"Are You Ready For The Lord?"
Notes
Transcript
Good Morning, would you turn in your Bibles with me to Matthew Chapter 25. Today we are going to look at a Parable about Wisdom and Foolishness. How applicable is this for us today? When we take a look around our world today there are so many people making foolish decisions. That may even be you today. So, how do we make wise decisions, and even more importantly how do we live for the Lord? Well you need to be ready for the Lord! That is the title of our message today. Are you ready for the Lord? Let’s begin in verse 1 this morning.
1 “Then the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom. 2 Five of them were foolish, and five were wise. 3 For when the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them, 4 but the wise took flasks of oil with their lamps. 5 As the bridegroom was delayed, they all became drowsy and slept. 6 But at midnight there was a cry, ‘Here is the bridegroom! Come out to meet him.’ 7 Then all those virgins rose and trimmed their lamps. 8 And the foolish said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’ 9 But the wise answered, saying, ‘Since there will not be enough for us and for you, go rather to the dealers and buy for yourselves.’ 10 And while they were going to buy, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the marriage feast, and the door was shut. 11 Afterward the other virgins came also, saying, ‘Lord, lord, open to us.’ 12 But he answered, ‘Truly, I say to you, I do not know you.’ 13 Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour.
We see something familiar here, just like last week. We see that Christ likens the kingdom of heaven to something. This time it is not a treasure or a pearl, it is something quite different. Here we see that it is these ten women, these 10 virgins. There were 5 who were wise and there were also 5 who were foolish. Many times we see that Jesus is teaching in such a way as to get our attention. Here, the Lord teaches in such a way as to appeal to wisdom and foolishness. In a real sense, we see that the bridegroom who represents Christ here, his delay is what distinguishes the wise from the foolish virgins. We also see this similar style of teaching when Jesus taught about the rich fool in Luke chapter 12, and a shrewd man in Luke 16 ,and also the wise and foolish builders in Luke chapter 6. The reason why Christ taught this way was to show how foolish his hearers were because of their own self-interests. Often times in our own lives we make foolish decisions because of the same problem. We are selfish, sinful, fallen human beings. We think we know better than God and what His Word says. So, we do things to try and benefit ourselves only to hurt ourselves. We make foolish decisions. But, things don’t have to be this way. We can live for the Lord and be prepared.
Jesus tells us how these ten young women were invited to a marriage feast, and what this was all about. Let me take a quick moment to explain some wedding customs of this time.
Explain the Wedding Customs:
What we see here in this parable is some imagery of a first-century Palestinian wedding and some of the festivities that went along with it. What would typically happen is that there would be a welcoming processional escort of the newly married couple from the brides home to the actual wedding banquet that was typically at the bridegrooms home. What would happen is that after the actual wedding part of the vows or nuptials, then torches would be lit to light the way at night from the brides house to the grooms home. The bridesmaids or everyone who was in the wedding party was expected to carry their own torch and would take enough oil to keep these torches lit for as long as might be necessary. Those without a lamp or torch would be assumed to be wedding crashers.
So, we know that 5 of these women were wise and 5 were unwise. The wise women showed that they were wise because they planned for a potential delay of the bridegroom. In other words, they planned because they took extra oil for their torches or lamps and they would be ready whenever he came. On the other side of this spectrum the foolish women didn’t think to do so, and when the bridegroom came they did not have enough oil. As they went to get oil and then return they found that the door was shut. They cried out, but the bridegrooms response was, I don’t know you.”
The first thing that I want to address this morning is that we do see several similarities between both groups of women here. They both had been invited to the wedding banquet. There may have been some women in the community who were not invited. They all responded to the wedding invitation, they wanted to be there. They also all had some type of affection for the bridegroom. We know this because they all took their lamps to meet the bridegroom. Finally, they were all alike in their affection because they all grew tired and fell asleep. All of these things were similarities between both the wise and the foolish.
But the major point here is in the “essential difference” and it is this. Five had oil in their lamps and five did not. Five were ready and five were unprepared. You see today that this parable applies to the church. What i mean by that is there are people who tell me well Pastor i know who Jesus is, and they even say that they have a love for Christ. These people never say anything bad about the Lord and look like good church people, but they are not true believers because they have no inward change, they have never turned from their sin and submitted to Christ, and so they are not ready to meet Him. They are unprepared! I mean what is the difference between those who are prepared and those who are unprepared? How can we know the difference between a true believer and those who are not? Charles Spurgeon talked about this very thing in one of his sermons on this very parable. Here is what he said.
“A great change had to be wrought in you, far beyond any power of yours to accomplish, ere you can go in with Christ to the marriage. You must, first of all be renewed in your nature, or you will not be ready. You must first be washed of your sins, or you will not be ready. You must first be justified in Christ’s righteousness, and you must put on his wedding dress, or else you will not be ready. You must be reconciled to God, you must be made like God, or you will not be ready. Or to come to the parable before us, you must have a lamp, and that lamp must be fed with the heavenly oil, and it must continue to burn brightly, or else you will not be ready.” So, let me ask you today, are you ready? Are you ready to be with Christ, and to live with him forever? Only you truly know the answer to that question.
1. Are you ready?
1. Are you ready?
3 For when the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them, 4 but the wise took flasks of oil with their lamps. 5 As the bridegroom was delayed, they all became drowsy and slept.
When we take a look at these 5 foolish women they had recieved an invitation to come to the marriage feast. They had responded to it and had some kind of love or affection for the bridegroom. Sure, they may have looked like they were ready outwardly, but inwardly they were not prepared. Let me encourage you today church, you should know today that you love the Lord and that he has changed your life so much so that you can say with confidence I am wise in the Lord. This is not a proud or boastful thing, but wise in the fact that you know you are prepared to meet Christ. And although we may fall asleep, we are still ready, we are still prepared to meet the Lord.
2. How prepared are you for the unexpected?
2. How prepared are you for the unexpected?
6 But at midnight there was a cry, ‘Here is the bridegroom! Come out to meet him.’
The Lord will come without warning. He will return and there will be a Second Coming of the Lord.
13 Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour.
Our text here says at midnight there is Suddenly this cry, here is the bridegroom. What we see here is a symbol or imagery of future things. A cry has arisen, are we ready to meet the Lord? Why? Because there is coming a day where He will return. The distinction is clear. The wise were ready and prepared for the delay while the foolish are unprepared. The 5 foolish virgins were unprepared for the bridegrooms delay. But, now there is no delay for the bridegroom has arrived. I want us to see here church that there is much application when we think about the same thing that will come in reality when the Lord Jesus returns, or when someone draws there last breath. There will be many who think or hope they are true children of God but will be shown not to be true believers.
We also see this preparedness when difficult times arise in our lives. I believe that you can see that someone is a true believer by the way they react to the trials and hardships of this life.
-How do you respond to a crisis?
-How do you respond when your finances are taken from you?
-How do you respond when a dear friend is taken from you?
-What happens when a serious illness comes your way?
What we see is that when things things come into our lives we will see at once by others and ourselves wether or not we have a real and genuine faith in Christ or not. The text here tells us, Behold the bridegroom is here, come out to meet him. Jesus is coming to meet us, so our we prepared for the unexpected? What would happen if today were to be your last breath here on earth? Are you prepared, is your light burning brightly for Christ today? Oh that we may know Christ is our bridegroom and that we are prepared to meet him. For there is no greater joy than that!!!
3. Like the foolish women, those who do not prepare may discover there comes a time where there is no longer a chance to turn to God.
3. Like the foolish women, those who do not prepare may discover there comes a time where there is no longer a chance to turn to God.
9 But the wise answered, saying, ‘Since there will not be enough for us and for you, go rather to the dealers and buy for yourselves.’ 10 And while they were going to buy, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the marriage feast, and the door was shut. 11 Afterward the other virgins came also, saying, ‘Lord, lord, open to us.’ 12 But he answered, ‘Truly, I say to you, I do not know you.’ 13 Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour.
What we see here in verse 9 may look like those who were prepared didn’t want to help out or even share right? The point is this, the wise virgins cannot help those who were foolish, because if they did there would certainly not be enough oil for both of them. I want us to understand this because it helps us to see that preparedness cannot be shared or transferred. In verse 9 we see here that Jesus wants us to understand the spiritual preparedness may not be transferred from one individual to another. All people are responsible for themselves and how they conduct their lives. In other words you cant say that my mother was a great Christian and trusted God so that means i am as well. Or I had wonderful Sunday School teachers who prayed for me and loved me so therefore because of them and their faith in Christ that means i am a Christian. No, we will all be held accountable for how we lived are lives and whether or not we fully trusted in the work of Christ.
1 The word of the Lord came to me: 2 “What do you mean by repeating this proverb concerning the land of Israel, ‘The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children’s teeth are set on edge’? 3 As I live, declares the Lord God, this proverb shall no more be used by you in Israel. 4 Behold, all souls are mine; the soul of the father as well as the soul of the son is mine: the soul who sins shall die.
19 “Yet you say, ‘Why should not the son suffer for the iniquity of the father?’ When the son has done what is just and right, and has been careful to observe all my statutes, he shall surely live. 20 The soul who sins shall die. The son shall not suffer for the iniquity of the father, nor the father suffer for the iniquity of the son. The righteousness of the righteous shall be upon himself, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon himself.
These 5 foolish women were not prepared. When the bridegroom came they had no oil so they had to go get some and when they returned the door had been shut and the answer to their pleas were, “I do not know you.” We see this same response back in Matthew chapter 7.
21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22 On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ 23 And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’
Notice here in verse 11 the intense of the unprepared. “Lord, Lord, open to us.” These cries are to no avail. The Bridegrooms verdict here in verse 12 is, “I don’t know you.” Please here me today, the refusal to admit or recognize these foolish virgins must not be twisted for us to think that this was a rejection on God’s part. No, this was a rejection of those who despite appearances did not prepare for the coming kingdom. For those who are unprepared and not Christians today this is frightening and terrible news. The point here is that something cannot be achieved by a last minute quick adjustment. These foolish women thought, lets hurry and go buy some oil. The lesson today is that we must be ready, we must be prepared and so it is so important to know that everything depends on long-term provision which has been made by those wise disciples of Christ. So, that as wise believers we can sleep secure at night knowing that our knowledge and trust in Christ gives us confidence that everything is ready. This is the good news today.
-Are you prepared to meet the Lord today?
-If so, are you telling others about Christ? Do you want them to know what He has done?
(Pray and Lead into Communion)