Were you Ready?
I was going to preach a different sermon today, but the events of the recent blackout combined with an experience I had during it, led me to change my topic for this Sunday. As it is, it will also permit me to do a lot more research on the topic I had originally planned.
I don¡¦t know what you were doing during the great blackout, but I was in my house, just after an electrician had finished hooking up a new breaker box. So the first thing I did when the power went off was check the new box. But everything looked okay. After trying to call Painesville Electric but getting a busy signal, I figured it was out in the town. Then I looked up and didn¡¦t see the Perry Nuclear Power plant¡¦s steam, so I began to get worried. Then Jennifer called to tell me she was coming home, that Cleveland was without power too. So I tuned into the car radio and heard how widespread it was.
Just the week before, I had gotten batteries for all of the flashlights, so I wasn¡¦t unprepared. I¡¦m just curious¡Khow many folks here found they needed batteries when the lights went out? Well, I also searched the house for a battery operated radio, and it required C-sized batteries¡Kwhich we didn¡¦t have. So I got in the car and went to the local convenience store and was met by the clerk who was behind a locked door. ¡§Sorry, too late, we are closed!¡¨
A sinking feeling hit me as I remembered a biblical parallel to this story.
Matthew 25:1-13
1 "The Kingdom of Heaven can be illustrated by the story of ten bridesmaids who took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom. 2 Five of them were foolish, and five were wise. 3 The five who were foolish took no oil for their lamps, 4 but the other five were wise enough to take along extra oil (in flasks). 5 When the bridegroom was delayed, they all lay down and slept. 6 At midnight they were roused by the shout, ’Look, the bridegroom is coming! Come out and welcome him!’ 7 "All the bridesmaids got up and prepared their lamps. 8 Then the five foolish ones asked the others, ’Please give us some of your oil because our lamps are going out.’ 9 But the others replied, ’We don’t have enough for all of us. Go to a shop and buy some for yourselves.’ 10 "But while they were gone to buy oil, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the marriage feast, and the door was locked. 11 Later, when the other five bridesmaids returned, they stood outside, calling, ’Sir, open the door for us!’ 12 But he called back, ’I don’t know you!’ 13 "So stay awake and be prepared, because you do not know the day or hour of my return.¡¨
1. Think about it, really.
a. Who would carry a lamp without oil? (or in this case, a spare flask of oil).
b. Who would buy a flashlight and not equip it with batteries?
i. Who wouldn¡¦t have a spare set of batteries in case a black out lasted a long time?
ii. Or have smoke detectors whose batteries had run down?
c. Actually, a lot of us probably would. We are so used to having just what we need, that preparing for the unexpected isn¡¦t always something we are doing.
d. In this story, no one really expected the bridegroom to wait until midnight to come.
i. Everyone expected him earlier. But for some reason, 5 of the bridesmaids took along something extra.
2. They remind me of my wife, who whenever we would go on a trip, would always pack something that we just might need.
a. I would always moan and complain that we didn¡¦t have room, that we wouldn¡¦t ever need an extra box of wipees for a 3 hour drive, or two changes of baby clothes, an extra bottle of water, or of all things, children¡¦s Tylenol.
b. I mean, a five hour trip from Fort Worth to Houston in December is nothing! As I couldn¡¦t have anticipated, we needed every item she brought, as the 3 hour trip grew to nearly 7 hours of an extremely rare snow and ice storm than led us to drive under 30 miles an hour for nearly the entire trip.
c. Wipees? You know what happens that you would need those for? And extra baby clothes¡Kyup, same thing. Jennifer was right. Moms generally are better prepared than we are!
d. Good thing that this story Jesus tells is about bridesmaids and not about groomsmen!
3. Background on the Story:
a. First-century Jewish wedding customs.
b. In those days you got married in three stages.
i. First, there was the formal engagement,
1. which was almost always arranged by the parents.
ii. Some months later (up to a year or more) came the formal religious ceremony in the bride¡¦s home.
1. That would be something like our modern wedding ceremony.
iii. Third, there was a wedding banquet (or feast) at the groom¡¦s home.
1. That banquet took place sometime after the formal ceremony, usually at night.
2. It might happen the same day or it might take place a week or so later.
3. And in certain cases that ¡§banquet¡¨ could last up to seven days. So it was quite an elaborate affair that cost a lot of money, and therefore it was a major social event that everyone wanted to attend.
4. When it was time for the banquet, the groom would take his bride and together they would walk to the groom¡¦s house.
5. The road before them would be lit with lamps held aloft by the wedding party.
6. The bridesmaids would take part in this ceremony of welcoming the bridegroom (and the bride, though she is not mentioned in the parable) as he prepared to come for the banquet.
7. It would be a major breach of etiquette for anyone in the wedding party not to be by the road ready to welcome the bridegroom.
4. Similarities and Differences between the 10 bridesmaids:
a. How similar the ten bridesmaids appear on the surface:
i. ƒnAll had been invited the banquet and all had responded positively.
ii. ƒnAll ten had gone out to wait for the bridegroom.
iii. All of them had their lamps with them.
iv. ƒnAll the bridesmaids wanted to see the bridegroom.
v. All were in the right place at the right time for the right reason.
vi. ƒnAll of them wanted to go to the wedding banquet.
vii. ƒnAll had some oil in their lamps at the beginning.
viii. ƒnAll fell asleep while waiting for the bridegroom.
ix. All were awakened by the midnight cry.
x. All ten bridesmaids got up to prepare their lamps.
xi. All Ten of the bridesmaids appeared to be equally prepared for the bridegroom¡¦s coming.
1. That last statement is crucial.
2. Let¡¦s suppose that we were to ask the ten bridesmaids to stand in front of us in no particular order.
3. Could you pick out the five foolish bridesmaids?
4. The Answer would be no, and neither could I.
5. We could argue about it and say, ¡§Number 2 looks a little bored. Maybe she¡¦s a foolish bridesmaid.¡¨
a. Or, ¡§Look at Number 6. She¡¦s chewing gum. How wise can she be?¡¨
b. Or, ¡§I know Number 10. There¡¦s no way she¡¦s a wise bridesmaid.¡¨
6. But it wouldn¡¦t make any difference. I submit to you that there was no way to tell in advance who was wise and who was foolish. To the untrained eye, they would all look the same.
b. And yet there was one crucial difference.
i. You couldn¡¦t see it by casual observation because it wasn¡¦t a matter of dress or outward appearance.
ii. It was something not readily visible that separated these young girls from each other forever.
1. Five were wise and entered the wedding banquet.
2. Five were foolish and were summarily excluded.
iii. Here is the key point of the parable.
1. Five of the bridesmaids figured out that he might be late in arriving so they brought some extra oil with them.
2. That¡¦s why they were prepared when he finally showed up.
3. The other five bridesmaids evidently never thought about the possibility that he might be delayed.
4. Or if they thought about it, they dismissed it as so unlikely that it wasn¡¦t worth worrying about. Either way, they weren¡¦t prepared when he suddenly arrived at midnight.
5. Really, they weren¡¦t much different than you or I, in that many of us didn¡¦t EXPECT a power outage to come when it did.
a. We knew it could happen someday, but we didn¡¦t expect it now.
b. So we weren¡¦t actively prepared for it.
iv. Before we feel sorry for them, please consider this.
1. The foolish bridesmaids knew the bridegroom was going to get married, they knew he would come to the banquet, and they knew they needed oil for their lamps.
a. It¡¦s not a matter of a lack of information or having the wrong information.
b. All ten bridesmaids started with the same facts.
c. The five foolish bridesmaids had everything they needed to know. And still they were not ready!
d.
5. In this story of the bridesmaids, they are waiting for the return of the groom for the wedding.
a. It is a picture of the church waiting for the return of Jesus, the bridegroom.
b. And some folks in the church say, ¡§we¡¦ll get ready before He comes¡¨ while others make sure they are.
6. This brings us to the question concerning ¡§What does the oil represent? ¡§
a. The Oil represents the inward preparation of the heart for the Lord¡¦s return
b. Or we might say it represents true conversion.
c. In the Old Testament, oil often stands for the presence of the Holy Spirit.
i. Oil represents the indwelling power of the Spirit that accompanies true conversion.
ii. The five wise bridesmaids represent those whose hearts have been truly changed by the power of the Holy Spirit.
iii. The five foolish bridesmaids represent religious people who come under the conviction of the Spirit but are never truly converted.
1. Their hearts have been withheld, they haven¡¦t given their hearts to God, they have held back, saying, someday, I will, but not now. Later.
iv. Perhaps you are in this place. You have heard the gospel preached. You have heard the good news. But you feel like as long as you attend church, maybe God will let you slide on by.
v. But the bible says that ¡§unless you are born again, you cannot see the kingdom of God.¡¨
vi. Your heart must be converted¡Kwhich means changed. Yielded, surrendered.
7. The Danger of Self-deception
a. You should see in this story a warning about the danger of self-deception.
b. What a sad scene as the five foolish bridesmaids plead at the door:
i. ¡§Let us in, sir. You invited us. We¡¦re sorry we were late. We didn¡¦t realize you would be delayed. Please let us in. We meant no disrespect.¡¨
ii. From inside comes the solemn reply: ¡§I never knew you.¡¨
c. Consider those young women. They thought they were his friends to the very end.
i. They were never his enemies and they thought they were ready to meet him but they weren¡¦t.
ii. In the same way many religious people will be tragically surprised in that day when they present outward righteousness and inward emptiness only to hear the Lord say, ¡§I never knew you.¡¨
iii. I am struck even more by the fact that these five bridesmaids are never called sinners or bad people.
1. They are never accused of gross immorality.
2. By outward appearance, they seemed ready to meet the bridegroom. It is clear that they truly wanted to see him.
3. That is part of the tragedy.
4. If they were visibly sinful women, we could understand their being shut out of the banquet, but between them and the five wise bridesmaids, there is little to choose.
5. Outwardly, they are all the same. But inwardly there was a huge difference.
6. The five foolish bridesmaids were not ready, they could not borrow oil and they could not beg their way in.
7. These women did nothing¡Xand that was their problem.
8. They did everything right but the one thing that mattered most, and that is why they were shut out of the banquet.
a. You can come to church, you can read your bible, you can even pray. You can even be baptized, join the church, but if you have not known Jesus Christ by faith, trusting Him and surrendering your heart to Him, you will face the sad reality that someday you will hear those fateful four words,
i. I NEVER KNEW YOU.
9. Some people will miss heaven and it will be no one¡¦s fault but their own.
10. You won¡¦t be able to blame your father or your mother or your friends or your ex-husband or your ex-wife or your inlaws or those hypocrites at church.
11. If you miss heaven and wonder why, look in the mirror and you will have your answer.
12. Some people will find out the value of Christ too late.
a. They will suddenly realize how wrong they¡¦ve been, but the door will already be shut.
13. The world will one day declare that the followers of Christ made a wise decision.
a. Today the door of salvation is wide open. Someday it will be shut forever. Make sure you are on the right side of the door when that day comes.
8. It will not be good enough to be almost ready.
a. If they apparently managed to buy some oil after midnight (as the story seems to imply), why were they not let in at that point?
1. The answer is:They waited until it was too late!
2. No doubt their intentions were good, but good intentions were not enough.
b. Once the door was shut, it would not be opened again no matter how long they stood outside or how loud they shouted.
i. To be almost but not wholly or completely saved is to be completely lost.
ii. When you come up to the gate and they close it and the doors to the plane are already shut, you are almost there, but you are lost for that flight.
iii. You were almost there, but you were not there.
iv. Friends, there are going to be a lot of people in this world that are almost saved, but they will be totally lost.
1. Do not let it happen to you.
2. What good will it do in the day of judgment for you or me to say, Well, I was almost saved?
3. That will not bring you any comfort. It will not do you any good.
v. You will either be ready and be saved or you will be lost.
vi. You may be that somebody who says, ¡§I will get ready--tomorrow.¡¨
1. Friends, there are many millions of Christians in the world that if you ask them today, they would say, ¡§No, I am not ready to die today but I am going to get ready.¡¨
2. That is very dangerous.
a. There are stories in the Bible about people who made that decision.
b. They knew they were not ready right then, but they said, I am going to get ready when I have a better opportunity.
vii. The only way you will be ready tomorrow is if you decide to get ready today
viii. The Apostle Paul was clearly ready: 2 Tim. 4:6-8 6 As for me, my life has already been poured out as an offering to God. The time of my death is near. 7 I have fought a good fight, I have finished the race, and I have remained faithful. 8 And now the prize awaits me ¡V the crown of righteousness that the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give me on that great day of his return. And the prize is not just for me but for all who eagerly look forward to his glorious return.
9. The Impossibility of ¡§Borrowed¡¨ Faith
a. One striking feature of the parable occurs when the foolish bridesmaids ask the wise bridesmaids to borrow some of their oil.
b. The refusal may seem selfish and unkind unless you understand the situation.
i. To loan the oil would mean that no one would have enough oil.
ii. No one can ¡§borrow¡¨ another person¡¦s faith.
iii. You can¡¦t get into heaven by living near a saved person.
iv. One day you will stand before the Lord and he will say, ¡§Why should I let you into my heaven?¡¨ What answer will you give?
1. ¡§My mother was a godly woman,¡¨ you might say.
a. ¡§And she is in heaven because she gave her heart to me,¡¨ the Lord will reply, ¡§but what about you?¡¨
2. ¡§My dad was an elder,¡¨ you say.
a. ¡§Fine, but that¡¦s not why he¡¦s in heaven, and anyway his eldership won¡¦t do you any good,¡¨ the Lord replies..¡¨ I don¡¦t have any grandchildren. You must become my child by your own act of faith, not someone else¡¦s.¡¨
v. If you have been riding your parent¡¦s faith, thinking that your church attendance will be enough to get you in, you will find out like the 5 foolish bridesmaids that you have no oil for your lamp.
10. The Coming End of the Day of Grace
a. Do you recall the solemn words of verse 10: ¡§And the door was shut.¡¨
i. No door stays open forever.
ii. The foolish bridesmaids forgot to bring extra oil and then went out to buy some oil.
iii. By the time they got back, the door was closed.
1. It was too late!
2. Today the door of salvation is wide open to one and all.
3. When you die, the door will close.
4. When Christ comes back to the earth, the door will close. What will you do then?
5. Some people act as if they¡¦re going to live forever.
6. After September 11, I wonder how anyone could think that way.
7. Did you know that at least three people who were in the World Trade Center on September 11, and got out alive, died in the plane crash in Queens, New York a mere week later!
a. You escape the worst terrorist attack in American history only to die on a plane bound for the Dominican Republic.
b. How tragic. Yet, we all have an appointment with death. We all will die someday and face God and have to answer for our lives.
8. What is your life? It is a vapor that appears for a while and vanishes away (cf. James 4:13-17).
9. No one knows what tomorrow may bring.
10. Perhaps you will live another 20 years or 20 months or 20 days or 20 minutes. Who knows?
iv. Do not say, ¡§Someday I¡¦ll come to Christ.¡¨ Come now.
v. Don¡¦t wait for ¡§someday.¡¨
vi. Do not say, ¡§I¡¦ll repent later.¡¨
vii. If you wait, you may harden your heart and never come at all. Come now.
b. Hebrews 9:27 And just as it is destined that each person dies only once and after that comes judgment, 28 so also Christ died only once as a sacrifice to take away the sins of many people. He will come again but not to deal with our sins again. This time he will bring salvation to all those who are eagerly waiting for him.
i.
Let us pray: Lord God, we all had a brush with readiness this past week. We all found out that we tend toward being unprepared, and toward procrastination. Some of us here have been putting off placing our trust in you. Even as the lights went off on Thursday and we heard rumors, many of us had flutters in our stomachs as we feared the very worst. Lord, awaken us to our need to place our faith in you. To trust Jesus. To give our lives to Him, to be truly born again. Today, you have said, is the day of salvation. Lord, I pray that you move in hearts here.
WE SERVE A READY GOD.
c. Our God is "Ready to pardon" - Neh. 9:17;
d. He is "Ready to forgive" - Psalm 86:5;
e. He is "Ready to save" - Isa. 38:20.
i. How good it is that we don’t need to wait for God to get ready to save us.
ii. When we desire the forgiveness of sins, we don’t need to wait for God to be ready. (1 John 1:9)
f. God is ready to pardon, forgive, and save. What needs to be done is to persuade men to be ready to receive that pardon and forgiveness and be saved. 2 Cor. 5:11
11. Remember, the door will be shut.
