Be Ready!
Notes
Transcript
Introduction
Introduction
Good morning rivertree church! It is a joy to be with you this morning. I also want to welcome those who are at cove and those online
If you have your Bible go ahead and turn to Matthew 25 as we continue our walk through Matthews gospel this morning.
We’ve been walking through this discourse with Jesus where he is teaching about his return.
The context for this section of scriputre is found just before Jesus will be crucified for the sins of men and women thorughout history
it’s before he would rise from the grave. So here in matthew 24-25 as Jesus is preparing his disciples for his depture he is also promisting them one day he would return.
And this morning I want to continue on what Ross spoke on last week and expand on it.
The first part of Jesus message in Ch 24 is a “what to know” so that we might not be confused by signs of the times and over speculation of the end of the world. Now Jesus is helping us know “how to live” in the light of Jesus certain coming.
The main point of todays text is Christ will return and when he does it is impertive we are ready. Let’s read
“Then the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom. Five of them were foolish, and five were wise. For when the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them, but the wise took flasks of oil with their lamps. As the bridegroom was delayed, they all became drowsy and slept. But at midnight there was a cry, ‘Here is the bridegroom! Come out to meet him.’ Then all those virgins rose and trimmed their lamps. And the foolish said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’ 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.’ 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. Afterward the other virgins came also, saying, ‘Lord, lord, open to us.’ But he answered, ‘Truly, I say to you, I do not know you.’ Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour.
Jesus the master story teller tells another one of his parables.
He is sharing a story that may seem a little unfamiliar to us when it comes to a wedding but we can be assured the listeners of that day new exactly what he was talking about
Basically it’s a story about 10 bridesmaids meeting the groom on his wedding night taking him to the bride. This was there job
It’s what the bride had asked them to do. So all 10 of them went out from where the wedding took place to meet the groom.
Jesus divides these bridesmaids into 2 groups he said one was wise and one was foolish.
Let’s take a moment to look at the wise bridesmaids together.
We are told they went to where the groom was to come and they where prepared. They were ready.
they had no idea when he would come but they new he would and they were certain to be ready for that.
and this idea of readiness is a common theme we see when consider the return of Christ
and from each story Jesus has told so far we see the bibles teaching on the second coming isn’t to help us pinpoint the day of his return
It’s not how we find that great day, the day of his return
no what the Bible is helping us understand it’s not how we find the day the Lord will return it’s how that day finds us
Keller says it this way
“Don’t worry about when it’s coming. Just know it can come any time and consider what kind of lifestyle, urgency, joy, optimism, and energy will be the life characteristics of anyone who lives in the light of the second coming of Jesus Christ
and we see this kind of anticipation in the wise bridesmaids. There is a wisdom in going out. In waiting. In being prepared for when they would meet the bridegroom
It’s why Jesus calls them wise
Wisdom is the art of living skillfully in whatever situation you find yourself in (Peterson)
Implies being thoughtful, thinking ahead, processing the best ways to navigate things given the unpredictability of life
There’s one thing for certain: we don’t know what’s going to happen in the future
See when we live this way we are anticipating something amazing is going to happen the bridegroom will come for his bride.
we learn the bridegroom in this story was delayed. we aren’t told for how long or why he was delayed. We jus tknow they’re was a fiathful waiting that was going to have to take place
it’s intersting becasue in this moment they get tired and fall asleep. I’ve been pondering this idea all week as I’ve prepared.
because at the end of this chapter Jesus said watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour.
in other places Jesus says Stay awake
and in this story the opposite happens. THey all fall asleep.
People have different ideas on why this is.
Some say since the time of Christ there has been a great darkness and it’s easy to fall spirtual asleep even for the saved.
Others say to just take it at face value. They fell asleep and it’s not meant to illustrate anything
another person I read made an intresting connection saying they fell asleep because they were prepared. They could rest knowing that when the bridegroom came they were ready
but whatever is the point what happens next is signficant.
someone annouces the bridgroom has come. It’s time to meet him.
So they arose. The wise trimmed there lamps and light them. and the bridegroom came and lead them into the marraige fest
what an amazing moment. What they had been preparing for what they had been waiting for was happening!
They were awake and they were ready. It’s what Paul says for Christians to be in
Besides this you know the time, that the hour has come for you to wake from sleep. For salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed.
so to be spirtually awake like they were is to let eternity affect us more than what is tempory
it’s for us to ask what really controls us?
If you are in Christ, God has told you what defines you. He says about you; You are my beloved. I am well pleased. Keep your lamp buring
Turn on the light
be ready
This idea of be ready is something we relate to in all areas of our lives. It’s the second string football player. The ones who know at any moment the starter could go down and the coach may look at them and say it’s your turn
If that happens you have to be ready. It can’t be the first time you’ve looked at the playbook. It can’t be the first time you’ve thrown a football. no this is the moment you have been preparing for all your football career.
I have my own sports illustration that recenetly happened. 2 weeks ago My wife and I got to enjoy soccer at the huntsville soccer game.
We had a great time. Weather was awesome and it was just nice to get out.
in soccer there is a naunced rull where they don’t sstop the clock but when the game stops tehy keep time and then add it to the end of the half. They call it stoppage time.
At ever game i’ve ever been to when they annouce stoppage time I grab my phone and set a timer so I can keep track of how much time is left in the half.
I pulled my phone out looked down and started to set up the timer. But I notice the people around me starting making noise. then I looked at elizabeth and she was like(face) and then I looked up. Flying at my face was a soccer ball and accoridng to google it was travel 70 miles per hour. It was either going to hit me square in the face or my wife.
and at that moment I put my arm up. and knocked the ball down. the Crowd went silent. And then I gave the obigatory thumbs up and everyone around us errupted in applause.
what they didn’t know is I was ready. I had been preparing for this moment. Years of little leauge soccer and a few games in goalie in 4th grade made me ready for this moment.
My favorite was one guy yelled WAY TO PROTECT Beard
Ridicoulus but this idea of being ready is so significant in this passage
why because like the second string quarteback or the fan in the stands you never know when something will happen
Jesus is saying there is a day coming when either I return or you die that you will have the most important meeting of your life. So while you are hear on earth you need to make every prepartion to be ready.
This teaching reminds =us of the parable of the hidden treasure and the pearl of great praice.
“The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.
“Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls, who, on finding one pearl of great value, went and sold all that he had and bought it.
It’s not enough just to find the treasure. The person in this story sells it all to purchase a treasure he wants to have
We don’t just accept the inviation we preapre for it.
We are saved by faith alone but as we are reminded faith is never alone. There is always fruit produced. There is always works that God has prepared before the beginning of time for us to accompish that we are doing. There is always a readiness and a prepardeness that accompanies true faith
Luther in writing his introduciton to Romans said this
’O it is a living, busy, active, mighty thing, this faith. It is impossible for it not to be doing good works incessantly. It does not ask whether good works are to be done, but before the question is asked, it has already done them, and is constantly doing them. Whoever does not do such works, however, is an unbeliever.
Frederick Dale Bruner, Matthew: A Commentary: The Churchbook, Matthew 13–28, Revised and Expanded Edition., vol. 2 (Grand Rapids, MI; Cambridge, U.K.: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2007), 545.
There is this reserve oil the wise bridesmaids have that illustartes they understood what was happening. It showed they were ready for the task at hand
In the first parable the Lord returns sooner then expected. This one he comes later
helping us understand however we calculate the return of Christ we will most likely be wrong
the caclulation isn’t the point. Ti’s our readiness
and so as the bridegroom comes. Everyone awakens. And the wise trim lamps and join him in the great procession to the marraige feast
all this is to illusatrate that if we are truly following Jesus, when our faith is real, then we are thetered and buoyed to Gods grace.
and we are also convicted of sin. We are pierced and freed at the same time.
this is something we work at. This is something we pray about. we read his word…living and active. we reflect. We are in christina community. we worship and we stay at it.
in other words why we wait we keep our lamps buring.
We are ready because when we do these things we are being are most authentic selves.
because for those of us whose lives are hidden in Christ know this. That when Christ appears as colossians 3 says we also will appear with him in glory.
What’s paul saying.
He is saying on the last day. When the bridegroom comes, when we see Christ.
when he finally appears we will appear
don’t miss the gbeauty of this. So many people today are spending countless hours, time, and money trying to be their real selves but the bible simple teaches us that we will find out true most real selves when we see Jesus.
that’s it. “
“The day you and I finally see who Christ is face to face will be the day you know who you are.”
When he appears, we will appear
This is what happens in this story. The wise show who they are
The wise. Prepared, true bridesmaids, ready to accomplish the task that was in front of them
may it be true of us. On the day the bridegroom returns we are found ready.
One last thing about the wise bridesmaids I’ll point out. It says they went into the marraige feast and the door was shut.
If we aren’t careflul we will just focus on the nagitive aspect of the door being shut as a way to keep the foolish out.
but there is something so sweet, so meaningful for the wise, for the true beliver that the door is shut
Spurgeon helped me with this. He said these words show that the entrance of those in christ inoto heave is eternal.”
the door was shut for 2 reasons. one to shut in those who are in christ. and God will never lose those who belong to him. They true beliver perseveres to the end. so we can rest in that
it’s why Jesu says in Johns gospel those who have been saved can’t be snatched out of the fathers hand.
Or paul says in
And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.
It’s his work, it’s his will, it’s his grace, it’s his mercy, it’s his preparation, it’s his death, resurrection and life that secures us.
It’s his power
It’s his promise
it’s Jesus
and this is such good news. For those of us in this room who have been drawn by the holy spirit to trust in Christ as saviour. Who have repented of our sins and belived Jesus lived a perfect life, Died on the cross for our sins, paid our debt in full, was buried, rose again, ascended into heaven and is alive today
The door is shut to keep them in. We can truly rest in the finsiehd work of Christ for eternity.
friends. Be ready. Let those truths that Jesus is returning for us inform the way you live today.
how might you live?
look at the life of Jesus. That’s what it looks like to be preapared.. Because if our lives are hidden in Christ who we are becoming is someone like Jesus.
Someone who loves with the love of christ
a person who extends grace, mercy and forginess
someone who truly is showing the fruits of the spirit
Paul encrouages us in this. he says if you want to know how to live this is it
I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
Which as we allow Christ life to become ours. Here is what is produced in our lives
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.
For those of us in Christ this is where our life is and is heading. This is who we are.
Eternal life doesn’t just start when we die or Christ returns. It starts the moment we are saved and whatever happens next is just a comma, it’s just an interuption. Because the groom is leading us the the great feast and he will shut the door to keep us secure with him for all of eternity.
but there is a warning in this passage also. There are five who are foolish
They had responded to the invitaiotn. They were at the same spot as the wise. But they weren’t prepared
teaching us it’s not enough just to respond to the invitation.
The foolish bridesmaids would have made a confession they were in the bridal party but a confession isn’t enough
like the wise bridesmaids they bring their lamps but when the bridegroom comes and they wake up they realize they aren’t ready. They ask the wise bridesmaids for oil but none can be given
teaching us we can’t borrow someone elses faith. Just because your parents where faithful christians doesn’t mean you get into the kingdom because of their lives. Just becasue a family memebers in misntry or a spouse loves Christ doens’t mean you get in.
Faith can’t be borrowed. We must make our faith in Christ our own.
They foolish might have even been happy for teh occasion and glad they were apart of it but they didn’t get in reminding us that the kingdom of heaven is not for those who merely express affection
Postive statemenst about Jesu won’t be enough
and so they scramble. They go to the town to get oil at midnight when ever store was closed and then they come to the door and knock
and they know who he is. They say “Lord” open to us
but then some of the most terrible words in scripture are spoken.
But he answered, ‘Truly, I say to you, I do not know you.’
it’s similar to what Jesus said in
“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. 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?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’
These are not the words anyone wants to hear. But they serve as a warning to all of us
the door was shut. Gracious to those in christ but horryfing to those who were not in christ
no child of darkness can go into that place of light.
this is a tradegyed. They had all the right information but no transformation had taking place
They had no oil with their lamps, no grace, no indwelling of the spirt, nothing.
and when Christ comes it will be apperent to all.
One question that would be fair to ask about all of this would be what do you do with the theif on the cross or someone who lived in rebellion agaisnt God but then has a deathbed conversion
The good news is this. Because their is a theif on a cross who put his faith in Christ and Christ said the words today you will be with me in paraidise this teaches us that there can be a deathbed repentance
because the who NT teaches us that in this life it is never to late to repent.
and we can be sure of this. If the theif had come off the cross after his confession of Christ, or if the person who has the deathbed conversion had lived another 5 years
they would have lived like the wise brides maids they would have lived prepared.
and how do we know this. It’s becasue that’s exactly what happened when they breathed their last breath on earth and first breath in heaven. It’s who Christ had purschased them to be
But there is also a day coming when it is to late. The door is shut. And an enternity seperated from God in hell is a reality.
I plead with those of you who are not in Christ. Who are not prepared to let today be the day of salvtion. To repent from your sin and trust in Christ completly. Allow the great exchange to take place today
For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”
and for those of you who are in Christ. Keep waiting, keep watching, keep preparing for that great day where Christ will appear and you will appear.
Let’s pray
Inviation- Ever conversion is really a deathbed conversion. Because we don’t know when we will die.
so for some right now in the stillness and silnce of this moment will you put your faith in Christ?
if you do that let us know
God may you save people this morning. May people who came in here unpreapred leave prepared
and may those of us who are prepared live like it
we all look forward to this day
Then I heard what seemed to be the voice of a great multitude, like the roar of many waters and like the sound of mighty peals of thunder, crying out,
“Hallelujah!
For the Lord our God
the Almighty reigns.
Let us rejoice and exult
and give him the glory,
for the marriage of the Lamb has come,
and his Bride has made herself ready;
it was granted her to clothe herself
with fine linen, bright and pure”—
for the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints.
And the angel said to me, “Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.” And he said to me, “These are the true words of God.”
Lord we love you, we pray come soon, we miss you
IN christ name