Jesus preached many parables about His return. And when He finishes the parable of the ten virgins, He ends with this warning:
“Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh.” (Matthew 25:13, KJV)
Watch.
Are you watching?
In this parable, Jesus is not warning pagans. He is warning people who look like they belong. They have lamps, expect the Bridegroom, are waiting. They even fall asleep just like the wise do.
But five are foolish.
Why?
Not because they were tired, slept or life got busy.
They were foolish because when the cry came, they had no oil.
This is the danger Jesus is exposing. People who believe they are ready, believe they know Him, are excited about His coming , but who have never possessed what only God can give.
There is no talk here about works earning salvation. There is no call to moral striving. But there is a terrifying revelation: you can be close to the things of Christ and still not belong to Christ.
They are not seekers, not nourished by Him. There is no living relationship. No inner life supplied by the Spirit of God. They are unprepared and don’t even know how vulnerable they are, saying “Lord, Lord.” and expecting the door to open, and shocked when it doesn’t.
This parable doesn’t teach that salvation is lost. It teaches a false assurance is exposed when Christ appears.
We spend so much time rightly saying we cannot work for our salvation, and that is true. But many of us have or are taking that truth and twisted it into presumption: “God’s got me, no matter what!”
Yet Scripture says:
“If any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.” (Romans 8:9, KJV)
The oil is not prayer minutes, not Bible-reading streaks, emotion, music, or religious activity.
The oil is life from God.
And the tragedy is this: the foolish virgins do not know they lack it until it is too late.
Jesus Himself tells us that before His coming there will be a falling away. Not necessarily people storming out of churches, but people remaining close to Christian things while drifting from the living Christ.
They go through the motions.
They carry the lamp.
But there is no supply.
And when the Bridegroom delays, everyone sleeps, wise and foolish alike. The difference is not seen in the waiting, it’s what’s revealed at His appearing.
This is why the warning is so severe.
You cannot borrow oil at the last moment, inherit another person’s faith or build spiritual life in the final hour.
When the cry comes, whether by Christ’s return or by death, what is already true will be revealed.
“And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment.” (Hebrews 9:27, KJV)
Death does not change the heart.
Judgment does not transform character.
You stand before Him as you are when you died or on His appearing.
And hear this carefully:
He does not say, “I knew you once.” He says, “I know you not.”
This is not about imperfect believers. This is about unconverted professors.
People who loved the atmosphere of church, loved the language of faith, who assumed closeness meant communion.
Slothfulness is dangerous, not because it loses salvation, but because it reveals what was never alive.
“Slothfulness casteth into a deep sleep.” (Proverbs 19:15, KJV)
That sleep is spiritual apathy. Indifference. A life that slowly stops seeking God, not because of hatred, but because of neglect.
The enemy does not need to drag people into open rebellion. He only needs to lull them into comfort, busyness, distraction, and spiritual drift.
Prayer fades.
The Word closes.
Conviction dulls.
And church attendance replaces discipleship.
Sunday morning attendance does not make you a follower of Christ.
This burns in me because I have stood there, blessing myself in my own imagination, assuming readiness, while neglecting the life of God within. Hours to sit in front of a television, playing on my phone and entertaining myself. While my heart and soul starved for what it needed to have real life.
Jesus is not asking for perfection.
He is not asking for constant emotion.
He’s asking: Do you belong to Me?
Because when He comes, the question will not be “What did you intend?”
It will be “Did you know Me?”
The door will either open, or it will not.
So watch.
Not with fear-driven works.
But with sober self-examination.
“Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith.” (2 Corinthians 13:5, KJV)
This parable isn’t meant to terrify true believers, it’s meant to strip false confidence from those who have mistaken proximity for possession.
Oil cannot be borrowed.
Readiness cannot be rushed.
And the time to know Him is now.
Watch therefore.