Watch Therefore
Ten Virgins • Sermon • Submitted
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· 14 viewsA Sermon about the 10 Virgins and Readiness for the Second Coming
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“Then the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom.
KINGDOM OF HEAVEN
KINGDOM OF HEAVEN
Starts many parables
Expression used exclusively by Matthew
(31 times) in the NT
Similar to “Kingdom of God”
Purpose of Messiah
Ø Luke 4:43 but he said to them, “I must preach the good news of the kingdom of God to the other towns as well; for I was sent for this purpose.”
Ø Established at first advent
Ø Jesus is King,
Ø Subjects - those who believed
Ø Territory - hearts and lives
VIRGINS
VIRGINS
represent purity
all of those who profess the pure faith of Jesus.
They believe in the soon coming of Jesus.
It is these who have not defiled themselves with women, for they are virgins. It is these who follow the Lamb wherever he goes. These have been redeemed from mankind as firstfruits for God and the Lamb,
LAMPS
LAMPS
It was their version of a flashlight
Show picture
Bowl of oil with wick
It gives light
Light is a symbol of truth
Your word is a lamp to my feet
and a light to my path.
John 17:17 Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth.
v TO MEET THE BRIDEGROOM
Ø Weddings during this time
§ Marriage Covenant
§ Bridal Chamber Prepared
· John 14:1-3
§ Bride Fetched
§ Bride Cleansed
§ Wedding Ceremony
§ Consummation
§ Marriage Feast
v BRIDEGROOM
Ø Jesus Himself
Ø John 3:29 The one who has the bride is the bridegroom. The friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly at the bridegroom’s voice. Therefore this joy of mine is now complete.
Ø Mark 2:19 And Jesus said to them, “Can the wedding guests fast while the bridegroom is with them? As long as they have the bridegroom with them, they cannot fast.
Ø Isaiah 62:5 For as a young man marries a young woman, so shall your sons marry you, and as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride, so shall your God rejoice over you.
MATTHEW 25:2–4
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.
v FOOLISH
Ø What made them foolish?
§ Had lamps
· But not enough oil
§ What do lamps symbolize?
v OIL
Ø = Holy Spirit
Ø Zechariah 4:2–6 And he said to me, “What do you see?” I said, “I see, and behold, a lampstand all of gold, with a bowl on the top of it, and seven lamps on it, with seven lips on each of the lamps that are on the top of it. And there are two olive trees by it, one on the right of the bowl and the other on its left.” And I said to the angel who talked with me, “What are these, my lord?” Then the angel who talked with me answered and said to me, “Do you not know what these are?” I said, “No, my lord.” Then he said to me, “This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel: Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the Lord of hosts.
Ø They received Word
§ Come with HS
Ø Lives did not change
§ Rejected the HS work
Ø Ezekiel 33:31 And they come to you as people come, and they sit before you as my people, and they hear what you say but they will not do it; for with lustful talk in their mouths they act; their heart is set on their gain.
v WISE
Ø Why?
Ø Took extra oil
Ø Used lamps a lot
Ø Allowed HS to change them
MATTHEW 25:5
As the bridegroom was delayed, they all became drowsy and slept.
v DELAYED
Ø Why delay?
Ø 2 Peter 3:4 They will say, “Where is the promise of his coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all things are continuing as they were from the beginning of creation.”
Ø 2 Peter 3:9 The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.
Ø Is God behind schedule?
v Habakkuk 2:3 For the vision is yet for the appointed time; it testifies about the end and will not lie. Though it delays, wait for it, since it will certainly come and not be late. (HCSB)
Ø There is an appointed time
Ø It seems to be delayed
Ø But it will happen
Ø Jesus won’t be late!
Ø Who says,
§ “The Master delays”
Ø Matthew 24:48 But if that wicked servant says to himself, ‘My master is delayed,’
v ALL SLEPT
Ø How many?
§ Wise and Foolish
Ø Matthew 24:42–44 Therefore, stay awake, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming. But know this, that if the master of the house had known in what part of the night the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake and would not have let his house be broken into. Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.
Ø 1 Thessalonians 5:2–4 For you yourselves are fully aware that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. While people are saying, “There is peace and security,” then sudden destruction will come upon them as labor pains come upon a pregnant woman, and they will not escape. But you are not in darkness, brothers, for that day to surprise you like a thief.
Ø Sleeping
§ Opposite of being ready
Ø In the parable, all the ten virgins went out to meet the bridegroom. All had lamps and vessels for oil. For a time there was seen no difference between them. So with the church that lives just before Christ’s second coming. All have a knowledge of the Scriptures. All have heard the message of Christ’s near approach, and confidently expect His appearing. But as in the parable, so it is now. A time of waiting intervenes, faith is tried; and when the cry is heard, “Behold, the bridegroom cometh,” … many are unready. They have no oil in their vessels with their lamps. They are destitute of the Holy Spirit.…
Ø The theory of truth, unaccompanied by the Holy Spirit, cannot quicken the soul or sanctify the heart. One may be familiar with the commands and promises of the Bible; but unless the Spirit of God sets the truth home, the character will not be transformed. Without the enlightenment of the Spirit, men will not be able to distinguish truth from error, and they will fall under the masterful temptations of Satan. —COL, 408.
MATTHEW 25:6
But at midnight there was a cry, ‘Here is the bridegroom! Come out to meet him.’
v MIDNIGHT
Ø Symbolically,
§ The darkest hour
Ø The coming of the bridegroom was at midnight—the darkest hour. So the coming of Christ will take place in the darkest period of this earth’s history. – COL, 414.
Ø The hour
§ When all sleep
§ Are unprepared
§ Are unholy
· “Nothing Good Happens after 11pm”
Ø Isaiah 60:1–2 Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you. For behold, darkness shall cover the earth, and thick darkness the peoples; but the Lord will arise upon you, and his glory will be seen upon you.
v cry / Shout
Ø What is this?
Ø 1 Thessalonians 4:16 For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry [shout] of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first.
Ø Announcement of arrival
§ Too late to prepare
MATTHEW 25:7–9
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.’
v “Give us some of your oil”
Ø What was the answer?
§ No
Ø Why?
§ It is impossible.
Ø Oil is not just the HS
§ It is character
§ That HS creates in us
Ø Matthew 22:11–13 “But when the king came in to look at the guests, he saw there a man who had no wedding garment. And he said to him, ‘Friend, how did you get in here without a wedding garment?’ And he was speechless. Then the king said to the attendants, ‘Bind him hand and foot and cast him into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’
Ø Spiritual Leeches
§ They live on others
§ Have no life of own
Ø Character is not transferable. No man can believe for another. No man can receive the Spirit for another. No man can impart to another the character which is the fruit of the Spirit’s working. —COL, 406–412.
MATTHEW 25:10
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.
v Buy
Ø You cannot buy
Ø Character not transferable
Ø Not based on parents
Ø Ezekiel 18:20 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.
Ø At 2nd Coming
§ Character is fixed
v Marriage Feast
Ø Happens after
§ Bride moves in
§ Purifies herself
§ Big party
Ø Revelation 19:7–8 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.
v Shut Door
Ø Party Invitations
§ Not Close Friends
Ø No forgiveness
Ø Too late
Ø Hebrews 12:16–17 … like Esau, who sold his birthright for a single meal. For you know that afterward, when he desired to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no chance to repent, though he sought it with tears.
Ø Repented of consequences
§ Not sin
Ø They dont enjoy heaven.
§ They enjoy - world
Ø Shut out
§ by their own unfitness.
MATTHEW 25:11–12
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.’
v “I do not know you”
Ø Many,
§ Know about God
§ But don’t know Him
Ø Matthew 7:21–23 “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.’
Ø We have to know him
Ø How?
§ The Word
§ The Holy Spirit
Ø John 17:3 And this is eternal life, that they know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.
MATTHEW 25:13
Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour.
v Therefore
Ø What is therefore
§ There for?
Ø Key, Concluding Statement
§ The Solution
· How to be wise
v Watch
Ø Watch?
§ Watch what?
§ Watch how?
Ø Mark 13:32–37 “But concerning that day or that hour, no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. Be on guard, keep awake. For you do not know when the time will come. It is like a man going on a journey, when he leaves home and puts his servants in charge, each with his work, and commands the doorkeeper to stay awake. Therefore stay awake—for you do not know when the master of the house will come, in the evening, or at midnight, or when the rooster crows, or in the morning— lest he come suddenly and find you asleep. And what I say to you I say to all: Stay awake.”
appeal
John 14:1–3 “Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.
Ø Wedding Festival
§ Payment
§ Build room
§ Bride Fetched
§ Bride Cleansed
§ Wedding Ceremony
§ Consummation
· Where are we?
Ø Many rooms
§ Bridegroom built
Ø He is coming
§ To get bride
Ø Mean time
§ Get ready
§ Purified
§ Put on garment
Ø Marriage Supper
§ In heaven
APPEAL
v Watch!
v Pay Attention
v Be Ready
v Seek Truth
v Invite Holy Spirit
v Be Changed
v Urgency!