Ready or Not

OPENING SLIDE

INTRODUCTION

“Ready or not, here I come!”

Most of us probably remember hearing those words as children.

Someone covered their eyes and began counting while everyone else scattered, searching for a place to hide.

1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6,...

And while they were counting, you had one job: get ready.

95, 96, 97, 98, 99, 100.

Then came the words that changed everything: “Ready or not, here I come!”

It didn't matter whether you had found the perfect hiding place.

It didn't matter whether you needed another thirty seconds.

It didn't matter whether you were ready.

The counting was over.

There are moments in life when we know something is coming, yet because it has not happened yet, we begin to act as though we have plenty of time.

We know the deadline is coming, but not today.

We know something needs our attention, but we'll take care of it later.

And the longer the delay, the easier it is to get comfortable with being unprepared.

That's what makes the words of Jesus in Matthew 25 so important.

Jesus tells a story about ten young women waiting for a bridegroom.

Every one of them knew he was coming.

Every one of them expected him.

Every one of them was waiting for him.

But only five were ready for him.

Then, in the middle of the night, the announcement came: the bridegroom is here; come out and meet him.

At that moment, the waiting was over.

The question this parable puts before every one of us isn't, “Do you believe Jesus is coming?”

The question is much more personal:

When He comes, will you be ready?

Ready or not, the bridegroom is coming.

What happens when we know He's coming and He doesn't come as quickly as we expected?

That's where Jesus begins to challenge us in this parable.

Let’s begin our journey together by turning to Matthew 25.

We will begin with verses 1-5.

SERMON

Matthew 25:1–5 NET 2nd ed.

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 the virgins were foolish, and five were wise. 3 When the foolish ones took their lamps, they did not take extra olive oil with them. 4 But the wise ones took flasks of olive oil with their lamps. 5 When the bridegroom was delayed a long time, they all became drowsy and fell asleep.

MAIN POINT 1 SLIDE

I. The Reality of Delay

• To feel the weight of what Jesus is saying, we need to step into the scene He is describing.

Weddings in Jesus' day didn't operate like ours.

Today, if a wedding invitation says the ceremony begins at 4:00, everybody knows when to show up.

If the groom hasn't arrived by 4:30, people are starting to wonder what happened!

This wedding was different.

In the Jewish wedding customs reflected in Jesus' story, the bridegroom would receive his bride and then lead a procession to the wedding celebration.

His arrival wasn't necessarily predictable, and the procession could take place at night.

That's where these ten young women come into the picture.

They were attendants, what we might think of as bridesmaids, waiting to meet the bridegroom and join the procession.

Their lamps were probably oil-fed torches.

Matthew uses the same Greek term for the torches carried by those who came to arrest Jesus in Gethsemane.

Picture the scene: Ten young women.

Ten torches.

One bridegroom.

One wedding celebration.

And nobody knows exactly when he's going to arrive.

All they know is: He's coming.

That's exactly why Jesus chose this setting.

The issue in Matthew 24–25 isn't whether Jesus will return. He will.

The issue is that we don't know when.

The difference was preparation—vv. 2–4

At first glance, these ten women look remarkably similar.

All ten were waiting for the same bridegroom.

All ten expected him to come.

All ten had lamps.

And eventually, all ten fell asleep.

Jesus tells us the difference: “Five of them were foolish, and five were wise.”

The word translated “wise” carries the idea of practical wisdom or foresight.

It's the same word Jesus used in Matthew 7:24 for the wise man who built his house on the rock.

“Foolish” is the same word used for the man who built on sand.

The wise women essentially said:

“We don't know how long this is going to take, so we'd better prepare for a longer wait.”

The foolish women knew the bridegroom was coming too.

Their foolishness wasn't ignorance.

Their foolishness was knowing what was coming and failing to prepare for it.

There's an important distinction:

Knowing Jesus is coming is not the same thing as being ready for Jesus to come.

Then came the delay—v. 5

Verse 5 changes everything: “When the bridegroom was delayed…”

This idea of delay runs through the whole section.

Matthew 24:48: “My master is staying away for a long time.”

Matthew 25:5: “The bridegroom was delayed.”

Matthew 25:19: “After a long time the master...came.”

Jesus knew His followers would have to live with delay.

Verse 5 says: “They all became drowsy and fell asleep.”

All ten slept—including the wise.

So sleeping isn't the problem.

The difference was what they had done before they went to sleep.

That is where delay begins to test us.

Delay can do one of two things to us.

It can become a blessing because it gives us additional time to prepare.

Every day Jesus does not return is another day to grow, another day to mature, another day to repent, another day to serve Him, and another day to help somebody else become ready.

Delay gives us time.

But delay can also become dangerous.

The longer something is delayed, the easier it becomes to believe we have plenty of time.

“I'll deal with that later.”

“I'll make that change someday.”

“I'll get serious about my relationship with Christ eventually.”

And eventually we become complacent.

The longer we wait for Jesus, the easier it can become to forget that we're waiting for Jesus.

Remember our counting?

1, 2, 3, 4, 5… at 50, you still had time.

At 95, you technically still had time.

But the purpose of the counting wasn't to convince you that you had plenty of time.

The purpose of the counting was to give you time to get ready.

• That is how we need to understand the apparent delay of Christ’s return.

God has given us time, but He has not told us how much.

Don't mistake God's delay for God's absence.

Don't mistake His patience for permission to become complacent.

And don't waste the time He has given you to prepare.

Because eventually the counting stops.

The waiting ends.

And someone cries out: “Behold, the bridegroom! Come out to meet him.”

Extra time is a gift only if we use it for its intended purpose.

And when the Bridegroom finally arrives, we're going to discover the blessing of having been prepared.

Matthew 25:6–9 NET 2nd ed.

6 But at midnight there was a shout, ‘Look, the bridegroom is here! 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, because our lamps are going out.’ 9 ‘No,’ they replied. ‘There won’t be enough for you and for us. Go instead to those who sell oil and buy some for yourselves.’

MAIN POINT 2 SLIDE

II. The Blessing of Preparedness

For a while, there didn't seem to be much difference between the wise and foolish women.

They were all waiting, had lamps, became tired, and all fell asleep.

But then comes verse 6: “But at midnight there finally was a shout: ‘Look, the bridegroom is here! Come out to meet him.’”

Everything changed in a moment.

The bridegroom who had been delayed had finally arrived.

And notice when he came: at midnight.

He didn't arrive according to their timetable.

He came when they were asleep, and his arrival was announced suddenly.

That fits exactly with what Jesus has been teaching throughout this section.

In Matthew 24:42 Jesus said, "Therefore be on the alert, for you do not know which day your Lord is coming.”

Then in verse 44: “For the Son of Man is coming at an hour when you do not think He will.”

That's the point.

The bridegroom's arrival was certain.

The timing of his arrival was not.

And that's when preparation became a blessing.

Before midnight, bringing the extra oil may have seemed unnecessary.

Think about it.

• The foolish women might have said to the wise, “Why are you carrying extra oil?

We're all going to the same wedding.

We all have torches.

We're all waiting for the same bridegroom.”

For hours, the wise women were carrying something they didn't appear to need.

Until midnight.

Then suddenly what had seemed unnecessary became absolutely essential.

That's how preparation works.

You don't always appreciate preparation while you're preparing.

You appreciate preparation when the moment arrives for which you prepared.

Verse 7 says: “Then all the virgins woke up and trimmed their lamps.”

Again, all ten do the same thing.

All ten heard the announcement, woke up, and trimmed their lamps.

But now the difference between them becomes obvious.

Verse 8:

Matthew 25:8 NET 2nd ed.

8 The foolish ones said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil, because our lamps are going out.’

The delay revealed what their appearance had concealed.

Up until this moment, you might not have been able to tell the wise from the foolish.

But when the bridegroom arrived, their preparation, or lack of it, became obvious.

And I think there is something important for us here.

There will come a time when being prepared to meet Jesus will be the greatest blessing imaginable.

Right now, living for Jesus can sometimes feel like you're carrying around the extra oil.

Being faithful when other people aren't.

Making decisions based upon God's Word when others don't understand.

Saying no to things other people say yes to.

Serving when it would be easier not to.

Remaining faithful year after year while we continue waiting for Jesus to return.

Sometimes you might wonder:

Does all of this really matter?

At midnight, it mattered.

And there will come a moment when it will matter for us.

Then notice what happens next.

The foolish say: “Give us some of your oil...”

But verse 9 says:

Matthew 25:9 NET 2nd ed.

9 ‘No,’ they replied. ‘There won’t be enough for you and for us. Go instead to those who sell oil and buy some for yourselves.’

We shouldn't read their response as selfishness.

Jesus is making a point through the story: some preparation cannot be borrowed at the last minute.

The foolish women couldn't suddenly acquire from the wise what they had neglected to prepare beforehand.

There are some things nobody else can do for you.

Your spouse, parents, children, or church cannot be ready for Jesus for you.

I can't be ready for you.

Each of us must personally be prepared to meet the Bridegroom.

And that's really the blessing we see in these verses.

When the shout came, the wise didn't have to become ready.

They were ready.

They had used the delay to prepare for the arrival.

And that's what Jesus wants us to do.

We don't know when the midnight cry will come.

We don't know when the waiting will end.

But we can make sure that whenever it happens, we're ready.

Because there will come a moment when being prepared will be an incredible blessing.

• But the five foolish women are about to discover the other side of that truth.

There also comes a moment when failure to prepare can no longer be corrected.

MAIN POINT 3 SLIDE

III. The Finality of Failure

Verse 10 offers up some of the most sobering words of the entire parable.

Matthew 25:10 NET 2nd ed.

10 But while they had gone to buy it, the bridegroom arrived, and those who were ready went inside with him to the wedding banquet. Then the door was shut.

“The door was shut.”

The failure of these five women was not that they didn't know the bridegroom was coming.

They knew.

It wasn't that they weren't invited to participate.

They were.

Their failure was that they did not prepare for his arrival.

When the bridegroom came, there was no coming back from that failure.

Notice that they eventually got the oil.

They eventually returned.

They eventually wanted to enter.

Matthew 25:11 NET 2nd ed.

11 Later, the other virgins came too, saying, ‘Lord, lord! Let us in!’

But later was too late.

They couldn't ask the bridegroom to start the procession over.

They couldn't explain that they just needed a little more time.

They couldn't borrow somebody else's preparation.

The opportunity they had during the delay was gone.

Then we hear the devastating words of verse 12:

Matthew 25:12 NET 2nd ed.

12 But he replied, ‘I tell you the truth, I do not know you!’

That's the finality of failure.

There is a difference between getting ready and getting ready in time.

Right now, we still have time.

If something needs to change, we can change it.

If we need to repent, we can repent.

If we're not ready to meet Jesus, we can get ready.

But Jesus is warning us that the opportunity will not remain forever.

That's why He concludes:

Matthew 25:13 NET 2nd ed.

13 Therefore stay alert because you do not know the day or the hour.

Today, failure to prepare can still be corrected.

When the Bridegroom comes, it cannot.

Ready or not, the Bridegroom is coming.

CLOSING SLIDE

CONCLUSION

Ready or not, the Bridegroom is coming.

The delay is giving us time, but we don't know how much.

The wise used that time to prepare.

The foolish assumed there would be more time.

And when the shout-out came, the difference was already settled.

So don't confuse God's patience with permission to put Him off.

Don't wait for someday to become serious about Jesus.

Don't assume you'll have another opportunity to get ready.

Because there will come a moment when the waiting ends, the Bridegroom arrives, and the door is shut.

Jesus' message is clear:

“Be on the alert then, because you do not know the day nor the hour.”

The time to get ready for Jesus isn't when He comes.

The time to get ready is now.