Keep Your Lamps Trimmed and Burning!

Keep Your Lamps Trimmed and Burning: The Call to Spiritual Preparedness

Bible Passage: Matthew 25:1–13

The New King James Version Chapter 25

“Then the kingdom of heaven shall be likened to ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom.

All around the world, we acknowledge today as what we call Palm Sunday! In which we commemorate the day of our Saviors’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem! The Sunday that would begin the Jesus’ last week on earth in the flesh. And the Bible lets us know that He came into Jerusalem, riding on a colt that no man had ever rode on before! And as Jesus began His journey into Jerusalem, most of the crowd spread their cloaks on the road, and they cut down branches from palm trees and spread them on the road, and the crowds that went before him and followed him were shouting, “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!” That’s what they were shouting on Sunday! But we’ll find out, that the some of the same people who were shouting Hosanna on Sunday, were crying crucify him before the week was out! Oh how fickle the crowd can be! Some of the same people who bless you, will turn around and curse you!

In our text today, after Jesus had came into the city, in the days leading up to His crucifixion, Jesus is sitting on the Mount of Olives, and scripture says that His disciples came to Him privately! And they questioned what would be the sign of His coming and the end of the age. And He began to warn them, that in the last days, many will come in His name and lead many astray. He said there will be wars, and rumors of wars. Nation against nation and kingdom against kingdom, and famines and earthquakes in various places. He said these things must take place, but the end is not yet. He told them these things to prepare them so that they were not caught off guard when the end will come. And He began to speak to them on preparation in a series of parables. And a parable is simply an earthly message with a heavenly meaning! Since they could not understand heavenly things, He breaks it down using earthly examples, things they could relate to, to help them better understand a glimpse of the heavenly meaning behind the story. And so in this parable of what we know as the Parable of the Ten virgins, Jesus shares with them what the kingdom of heaven will be like. He breaks it down for them in the story of a wedding feast!

Selection Of The Bride - In ancient times, the Hebrew father of the groom would choose the son's bride. The son would honor his father's choice and the arrangement plans would begin. Jesus has made it very clear, that we did not choose Him, but we were chosen.

John 15:16 "You did not choose Me, but I chose you and I placed you so that you would go and you would bear fruit and your fruit would remain, so that whatever you would ask the Father in My Name He would do for you."

The Agreement/The Ketubah - The wedding agreement was called a ketubah. After the terms of the ketubah were accepted, a cup of wine was shared to seal the marriage covenant. From that time forth, the couple was considered to be married, even though the marriage was not consummated yet. The bride resided with her family until the time of the wedding. One especially interesting part of the ketubah was that the groom committed to complete provision for the bride from that time forth as the couple began their covenant relationship. Matthew 26: 27-28 Then having taken a cup, after He gave thanks He gave the cup to them saying, “You must all drink from this, for this is My blood of the covenant, which is being poured out on behalf of many for forgiveness of sins."

This ketubah has 2 parts involving a shared cup of wine, with one at the initiation of the agreement and the other at the consummation. The first part happens at the initial acceptance of the agreement with the sharing of the first cup of wine. The second part happens when the wedding actually happens with the sharing of the second cup of wine. Mark 14:24-25 And He said to them “This is My blood of the covenant which is being poured out on behalf of many. Truly I say to you that never again am I drinking from the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the Kingdom of God.

Bridal Consent/Commitment - The bride did have the choice of refusal. If she disagreed with what was being presented to her, she could refuse the wine cup and the deal was off. If she drank from the cup of wine, the covenant was sealed. The only way out of it after this for either of them, would be death or divorce. When we choose to accept the offer of the Lord, as Lord and Savior, we enter into a covenant relationship.  We are betrothed to the Lord spiritually and we reject all other gods and idols and stay faithful to Him. We are like the bride of those days, in that we have all the legal rights of being betrothed, even though the marriage is not complete until the final ceremony.

The Bride Price/The Mohar - It was considered that the husband and his family were gaining an asset and the bride's family were losing one. And the price was according to the wealth of the groom's father. Having been bought with a price, the bride now keeps herself for him. We, as the bride of Christ, were paid for with the most expensive bride price ever. Our groom, Jesus Christ, gave all He had for us, even His life with His body and blood.

While Betrothed/Preparations For The Future - The groom then began to build the new home, usually on family property, for the couple. It was important that this new home would meet the honor of the father's stature as it would be the home used in the continuation of his family. Neither bride nor groom knew when the Father would say it was “good enough,” so they both needed to be ready. Jesus left to prepare a place for His bride, the church.

John 14:2-3 "In My Father’s house are many dwelling places: and if it were not so, would I tell you that I am going to prepare a place for you? And if I would go, then I shall prepare a place for you. I am coming again and I shall take you along with Me, so that where I am you would also be."

The Call For The Wedding - When the father decided that all was in order, he would have his servants start putting together the things needed. He would have the shofars blown, and send the word out that the wedding was about to happen. It was customary for one of the groom's party to go ahead of the (bride)-groom, leading the way to the bride's house - and shout - "Behold, the bridegroom comes." And the father would say to his son, "Go and get your bride!" This would usually happen at night, and when the bride got the word, she would run to meet the groom and together they would head for the ceremony. Mark13:32 “But concerning that Day and the hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven and not the Son, only the Father.”

I Thessalonians 4:16-17 The Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a command, with a voice of an archangel and with a shofar of God, and the dead in Messiah will rise first then we, the living that remain, will be taken away together with them into the clouds to meet with the Lord in the air: and thus we will always be with the Lord.

1. Preparation Proves Wisdom

Matthew 25:1-4 “Then the kingdom of heaven shall be likened to ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. 2 Now five of them were wise, and five were foolish. 3 Those who were foolish took their lamps and took no oil with them, 4 but the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps.

Notice now, how in this parable, all ten are said to be virgins. All ten have their lamps. All ten are going to meet the same person, on the same occasion, they all awaiting in the same place. The only difference that separates them and labels them as wise and foolish, is their state of preparedness! Five of them were deemed to be foolish because they were unprepared by having their lamps only, but not possessing any oil! The other five were called wise, because in addition to having their lamps, they also had oil in their vessels! And so it is with understanding this, that we come to the conclusion, that preparation proves wisdom! None of them knew when the bridegroom would return nor did they know how long the journey would be to meet him, and since these things were unknown, it’s only wise to make sure that i got enough oil to keep my lamp burning, til the bridegroom comes!

Preparation, proves wisdom! Since I don’t know when He’s coming, not only do I need to prepare right now, but I got to be prepared for the long haul!

[Traveling scenario/running out of gas]

The virgins were the bridesmaids invited to be part of the wedding ceremony. They represent all who have be invited to be citizens of God’s kingdom! Some of whom, as we see in the text, will indeed enter the kingdom and some of whom will not.

The foolish had their torches, but they had no oil to keep the fire burning! What that correlates to is that they have a profession of faith, but no substance to keep it going! They had a profession of faith in God, but they really don’t have a heart for God! That’s why their fire was going out! I told you last week that you can’t be saved off of your confession of Christ alone, but the key is believing in your heart! A lot of people confess God but they really don’t have a heart for God! Jesus said these people do worship me, do honor me with their lips but their heart is far from me! Oh we can look the part on the outside, but on the inside we are hollow! Void of oil! That’s the state of the foolish! The Bible says that a fool says in his heart, there is no God! He didn’t say he says it with his mouth, it says in their heart they say this! If we really had a heart for God, we wouldn’t do half the things that we do! We wouldn’t say half the things we say! We wouldn’t come to church and put on a charade, wave our hands, and shout with our feet, and say amen with our mouths, and walk out the door like the God that was in us a few minutes ago, only exists in the church house! Having a heart for God goes beyond waving your hands! Having a heart for God goes beyond your shout and dance! Having a heart for God goes beyond paying your tithes and offering! Having a heart for God goes beyond Sunday morning! Having a heart for God, lives for God everyday of the week! You got to have a heart that says God, I want more of you and less of me! God your will and not my will! God fill me with your Holy Ghost! You need something on the inside of you that’ll keep your fire burning! You got to be prepared for the long haul!

Oh people without a real heart for God, they’ll profess Christ today, but they’ll be back to their old ways tomorrow! Some even do good for a week or so, but they have no real lasting power on the inside and so what’ll eventually happen is their fire goes out!

The five wise virgins exemplified spiritual wisdom by preparing ahead of time! They were storing up spiritual oil! And we store up spiritual oil by practicing daily spiritual disciplines! Such as prayer, scripture reading, fellowship with other believers(iron sharpening iron)! These things keep our focus and attention on Christ so that we are not caught off guard at His return!

2. Vigilance Avoids Negligence

Matthew 25:5-9 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.’

Brothers and sisters I want to tell you that it is important that we remain spiritually vigilant even when there is a delay in the physical evidence of Christ’s return! Don’t get fooled into thinking that since we’ve been preaching the return of Christ for over 2,000 years and He hasn’t come back yet, that maybe He’s not coming at all! Oh I’m sure folks thought Noah was crazy while he was building the ark, that is until the rain came. And the Bible says that after Noah and his family and all the designated animals were inside that God shut the door behind them! And how many know that God will open doors that no man can close, but He’ll also close some doors, that no man can open! But I’m in agreement with Doc Mckenzie when he said “While the doors are open, come a board! It’s going to rain!”

You got to make sure that even in the delay, that you are prepared to go back when he comes! Understanding, that He can come at any hour! The Bible says that if the man of the house knew the hour at which the thief would come, he would not have allowed his house to be broken into. So you must also be ready. For the Son of Man will come at an hour when you don’t expect him. That’s why we must always be vigilant and not fall into an area of spiritual complacency! The most dangerous place for a person to be, especially a Christian, is complacency! There is no growth in complacency! There’s no advancement in complacency! When you’re in an area of complacency, you stop moving forward, because you are comfortable where you are! You think you got enough Jesus, so you stop coming to Sunday school and Bible Study! You think you got enough Jesus so now you don’t need to come to church anymore! You think you got enough Jesus so now you don’t read your Bible in the mornings no more, you don’t pray like you use to pray! But the song writer said, I need just a little more Jesus! And I don’t know about you, but I need just a little more Jesus, to help me along the way! And so I don’t want to fall into an area of complacency! No, I want to keep my hunger for God! I got to keep my lamp trimmed and burning! And you got to have fuel for the fire, because you are going to go through some dark seasons and I don’t want my light to go out, I don’t want to get lost in the sauce! It was midnight! Meaning they have to travel in the dark! And I want to tell you, in this life, you’re going to have to travel in the dark! Not everyday is going to be sunshine and rainbows! No some days are going to be gloomy and dark, and if you want to make it, you need to make sure your fire doesn’t go out! And if you don’t have a heart for God, the darkness of life can cause you to turn around, it can cause you to give up on the faith, it can cause you to throw in the towel, but when you have a heart for God, when you’ve been storing up spiritual oil, “Yea though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I’ll fear no evil!” When you’ve been storing up spiritual oil, “Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him!” When you’ve been storing up spiritual oil, “Weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning!” When you’ve been storing up spiritual oil, “The Lord is my light and my salvation, whom shall I fear!” When you’ve been storing up spiritual oil, “For I reckon that the suffering of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us!” If we’re going to make it through this life, into the next, we’re going to need oil for the journey!

Don’t wait until it’s too late to realize that the fancy house, and the flashy cars, and the latest designer clothes, and the partying and the jobs, don’t wait until it’s too late to realize that none of these things even mattered! The only thing that matters, is having a relationship with Christ Jesus! And so it is with that, that we have to learn how to put first things first!

It’s not that they were sleeping that made the foolish negligent, because they were all sleeping! It’s the fact that they were sleeping unprepared! The wise could afford to sleep because they were prepared! When other people started showing up with oil, that ought to have been my cue to make sure that I had some, so instead of sleeping they should have been using that time to make sure they had oil but yet they neglected to do so! And so now they want to borrow from the wise but they wise remained wise and said go get your own! Can I tell you a secret! You can’t make it off of nobody else’s oil! And can I also tell you, that you can only pour into people but so much until they start to drain everything you have! You got to learn how to be like the wise sometimes and say I’m sorry, but I need my own oil, I don’t have enough for me and you! Sometimes I’m just trying to find the strength to encourage my own self!

3. Readiness Rewards Faithfulness

Matthew 25:10-13 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.”

I just came to tell somebody, that if you stay ready, you don’t have to get ready! While the foolish were on their way back to get what they should have already had, the Bible says that the bridegroom came! And those who were ready went in with him and the door was shut!

[audits at work]

The moral of the story is that if you stay ready, you don’t have to get ready! Because no one knows when the Lord will return! After the door was shut, the other virgins came, but it was too late! They were outside screaming in desperation, Lord, Lord open the door for us! But He answered and said, I don’t know you!