Sermon Brief
Date Written: September 16, 2008
Date Preached: September 17, 2008
Where Preached: OPBC (Wed PM)
Sermon Details:
Sermon Series: A Study of the Parables
Sermon Title: The Parable of the 10 Virgins
Sermon Text: Matt 25:1-13 (NKJV)
1 “Then the kingdom of heaven shall be likened to 10 virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. 2 Now 5 of them were wise, and 5 were foolish. 3 Those who were foolish took their lamps and took no [extra] oil with them, 4 but the wise took [extra] oil in their vessels with their lamps. 5 But while the bridegroom was delayed, they all slumbered and slept. 6 “And at midnight a cry was heard: ‘Behold, the bridegroom is coming; go out to meet him!’ 7 Then all those virgins arose and trimmed their lamps. 8 And the foolish said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’ 9 But the wise answered, saying, ‘No, lest there should not be enough for us and you; but go rather to those who sell, and buy for yourselves.’ 10 And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the wedding; and the door was shut. 11 “Afterward the other virgins came also, saying, ‘Lord, Lord, open to us!’ 12 But he answered and said, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, I do not know you.’
13 “Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour in which the Son of Man is coming.
Introduction:
When we read this parable in the context of what Jesus is saying in and around Matthew 25 we can see that this parable is about the end of time… about the 2nd coming of Christ… and ultimately about the finality of judgment for those who are not ready when Christ does return!
This parable is what we would categorize as a simply 3 point parable with 3 characters. Character 1 is the Bridegroom which in this parable represents Christ. Characters 2 and 3 represent two separate groups of people here on this earth…those prepared for Christ’s return (wise) and those who are NOT prepared for Christ’s return (foolish)
Bloomberg in his book Interpreting the Parables tells us that the wise virgins represents those who have prepared hearts and those who are willing to make the proper preparations for the Master’s coming… those willing to serve as called to serve.
The bridesmaids/virgins used a lamp and oil to light the path for the wedding party. There were no street lights to light the way so this was not simply an honorary position in the wedding but theirs was a position of servant and practical nature. They were going to light the path that the wedding party needed to travel…
The foolish virgins on the other hand represents those who have NOT prepared their hearts… these people may dress like believers, act like believers on the outside, they may even come and worship at church like believers, but in reality they are NOT… their hearts have not been prepared by the gift of the Holy Spirit… and they are not willing to sacrifice and suffer for the cause of Christ!
This parable speaks to the ultimate warning we have as God’s creation that one day all of this will end and God is going to reward those who have accepted Him (are prepared), and punish those who have rejected Him (NOT prepared)... those not prepared will be left out…and not able to gain entrance!
Let’s travel through this parable verse by verse to dissect the meanings and what we can learn…
1 “Then the kingdom of heaven shall be likened to 10 virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom.
The kingdom of heaven is like… this is Jesus using the simile to demonstrate a point to those He was teaching. Comparisons like this were common in His ministry and teaching as they made simple the mysteries of God to those He was teaching.
Here Jesus compares the kingdom of heaven to the virgins of a traditional Jewish wedding ceremony. Why virgins? Well, this could be translated as bridesmaids as well and it was customary for the intimate friends of the bride to be her ‘bridesmaids’…and it was also customary that these women who usually were between 12-20 yrs old… that they were virgins and NOT married themselves!
These virgins had a specific task in the Jewish Wedding Ceremony and that was to light the way for the wedding processional. There were no street lamps and the darkness could wreak havoc on a wedding party so this job was very important and significant for the party.
Being that these ‘virgins’ were of significant importance to the bride, and that they were given a very important role to play in the wedding ceremony, it was expected of these virgins to prepare for whatever may happen…it was expected that they would be ready and prepared for anything.
In 1st century Jewish wedding ceremonies the families would gather and await the arrival of the Bridegroom…which because of his standing in the family, he had the option of showing up when he desired. It was customary for the wedding party to remain ‘on hold’ and waiting for the bridegroom for hours and even days… so we know that these 10 bridesmaids (virgins) knew of their responsibilities beforehand!
Anyone listening to this story would have known about these responsibilities and the need to be prepared… that is why this story was so effective among those Jesus was teaching. But Jesus goes on in His teaching, let’s look at v.2-4…
2 Now 5 of them were wise, and 5 were foolish. 3 Those who were foolish took their lamps and took no [extra] oil with them, 4 but the wise took [extra] oil in their vessels with their lamps.
Jesus implies here in these verses that some of the bridesmaids were prepared and others did not take the time to prepare or thought they knew best and went with what they thought!
Here we have examples of those who are willing to make the sacrifice and prepare for what they know is coming… what they know they must be prepared for…although they don’t know the exact timing of the event… they know and understand the nature of the event and they know what they must do to be prepared!
We also have an example of those who are NOT willing to make any sacrifices… those who are not willing to prepare for what they know is coming. They know what is expected of them, but they choose to do it their way… risking it all on the fact that things will turn out as THEY have planned!
Instead of preparing to honor the bride and bridegroom… these virgins choose to honor themselves by refusing to prepare and also by shirking their responsibilities to the wedding party altogether.
Jesus reveals that there are going to be those in the Kingdom [or seem to be part of the kingdom] that are not what they appear to be! I am sure that from the outside looking in all 10 of these virgins looked as if they knew and were prepared for what was about to happen… but it is revealed later that this was not the case!
I am sure that there are many church members today who appear to have all preparations for heaven made… they go thru the motions of church membership just like all others…they LOOK like church members… they ‘act’ like church members… but in reality because of their lack of surrender… their lack of preparedness in their heart… they are going to be revealed for the frauds that they are…
Jesus continues on to reveal just how this fraud will be made evident to all, let’s look at v.5-12
5 But while the bridegroom was delayed, they all slumbered and slept. 6 “And at midnight a cry was heard: ‘Behold, the bridegroom is coming; go out to meet him!’ 7 Then all those virgins arose and trimmed their lamps. 8 And the foolish said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’ 9 But the wise answered, saying, ‘No, lest there should not be enough for us and you; but go rather to those who sell, and buy for yourselves.’ 10 And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the wedding; and the door was shut. 11 “Afterward the other virgins came also, saying, ‘Lord, Lord, open to us!’ 12 But he answered and said, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, I do not know you.’
Here Jesus reveals the coming of the bridegroom… a coming that catches all 10 bridesmaids by surprise! However, even though the coming was a surprise the 2 groups of virgins are separated by their preparedness or their lack of preparedness! The 5 who had oil got up and began to run out to do their duty… but the 5 without extra oil attempt to take oil from the other 5…
During the night their oil had burned down and now they didn’t have enough to light the pathway for the bridal party… now because of their neglect and lack of preparation this wedding party would have to walk in ½ the light they desired. They had let down the bride and the bridegroom by their unwillingness to surrender to what was expected of them and prepare themselves for the wedding feast.
Now the 5 prepared virgins were able to do their duty during the ceremony and they were welcomed into the wedding celebration where there was joy abounding and where they wanted to be…
However, the 5 unprepared virgins had to go looking for more oil and when they got back… the ceremony was over and the wedding celebration had begun. The doors were locked (probably because of security) but when they knocked the Master of the house said that they could not come in… and that he didn’t even know who they were!
This section of verses seems a bit harsh on the 5 foolish virgins for merely ‘forgetting’ their oil. We can see here that the oil doesn’t represent salvation or the Holy Spirit in this parable because of 2 things:
We can do NOTHING to purchase the Holy Spirit and the salvation that comes with His indwelling!
When the 5 foolish virgins went and bought the extra oil and returned to the celebration… even though they had extra oil now… they were not allowed into the celebration! Therefore the oil does not represent salvation!
The focus on this parable is the finality of God’s judgment on those who fail to accept Him and surrender to His Lordship in their lives! When we fail to prepare for our eternal destiny… it is decided for us by God Himself.
Now from a practical and spiritual perspective, in our service to God in the kingdom we will never know exactly what time God is going to move. We must be fully submitted and surrendered so that when He moves we can join Him right away. And those who are NOT prepared… get left outside, looking in, with no hope of gaining entrance.
We are called to move in God’s timing, even when:
It is inconvenient for us
It is very difficult for us
It is unexpected
When called, we are commanded to move to where God is and begin to work with Him there… we cannot set the rules for Godly things.
When the call of God is heard action or the preparedness for action must be taken. When God calls us, it is not a time of preparation but a time of action. When God calls us, it is not our brother’s duty to prepare us…but our duty to prepare ourselves!
God honors those who are prepared and just the same God is displeased and angry with those who are NOT prepared. But preacher how can we get prepared?
Well it starts with reading and studying your Bible…
It continues with you beginning to memorize Scripture…
It is further enhanced when you continue to commune with God in prayer…
We can also see that it is beneficial when you recognize your spiritual gifts and use them to the fullest…
But finally I believe that you must mentally prepare yourself for service to God.
And by that I mean you must be intentional about your walk with Christ each and every day… we cannot take a day off… we must remain ever vigilant and prepared for what God has in store for us and ultimately for His 2nd coming!
And that is what v.13 is all about when it says,
13 “Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour in which the Son of Man is coming.
The term used here, “watch therefore” is not a term that says we must always be awake, but it means to always be prepared and that is what Jesus is saying here as He is challenging people to stay vigilant, remain resolved, and keep yourself prepared!
This is because no one knows the time, day or hour that Jesus is going to come again…it is all about being prepared when He does come! Are you practicing preparations today…are you continually prepared for His coming?
The end is going to come, and we don’t ever know when that end will be, but we are called to be prepared for it…
So what are the main points to this parable from Jesus? Well in looking at the passage I can see 3 that jump out at me… one each for each character of this 3 character parable!
Like the bridegroom of this parable, Jesus delays His coming and that delay is longer than we expect or hope for…
Like the wise virgins of this parable, followers of Jesus must be prepared for such a delay and not allow it to shake our faith, we must focus on learning about Him, growing closer to Him, and this could be more difficult that we expect…
And finally, like the foolish virgins, there are those who ‘look like’ followers of Christ… who have membership in churches all throughout the world who are not adequately prepared for His coming. There is going to be a point in time when those people are going to face a point of ‘no return’… there is going to be a time that is TOO late for those who have failed to prepare… those who have failed to submit and surrender to their calling from God.
Next week we will be looking at the Parable of the Talents - Matt 25:14-30
