Time to Be Ready Matthew 25:1-13

-Our accountability to Christ is reason for readiness

When I was in elementary school, we always looked forward to those few moments of freedom, when our teacher needed to step away from class for a few minutes. One of my teachers used the opportunity to assign responsibilities. We would take turns being the class monitor and the monitor would sit at the front of the room making sure that everyone quietly did their work while the teacher was away. Of course, nobody did any work and nobody was quiet! When it was my turn one day, I’m afraid I let the responsibility go to my head. I really got after some of my classmates for all of their misbehavior. I was doing such a good job that when the teacher came back, she found a well-behaved room except for a loud-mouthed class monitor who was yelling at everybody else. I wasn’t ready for the teacher’s return!

I. Be Wise vv. 1-3

In our passage this morning, Jesus shares a parable to describe the Kingdom of Heaven

He is giving us a story that illustrates a spiritual principle

Don’t miss this: He wants us to understand Him and His work

The picture is of a group of young women preparing for a wedding.

This may seem a little foreign to us, but I think it helps to understand what a wedding in that culture looked like

There were 3 stages:

The Engagement- a formal agreement between the families of the bride and groom

The Betrothal- a ceremony where formal promises were made

The Marriage-the moment (often a year later) when the groom would come at an unannounced time to be joined to his bride and celebrate

In our picture, these young women are like bridesmaids; they are waiting for the groom to come and they will escort him into his wedding feast for a long awaited celebration

The young women are divided into two groups: the foolish and the wise

The foolish virgins are not wicked, they are unprepared. They do not have extra oil for their lamps

The wise virgins are not especially good, but they are prepared. They do have extra oil for their lamps

We must not miss the power of wisdom! Wisdom and righteousness go hand-in-hand. The Old Testament gives us 4 categories of people:

The Simple- they do not understand how the world works; they are inexperienced

The Fool- they never learn, either from experience or example how the world works

The Mocker- they hate learning and they scoff at those who pursue wisdom

The Wise- they seek to know and understand the will and way of God

We must pursue wisdom by obeying the words of the Lord

Matthew 7:24–27

[24] “Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. [25] And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. [26] And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. [27] And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it.” (ESV)

II. Be Ready vv. 4-9

Why does wisdom matter so much? Because things happen!

Simple people never believe that anything could happen to them.

When delays come, and they do, preparation matters

Think about the pattern here:

There is a delay

Delay leads to drowsing

Drowsing leads to dozing; soon all of the women are asleep

Now, the groom is coming!

All of them prepare their lamps, but there is a problem. Some of them are out of oil

The wise women will not share, not out of selfishness, but because it is not possible

The critical moment reveals their preparation; the truth comes out.

Please notice; all 10 of these girls look ready

They are all dressed for a celebration and they all have their lamps ready to go

But the truth is that there’s just no oil there

What will the critical moment reveal about you? The truth!

When the author walks on to the stage the play is over. God is going to invade, all right: but what is the good of saying you are on His side then, when you see the whole natural universe melting away like a dream and something else — something it never entered your head to conceive — comes crashing in; something so beautiful to some of us and so terrible to others that none of us will have any choice left?

For this time it will be God without disguise; something so overwhelming that it will strike either irresistible love or irresistible horror into every creature. it will be too late then to choose your side. There is no use saying you choose to lie down when it has become impossible to stand up. That will not be the time for choosing: it will be the time when we discover which side we really have chosen, whether we realised it before or not. now, today, this moment, is our chance to choose the right side. God is holding back to give us that chance. it will not last forever. We must take it or leave it.”

C.S. Lewis in Mere Christianity (Quebec: Samizdat University Press, 2014) 38-39.

III. Be Certain vv. 10-13

The bridegroom arrives, but the distinction between the foolish and the wise is exposed

Five of these women are ready and they enter with the groom into the celebration

Five were not ready and when the groom arrives they have gone to by oil; the moment has passed

I think it’s important to note that, at this point, there are only two potential outcomes

You are either in or you are out

You can knock on that day, but the door won’t be opened

You can call on the Lord, but you won’t be known

Today is your moment of opportunity and you cannot afford to miss the moment

There is an old story of a king and his clown or “jester” who sometimes said very foolish things. One day the jester had said something so foolish that the king handing him a staff, said to him: “Take this, and keep it till you find a bigger fool than yourself.”

“Some years later, the king lay on his deathbed. His courtiers were called: his family and his servants also stood round his bedside. The king, addressing them, said, “I am about to leave you. I am going on a very long journey and I shall not return again to this place: so I have called you all to say goodbye.”

Then his jester stepped forward and addressing the king said “Your Majesty, may I ask a question? When you have journeyed abroad visiting your people or paying diplomatic visits to other courts your heralds and servants have always gone before you, making preparations for you. May I ask what preparations, your Majesty has made for this long journey that he is about to take?”

“Alas!” replied the king, “I have made no preparations.”

“Then,” said the jester, “Take this staff with you, for now I have found a bigger fool than myself.”

There’s good news today: You can have certainty!

Romans 10:8–11

[8] But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith that we proclaim); [9] because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. [10] For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. [11] For the Scripture says, “Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.” (ESV)

Admit that you are a sinner

Believe in Jesus

Commit your life to Him