Being Ready And Prepared For His Coming

Being prepared and ready for His coming

Introduction-

Matthew 25:1-14

Question. Have you ever seen those Ameritrade babies as they discuss banking and financial strategy. What makes it funny is that it is impossible for that age group to talk and understand those things. Baby breaking out into song and then advising the other one how he should invest money for his future. That is what some people are doing today. They are going through the motions of being a Christian(lip singing) and that is where it stops. The passage we read paints a pretty good picture as you are reading these passages.

• you see 10 women waiting- 5 are ready and 5 are not

• 5 are wise and 5 are foolish*By God’s standard)

• 5 thought “Someday” and 5 thought “maybe today”

Jesus says

“So you must also be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect Him” Matt. 24:44

Amos 6:1- “Woe to you who ate at ease in Zion”

People in the west(us) especially live our lives like there is no tomorrow. (1)We spend like the well will never run dry. (2)We feel like we must always be entertained. (3)We feel like we must have the best of everything or it is a sign of weakness. (4)Our moral decline is an indicator of heart attitude. I want it now I am not willing to wait I deserve it. I don’t have to listen to anybody. I am a free person. The whole thrust of this parable is that JesusChrist requires us to be ready when he comes back for his church. The bride of Jesus Christ. The problem with some is that they have created their own heaven and they are not willing to give it up. (Repeat) “For we must all appear before the judgement seat of Christ” that each one may receive what is due him for the things done while in the body whether good or bad.” 2 Cor. 5:10

Timothy says- “They (people) are lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God” one day their will be a payday. That is not a threat, it is a promise. Those who are prepared and ready to meet the Lord, will spend eternity with Him. Those that are not prepared or do not desire the things of God, will get what they want also- eternity without God.

Lets look at the foolish ones first- 5 foolish ones because they were caught at midnight and didn’t have enough oil in their lamps to go meet the bridegroom. (The very reason they were there)Procrastination is nothing new By definition it means to put off intentionally and habitually. To put off things that should be done.

“Your lack of planning, does not constitute an emergency on my behalf” The problem with procrastination is when payday comes, the bill is due, when the man is at the door, it sends them into a panic and expect other people who are prepared to step in and bail them out. Example from the text. (V7)- Then all the virgins woke up and trimmed their lamps. The foolish ones said to the wise, give us some of your oil, our lamps are going out.” Jesus says such will be the day when I return. He references this parable after taking the time in Matt 24 to explain how He will come.24:36- “No one knows about the day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, not the Son, but only the Father” just like the day of Noah- the people were eating and drinking and doing their own thing. 120 years Noah built the ark and warned people to get in. The flood was coming. They laughed at him and put it off or dismissed it. Till the day of the flood Till Noah and his family got into the ark The door closed “Two people were in the field working and suddenly one was gone”(The door closed) 24:42- “Therefore keep watch”, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come.” God warns each one of us to be ready. Not to rely on others and not to play Russian Roulette with our lives. The foolish bridesmaids took no precautionary steps. I’ll go to the store tomorrow. There is plenty of time. I’ll do it when the other ladies go get it. Foolish in the Bible has a moral connotation to it. Foolish not to listen to God. Foolish to think they can out smart God. Foolish to think that their thinking is an okay alternative to what God says.

“The things of God are foolishness to those who are perishing” the sin was to be unprepared after being warned. Yeah, I hear you Lord...but I’m young. I’ll get to it. The point is that you must be spiritually ready. Heart ready. Realizing that we are not guaranteed tomorrow. We look at this passage with some apprehension. Because we do not live in such a male dominated society like the time of the writing. We struggle with the example given. In the passage, the bridesmaids are waiting for the groom. Not anymore today The bride is the main attraction. Everyone waits for her arrival. They stand when she enters the room. She usually directs what and how things happen. It is funny, we think today that we can have Jesus wait for us, that the attention should be on us accepting Him instead of Him getting the attention and us being ready to humbly and graciously want Him. I have not had a real Bridezilla in the weddings that I have done, but I have sure heard some good stories. It was tradition for the bridegroom to come and get all the bridesmaids and the bride and bring them to the wedding feast. They waited for him. In the wait, the groom would speak to the future wife’s family and negotiate for the bride. That is where 3rd world countries get the diaries from. In this passage, this is where the ten women were at. During this delay, which could be days, they could have taken care of getting the oil they needed. Here’s the thing Some mean too, but procrastination can be deadly- especially when we are talking about our spiritual walk with God. Some are obvious- they intentionally put it off. They habitually put off important matters. Some made a game of it. Matt. 15:8- “These people draw near to me with their mouth, and honor me with their lips, but their heart is far from me.” Babes in Christ that never want to get past the milk of the word, and never desire the meat of the Word of God. These people who say things like “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” “Trust in the Lord with all your heart” Then they live lives like God never exists. Francis Chan was speaking one night about serving overseas as a missionary. At the end of the service a man came up to him and said “I would go serve God as a missionary overseas, but, honestly, if I went right now I would be only be going out of obedience”