Matthew 25, Part 1
Notes
Transcript
Ten Virgins
Ten Virgins
Before we get into Matthew 25, I want us to look at a similar event where it was not just a parable.
Turn with me to Genesis 6.
5 The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.
6 And the Lord regretted that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him to his heart.
8 But Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord.
13 And God said to Noah, “I have determined to make an end of all flesh, for the earth is filled with violence through them. Behold, I will destroy them with the earth.
14 Make yourself an ark of gopher wood. Make rooms in the ark, and cover it inside and out with pitch.
(Only place “gopher” is found in OT, some think it could be a misprint because it is similar to kāpar “to cover over,” the g could be miswritten for k, and that therefore gōper should be translated resinous wood, like fir or pine.
17 For behold, I will bring a flood of waters upon the earth to destroy all flesh in which is the breath of life under heaven. Everything that is on the earth shall die.
18 But I will establish my covenant with you, and you shall come into the ark, you, your sons, your wife, and your sons’ wives with you.
22 Noah did this; he did all that God commanded him.
1 Then the Lord said to Noah, “Go into the ark, you and all your household, for I have seen that you are righteous before me in this generation.
4 For in seven days I will send rain on the earth forty days and forty nights, and every living thing that I have made I will blot out from the face of the ground.”
5 And Noah did all that the Lord had commanded him.
13 On the very same day Noah and his sons, Shem and Ham and Japheth, and Noah’s wife and the three wives of his sons with them entered the ark,
14 they and every beast, according to its kind, and all the livestock according to their kinds, and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth, according to its kind, and every bird, according to its kind, every winged creature.
15 They went into the ark with Noah, two and two of all flesh in which there was the breath of life.
16 And those that entered, male and female of all flesh, went in as God had commanded him. And the Lord shut him in.
17 The flood continued forty days on the earth. The waters increased and bore up the ark, and it rose high above the earth.
18 The waters prevailed and increased greatly on the earth, and the ark floated on the face of the waters.
19 And the waters prevailed so mightily on the earth that all the high mountains under the whole heaven were covered.
20 The waters prevailed above the mountains, covering them fifteen cubits deep.
21 And all flesh died that moved on the earth, birds, livestock, beasts, all swarming creatures that swarm on the earth, and all mankind.
22 Everything on the dry land in whose nostrils was the breath of life died.
23 He blotted out every living thing that was on the face of the ground, man and animals and creeping things and birds of the heavens. They were blotted out from the earth. Only Noah was left, and those who were with him in the ark.
Everyone else who saw the ark being built, the animals going in, the food being put in, then Noah and his family entering. Do you think any of them paid attention to what was going on? Jesus uses this as a way to remind us that many in the past, now, and in the future will hear the Word of God but will not make the necessary preparations. In Matthew 25:1-13, he refers to the wise and the foolish virgins. What was the difference? Five prepared, five did not. Five received the reward, five did not. It was too late.
As believers, we are now called to watch for the Lord’s return. We cannot afford to be foolish, and not prepare.
Wedding, Jewish: this event, so unlike what occurs in most countries, was a common custom among Jews. The wedding festivities, which lasted for a whole week, were centered in the home where the couple was to live. The bridegroom was allowed to show up at any moment and enter the house; but when he chose to come, he always sent a man ahead crying out, “Behold, the bridegroom comes.” This enabled everyone to prepare for his arrival. The bride had ten young ladies (virgins) who were always to be prepared to rush out and meet the bridegroom. In the event that he came at night, they were to have lamps ready so they could go out to light his path along the streets. This is the picture Christ was painting of His return.
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.
Parable: there are wise and foolish virgins or believers who attend a wedding. Christ says three things about them.
a. The ten virgins (all professing believers) take their lamps (lives or testimonies) and go forth to meet the bridegroom. All believers take their lives and go forth, professing a testimony that they live for Christ and look to Christ. All professing believers (whether genuine or just religionists and church people) go forth to meet the Lord. However, as they go forth some (five) are wise and some (five) are foolish.
b. The foolish virgins (believers) take no oil except what they already have in their lamps (lives). They have no provision of righteousness beyond themselves, beyond their own righteousness. They have no supply of the Holy Spirit.
c. The wise virgins (believers) take oil; they do not depend upon what they have in their lamps (lives). As they go forth through life to meet the bridegroom (Christ), they lay hold of additional oil, the provision of righteousness, the supply of God’s Spirit.
Thought 1. The main duty of the virgins (believers) is to meet and light the path for the bridegroom.
Thought 2. Note: there was no visible difference between the virgins. They all had lamps, and they were all called to participate in the marriage feast. The lack of provision by the foolish could not be seen until the Bridegroom actually came.
Thought 3. How foolish! To depend only on the oil in one’s lamp or life. No one has enough oil, enough righteousness, to make himself perfect, that is, to make himself acceptable to God.
Thought 4. When Christ comes, He must find righteousness in a person if that person is to be allowed in God’s presence. A man must be a “partaker of the Divine nature” by faith (2 Pe. 1:4).
5 As the bridegroom was delayed, they all became drowsy and slept.
Christ said an interesting thing. There is a long delay before the bridegroom came and all the virgins slumbered and slept—not just the foolish virgins, but all the virgins slumbered and slept.
a. The idea is that this bridegroom waited much longer than was expected. The virgins had lit their lamps expecting him any moment, but he never came. As they waited and waited, the night wore on and on.
In the eyes of many, the Lord’s return has lingered and lingered, well beyond what many have thought and taught (see 2 Pe. 3:3–4, 9–10).
b. All the virgins slumbered and slept. Not just the foolish slept, but the wise slept as well (see DEEPER STUDY # 3,4—Mt. 25:5). This is true throughout life. Even the wise grow weary and find it difficult to stay awake and alert, to stay at peak performance all the time. No believer, whoever he is, walks anywhere as close as he should. The world is too dark and the darkness too heavy for the believer to see enough light so that he can always be victorious over the pull of heavy eyelids.
⇒ His body is too weak to be always laboring.
⇒ His mind is too undeveloped to be always concentrating.
⇒ His energy is too limited to be always driving.
⇒ His spirit is too young to be always sacrificing.
⇒ His motives are too self-centered to be always walking unselfishly.
Christ has delayed His coming longer than many thought He would. Why? Only God really knows, but Scripture does give some indication.
(1) God’s purposes have to be completely fulfilled.
(2) “The time of the Gentiles” has to be completely fulfilled.
(3) God’s love must be fully demonstrated, apparently to a certain number of people. A certain number of people apparently have to be saved before Christ returns.
(4) The gospel must first be preached “in all the world for a witness to all nations” (Mt. 24:14).
(5) The harvest must be ripened and then fully gathered.
(6) The sufferings of Christ must be completely filled up (see note—Col. 1:24).
(7) God is longsuffering, not willing that any should perish (2 Pe. 3:9).
Thought 2. A pointed question needs to be answered. Remember the fervent zeal we had when we were first saved? Why does it die out as time passes by?
⇒ We have not lost all love for Christ, but we have left our first love (Re. 2:4).
⇒ We have not stopped all worship of God, but we have lost our first duty to worship.
⇒ We have not ceased all witness for Christ, but we have cooled our first passion.
⇒ We have not turned from all righteousness, but we have been diverted from our first attention.
Thought 3. Note that the virgins allowed themselves to slumber, then the slumber led to sleep. We must guard against slumbering, against cooling off. A little slumber and a little cooling of fervor for just a little while may not seem too serious; but the first step, as small as it may seem, leads to heavy eyelids.
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.’
Jesus is coming back, and when he does there is to be a great summons. Christ said several things.
a. The summons will be a great surprise, totally unexpected. It will come at a surprising hour: at midnight, the most surprising hour, the hour when sleep is most desired and unlikely to be disturbed. It is an hour when all are asleep. Christ is coming as a thief in the night.
b. The summons will be a cry, a shout: “Go ye out to meet Him: (see Mt. 24:31; 1 Th. 4:16). The word cometh is not in the oldest and best Greek manuscripts. The cry is simply, “Behold, the bridegroom!” which makes the shout much more forceful. Note two things.
1) What the shout is: “Go out to meet Him.”
2) What the shout does: it awakens; it shocks; it disturbs. It is totally unexpected. The shout awakens the sleeping and demands, “Go out to meet Him.”
c. All arise and prepare their lamps. All the virgins (professing believers) arise, for the shout pierces the air and shocks the virgins, demanding immediate arousal. Not one remains asleep. Each leaps up. The voice demands obedience, for the bridegroom comes. And all begin immediately to prepare their lamps (see DEEPER STUDY # 5—Mt. 25:7).
d. All the foolish discover a shocking fact: their lamps are burned out. The bridegroom had not come while their lamps were burning, and now their lamps had used up all the oil they had. They became frantic, for they saw that they were not prepared. They did not have the oil (righteousness) necessary to burn their lamps (lives) for the bridegroom’s coming.
All the wise scarcely have enough for themselves. Note two things.
⇒ They had prepared. They had the oil (righteousness) necessary to burn the lamps (lives) for the bridegroom’s coming
⇒ They had only enough, and barely enough, for their own lamps. They were not able to give any of their own oil to those who had none.
Thought 1. Death is usually a surprise, yet it comes to every one of us. The same fact is true with the Lord’s return. His return is as certain as death, and it will be as surprising as most deaths are.
Thought 2. When the summons comes, all will arise. Not a person—whether in the grave, in the sea, or scattered all over the world—shall remain. Shockingly, surprisingly, all will arise when the shout comes. Both the dead and the living will arise to meet the Lord in the air (1 Th. 4:14f).
Thought 3. When Christ first came to earth, no announcement to the world was made. Only a few knew when He came as a babe in Bethlehem. But when He returns, the world—all men—will know. A universal shout, the voice of the archangel, will summon all to arise and to prepare for the coming of the Bridegroom.
Thought 4. The righteousness of Christ is the only oil that lights the lamp of life. The righteousness of Christ is the only oil that is acceptable to God. A person who depends only upon the oil in his lamp or life, who does not secure additional oil, is foolish—as foolish as the foolish virgins—for the bridegroom shall come. It will be at midnight, yes, but midnight is coming. In fact, our watches tell us it is almost midnight now.
Thought 5. Wise is the correct word to call the man who secures additional oil (righteousness), for he does prepare for the inevitable.
Thought 6. Some things cannot be borrowed. Righteousness is one of those things
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.’
The Lord will return and gather the wise. Christ shared two major points.
a. The bridegroom came: three simple but powerful words. So Christ shall come. The day will come when it will be said, “The bridegroom, Christ Himself, came.”
b. Only they who were ready went in with the bridegroom to the marriage. This was their purpose, the reason they were ready. They had looked for His coming; therefore, they were ready. When the summons came, they were able to join in the processional of the Bridegroom and to enter the great marriage feast. The joy of the marriage was theirs
a. The door was shut. This was a custom in the East. When all the guests had arrived, the doors were closed. They were closed in order to secure the marriage party and to exclude intruders. Only the guests belonged; others were to be kept out. When Christ comes, the door to heaven will be closed. Only the ready, the genuine guests will be secured in the joys of the great marriage feast. The unprepared will find the door shut in order to exclude them.
b. The foolish cry for entrance. Very simply, the foolish were too late. They were too late to join in the procession and too late to enter the door. Note the Lord’s emphasis upon their desperation: they cry out, “Lord, Lord.” They now know something they had not paid much attention to before: preparation was essential. The door has now been closed, and they are excluded. They are shut out from the Bridegroom’s great wedding feast. It is too late for them.
c. The foolish will be rejected. The reason is simple: the Bridegroom does not know them. They were not ready when He arrived nor were they in the processional; therefore, He does not recognize them. He has to say, “I know you not.” He can say nothing else, for …
• they had not prepared themselves: they were not ready when He came
• they had not participated in His journey to the marriage feast: He did not recognize them; He did not know them
Christ taught time and again that the day is coming when the door will be shut (see Jn. 10:9).
Note the words, “I know you not.” The importance of Christ’s knowing us is also stressed time and again in Scripture. Of course, the way Christ gets to know us is by our participating in His journey, simply walking with Him day by day.
Thought 1. The idea of the shut door is twofold.
(1) To secure the wise (believer). The wise person is brought and welcomed into the great marriage feast of the Lord, and he participates in all the joy of the festive occasion. Whatever goes on within the great banqueting hall is his to enjoy. Other Scriptures point out that love, joy, and peace will be perfected and will be the unbroken experience of the believer. He will never again have to go out into an unjoyful, unhappy, corruptible, or painful world.
“Him that overcometh will I make a pillar … of my God, and he shall go no more out” (Re. 3:12).
(2) To exclude the foolish (who profess only). There has been plenty of time and plenty of signs and warnings to prepare, but the foolish have refused to prepare for the Lord’s return (see outline—Ro. 1:18–23; 2:11–15).
Thought 2. The foolish believer is a person who fails at two points.
(1) Preparation: he does not provide any oil (righteousness) for his lamp except what oil is already there. He sees no need for additional oil or righteousness. Therefore, he does not prepare.
(2) Participation: he is unable to join the Bridegroom on His journey to the great marriage feast. He has no additional oil (righteousness), so his lamp (life) is no good to the bridegroom. His lamp (life) is not able to provide light for the bridegroom.
13 Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour.
The point is that we must watch and expect the Lord’s return at any moment.
a. The exhortation is strong: “Watch therefore.” The believer must prepare and participate in the journey to the great marriage feast. He must walk with the Lord, the bridegroom.
b. The reason for watching is strong: “Ye know neither the day nor the hour when the Son of man cometh.” Unbroken preparation is essential, for He can come at any moment.
Leadership Ministries Worldwide. 1996. Matthew: Chapters 16:13–28:20. Vol. II. The Preacher’s Outline & Sermon Bible. Chattanooga, TN: Leadership Ministries Worldwide.