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Week 19 of ENTRY & END TIMES series
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We are in a series called Entry and End Times, studying Matthew chapters 21–25 together. We are now at the end of this series, the final chapter. In this series, we are unpacking the final words, prophetic words, and final actions of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Final words are very important, especially when someone is facing death. Whatever they say last carries great weight. There are no more significant final words than the final words of Christ in the final days of his life before he was crucified for us. For those of us who are followers of Christ, it must be more than just church and Sunday morning. We have to learn to love the scriptures and love the words of Christ. We have to take them seriously, tattoo them to our hearts, live by them, think about them, and absorb them. These words that we are studying—the final words of Christ before his execution—are very important and should be taken seriously.
This parable is so serious and the gravity of it is so weighty, especially for those who will be caught off guard in the end, that many times this week I found myself pushing away from my study and bursting into tears, falling on my knees. I wept for everyone I knew who was not saved. I wept for everybody who sits in rooms like this who was not saved. Every time I read through Matthew chapter 25, I just burst into tears when I think about the implications of what Jesus taught in this chapter.
Our Lord has come to the final week of his earthly life and ministry. He is just days from being executed on a Roman cross for our sins. In response to a question, he gives the longest answer recorded anywhere in his ministry in scripture. He prophesies to his followers the signs of the end of the age. He prophesies to them the sign of his coming. He teaches them about the great tribulation period—a seven-year period in which the wrath of God will be poured out on the earth during the empire of the antichrist.
In response to that teaching, he gives what appears to be three parables—three short stories—to anchor the severity of his prophetic words to his followers. He prophesies the end. He prophesies his coming. And then if they were not listening, he gives them three parables, three illustrations, so they would take serious his prophetic teachings about the end because nothing Christ has said will fall to the floor.
In our last message together, "Stay Awake," we unpacked the first parable—the parable of a faithful servant and an unfaithful servant. The point of his message is that he wants those who name his name to be found faithful when he returns. He reminds us that you are an owner of nothing, but that you are a steward of everything. We will give an account for how you stewarded everything he entrusted to you in this life: your marriage, your children, your finances, your body, your time, your resources. We will give an account for how we stewarded and managed all these things we think we own, but we do not.
"This is my life. All God has to do is take that breath from you." Like a rich man who stacked all of this wealth and said, "Now what should I do that I've stacked all this wealth? I'll put up my feet and live with ease." And the scripture says, "You fool." God said to him, "Tonight, your soul will be required of you. Now, who will spend all that money you stacked up?"
You are a steward. You are even a steward of the breath you have in your lungs. And when God is ready, he'll take it from you.
"Then the kingdom of heaven will be like 10 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." — Matthew 25:1–4
The Lord begins the parable with a setting: an ancient wedding in first century Palestine. In order to understand what we're about to read, we have to understand something about ancient weddings in the first century.
In the first century, weddings were grand events—very big, very powerful, very showy. A man would be betrothed to a woman in something like a form of engagement that was even more binding than the engagement we have today. A betrothal so binding it could only be separated by a divorce.
After the man claimed the bride to be his with legal nuptials, he would leave to go prepare a place for his bride. He would take time to prepare a home for her and get his resources in order to make sure the bride had a safe place to be. Then the bridegroom would travel to the house of the bride, and he would take the bride from her house and walk with her back to his own house in a processional at night that was carried with light to light the road on the way back to the bridegroom's house.
They would arrive at the bridegroom's house for a massive feast and festival. There would be a joining of hands between the bride and the groom. They would be legally married, and then the wedding would continue on for about seven days.
Notice in this first passage the people who are invited to the wedding: there are 10 virgins invited to the wedding. The word "virgins" is not about sexual purity, but only means they were young and of age to give birth to children.
Notice how the Lord distinguished these virgins by preparation: five of them are foolish, and five of them are wise. Five of them prepare for the wedding, and five of them do not prepare for the wedding.
All 10 are invited and all 10 are given an assignment. All 10 have a part to play in the wedding. Five of them prepare for their part. The other five do not prepare for their part. Five are thinking about their assignment. The other five are not thinking about their assignment.
Also notice: there is no third party here. There is only five wise and five foolish. There is no middle ground. There is no third option. There is no other group. When the Lord is speaking, there are only two groups invited to this wedding: five who are wise and five who are foolish, five who have oil and five who have no oil, five who understand their role and five who do not understand their role, five who prepared and five who did not prepare, five who were listening and five who were not listening.
"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.'" — Matthew 25:5–6
Notice in the parabolic story that the bridegroom is delayed. The 10 virgins could not calculate the exact time that the bridegroom would arrive to the wedding. Jesus did not tell them the exact time that he would arrive. All of them know that a wedding is going to happen, but they do not know when the bridegroom would arrive.
The bridegroom was not afraid to delay his coming. And notice that while he was delayed, in the business of preparing for the wedding, they all fell asleep. There is nothing evil about them sleeping. But the time that elapsed caused them to get drowsy. So they all fell asleep waiting for the bridegroom.
Then there was a cry: the bridegroom is coming. There is an announcement that the bridegroom is on his way.
"Then all those virgins rose and trimmed their lamps. And the foolish said to the wise, 'Oh no, 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 oil for yourselves.'" — Matthew 25:7–9
When there is an announcement that the groom is coming, all 10 virgins arise with expectation. Even the virgins who were not prepared for the wedding, they wake up with an expectation to be in the wedding. They have no oil, but they expect to be in the wedding. They have no oil, but they expect to play their part. They have no oil, but they still think they're going to be a part of the processional anyway.
The five who are wise rise with an expectation. They are looking to meet the groom. The five who are foolish rise with an expectation. Although they are not prepared, they too are looking to meet the groom.
Their part is to walk the streets with those torches or lamps to make sure the processional could make it from the bride's house to the groom's house. These weddings in the first century often happened at night. They would use a torch with cloth on the end soaked in oil. They would light that torch on fire. That torch will only stay lit for about 15 minutes to half an hour. If you wanted to make it the whole distance, you need extra oil.
If they wanted to finish their assignment, they needed extra oil to keep pouring on to that rag. If they did not have enough oil, their light would go out. The five wise virgins have extra oil with them. They have enough oil to keep lighting their torch so they could finish the assignment that they were given. The five foolish virgins do not have enough oil to make it the journey.
When they hear the groom has come, they are startled. They realize they have dropped the bag. They realize they are in trouble. And now at the last minute they try to get ready by asking people who were prepared, "Give us some of your oil."
Never mind the fact that while the master was delayed, they could have gone and got oil while they were waiting. They could have got oil before they fell asleep. They could have got oil while they were delayed. But now that they delay, now that they fall asleep, they try to prepare while they had time.
So now they go begging the wise virgins, "Give us some of your oil." But the wise virgins say, "No." If I give y'all some of our oil, then none of us will have enough to make it the rest of the journey. Since we don't have enough for you and for me, I have got to stay focused on my task. You have got to handle your own task. I have got to keep the oil that I have so I can make it all the way to the end. So the five say to them, "Man, we cannot give you any of this oil"—because they are focused on their personal assignment.
"And while they were going to buy oil, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready, they went in with him to the marriage feast, and the door was shut." — Matthew 25:10
While the five foolish virgins are scampering to get ready at the last minute, the bridegroom puts in his appearance. He sees the five virgins who were ready when he came. He takes them with him into the marriage feast. The other five are on the outside. He shuts the door behind him.
Notice: the bridegroom did not wait for the five foolish virgins to get back from the marketplace. He did not say, "Let me wait for them to come back with the oil to let them in." He did not hesitate to slam the door shut on the five virgins who were not ready. He did not wait for them to get themselves together at the last minute. When the bridegroom came, he shut the door and brought with him into the wedding only the virgins who were ready.
The bridegroom is Christ. The delay in his coming is the time period you and I are living in right now—between his first coming and his second coming—where people are getting drowsy with spiritual apathy and spiritual lethargy and falling asleep.
The wedding feast is the final marriage you see in scripture: the union between Christ and the redeemed church of Jews and non-Jews, Gentiles and Jews from all around the world from the beginning of time.
The oil represents what is necessary to be faithful and obedient for the entire duration before the wedding.
The five wise virgins are brothers and sisters who are truly saved, who have passed from life to death, who are indwelt by the Holy Spirit. They tell you when they knew their life had changed. They feel convicted over sin. They rise. They think about Christ. They are praying and seeking Christ. They have a real genuine desire to know Christ.
The five foolish virgins are everybody who are in churches—men and women who think they are Christians but are really separated from God. The five foolish virgins are people who have been in church their whole life or people who attend gatherings. They represent men and women around the whole world who think they are in good standing with God, but they are not prepared for him when he comes. They are living a false Christian life. They have no oil.
It represents all of us who have been raised in church but are not really saved. It represents all of us who have been born into Christian homes but are not really saved. It represents all of us who know Christian lingo but are not really saved. It represents all of us who attend Sunday morning gatherings but are not really saved. It represents all of us who show up for Christmas and Resurrection Sunday only but are not really saved. It represents people who have Christian lingo and Christian posts who say God's name but their life does not match their confession.
Notice that the wise virgins did not give oil to the foolish virgins. Salvation is not transferable. Readiness is not transferable. You cannot give readiness away to somebody else.
This is why in the story Jesus said the wise virgins said no to the foolish virgins. We can't give you our oil because you cannot give somebody your salvation. You cannot give somebody your readiness. What Jesus is trying to communicate is: everybody when he comes will be responsible for being ready on their own.
I'm talking to all of you teenagers who were raised in Christian homes and you think the faith of your parents is going to get you into heaven. I'm talking to all of you who have Christian friends and you think the faith of your friends are going to get you into heaven. I'm talking to all of you who have a saved spouse and you think the saved spouse is going to get you into heaven.
I'm talking to all of you who have outgrowths and you look like a Christian on the outside, but on the inside you are far away from God. Listen to me: you can have Christian friends. You can attend a Christian church. You can go to Christian conferences, listen to Christian podcasts, read Christian books, and not be a believer.
The reason they could not give them the oil is because you cannot transfer readiness to somebody else. You must be ready when the Lord returns—for yourself.
Every teenager, you better be ready for yourself. There are people listening to me right now. You're young and you think I'll get ready when I'm older. Let me tell you right now: there are teenagers I know who died in car crashes in a box at 19 years of age, and they are in hell right now. I know a group of teenagers that died in a car crash headed to the prom. And if they were not saved, they are separated from Christ right now.
Since Christ will come immediately after the tribulation—which will be triggered by the rapture of the church, which can happen at any day, at any moment—this is why Jesus keeps prophesying throughout all centuries to every Christian alive: You need to be ready when? Now. You need to be ready now. You need to be ready now.
The scripture calls you a fool if you think you're a Christian and you are not.
My question for you is:
Could you answer those questions? Are you ready to meet Christ if he came seven years from now? Or are you ready to meet Christ if you took your last breath?
How are we ready to meet Christ? What does readiness look like?
The Lord is telling all believers that he wants you to live with a consciousness of readiness.
We know that you are ready when you live with a consciousness that the end is coming. We know that you are ready when you live with an expectation to see Christ. I'm telling y'all, there are too many of us who say we love Christ, but you have no desire to be with him. You are so attached to this life. You have no longing to be with Christ.
We know that you are ready when you are faithful in every season of your life—in whatever state you find yourself in, whether you're rich or poor, whether you live in the city or in the country, whether you're single or married. We know that you're ready when you're living faithful, when you're being obedient, when you're reading the word, when you have a prayer life, when you wake up in the morning with a desire to obey Christ.
It does not mean you're perfect, but it means that something has happened in your heart and you're longing to be pleasing in the sight of Christ. We know that you're ready.
"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." — Matthew 25:11–13
The virgins who were not ready—which represents everyone who thinks they are saved—come and they cry, "Lord, Lord, open the door to us."
How do I know that these virgins represent people who think they are Christians? Because the atheists would not say "Lord," and those in false religions would not say "Lord." The only people that would call him Lord are people who think they are Christians. They've been in church for years and are going to die and have the shock of their life when they realize all this time I was not ready to meet my savior—who I thought was my savior.
They're going to cry and say, "Lord, Lord, let us in." And he will say, "I do not know you."
Notice there is no loss of salvation. He did not say, "I don't know you anymore." No loss of salvation in the text. He's talking to people just like you—who the scripture will call a fool—sitting in this room, listening to me, across this camera—who think you belong to Christ, but you are in danger of hellfire.
Last year in October, we held a gathering at Gateway Center Arena and we said the gathering was for the family of 2819. The gathering seated 5,300 people. Men and women were showing up hours early and the arena filled all the way up to the brim.
The fire marshal came and shut the door and said nobody else can't get in. Although we as a church made a mistake and underestimated how many people would show, we didn't know how many people were listening to 2819. Some 10,000 people showed up that morning.
Although we made a mistake and we apologize for that mistake, there was a lesson from that day I will never forget. We had staff on the outside of the arena who said when the door was closed, they saw people banging on the door who could not get in. They saw people arguing with the fire marshal and could not get in. They could not change his mind. They saw people on the outside crying and shedding tears because they could not get in. They realized they were not ready. They did not get there on time. They can't get in. They don't have a seat.
They wept. They cried. They argued. They fussed. They fell down on the floor. They banged the door. Never change the heart of the fire marshal.
What we saw that day was the frustration in the eyes of men and women who realize they're on the outside while people are on the inside. And that imagery was imprinted into my brain because I thought to myself when they brought me that testimony: this is what it will be like in the end.
The Lord will come. He will gather into his arena all of the sons and daughters from around the world that truly belong to him. And then will come all of those who thought they were saved banging on the door of the kingdom. They see the reapers behind them to take them to hell, and they're banging on the door of the kingdom: "Lord, please let us in. Please let us in."
They're going to be in for the shock of their life. And no matter how much they bang, they will not change the mind of the Lord.
The exhortation of the text is for those who are really saved to live with readiness in your spirit: faithful, obedient, sacrificing, laboring, serving, giving, praying—like we're living and expecting the Messiah to come back to get us.
And for everyone else under the sound of my voice: you already know who you are. Those of you, if something don't shift, you're going to be banging on the doors of the kingdom, and you're not going to get in.
But now, I want you to know: the doors are open. Right now, as I'm talking to you, the doors are open. It has not yet closed. And while the doors are open, you still have an opportunity to come inside.
The door is open, but it's only open until you die.
Man, you already know who you are. You've been in church your whole life, but you're not saved. You show up here every Sunday, but you're not saved. You've been doing Christian lingo, but you're not saved. You know who you are. You have no real desire for Christ. You have no real life that's pursuing holiness. Man, you're walking out in sin, but coming to church, you have Christian lingo, but you have not really been filled with the Spirit.
The Lord is calling you right now. The door's open. You're in the room. You're watching across this camera. I'm talking to you. If that's you, I want to pray for you right now.
If the Lord is calling you and you know who you are—the door is open. This is your opportunity to walk through. One: God is calling you. Two: the door is open for you to walk through. Three: lift up your hand if I'm talking to you. Just lift it high.
Everybody who lifted your hand, if you're a Christian, just pray. Just stir the room. Stop spectating. Come on, pray. Open up your mouth and just pray. Just stir the room.
Everybody who lifted your hand, with your own mouth right there in your seat, you can pray in your heart. Start confessing your sin to the Lord. Tell God you're sorry for all your sin. Ask him to forgive you for all your sin. Surrender your life to him. Come on, you do that for yourself. He knew this day would come when he will meet you right here in this moment. You do it for yourself.
He's catching tears that's falling from eyes all across this room. Do it for yourself. Surrender. Come through the door. The door is open. Run in before it closes on you. Run in before it closes on you.
Throw yourself at the feet of Christ. Tell him you're a sinner. Tell him to forgive you for your sin. Tell him you're sorry.
Pray, church. We're trying to stop people from going to hell. Pray. Come on. Run in while the door is open to you.
I can't save you. I can't transfer my salvation to you. You got to be ready for yourself. Come on. Run in. Run in. Run in to the Savior whose arms are open wide.
Father, in the name of Jesus, I pray for every person you are rescuing right now. I pray for every man, every woman who has placed their faith in you. I pray for all of those who are your children that you predestined before the foundation of the world.
I thank you, God, that they belong to you. I thank you that you're filling them with your spirit. I thank you that you're recording their name in the Lamb's Book of Life. I thank you, God, Lord, that you are passing them from death to life.
I thank you that right now they're being awakened. Right now, their eyes are being opened. Right now, they're being transformed. Right now, they're being made your sons and daughters. Right now, their souls are being saved.
I pray, God, you would give them a furious hunger for your word and for your presence and for community. I pray you radically transform their life.
I thank you God that they belong to you now. And now, Father, you said when one sinner repents, all of heaven rejoices. So we rejoice right now, God. We rejoice. We rejoice. We rejoice. We celebrate.
