November 17, 2002 Matthew 25:1-13
1 "At that time the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. 2 Five of them were foolish and five were wise. 3 The foolish ones took their lamps but did not take any oil with them. 4 The wise, however, took oil in jars along with their lamps. 5 The bridegroom was a long time in coming, and they all became drowsy and fell asleep.
6 "At midnight the cry rang out: `Here’s the bridegroom! Come out to meet him!’
7 "Then all the virgins woke up and trimmed their lamps. 8 The foolish ones said to the wise, `Give us some of your oil; our lamps are going out.’
9 "`No,’ they replied, `there may not be enough for both us and you. Instead, go to those who sell oil and buy some for yourselves.’
10 "But while they were on their way to buy the oil, the bridegroom arrived. The virgins who were ready went in with him to the wedding banquet. And the door was shut.
11 "Later the others also came. `Sir! Sir!’ they said. `Open the door for us!’
12 "But he replied, `I tell you the truth, I don’t know you.’
13 "Therefore keep watch, because you do not know the day or the hour. (NIV)
Triumphant Saints are Ready for the Bridegroom to Come
I. They have enough oil
II. They have their own oil
There’s an American tradition that happens at almost every American wedding. The husband will take the garder from his wife’s leg and toss it to the eligible unmarried bachelors in the crowd. The wife will take her bouquet and toss it to the eligible unmarried women in the crowd. It is thought that the one to catch it will be the next one to get married. These are examples of American traditions.
The Jews had traditions as well. Some time after the groom had asked the bride to marry him and gotten the consent of the parents, he would go over to the bride’s house at sometime during the early evening and escort her to the wedding banquet. Then on the way to the wedding banquet, the bride’s maiden companions - the virgins - would wait for the groom and bride to come, and escort them to the place of the festival with lamps. They would pick a point between the bride’s house and the place of the festival, and wait there until the procession would pass. Then when the bride and groom got there, they would use their lamps like torches in the festal procession. This was tradition.
God has a tradition that He has going as well. He has a tradition of keeping His Word. He has promised that His Son will come in the clouds on Judgment Day. He will take some to be with Him on His triumphal procession to heaven, while He will leave others behind to suffer in hell. Some will be triumphant, others won’t. The question is, how can we be one of the triumphant? Jesus shows us how to be trimphant saints today, as we look at the parable of the ten virgins.
As we look at all of the virgins, both the wise and the foolish, we’ll notice something in common with them. They’re both waiting for the coming of the bridegroom. So who could this represent? Not everybody in the world is waiting for Jesus to come on Judgment Day. So these virgins must be representative of the people in this world who are waiting for the Second Coming of Christ. These are people who know who Christ is, who have heard that He was coming, who have some knowledge of the Bible. So these virgins could be compared to people who go to church and know that Jesus is coming again on Judgment Day. He will take some of these who are waiting for him to heaven, and others will be left to hell.
The question is, “how can we be one of the ones who are ready for the Groom to come?” How can we be “Triumphant Saints and go to heaven?” Notice from the parable that all of the virgins wanted to get to the marriage feast in heaven. But just wanting to go isn’t enough. We need to be like one of the wise virgins in the parable. If we are foolish, we won’t be let in.
So let’s look at what makes the wise virgins wise, and what makes the foolish virgins foolish. There were two things that made the 5 virgins wise, and the other five foolish. The first thing you notice was that 3 The foolish ones took their lamps but did not take any oil with them. The wise, however, took oil in jars along with their lamps. The foolish virgins thought that the bridegroom would come right away. So they assumed they would have enough oil to escort him into the banquet hall. They assumed that their oil would last, but it didn’t. They were foolish for making such an assumption. They didn’t plan for the improbable, that the bridegroom would show up in the middle of the night. But that’s exactly what happened. When the groom arrived late, the foolish virgins didn’t have enough oil to have a procession for him.
What does this mean? What does the oil and the lamp stand for? There’s a passage that says, “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path.” (Ps 119:105) So we could look at the oil as symbolic for the Word of God that keeps our lamps of faith burning. The more you hear the Word, the stronger your faith will become. Romans 10:17 tells us that “Faith comes from hearing the message.” If you don’t have God’s Word, the oil, your lamp of faith won’t keep burning. It will go out. So when the groom comes, you won’t be ready. God wants us to keep feeding our lamps of faith with God’s Word - so it doesn’t burn out before Judgment Day. It’s such a simple formula - read the Word - believe in Jesus - keep your lamp burning - go to heaven. So obviously, you’ll want to keep your faith alive by keeping in the Word.
Staying in the faith is a lot like staying in shape. I used to be able to eat all I wanted and stay as skinny as a string bean. But now that I’m getting older, it isn’t so easy to stay in shape. I didn’t think I’d let marriage put any pounds on me. I even bought some insurance to assure me that I would stay in shape - a Nordic Track. But then I found out something. Just buying a Nordic Track doesn’t keep you in shape. You actually have to use it! After I found this out, I planned on using it three times a week, for a half an hour each time. Then I could easily stay in shape. No big deal, right? I could handle that. You know what happened to that Nordic Track? I started using it less and less, and then I finally decided to sell it. As a result, I used to wear 34x34 pants. Now I wear 38x32 pants. My waste is growing bigger and my legs are growing shorter. I’m shrinking. It isn’t as easy to stay in shape as it seems.
That’s the way faith is. Everybody wants to remain a believer. It seems so easy at first. Just stay in the Word. Come to church. Have devotions. It doesn’t take much work. Just believe in Christ, right? But what happens? If we aren’t careful, we start becoming spiritual blobs. Coming to church doesn’t seem as exciting as it may have earlier. It gets boring. So you may start daydreaming during the service. Then you feel like you need more money. So you get a job on Sunday mornings. Having a devotion takes time, and you don’t have time. Before you know it, your faith is flickering, and you are unsure of your salvation, because you aren’t in the Word. But the consequences are more than having to buy a new set of clothes. You may end up in hell.
This is exactly what can happen to us. Our faith can die if it doesn’t get the Word of God. We tell our confirmands, “you’ve got to keep coming and learning.” We tell our adults, “keep listening to the Word.” Keep the oil in your lamp. But many people who once were ready for the coming of Christ on Judgment Day, are no longer ready. Kids who knew the true way to salvation at their confirmation, are now unsure that they will be saved on Judgment Day, because they aren’t keeping oil in their lamps. You cannot expect to stay in the faith by coming to church once a year. You cannot expect to keep believing you are a sinner in need of forgiveness if you don’t keep reading your Bible and hearing the Word of God. This is the oil that keeps our faith alive.
However, many of us still come to church. We may read our Bibles at home. What God is saying to you today is “KEEP IT UP! Stay wise!” You never know when something terrible will happen to you, when you’ll need that extra boost of God’s Word in your life. If the devil were to give you a stroke today, would you have the faith to stand up under the pressure? If God were to allow your house burn down today, would you give up on God, because your faith isn’t strong enough? You never know what may happen in your future, before the Son comes. None of us know exactly how we will respond to tragedy. But our odds increase greatly when we stay in the Word. Then the devil can’t tear our faith away from us. Paul promises us in 1 Corinthians 10:13 that God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it. As long as you stay in the Word, God will give you the strength to remain a believer. God doesn’t want us to be like the foolish virgins and let our oil of God’s Word run out.
There was one other thing that made these virgins foolish. When the foolish virgins realized that they didn’t have enough oil, The foolish ones said to the wise, `Give us some of your oil; our lamps are going out.’ "`No,’ they replied, `there may not be enough for both us and you. Instead, go to those who sell oil and buy some for yourselves. They tried to join the wedding procession by using the other virgins’ oil. But the wise virgins didn’t have enough for them to do so. Then, as they were on their way to get more oil, the bridegroom came. He went to the wedding festival with the wise virgins, and closed the door. When the foolish virgins finally returned and knocked on the door, it was too late. The groom did not acknowledge them or let them in, because they missed their chance to join him the first time.
What does this mean? These virgins didn’t have the oil. Their lamps weren’t burning. But the groom was already there. By this time, it was too late. This is representative of the way unbelievers in the church will react when they find out their lamps really weren’t burning. They’ll try to get into heaven by the help of their friends. These are members that think if they go through the motions, be good people, come to church, take communion, and come to Bible class, they’ll somehow go to heaven. They figure if they look like Christians, God will accept them as Christians. They put on the Christian mask, and try and borrow some oil from the rest of the church members. These are the kind of people that come to church, but never get into a worship service. They go through the motions, and don’t ever really feel like they’re getting anything out of it. The Word of God seems boring to them. They never feel a sorrow over their sins. They never rejoice in the fact that their sins are forgiven. Their flames aren’t really burning. If their friends didn’t come and relatives didn’t come, then they wouldn’t either.
On Judgment Day, they won’t be able to get into the kingdom by the shirttails of their relatives. God judges each person individually. The wife who went to church just to appease her husband will be left out in the outer darkness. The children who went to church just because their parents made them will have the door of heaven slammed in their faith. The parents who came to church just so their children could come to Sunday School will be left out in the heat of hell. The faith of your parents or your spouse will do you absolutely no good on Judgment Day.
But there’s good news from this parable. 5 of the virgins were wise. They brought extra oil. They woke up, lit their lamps, and kept them burning. They stayed in the faith. And the bridegroom brought them into the wedding feast. They didn’t have to break down the door. They didn’t have to pay the groom to let them in. The groom just let them in for free. They were there for the procession, so the groom let them in.
One thing that this parable doesn’t mention, is what the groom had to go through before this ceremony ever took place. He had to prepare the wedding hall. It didn’t take just a few pounds of silver or gold. He had to use His own blood to open this wedding hall to all of the virgins. The groom had to put himself up on a cross, be put to death, buried, and rise from the dead, just so we could live in happiness forever. That’s quite a bit of work just to prepare for a wedding feast. But this is an eternal wedding feast, so it cost much more than a few hundred bucks. When Jesus died on the cross for you and rose from the dead, He bought the ticket to heaven. He gave this ticket to you by the Gospel promise, “whoever believes and is baptized will be saved.”
If you are a person who feels crushed when God’s law strikes your heart, and who feels happy when you are told you are forgiven, then you are holding that ticket to heaven right now. You are in that procession. As long as you are sorry for your sins, and believe in Jesus as your Savior, your lamp is lit. Jesus promises you that you don’t have to try and bust your way into the wedding feast. You don’t have to knock. You don’t have to plead. He is offering you a free ticket to the feast.
A couple of years ago I had a member of a congregation take me for a drive out in the country. He drove me by a house that was kind of run down. The grass was all overgrown, and there were things laying all over the lawn. Then he told me, “I spent a lot of time in that house. For years and years I spent time mowing that lawn, and keeping that house look like brand new. I had to sell it. Now look at all of my work. It was all for nothing.” I felt bad for him.
Think about all the work that God has done to make sure that you could come to the Wedding Feast. He’s paid for your ticket so that you can go to heaven free of charge. He used His own blood to pay for it. He’s given you a lifetime supply of oil in the Word of God. He’s given you the lamp of faith. He’s made all the preparations. He wants to see you there. Don’t disappoint Him. Don’t let all His work go to waste. Keep your lamps alive. Keep your fire of faith in Jesus burning, so that you’ll be a Triumphant Saint when the Bridegroom comes. Amen.
