I invite you to turn tonight in your Bibles to Matthew chapter 25. Matthew chapter 25. That's found on page 1055 in the Bibles that are in front of you. Tonight we consider together the parable of the ten virgins. We'll read together the first 13 verses. This is the word of the Lord. 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 as 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. there ends the reading of God's word. Well, in the previous chapter, you know this all of his discourse is all one. But in the previous chapter, you know that Jesus had given a lot of instruction to answer the question of his disciples of when would be the sign of his coming and what will be the end of the age. And Jesus gave a detailed and helpful explanation to answer those two questions of the disciples. He answered them in that order. He gave them the signs and what would be the sign of the end of the age, his return. But you'll notice here that he gave many things that he said that would happen before he would come. He said that there would be false Christs who would come and they will deceive many. There will be wars and there will be rumors of wars. There will be famines. There will be earthquakes in various places. Many will be delivered up to tribulation and then that great day will bring about the sun will be darkened the moon will not give its light the stars will fall from heaven the trumpet will be heard and the angels will go out and they will gather together his elect from the four winds of heaven and that will be the end the new heavens and the new earth where righteousness shall dwell what we have following this is what interests me why I wanted to focus on this tonight. Really it is Jesus' way of pressing people into the kingdom. This is what I think is lost today a lot, that there is not a lot of pressing of people into the kingdom. Most preaching is just nice, it's comforting, but it doesn't press people, it doesn't push people. And Jesus' preaching would have made us really uncomfortable this way because He was constantly pressing people into the kingdom. He was pushing them. He was forcing them to a decision. He wouldn't let people remain neutral. You're either accepting it or you're rejecting it, and the way that you're choosing and where you're going is evident. Jesus was doing this. So as he pressed, he would often use startling imagery, and he would use stories and parables to make this very point. He wanted people to understand that his second coming in this particular context would be completely unexpected in other words nobody would know the day nor the hour nobody would be able to identify when this great day is going to come it will be business as usual all the way to the end and then one day when nobody when everyone least expects it knock knock trumpet sounds there he is he's coming jesus says this uh at the end of the previous chapter therefore you must be ready he says you you must be ready because the son of man is coming at an hour that you don't expect and then he poses this question in verse 45 at the end of chapter 24 who then is the wise and faithful servant whom his master has set over his household to give them their food at the proper time blessed is that servant whom his master will find so doing when he come it's evident it's evident who's ready it's evident who's watching truly i say to you he will set him over all his possessions but if that wicked servant says to himself my master is delayed and then he goes out and does all these things that indicate that there's no real expectation of his return jesus is dealing with that attitude here jesus is addressing that mindset we look at that somewhat last time in Peter of a people who say, oh, everything just continues to go on as it was since the beginning of the world. There will be no coming. Jesus will not allow people to go down that road. He wants people ready and he wants people expecting. And that's what we're considering together tonight, pressing us to think a lot about being ready, being ready for his second return. The goal tonight being a new year in front of us, being ready for him to come and believing that it could happen this year, that the Lord Jesus Christ could return and it's over. Do we believe that? Do we live like that? Do we think like that? That's the goal. That's the goal of this. So he begins using now a parable. In fact, it's interesting that there's really three stories that follow the sermon on the Olivet Discourse. And these three stories are fascinating. The first one here is a very basic story. It's a brilliant story. It's an interesting story for sure, that there are these 10 virgins, and these 10 virgins are invited to a great feast. And this marriage feast, Jesus makes a distinction that in this great feast, as the invitation went out, Some were very wise and some were very foolish. The wise were ready for the bridegroom when he came for the feast. But the foolish ones were not. They didn't take any oil in their lamps, he says. Suddenly, he came. He gave the call. He gave the summons. Come, the feast is ready. Come, I'm here. And the foolish ones didn't have any oil. The wise had always carried their oil. but the foolish ones needed oil so they asked the wise for oil and the wise said we can't give you our oil you'll have to go buy some and while they were out the master then fully came in all of his splendor and all of his glory and they entered in and the door was shut and these come knocking we want in and he says it's too late i don't know you and then the big punch line the big hit at the end watch you need to watch you don't know the day nor the hour well this is what we're looking at tonight the kingdom of heaven is like this and that's where i want to begin tonight i want to look at this that what jesus is doing is he's showing what the kingdom is like what will happen when it comes in all of its glory and what we should be doing until then, how we should be responding to that. That's really the outline of this. What is the kingdom of heaven like? That's the first thing he's wrestling with or having us wrestle with in this particular parable. And he opens it up by saying the kingdom of heaven is like 10 virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. The question is, what is Jesus doing at this particular point? And who is Jesus talking about? What you can't miss here, and what has always struck me about this particular parable is, all of them seem closely identified with the bridegroom. I'm sure more than often this parable is described as saying, well, you've got the people in the church, and then you've got the world, and Jesus is making a great distinction between the church and the world. And I've tried to do it. I've tried to look at that parable this way, and I can't. It seems so clear to me, and I'm going to prove that to you here in a moment, that what Jesus is having us think about, a lot about, and what he's most concerned about is the state of the church before he comes. The state of the people who profess him before he comes. And so he presses this issue to prove this to you with three stories. A parable of the virgins, the parable of the talents, and then the description at the end of the separation between the sheep and the goats. What's surprising about all of these stories are a few different things. The first is, is that the expecting, the coming in all of these three stories is completely unexpected. The foolish versions are surprised. The ones who buried their talents thought that they had done well. And the goats at the end of this thought that they were surprised that they hadn't, that when Jesus exposed what they hadn't done. Well, that was the first thing. And in all of these accounts, there's a great separation. But most interesting is in each story is the surprise. Is a surprise of those who thought they were entering and didn't. And Jesus makes this distinction. Jesus is having us think about this. There are those, it's a simple truth tonight. It's a very simple truth tonight of this parable. There are those who are ready, and there are those who are not. What does that mean? What do we do with that? That's a little complex. You know that. Because who here says, I feel ready? I'll deal with that. So notice in verse 2, he begins this parable, and he says, that here's what the kingdom of heaven is like. Ten virgins took their lamps, and he went to meet the bridegroom. Five were wise, and five were foolish. We're looking at people who claim to belong to the bridegroom. We're looking at people who say they're coming to the bridegroom. Christ has made this distinction in the body here in the church. You'll notice this, that we're looking at this. Virgins all throughout Scripture have had a symbol of purity, have had those who belong to the Lord. But it's interesting here when you think about what Jesus is doing of His real concern to press us to think about are we ready and what is the state of those who say they belong to Him before He comes? I remember my grandma used to always say to me, she said, if you want to know the state of things, Chris, she was a dear believer. She studied all the time. She used to say, you don't, and this always stuck with me, she's right. You don't need to look in the world to know the state of things. You need to look in the church to know the state of things. Look where the church is. Jesus was always giving calls about this. The Scriptures all over the place are giving calls about this. Remember what Paul would say in Romans 13. Besides this, you know the time, the hour has come for you to wake up out of sleep. You, believers. For salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed. You can go right to Ephesians 5 and hear the same thing. So it is said, wake up, O sleeper. Rise from the dead and Christ will shine on you. Pay careful attention then how you walk. Not as unwise, but as wise. Redeeming the time because the days are evil. Therefore, do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is and don't get drunk. he's making constant contrasts this way drowsy saints i don't believe this has ever meant the hard part in preaching this is you stand back from this you say well it feels like jesus is just scaring people into the kingdom and that's not at all what he's doing i'm going to hopefully helpful help you to see that but he is telling us what the kingdom is like with the goal with the goal that we would be an awake people and that's a good thing that's a healthy thing that's a This is exactly what we read from Calvin last week as he opened up in dealing with 2 Peter 3, that this is how the Lord stirs us up to be ready. He gives us passages like this, and this is exactly the way to wake us up. That's why we as pastors have to preach this, and I think there's no better time than at the end of a year or in the beginning of a new year. It will be very characteristic before the second coming that there will be many slumbering in the kingdom. Many sleeping. The problem is posed in verse 3. They took their lamps with no oil in them. You could read volumes on what the oil is. Don't even think about what the oil is. It's not helpful. Here's what he's saying. There are some ready and there are some who are not. That's all that's saying. I marvel at the state of things today. I bump into many places I shared with you on Christmas Day. I go over to the gym and I talk to all kinds of people. You know, I rarely meet people who say they don't believe. It's really remarkable still in our post-Christian society how many people still say they believe. There are many who don't, don't get me wrong. But I'm amazed at how many say they do. And if you press them, there's no commitment to worship. There's no commitment to any church. There's really kind of a scoffing at it. There's no real desire for fellowship. There's no involvement in the body of Christ. There's little sense of importance among these people of what we call the means of grace, the need to receive grace, and why we need to come to church. They don't even understand why we do. Christianity in our time, listen, and it's a danger in our own ranks. Christianity in our time in America, for many, is simply a cultural phenomenon. Do you understand that? Cultural Christianity, that's all it is. It's, what do they say, a mile wide, an inch deep. They aren't ready at all. They aren't ready at all. Jesus encourages us here in the midst of this saying there are those who are ready. You'll notice this here as he says the wise took oil in their jars with their lamps. What's he saying? There are people who are ready. There are people who are watching. There are people who are looking. I thought last week in 2 Peter 3 that that verse at the end was so wonderful. Listen to this verse. But according to his promise, we are waiting. We are waiting for the new heavens and the new earth in which righteousness shall dwell. Can you say that tonight? You're waiting for that? I'm not saying you perfectly wait for that. But can you say tonight you wait for that? Can you say tonight you believe that's coming? Then you're carrying oil. You're believing. This is the encouragement that he gives in the midst of this. The writer, well, Paul to Thessalonians says the same thing. But you, brothers and sisters, are not in darkness, so that this day should surprise you like a thief. You are children of the light and children of the day. We do not belong to the night or to the darkness. So then let us not be like others who are asleep. We know in our ranks those who are asleep, and we should be helping them. But don't be like them. So then, let us not be like others who are asleep, but let us be awake and sober. For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk, get drunk at night. But since we belong to the day, let us be sober, putting on faith and love as a breastplate, and the hope of salvation as a helmet. For God did not appoint us to suffer wrath. You hear that? God didn't appoint you for wrath, but to receive salvation. You believe that? I trust you do. There are ready people for this. And He's made a people ready. But here's my problem. Here's your problem. I went around the room tonight and I asked, do you feel ready? Not many hands would go up. Not many hands would go up. We don't often feel ready. Prayer is weak. Trust is not what we want. We struggle with every kind of worldly lust under the sun just like everyone else. And I think Jesus recognizes that here. Verse 5 is so interesting to me. As the bridegroom was delayed, they all became drowsy and slept. Well, that's not just talking about taking a nap. I think Jesus is really telling us what He said elsewhere. Men ought always to pray and not lose heart. Why? Because when the Son of Man comes, is He really going to find faith on the earth? Meaning, it's going to be a time of great drowsiness among the people of God. And we have to know that. Jesus called us to pray to be looking. What amazes me is the fact that He seems to be saying that there will be a great struggle, even among the righteous at times, to slumber in our anticipation of His return. And haven't you felt that? Have we really been so anticipating that He'll come? If you don't believe this is possible, look at righteous Lot. They had to pull Him out. The angels had to come out of Sodom and pull Him out. I've often thought that if we want to understand the end, you have to look carefully at the time just before Christ's crucifixion. It's one of the greatest moments to study what the end will be like. Remember what happened in the Garden of Gethsemane? You remember when Jesus is going to the cross and His soul becomes incredibly tormented. In other words, He begins to sweat drops of blood. The wrath of God is falling on Him for their sins. And He says to His disciples, Watch and pray. Lest you fall into temptation. For the Spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak. and three times He comes back and what are they doing? They're asleep. I wonder if this is on Jesus' mind when He's telling this parable because we're right connecting with the all of it discourse and all of these events. Christ calling them to be awake and they're asleep. Comfort is that all along the way Jesus is praying for His own. John 17, that not one of those given to Him by the Father would be lost. In our weakness, He is our strength. But I think it's important to feel the pressing of Jesus in this parable, aside from all that beautiful truth. And the importance of this is to say that even though at the end the church will seem defeated and close to distinction as they slumber, they're still the Lord, His people. When the call comes, they're getting up. They're going to come, His people. Although even maybe at times your zeal and your excitement for this coming has waned, even in the Lord's tearing, even though we become sluggish, the Lord has telling us when His call comes, His sheep will hear His voice and they will be up. But the pressing of the parable is this. Be awake. Be awake. and we have at this point jesus really laying that down for us for when the crisis comes when the day comes what happens well he says in verse 6 at midnight there was a cry here's the bridegroom come out to meet him we've been we've been preaching come to jesus for a long time we've been preaching this message for a long time and it says in verse 7 doesn't it then all those virgins rose and trimmed their lamps and the foolish said what come back to that think about this day for a minute when he actually arrives how wonderful it's going to be on that day he's coming to be glorified in his people to be marveled at among those who have believed first corinthians 15 says we shall all be changed in a moment in the twinkling of an eye the last trumpet when the trumpet sounds when when that trumpet sounds he's gathering us together and we will always be with the Lord and and and first Thessalonians 4 said thus always comfort one another with these words but verse 8 Jesus presses us with the foolish for when that day comes and in all these calls that have come what do they say they say 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 the to the 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 saying lord lord open to us but he answered truly i say to you i do not know you well that's such a sobering verse isn't it the door is shut it's the same sort of language when the the ark door was shut and god had shut in his people into that ark before the flood came it's the same language that's being used the kingdom is shut the day of salvation is over and it is past there's no more entering i told you i told you the other day i met a man who said to me who's a practicing jew who said to me i won't kind of mocking me i won't believe until your messiah come too late heaven will be a time of praising the lord day and night for redeeming us by the blood of the lamb i was um i was taken by a question that james boyce asked as i was reading him this week and reflecting on what he did with this and he said this how do you know what camp you're in said something interesting if the return of our lord jesus christ and the division it will cause will bring out the true condition of those who profess christianity but who are not actually born again isn't it also the case that their condition may be revealed by lesser but nevertheless us real crisis experiences now? If this is so, you can anticipate the results of the final judgment in the way you react to the problems that come into your life day by day. Do your problems drive you away from the church and drive you away from Jesus? Or do your problems drive you to His word and to him that's my question i want to speak to um some of the young people tonight how many are here i hope the parents brought them if not you'll tell them to listen to it i love our young people i know the struggles i've lived a lot of them some may really question this and you may really struggle with where you are and what all this means and at times you feel like i don't even know if i believe it this the lord jesus number one is encouraging you to take these calls of parents and of the schools and all the help that you have had very seriously to believe what's been given to you what's been signified to you what's been handed to you and what's been all these blessings that have been given to you all the way from your baptism to believe these things, to trust in Him, to not doubt. The point of the parable is at the end of the day, and this is what I have to say as a pastor, none of us ride in on the coattails of anyone else. You may have had great parents. You may have had lousy parents. You may have had everything handed to you. You may have had nothing handed to you. At the end of the day, you stand on your own two feet before God dealing with this great question, have I come and I believed in Jesus and trusted Him? If you can say yes tonight and you've trusted the Gospel promises, you are carrying your oil. You're a ready people. But if not, you have to take this seriously. That you could find yourself outside of the kingdom. You could find the door shut and the whole attitude that you've demonstrated now you'll have no chance to change you feel this this is the call of it here are the call of the gospel it's a day of salvation it's a day of mercy he ends this parable saying this watch therefore you do not know the day nor the hour in which the son of man is coming what is watching what is watching well there's no doubt that watching is watching your life which direction are you going are you believing these promises and does your life demonstrate that does it show a anticipating a joy of already worshiping the lord for this is what we'll be doing in glory or do you scoff at his bride what is our attitude to the body of christ do you watch your life are you convicted about your sins you confess them and come to the lord most of all have you come and receive from his hand forgiveness watch your life and anticipate that this is not it there's way more to this than what is now it's a short time we're here under the sun i want to um i've used it before but there's new people here and you'll hear it again and hopefully it'll be encouraging to you but i want to read something i wrote years ago uh because it's so timely this i have not preached this text um i don't even know if i've preached it in my years of ministry maybe once early early on but i haven't touched it since 2000 something that happened in 2008 and i want to read this story to you. I think you'll understand why it's so important tonight in this connection. It was the summer of 2008. I flew up to Lethbridge, Alberta, to officiate a wedding. I was invited to stay at the home of Reverend Eric and Helen Finema. I had already met Eric at previous church meetings, but this was my first real introduction to this very energetic preacher in our federation of churches. We immediately had a Jonathan and David kind of relationship. All of our convictions were the same. We stayed up late that Saturday night just talking, talking about everything, ministry, the church, the challenges. I remember Eric stating how encouraging it was to meet a young pastor who shared the same convictions about preaching and the proper manner in which Christian ministry should occur. Eric felt alone in his convictions anymore. I preached for Eric that Sunday in Lethbridge and made him a promise that if he ever came to Linden, he would return the favor and preach for the Linden URC. A few months later, I received an email from Eric. He and his wife, Helen, would be traveling to Linden to meet up with his daughter and son-in-law, and as promised, he would like to fulfill his commitment to preach for us. It was August 31, 2008. I looked down at the bulletin, and there it was. Watch, therefore. Matthew 25, 1-13. Eric delivered one of the most powerful sermons I've ever heard. It was on the parable of the ten virgins. He spoke with authority. He delivered a message with unction. He pressed people into the kingdom, pleading with us to see that there are many in the kingdom who are not ready for the Lord's coming. His coming for us could be at any hour, whether it be His physical return or our sudden deaths. He preached as a dying man to dying men, and everyone knew it. Watch, therefore, for you do not know the day nor the hour. I had a wonderful time of fellowship with Eric that night, with Reverend Kaminga. And our wives and a future seminarian gathered around the table. We spent hours talking about the ministry. Had a wonderful time. Eric and Helen left the next day. I remember receiving an email on Wednesday from Eric telling me how much he appreciated the time with us in Linden, the opportunity to preach. And then he concluded the email, until we meet again. It was Saturday morning. I was in my study. And as I opened my email box, a new message appeared. When I say that email, I'll never forget it. I'm emailing you to tell you the sad news. That today, Reverend Finema went to be with the Lord. He had a massive heart attack and died. Couldn't be. He was just here. The only way to describe what I felt was empty. After gathering myself, I began to reflect. Pieces came together. Eric's last message on earth was to us and the Linden URC. And it was a plea to watch, therefore, and be ready because we do not know the day nor the hour. And before we had gathered the next Sunday, he was gone. I may not have understood the why in the sudden death of a minister so capable of preaching the gospel, 59 years old, how all these things work together for good, but I did see God's intention in laying before us the serious call to be ready. A few days after receiving this painful news, I was asked by Helen to preach Eric's funeral. Before a thousand plus souls, I delivered a message from Psalm 121, titled The Pilgrim's Keeper. Looking over a tearful, hurting congregation in Lethbridge, I said the following. Amid all the pain and tears we're experiencing now, we know that Pastor Finema's death was not in vain. God was not sleeping during his sudden death. God was sovereign in his going out and his coming in. This was all according to plan. And since Christ rose from the dead, Pastor Finema will rise again. But the Lord is teaching us something more through your pastor's sudden death. The question mark is not over the life of Eric Fenema. God brings us back today through Pastor Fenema's witness to the question that is now before us. Are you ready? Messengers will come and go, but the message will continue. The word of the Lord endures forever. The message I preach, the message your pastor preached, is that which is before you at this hour. Watch therefore. Ensure that your lamp is full. In other words, come to Jesus now. You do not know the day nor the hour. Do you know the keeper of your souls? Do you have access to the hill of the Lord? Do you know the one in whom there is help, salvation, deliverance? There can be only one answer given to those questions today. And I use the very last words of Eric Finema in his very last sermon. You need Christ. You need the gospel. Amen.