The Fate Of The Unprepared

The Fate Of The Unprepared

Matthew 25:1-13

In this parable of the Ten Virgins Jesus is continuing the solemn declaration of the uncertainty of the time of His return and of the necessity of being ready for such an event. This is why the opening word "then" is important. It is the link binding the previous chapter and this one together. There was no break in our Lord’s discourse. In the preceding chapter the certainty and the suddenness of the Lord’s coming has been solemnly stressed.

Delay has often the downfall of countless individuals and nations. An army delays its attack an hour and loses the battle. As Douglas MacArthur once said, "In war all tragedy can be summarized in two words, ’too late.’"

Shakespeare once said, "Delays have dangerous ends."

In early 1874 an inventor named Elisha Gray transmitted a few musical notes over a telegraph wire. He thought to himself, "If I can send music, perhaps I could send the human voice." The NEW YORK TIMES reported predictions of a "talking telegraph", and the public began to grow eager for it.

Just one-year later Gray believed he had the answer. Tin can like voice chambers connected by a wire in a liquid that could turn vibrations into signals is what came into his mind. However, he did not put his idea on paper for two months. After finally making a sketch, he waited four more days before he went to the patent office.

When he arrived, Mr. Gray was told that just two hours earlier a school teacher had come through that same door with his own sketch and had already applied for the patent. His name was Alexander Graham Bell.

When you compared the sketches, the voice chambers, the wire, and the liquid everything was identical.

The reason we know the name Alexander Graham Bell and until today, never heard the name Elisah Gray is simply because one man seized the opportunity when he could. The other one waited until it was too late.

Man’s history is filled with the wrecks of delay. ONE MOMENT’S DELAY MAY USHER IN AN ETERNITY OF REGRET.

Delay poses so serious a threat to mankind that Christ offered up this parable on the danger of being unprepared at the coming of Christ.

I. The CERTAINTY OF HIS RETURN

Matthew 24:3 “And as he sat upon the mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?”

By preaching and by parable the Lord granted thier request and insturcted them regarding His return. In the end of the parable, Jesus sums up the reason for the parable. “Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh.” This is the scope and design of this whole parable. This is the great truth Jesus wished to stress, and all parts of the parable are to be interpreted in reference to this admonition. JESUS IS COMING AGAIN.

As you well know you certainly cannot always believe everything you read in the papers. Some of the headlines in papers are absolutely astounding. Listen to a few of the actual headlines that have run in American newspapers.

Police Begin Campaign to Run Down Jaywalkers

Prostitutes Appeal to Pope

Teachers Strike Idle Kids

Enraged Cow Injures Farmer With Ax

Miners Refuse to Work after

Two Sisters Reunited After 18 Years in Checkout Counter

Typhoon Rips Through Cemetery; Hundreds

New Study of Obesity Looks for Larger Test Group

Kids Make Nutritious Snacks

Well, I really wish that every newspaper in America, in fact every newspaper around the world, would run this headline at least once a week: Jesus Is Coming

Again.

He is coming again.

The second coming of Jesus Christ is the greatest prophetic event of the ages. Now there are many things that are important in the Bible such as the new birth, but it is only mentioned nine times. As Baptists, we believe baptism is important, but baptism is only mentioned twenty times. You cannot be saved apart from repentance, but repentance is mentioned only seventy times . However, one out of every twenty-five verses in the word of God says, speak about the coming again Jesus Christ.

A. His Coming Is Imminent.

Jesus can come at any moment. He can come at any time. He can come at any time.

After church, where she had been taught about the Second Coming, a little was quizzing her mother. "Mommy, do you believe Jesus will come back?" "Yes."

"Today?" "Yes."

"In a few minutes?" "Yes, dear." "Mommy, would you comb my hair?"

B. His Coming Is Inevitable.

You cannot stop it. You cannot escape it. In fact, the second coming of Jesus is the only thing that really is inevitable. You see even is not. There is a chance that you and I may not die if Jesus comes back today. The only reason that is not necessarily inevitable is because the second coming of Jesus is inevitable. There is a real possibility that I may not die but there is no possibility that Jesus will not come again. His coming is inevitable.