Bible Study - Ends Times - Oil - Mathew 12:32, Mathew 24:1-52, Mahew 25;1-13 - September 20, 2026

 

Bible Study – End Times - Oil – Mathew 12:32, Mathew 24:1-52, Mathew 25:1-13 - September 20, 2026

Matthew 12:32 - Christian Standard Bible

³² Whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man, it will be forgiven him; but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven him, either in this age or in the one to come.

Why?

THE HOLY SPIRIT is the main communicator between GOD and mankind.

THE HOLY SPIRIT is the oil in the lamps of the parable of the ten virgins.

All virgins but not all had sufficient oil in their lamps to sustain them while waiting for the bridegroom to come.

Let’s explore!!!

Mathew 24:1-52:

24 As Jesus left and was going out of the temple, his disciples came up and called his attention to its buildings. ² He replied to them, “Do you see all these things? Truly I tell you, not one stone will be left here on another that will not be thrown down.”

Often, our human minds build permanency in physical structures.

We have just been reminded of the tragic events of 9/11.

The collapse of the Twin Towers is a stark reminder of how quickly things can change and bring down buildings thought to be built to withstand the forces of man and nature.

JESUS knew what the religious leaders in HIS day thought would last forever, would be changed by HIS life, death, resurrection, ascension and GOD’S Gift of THE HOLY SPIRIT in the hearts of all who place their faith in JESUS and HIS Passion, which includes HIS resurrection and ascension into Heaven to take HIS seat at the right hand of GOD, HIS FATHER.

Signs of the End of the Age

³ While he (JESUS) was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples approached him privately and said, “Tell us, when will these things happen? And what is the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?”

⁴ Jesus replied to them, “Watch out that no one deceives you. ⁵ For many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am the Messiah,’ and they will deceive many. ⁶ You are going to hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not alarmed, because these things must take place, but the end is not yet. ⁷ For nation will rise up against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines^[a] and earthquakes in various places. ⁸ All these events are the beginning of labor pains.

Persecutions Predicted

⁹ “Then they will hand you over to be persecuted, and they will kill you. You will be hated by all nations because of my name. ¹⁰ Then many will fall away, betray one another, and hate one another. ¹¹ Many false prophets will rise up and deceive many. ¹² Because lawlessness will multiply, the love of many will grow cold. ¹³ But the one who endures to the end will be saved. ¹⁴ This good news of the kingdom will be proclaimed in all the world^[b] as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.

The Great Tribulation

¹⁵ “So, when you see the abomination of desolation,^[c] spoken of by the prophet Daniel, standing in the holy place” (let the reader understand), ¹⁶ “then those in Judea must flee to the mountains. ¹⁷ A man on the housetop^[d] must not come down to get things out of his house, ¹⁸ and a man in the field must not go back to get his coat. ¹⁹ Woe to pregnant women and nursing mothers in those days! ²⁰ Pray that your escape may not be in winter or on a Sabbath. ²¹ For at that time there will be great distress,^[e] the kind that hasn’t taken place from the beginning of the world until now and never will again. ²² Unless those days were cut short, no one would^[f] be saved. But those days will be cut short because of the elect.

²³ “If anyone tells you then, ‘See, here is the Messiah!’ or, ‘Over here!’ do not believe it. ²⁴ For false messiahs and false prophets will arise and perform great signs and wonders to lead astray, if possible, even the elect. ²⁵ Take note: I have told you in advance. ²⁶ So if they tell you, ‘See, he’s in the wilderness!’ don’t go out; or, ‘See, he’s in the storerooms!’ do not believe it. ²⁷ For as the lightning comes from the east and flashes as far as the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. ²⁸ Wherever the carcass is, there the vultures^[g] will gather.

Keep in mind that JESUS speaking ------

The Coming of the Son of Man

²⁹ “Immediately after the distress of those days, the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not shed its light; the stars will fall from the sky, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. ³⁰ Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and then all the peoples of the earth^[h] will mourn;^[i] and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. ³¹ He will send out his angels with a loud trumpet, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of the sky to the other.

The Parable of the Fig Tree

³² “Learn this lesson from the fig tree: As soon as its branch becomes tender and sprouts leaves, you know that summer is near. ³³ In the same way, when you see all these things, recognize^[j] that he^[k] is near—at the door. ³⁴ Truly I tell you, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things take place. ³⁵ Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.

No One Knows the Day or Hour

³⁶ “Now concerning that day and hour no one knows—neither the angels of heaven nor the Son^[l] —except the Father alone. ³⁷ As the days of Noah were, so the coming of the Son of Man will be. ³⁸ For in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying, and giving in marriage, until the day Noah boarded the ark. ³⁹ They didn’t know until the flood came and swept them all away. This is the way the coming of the Son of Man will be. ⁴⁰ Then two men will be in the field; one will be taken and one left. ⁴¹ Two women will be grinding grain with a hand mill; one will be taken and one left. ⁴² Therefore be alert, since you don’t know what day^[m] your Lord is coming. ⁴³ But know this: If the homeowner had known what time^[n] the thief was coming, he would have stayed alert and not let his house be broken into. ⁴⁴ This is why you are also to be ready, because the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.

Faithful Service to Christ

⁴⁵ “Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his master has put in charge of his household, to give them food at the proper time? ⁴⁶ Blessed is that servant whom the master finds doing his job when he comes. ⁴⁷ Truly I tell you, he will put him in charge of all his possessions. ⁴⁸ But if that wicked servant says in his heart, ‘My master is delayed,’ ⁴⁹ and starts to beat his fellow servants, and eats and drinks with drunkards, ⁵⁰ that servant’s master will come on a day he does not expect him and at an hour he does not know. ⁵¹ He will cut him to pieces and assign him a place with the hypocrites, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Let’s continue reading in Mathew 25:1-13: Christian Standard Bible

The Parable of the Ten Virgins

25 “At that time, the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins^[a] who took their lamps^[b] and went out to meet the groom. ² Five of them were foolish and five were wise. ³ When the foolish took their lamps, they didn’t take oil with them; ⁴ but the wise ones took oil in their flasks with their lamps. ⁵ When the groom was delayed, they all became drowsy and fell asleep.

The oil is The Holy Spirit and is vital in the outcome of a person’s sustainability as we get closer to the Second coming of JESUS, the rapture of the true church, or facing death.

⁶ “In the middle of the night there was a shout: ‘Here’s the groom! Come out to meet him.’

⁷ “Then all the virgins got up and trimmed their lamps. ⁸ The foolish ones said to the wise ones, ‘Give us some of your oil, because our lamps are going out.’

Faith is personal and once saved, those who have placed their faith in JESUS, their lamps, have sufficient oil to sustain them!!!

⁹ “The wise ones answered, ‘No, there won’t be enough for us and for you. Go instead to those who sell oil and buy some for yourselves.’

We cannot ride on someone else’s faith. Salvation is personal and individual.

¹⁰ “When they had gone to buy some, the groom arrived, and those who were ready went in with him to the wedding banquet, and the door was shut. ¹¹ Later the rest of the virgins also came and said, ‘Master, master, open up for us!’

¹² “He replied, ‘Truly I tell you, I don’t know you!’

¹³ “Therefore, be alert, because you don’t know either the day or the hour.^[c]

Truth discovered but too late!!!

Today is the day of salvation!!!

JESUS said it best in Revelation 3:20

See! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me.

JESUS stands at every person’s heart’s door and knocks. Only that person can open his or her heart’s door to invite JESUS to come into his/her heart.

When any person invites JESUS to come into his/her heart, it is the Holy Spirit WHO unites with the human spirit and a miracle takes places quicker than the twinkle of the eye. That person is “born again” Spiritually ----- never to be unborn ---- but eternally GOD’S Son or Daughter.

Plus ---- Philippians 3:20

Our citizenship is in heaven, and we eagerly wait for a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ.

Place your faith in JESUS by asking JESUS to forgive you for all of your sins and for JESUS to come into your heart and become a child of GOD through faith in JESUS ----

Dear JESUS, I know YOU gave YOUR life upon the cross as the perfect acceptable sacrifice to YOUR FATHER, GOD, for all the sins the person of faith has committed. Once the sin barrier is removed, YOUR HOLY SPIRIT unites with our human spirit, and we experience the miracle of being “born again” Spiritually.

If you prayed this prayer or something similar then thank GOD, JESUS, and THE HOLY SPIRIT for coming into your life and for the miracle of being “born again” Spiritually.

Blessings!!!

 

            

 

 

 

Bible Study - The Apostle Paul on Malta is Still celebrated Today - Acts 27:27-28:5 - September 7, 2026

 

Bible Study – The Apostle Paul on Malta Is Still Celebrated Today – Acts 27:27-28:5 - September 6, 2026

I thought it interesting that this event in The Apostle Paul’s life is still celebrated in Malta today.

How a 2,000-Year-Old Shipwreck Helped Shape Malta

The Feast of St Paul Shipwreck, celebrated on 10 February, is one of Malta’s national public holidays and it is uniquely tied to the islands own story: it was here, according to Acts (Acts of the Apostles in the New Testament), that the Apostle Paul was shipwrecked on his journey to Rome, traditionally dated to around AD 60.

Let’s read the Biblical account as written in Acts 27:27-28:5:

Acts 27:27-28:5

Christian Standard Bible

²⁷ When the fourteenth night came, we were drifting in the Adriatic Sea, and about midnight the sailors thought they were approaching land. ²⁸ They took soundings and found it to be a hundred twenty feet^[a] deep; when they had sailed a little farther and sounded again, they found it to be ninety feet^[b] deep. ²⁹ Then, fearing we might run aground on the rocks, they dropped four anchors from the stern and prayed for daylight to come. ³⁰ Some sailors tried to escape from the ship; they had let down the skiff into the sea, pretending that they were going to put out anchors from the bow. ³¹ Paul said to the centurion and the soldiers, “Unless these men stay in the ship, you cannot be saved.” ³² Then the soldiers cut the ropes holding the skiff and let it drop away.

³³ When it was about daylight, Paul urged them all to take food, saying, “Today is the fourteenth day that you have been waiting and going without food, having eaten nothing. ³⁴ So I urge you to take some food. For this is for your survival, since none of you will lose a hair from your head.” ³⁵ After he said these things and had taken some bread, he gave thanks to God in the presence of all of them, and after he broke it, he began to eat. ³⁶ They all were encouraged and took food themselves. ³⁷ In all there were 276 of us on the ship. ³⁸ When they had eaten enough, they began to lighten the ship by throwing the grain overboard into the sea.

Shipwreck

³⁹ When daylight came, they did not recognize the land but sighted a bay with a beach. They planned to run the ship ashore if they could. ⁴⁰ After cutting loose the anchors, they left them in the sea, at the same time loosening the ropes that held the rudders. Then they hoisted the foresail to the wind and headed for the beach. ⁴¹ But they struck a sandbar and ran the ship aground. The bow jammed fast and remained immovable, while the stern began to break up by the pounding of the waves. ⁴² The soldiers’ plan was to kill the prisoners so that no one could swim away and escape. ⁴³ But the centurion kept them from carrying out their plan because he wanted to save Paul, and so he ordered those who could swim to jump overboard first and get to land. ⁴⁴ The rest were to follow, some on planks and some on debris from the ship. In this way, everyone safely reached the shore.

Malta’s Hospitality

28 Once safely ashore, we then learned that the island was called Malta. ² The local people showed us extraordinary kindness. They lit a fire and took us all in, since it was raining and cold. ³ As Paul gathered a bundle of brushwood and put it on the fire, a viper came out because of the heat and fastened itself on his hand. ⁴ When the local people saw the snake hanging from his hand, they said to one another, “This man, no doubt, is a murderer. Even though he has escaped the sea, Justice has not allowed him to live.” ⁵ But he shook the snake off into the fire and suffered no harm.

I pondered the following question -----

Does Malta still recall the Apostle Paul’s visit to the island?

The answer is YES!

Yes!!! — Malta still celebrates the Apostle Paul’s visit to the islands, marking it annually on February 10 as the Feast of St Paul’s Shipwreck. This is a major national religious holiday that commemorates the biblical account in the Acts of the Apostles of Paul’s shipwreck on Malta in AD 60 while travelling to Rome publicholidays.info+1.

The feast is observed with a mix of religious devotion and traditional festivities across the archipelago. In Valletta, the main celebrations centre/center on the Collegiate Parish Church of St Paul’s Shipwreck, featuring a grand procession with a statue of St Paul, high Mass, band marches, and street decorations publicholidays.info+1. Rabat, traditionally linked to Paul’s stay, hosts processions and parish events, while Mdina commemorates the feast with liturgical ceremonies in St Paul’s Cathedral Malta Daily. Qormi and Marsalforn also mark the occasion with local processions, fireworks, and community activities Malta Daily.

The celebrations reflect Malta’s deep historical and spiritual connection to Paul’s time on the island, where he is believed to have preached the Gospel and performed miracles, laying the foundations for Maltese Christianity Aleteia. Today, the feast is a symbol of pride in Malta’s status as one of the oldest Christian communities in the world, and it draws both locals and tourists to retrace the steps of Paul’s journey through sites like St Paul’s Grotto in Rabat and the Collegiate Parish Church in Valletta Aleteia+1.

In short, Malta continues to honor Paul’s visit with annual public and religious observances that blend faith, history, and cultural tradition.

It is always exciting when History confirms the Bible and it does.

Truth is truth!!!

The Apostle Paul fought the good fight and was a warrior for JESUS and GOD’S Kingdom.

How does a person become a member of GOD’S eternal Kingdom?

Any person, regardless of race, birthright, mental capacity can experience the miracle of Spiritual Birth into GOD’S eternal family through faith in JESUS ----

Dear JESUS, thank YOU for giving YOUR sinless life upon the cross to pay the price for sin, in full. My part is to accept that fact by asking YOU, JESUS, to come into my life/heart and redeem me from the consequence of sin, which is eternal death and make me YOUR Child (SON/DAUGHTER) through the miracle of being “born again” Spiritually as JESUS told Nicodemus in John 3:1-21: Christian Standard Bible

Jesus and Nicodemus

3 There was a man from the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. ² This man came to him at night and said, “Rabbi, (JESUS) we know that you are a teacher who has come from God, for no one could perform these signs you do unless God were with him.”

³ Jesus replied, “Truly I tell you, unless someone is born again,^[a] he cannot see the kingdom of God.”

The physical birth of all humans is our first birth and that physical birth makes all humans eligible of being “Born Again.”

This includes all human life from physical conception to physical death. GOD has a plan from conception to death -----

⁴ “How can anyone be born when he is old?” Nicodemus asked him. “Can he enter his mother’s womb a second time and be born?”

Great question -----

⁵ Jesus answered, “Truly I tell you, unless someone is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. ⁶ Whatever is born of the flesh is flesh, and whatever is born of the Spirit is spirit. ⁷ Do not be amazed that I told you that you must be born again. ⁸ The wind blows where it pleases, and you hear its sound, but you don’t know where it comes from or where it is going. So, it is with everyone born of the Spirit.” (The Spiritual birth of a person is a mystery but real to the person “born again” and guaranteed by the confirmation of the indwelling Holy Spirit, WHO resides within every “born again” person.

⁹ “How can these things be?” asked Nicodemus.

¹⁰ “Are you a teacher^[b] of Israel and don’t know these things?” Jesus replied. ¹¹ “Truly I tell you, we speak what we know, and we testify to what we have seen, but you do not accept our testimony. ¹² If I have told you about earthly things and you don’t believe, how will you believe if I tell you about heavenly things? ¹³ No one has ascended into heaven except the one who descended from heaven —the Son of Man.^[c]

¹⁴ “Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, ¹⁵ so that everyone who believes in him may^[d] have eternal life. ¹⁶ For God loved the world in this way:^[e] He gave^[f] his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. ¹⁷ For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. ¹⁸ Anyone who believes in him is not condemned, but anyone who does not believe is already condemned, because he has not believed in the name of the one and only Son of God. ¹⁹ This is the judgment: The light has come into the world, and people loved darkness rather than the light because their deeds were evil. ²⁰ For everyone who does evil hates the light and avoids it,^[g] so that his (or her) deeds may not be exposed. ²¹ But anyone who lives by^[h] the truth comes to the light, so that his works may be shown to be accomplished by God.”

Blessings!!!