Are You Ready                                                                                                   Matthew 25:1-13

Today we’re looking at another one of Jesus parables. He had been discussing the end times and his second coming and he told this story in response to a question his disciples asked: Matthew 24 verse 3, “As Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him, ‘Tell us’, they said, ‘when will this happen and what will be the sign of your coming and the end of the age?’” So Jesus tells them     and all of us what will indicate the end of time is near.

Matthew 24:4, “Many will come in my name claiming I am the Messiah, and (they) will deceive many.” He goes on to say there will be famines and earthquakes and that believers will be hated by all nations because of their faith.

For 2000 years people have been looking at the world around them and predicting the end is near. The Jewish sect of Asectis saw the uprising against Rome in 66-70 AD as the final end time battle. Martin of Tours declared that the Anti-Christ had been born and the end of the world would be in the year 400. Hippolytus used the dimensions of Noah’s Ark to predict the end in the year 500. Pope Sylvester the second predicted it would be the year 1000. Mathematician Michael Stifel was very precise, he claimed the end would be at 8 o’clock on the morning of October 19, 1533. Even Martin Luther who started the Protestant Reformation predicted the end of the world in 1600. The founder of the Methodist Church, John Wesley, saw the end in the year 1836.

Even in our own time; Pastor William Branham predicted 1977 as the end of time. Pat Robertson told people it would be in 1982, Jerry Falwell said it would be January 1, 2000.

Let me tell you, as a lover of history I spent hours looking at documents about this and this is a very short list of people who predicted the end of time.

And today people still look around at events happening and say the end is near. I can’t tell you it is, and I can’t tell you it’s not. I do know Jesus tells us in Matthew 24:36, “About that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.” For me; ff Jesus doesn’t know I’m not going to spend a lot of time worrying about it. But it’s because we don’t know, this parable delivers an important message.

Just a little background so you know why these people are doing what they are doing; first century Jewish weddings usually took place at the end of the harvest. The bride and her friends would wait at her family’s home for the groom to arrive to take them to the wedding feast. And no one but the bride’s father knew what time the groom was to arrive.

So as usual the characters in the parable are representatives. The virgins represent mankind. The bridegroom is Jesus. The lamps, well they stumped me for awhile. Then I read the writings of Pastor Randy Bataanon. He wrote that the lamps represented the Gospel and once I saw that the rest fell into place.

Five women bring oil for their lamps and five do not. Jesus commentary is that the Scripture is for everyone. The wise ones will take it to heart; they will make it a part of their lives. Like bringing oil so the lamp will burn, the wise will live the lessons of the Bible enabling God to be illuminated through them.

The women who did not bring oil are like those that hear the Word but don’t take it to heart. In time without internalizing the message of Christ the light will go out and you will be left in the darkness of sin.

Verse 5, “The bridegroom was a long time coming and they became drowsy and fell asleep.” We’ve been waiting more than 2000 years for Jesus to come back. The women fell asleep, people feel God is a long way off, that we have time before Jesus returns; they lose interest in the Gospel.

Next in verse 6, Jesus is coming. Like the ten who waited in a dark night, we wait in a fallen and sinful world.

“All the virgins woke up and trimmed their lamps.” All, every living person will see it when Jesus returns. Our question should be, “Which group of five are we?” Did we bring oil for our lamps? Did we nourish our faith and prepare our hearts for Christ’s return? Or did we look at the Bible and say we know Christ, but never really let him into our hearts, never really accept him as our savior?

In verses 8 & 9 the foolish ask for oil from the others for their lamps but the wise know there is not enough for everyone so they tell the foolish to go into town to buy some.

When the end of the age is here, when judgment is upon us, it will do us no good to ask others to pray that God forgives us; the grace and mercy of God is not given to us because of someone else’s prayers, it is given to us because of our own belief. Romans 3:22, “This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe.”

Even knowing this, we can all think it’s harsh that the foolish were sent away, that they were sent to find someone else to help them. For us this demonstrates a sad truth; sharing the Gospel with someone may not be enough. Hard as we try, we cannot cause someone else to have faith. The foolish were sent to someone else in hopes they could help them, sometimes we just need to let go and turn someone else; even those we love, turn them over to the Holy Spirit.

Our story tells us we are all given time to see the Gospel, time to seek out the truth and the light, and time to prepare ourselves for Christ’s return. But the story shows us that the time we have is finite, see what happens while the five were away. The bridegroom arrived and the ones who were prepared went into the wedding feast. Those who were not prepared weren’t allowed to enter the party.

Our time to accept Christ ends with our death or when Jesus returns, whichever comes first. As I said earlier, people have been trying to predict when Jesus will return for two centuries but only the Father knows when that will be.

Just before this parable Jesus tells another one about a thief that comes in the night. That parable also tells us that we will not know when Jesus is returning but that we should prepare for it. And for those that are not prepared, like the ten foolish in our story, the opportunity may pass them by.

On judgment day Jesus will stand before the throne of God and say of the believer, “This one I know.”

And those that think they’re “OK” because they tried to do what God asks, without faith, without knowing God, how can you know what he wants? What about those that think they’re “OK” because they “live a good life?” How good is good enough?

Our parable today tells us we must live our lives prepared for Jesus return. Putting off accepting Jesus for whatever the reason, that is a dangerous way to live. Each of us only has so much time on earth and when it’s over, it’s too late.

For those who do accept Jesus we must keep adding oil to our lamps. We must listen, talk, study; do whatever it takes to keep the flame of our faith burning.

I am afraid there are more than a few good people by earth’s standards that will be surprised on judgment day because they delayed their decision to come to Christ. And we have to accept that all we can really do is simply to share the Gospel and how God has worked in and through our lives to others.

All we can do is simply plant a seed and pray the Holy Spirit opens their hearts to the truth. We need to have confidence in Romans 10:3, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

Amen.