In Simplicity, Albuquerque, NM 63-0412e]
“After the Bride is raptured will any of the foolish virgin be saved or will they all be lost?” No. See, everything will be finished for the Gentile church when the Bride is taken from the earth. The Spirit of God leaves the earth: "He that's filthy is filthy still; he that's righteous is righteous still; he that's holy is holy still." In other words the sanctuary becomes smoky, where the--the Attorney stands to plead the case. Christ leaves the sanctuary; His day of mediatorial is over. The rapture comes; He leaves from the sanctuary, goes forth and takes the Book of Redemption, and claims everything He redeemed. There's no more mediatorial work. How many understands that? I got it on one of the Seals--or one of the... Yeah, the Seals, I believe it was, that Christ comes forth to claim His mediatorial work. [Next Paragraph] Now, just a minute. "Will the foolish virgin be saved." No. Whatever happens she--happens now. After that time she's in the state... Now, she will have to go through the tribulation period. And the reason of it is, is because she has rejected the Atonement in Its fullness. She is a believer, a professed believer, but she will have to go through the tribulation period. The Bible said, "And the rest of them, the dragon spurted water out of his mouth to go and make war..." And what an hour that is. The... [Next Paragraph] There's never been a time in history where that the nominal churches has become so hungry to find the baptism of the Holy Ghost. I--I speak for the Christian Business Men. Constantly, it's Presbyterian, Lutheran, Catholic, and all, Baptists by the hundreds, Church of Christ, Nazarenes, Pilgrim Holiness, Seventh Day Adventists, every one of them flocking in trying to find... See? [Next Paragraph] Now, this is a striking thing. Please don't take it as a doctrine, but do you understand what the Scriptures said would take place when that did? Time was over. For look, there was seven virgins--or ten virgins went out to meet the Bridegroom, and half of them had oil in their lamp, half of them didn't. That's the part of the body that's dead and the part that's alive. The five's wise, when they--the cry come, "Behold the Bridegroom..." they all trimmed--woke and trimmed their lamps to go into the wedding supper. But when the foolish virgin said, "Give us some of your oil, our lamps is gone out. (See?) Give us of your oil," they said, "Not so, we just got enough for ourself. Go buy it." And while they went to buy it, the Bridegroom came. [Questions And Answers, Jeffersonville, IN 64-0823E]
Bible References: Matthew 21:1-13
[Answer provided by Bro. Ken Andes, Minister, Lynden, Washington, USA]