What is the status of your lamp?
Jesus spoke in Matthew chapter 5:
14 “You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden.
15 Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house.
16 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in Heaven.
The Beloved Disciple recorded by The Holy Spirit in Revelation chapter 1:
12Then I turned to see the voice that spoke with me. And having turned I saw seven golden lampstands,
13 and in the midst of the seven lampstands One like the Son of Man, clothed with a garment down to the Feet and girded about the Chest with a golden band.
20 The mystery of the seven stars which you saw in My right hand, and the seven golden lampstands: The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands which you saw are the seven churches.
Chapters 2 and 3 in the Book of Revelation are all about the churches. However, from chapter 4, we no longer find the lampstands on the earth; we find them in Heaven when John arrives in Revelation 4:5. John models the Rapture for us when he is caught up and treated to a preview of the end of this world.
The Beloved Disciple recorded by The Holy Spirit in Revelation chapter 4:
1 After these things I looked, and behold, a door standing open in Heaven. And the first voice which I heard was like a trumpet speaking with me, saying, “Come up here, and I will show you things which must take place after this.”
2 Immediately I was in the Spirit; and behold, a Throne set in Heaven, and One sat on the Throne.
3 And He who sat there was like a jasper and a sardius stone in appearance; and there was a rainbow around the Throne, in appearance like an emerald.
4 Around the Throne were twenty-four thrones, and on the thrones I saw twenty-four elders sitting, clothed in white robes; and they had crowns of gold on their heads.
5 And from the throne proceeded lightnings, thunderings, and voices. Seven lamps of fire were burning before the throne, which are the seven Spirits of God.
The 24 Elders represent the Church. They have golden vials full of the prayers of saints, and they call themselves “kings and priests (Revelation 5:10). Few people in history have been both kings and priests. Melchizedek was a king and a priest. Israel was not allowed to have a person who fulfilled both offices. Jesus, of course, was a King and a Priest, and His redeemed in the Church are kings and priests as recorded in Revelation chapter 1:
4John, to the seven churches which are in Asia: Grace to you and peace from Him Who is and Who was and Who is to come (FATHER), and from the seven Spirits (Holy Spirit) Who are before His Throne,
5 and from Jesus Christ (The Trinity are all here), the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler over the kings of the earth. To Him who Loved us and washed us from our sins in His own Blood,
6 and has made us kings and priests to His God and Father, to Him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.
John tells us the 24 Elders worship the Lamb before He receives the Seven Seal Book. Notice this: there are 24 Elders of the Church carrying the prayers of the saints. They fall down before the Lord, the Lamb of God, and worship Him before He receives the Seven Seal Book. The Great Tribulation begins when He, the Lamb of God, Whose Blood was sacrificed to redeem the Church, opens the Seven Seal Book.
This indicates that the Church is in Heaven before the Great Tribulation begins. We can now begin to see how all this ties together with the 70th Week of Daniel, how everything is determined exactly and precisely all the way to Revelation 19, when the Bridegroom and the Bride have their Marriage Supper.
The five wise virgins had lamps that were trimmed which in turn produce light. No oil, no light, no invitation to depart with the Bridegroom!