You Can’t Borrow Faith: Prepare Your Oil Today

We unpack the parable of the ten virgins and call listeners to keep their spiritual lamps full through prayer, Scripture, worship, and steady obedience. Comfort drains courage, but fresh oil prepares us for trials and for the return of Christ.

• meaning of oil as faith, the Spirit, prayer, and relationship with God
• the ten virgins and the cost of delay
• why personal readiness cannot be borrowed
• dangers of comfort and spiritual drift
• vigilance against the adversary
• churches and leaders operating on empty
• how to refill through Word, prayer, worship, and service
• moving from inspiration to transformation
• daily practices to keep reserves for hard times

If you'd like to contact Sister Deb, you can email her at OsburnDeborahK@gmail.com
If you'd like to support the show, you can support it through PayPal slash H O R 421 or through the website at H O R 421 Show.buzzsprout.com
Go read Matthew 25:1–13 and check your oil today

Chapters

• 0:32 Welcome And Broadcast Info
• 1:27 What “Oil” Means Spiritually
• 3:41 The Ten Virgins Parable
• 6:07 Wise Vs Unwise: Extra Oil
• 9:55 The Shut Door And The Warning
• 12:07 Getting Comfortable And Running Low
• 14:27 Vigilance Against The Adversary
• 17:12 Churches Operating Without Oil
• 20:15 How To Refill: Word, Prayer, Church
• 24:05 Not Borrowed Oil, Personal Faith

Transcript

SPEAKER_00: 0:32

Hey, you're listening to Bible Talk with Sister Deba Osborne. Bible Talk will be airing on WTUK 105.1 FM every Sunday at 4 p.m. If you missed the show, you can listen to it on the 421 Podcast. Stream it on Apple or Spotify. You go to the website at H O R 421 Show.buzzsprout.com. And I'd like to give thanks to all the listeners and supporters. And always keep us in prayers as we spread the gospel of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. If you'd like to contact Sister Deb, you can email her at Osburn Deborah K at gmail.com. That's O S P O R N E D E B R A K at Gmail.com. And if you'd like to support the show, you can support it through PayPal slash H O R 421. Or you go through the website at H O R 421 Show.buzzsprout.com. Now I give you your host, Sister D.

SPEAKER_01: 1:26

Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. Hello, everybody. So welcome to Bible Talk. Today I'm I want to talk to people. I want to talk to you about oil. Oil. O-I-L. Oil. I'm not talking about oil in your car. I'm not talking about the oil you fried chicken in. I'm talking about spiritual oil. And this oil is, when I say oil here in this in this lesson today, it's representing faith. It's representing the Holy Spirit, prayer, a relationship with God. That's when I say oil, that's what I'm meaning. And none of these, none of these internal personal qualities can we borrow from anybody else, or can we save them for later? Nope. We have to continually prepare and maintain our own spiritual oil. And that we do this through consistent prayer, scripture, our relationship with God. We do this to be ready for future events and trials that we come up against. Now, each person must uh have their own oil, their own oil supply. So what I want to ask you is, how many of you remember uh when you first gave your life to Christ? It was brand new, you wanted to run and you want to tell everybody about that, this Jesus. You had determination, you know, amen. You you wanted to do as much as possible that you could to please the Lord and make God happy. Amen. You read the scriptures, you sing, you pray, you preach, you had oil. Your cup was runneth over, your cup was full, your lamp was full, right? And so maybe over the years you've made some uh maybe some poor decisions, you've maybe lost some of the passion of the things that I just talked about. Maybe you've lost some of the oil. Maybe you've lost some oil along the way. Well, my friends, I'm here today to let you know, to let somebody know you can get a refill. You can replenish that oil. So today we are in the book of Matthew 25, verses 1 through 13. We all know this is the parable of the ten virgins. I'm not gonna go through every single scripture, and I really do this. I'm not gonna read everything out because I want you to think about what I'm saying here today and go read it for yourself. Okay, but that's what we're in. So right before Jesus' death, he takes time to teach his disciples, right? He he was getting ready to die, and they were gonna have to go on without him, and so he wanted to teach them some things, and so he used parables. And to me, I think parables really is considered, I I personally I think it's called may I don't know the actual definition. I would say little short stories that prove a point, is what I'm gonna say. So he used these parables, and he used the parable in this one of the ten virgins, right? And so these young ladies, if you will, they were invited to take part in a wedding. We're gonna say they were bridesmaids, okay? Let's say that they were bridesmaids, right? Uh, and so uh, so picture this. They had their dress ready and their hair all did up and their makeup was shining brightly on their forehead and and their face and their eyebrows all done and they're just, I mean, lipstick just a flowing. They are ready. Okay, they're ready. Then the Bible says that these ladies took their lamps and they went out to meet the bridegroom. So five of these ladies were wise and five were foolish. I don't like that word foolish, and I know the Bible says foolish, but I'm gonna say unwise, if you don't mind. Um so you know what I'm talking about when I say unwise, okay? And so the Bible says their five were were unwise and five were wise. And these ladies, uh they brought their oil. Okay, five of them brought their oil, they all brought their oil in their vet in their lamps, right? So the five wise even brought extra oil in vessels in case they, you know, ran out. Now the five unwise, they only had the bright, they only brought the oil in their lamps. They didn't bring nothing extra. And so the word of God, if you go midway down through there, the word of God told us that while the bridegroom tarried, these ten virgins slept and slumbered. The bridegroom says, the the word of God says, slumbered and slept. So slumbered is when I say slumbered, I usually think of it as getting comfortable, right? They got comfortable and they slept. And then at midnight, the bridegroom came, the virgins arose, and what they trimmed their lamps, getting ready to go meet the bridegroom, and what happened? Guess what? The five unwise were out of oil. They didn't have any refills. So they go to the other wise ladies and they're like, you know, well, can we have some of your oil? The wise were like, nope, no, not so. We if we give you oil, we're not going to have enough for our lamps, you know. And they were like, Well, you need to go to the store and get your own oil. You can't have our oil. You're not getting our oil. You need to go get your own oil. And that's what the bride the wise ladies was telling the unwise ladies. So these unwise ladies had to go get to the place where they were getting oil, and while they were going to get their oil, the bridegroom came, and the wise the wise, the five wise ladies were ready to go, and they went into the bride to with the bridegroom to the bride chamber, and the door was shut. And that's pretty much the gist of this. The door was shut. So when the other five ladies come back, they're banging on the door and they're saying, Lord, Lord, open up to us. You know, they're I'm paraphrasing, of course. They're saying, Lord, Lord, we got our oil. Please let us in. Come on, Lord, please. We're we're dressed and we're ready. We've got our invitation. We have our hair's done, our makeup's up, please. Come on, let us in. But you know what he answered and said? He said, I know you not. Matthew 25, 13 tells us, watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of Man cometh. And my friends, today, I want somebody to understand that we've gotten too comfortable. We've slumbered and we've slept and we've let our oil get low. You know, we're we're okay with coming to church on certain Sunday mornings, maybe, but we're not okay with coming every single Sunday. We're not okay maybe with Bible study, maybe with prayer meetings. We go once a month, maybe. But children of God, I'm here to tell you today we've come, we've become too comfortable, and we've let our oil get low. And so, 1 Peter 5 and 8 says, Be sombre, be vigilant, because your adversary, the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about seeking whom he may devour. In other words, people, he's telling us while you're sleeping out here, while you are comfortable and you're slumbering, I am out here creeping around. I'm looking for somebody who has let their oil get low. And the enemy is going to look and he's gonna look and he's gonna look, and you know, he's gonna look for a weak vessel. And if he looks good enough, people, he's gonna find it. And if the enemy goes and looks in church, he'll really definitely find it. Because we have people in the churches right now today operating with either low, low, little bitty sips of oil, or no oil. That's a big issue in our churches today, people. Folks operating without oil. We have elders, we have deacons, we have singers, we have pastors who don't have oil. We have mothers and fathers who don't have oil or don't have have maybe a little tool of oil, and they're they're trying to make these decisions in these churches and even in their home lives, they're trying to make decisions without the oil, and that's the scary part, amen. They want to make decisions in churches, they want to make decisions in their lives without oil. And friends, somebody needs to hear this today that if you are trying to make decisions in a church or without out of church or in your home, without oil, without God, he is not in the midst. I'm telling you. You can't make a decision without God, not good decisions anyway. You can't run a godly house without God. And it's time to get your oil. It's time to refill your oil, friends. Today, somebody needs to hear this. Trust me, when you come to Sunday school and you come to Bible study, you get your oil, you refill. When you go to church and you go to prayer meeting, you get your oil. When you read the word of God, you get your oil, you refill, you replenish. And my friends, today, if you've let your oil get low, if you've lost your oil, then you need to get it back. You need to refill it. This oil is what prepares us when the enemy uh comes in in like a flood. You'll be ready. There's darkness out there. There's there's darkness out there, and without the oil in them lamps, I don't know what you're gonna do. Because you know what, when the enemy tells you to get out, hey, you know what? You've got your oil. When the enemy feels tells you to feel like blowing up, and trust me, I felt like that in the last couple days, you've got your oil. Friends, we can't operate without our oil, we can't serve without oil. We can't sing without oil. We need the oil of God. I need it myself. Lord knows I need it sitting right here today. And the thing about it is we can't live on our pastor's oil. We can't live on our mother's oil, our father's oil. We need our oil for ourselves. Amen. We need to go and get oil ourselves. We can't depend on somebody bringing our their oil for us. You know what I'm saying? Like, like I know the devil's gonna come, but I've got my oil, right? I know that no weapons formed against me is gonna prosper because I've got my oil. Weeping may do endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning because I've got my oil. Friends, I don't know who needs to hear this, but somebody needs to hear today that you need to get your oil back. You need to not wait too late and don't wait till the very last minute and get your oil back. Because no one knows the day or the hour that the Son of Man cometh. It's right there in the Word of God. Because people of God, I'm telling you today, He is coming back, and you need to have your oil. And if you have had your oil before and run out or getting low, and if you have you you need it. If you've never had it. If you're listening here today and you've never given your life to God and you've never gotten God's oil. Well, friends, I'm telling you here today, you can get it today. Don't wait. You can get it. He'll replenish you, he will fill you up. See, I've learned, I've learned sometimes that by by over the years that, you know, some people they don't really even want to refill. Or let's just say they don't want Jesus. They don't want to refill. They they want just enough oil uh to get them through, uh, to try to get them to heaven. They don't want it, they don't want enough oil to make uh, you know, change their their their their lives. They don't need enough, they don't want enough oil to make it really matter. Here they think they can just get a little bit of oil and that's going to that's going to get them to heaven. That's not how it is. You know? They got they want just enough a little bit of oil to inspire them, but then not enough to transform them. See, we want just enough oil to bless us daily, to bless our plans, you know, but not enough to change our life. Friends, today we want just enough oil to wear a cross, but we don't want enough to carry one. And when we get to church on Sunday and be inspired, but not just enough oil to take us through Monday through Saturday. We got just enough oil to get us through Sunday. My friends, today we need fresh oil. In biblical times now, lamps and and lamps were the source of life. They provided light, they provided uh guidance in the dark, and oil was the fuel that kept them, kept the flame going. And without that flame, without it, the lamp would flicker and go out. And people, in a spiritual context, the lamp represents our faith and the oil, our relationship with God and our spiritual preparedness, and we today are losing our our lamps. Friends, when we lose our lamps and they run dry, we're left in the dark. And we can't shine brightly, we can't see clearly, you know. We need to be filled to the brim with oil, but we need to have reserves. It's so easy to grow lax in this world, in this walk with God. It's easy to skip church and to put off reading the Bible and to forget to pray. So when we start doing that, we tend to let our oil reserves run low, or some we even let them go completely dry. Brothers and sisters, today, when times are good and when times are bad, we need to draw from the well that never runs dry. The oil well that never runs dry. We need to keep our oil supplies filled to the brim. And then when the darkness, when the dark times hit, we won't be left in the dark. We'll endure. My friends, here we have to prepare for the long haul. You see, the five unwise, they they missed their chance. They got too comfortable, they slumbered. And the door was shut and wasn't was not going to be opened. You know, the Lord of the manor said, I don't know you. He didn't say, Well, you know, what took you so long, come on in. He didn't say, Well, better late than never, come on. He didn't say, Well, I've been expecting you, y'all get on in here. No, he didn't say none of that. Friends, today he said, I did not know you. I do not know you. That's what he said. So I asked you today, have you checked your oil? Oh, you're leaking oil. Did you have you let the distractions of this life hinder you from checking your oil? When was the last time you checked your spiritual oil? Ask yourself. Ask yourself, have I been going to church lately? You need to check your spiritual oil. Ask yourself, how have I neglected to pray? People check your spiritual oil. Have I neglected to read the word of God? Check your oil. Do you need an oil change? Do you need a refill? Because you can get a fresh oil change. You can get a fresh refill from the Holy Spirit and from our Heavenly Father. All you gotta do is give him the cares of this world. That's all you gotta do. Give him your cares. Brothers and sisters, I'm telling you today, there's a lot of important things going on in our lives. But having oil in our lamps and being prepared for Jesus' return is the single most important thing that you can do in your life. It's not who won the ball game, it's not who won the election, it's not about getting a better job or saving money. People, it's about being ready when the bridegroom returns. My friends, it's about keeping oil in your lamp and keeping those burning. It's like the old song used to say, This world is almost gone. And when the testing time too is up ahead and it's coming. And if you don't have no lamp no oil in your lamps, and or you don't have reserves, and you use what you've already got, it's gonna be bad. And the only way to get that oil reserves, the only way to fill that lamp up, is through and by a relationship with Jesus Christ. It's going to church and praying. It's attending church and listening to the word, it's getting in the word of God, it's praying for your neighbor, it's telling people about the Lord, it's working for the Lord is who puts that oil in your lamps working for the Lord. And somebody needs to open up their eyes and ears today and realize, again, there's a lot of important things in our lives. Again, I want to say it. But having oil in our lamps and being prepared for the return of Jesus Christ is the single most important thing that you can do in this life. I know I repeated it, but that's okay. Somebody needs to hear it. My friends, today ask yourself, do I need an oil change? Do I need to be refilled? Do I have enough oil in my vessels? Do I have enough reserves to do when the testing time hits? Do I have enough? And friends, I'm telling you here today how to get it. Talk to your Lord Jesus Christ. Get in his word. Go to church. Listen to the preaching. Be fed. Get up and sing. Get up and pray. Anything you can do, a work for the Lord, is what helps you get that oil. And I hope today that's all I got on this. And I hope today, people, that this has blessed you as much as it's blessed me to bring it. I hope and pray everybody listen to what I said. And I hope this you understand what it means. I really ask you to go to Matthew 25, uh, 1 through 13 and read that little parable. It's really cool. I like it. Um, it teaches us a lot. It teaches us a lot when we open up our hearts and our minds and read it. Uh, it teaches us a lot. It tells us about going to sleep and slumbering, or either just getting comfortable. Getting comfortable and not thinking that, well, I need to be up reading the word of God, or getting comfortable with our popcorn on the couch watching TV and not cracking up the book of uh the Lord of the book of the Lord laying on the table. Getting comfortable and putting uh TV, putting it on a movie when you could be watching gospel singing and praying to the Lord and worshiping the Lord. There's a lot of important things, but people, that word of God and getting plenishing your oil is one of them is the most important. I know I might sound like I'm sitting here repeating myself, but you know what? Somebody needs to hear this. And somebody needs to hear it good. You need to refill your lamps, and you need to have reserves ready and be prepared because, like the word of God says, watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of Man comes. I'm gonna end this with a prayer. I hope and pray again that this has blessed everybody as much as it's blessed me. And I'm gonna end this with a prayer, and God bless everybody. Our Father God in heaven, I ask you, dear Lord, to let the people hear these words that was said here today. Let them go to their own Bible and open up that word of God and let them read the parable that I just told them about, and let them get the understanding out of them that they need to get. Let them open up their hearts and their minds and their ears to the word of God. Let them, Lord, up above, want to get their vessels filled, to get their lamps filled, to keep their lamps trimmed and burning. Because, like I said, the song says the world is almost gone. And people need to realize and open up their eyes that it is time right now. There's no better time than right now to fill them lamps up and to fill them extra vessels up and have a reserve and be ready. Because testing time is coming. And I ask you, God, to help these people to understand, dear Lord, what they need to do. Help them to open up their hearts and their minds and let these words that I've said here today, your words, let them go to the hearts and the minds that need to hear it and that need to understand it. Lord, I ask you to bless each and everybody that's listening to this today. Let them open up their hearts and minds again and let them understand what the Spirit is saying to them. Let them understand it and feel it. Bring that conviction down on their hearts. If they've never ever even asked you for their to be their savior and they don't really want you to know what to even have in the oil, Lord, we know you can give them their oil. It'd be their first time when you open up their hearts that they will give their heart to you and fill their cup with oil and they'll know what I'm talking about. Lord, I ask you to touch these people, these people that need to be replenished, that need to sit down and think and pray to you and need to be replenished on their oil. Lord, I thank you for this beautiful day and for this evening. I praise you and I honor you, I worship you. I thank you for this ministry that you have gave to me, that you have let me use. I thank you for your ministry that you have let me use and let me do this. This is yours, Lord, not my words, your words. And I ask you to bless each and every one of us, Lord, according to your will, God. And Lord, I ask these in all things. In Jesus' holy sweet name I pray. Amen. And amen. God bless everybody.

SPEAKER_02: 22:57

Stay on Jesus morning.

SPEAKER_00: 23:03

Hey, you've been listening to Bible talk with Sister Dev. If you'd like to contact Sister Dev, you can email her at osburndebury K at gmail.com. I have a small announcement I'd like to make. Shonda Middleton and Melton Middleton. We hosted a Thanksgiving dinner on Thanksgiving Day at the Mexican restaurant in Everett. Or time, you can contact her on Facebook. And more information will be given next show at it. Recorded at the 421 Studio for contact information. You can email at H Or 421 Ministries at Gmail dot com. On number 239-8495.

SPEAKER_02: 23:42

I'm walking down with my Hallelujah.