Sermon Tone Analysis

Introduction

Today I am going to begin the first of a few messages where the we will take the time to look at Jesus as the teaches one truth through three different parables ....

The teaching concerns the coming of the Lord Jesus, and with it the coming of the Kingdom of God.

The parables themselves remind us to be careful, there is coming a time when the Lord Jesus will return, and with him the end of the age as well.

The kingdom of heaven will be revealed for all those who are His children.

But for those who are not ready, for those who have not followed the instructions of the Master carefully, they will be disappointed and judged.

And what a terrible thing it is to be judged by God....

This morning I want to take some time and look at Matthew chapter 25.

It is here in we find the first of the three parables that Jesus teaches concerning His coming and with Him the kingdom of Heaven.

So take your Bibles and lets look at the first 13 verses of .

Now Jesus is using the imagery of a wedding to drive home the point of the coming of the Kingdom of God .... and with it the coming of the Bridegroom.

Now Jesus is using the imagery of a wedding to drive home the point of the coming of the Kingdom of God ....

Weddings were something that everyone could identify with in that day, it was a major focal point of life and yes, it was a celebration for all in a particular community.

So much so that everyone in a community was invited to attend, to join in the celebration in the joining of two lives together to make a family.

The engagement was a long process, it was something that could have been for them when they were children, or they may have come to this arrangement as young teenagers.

So their was a lot of focus on weddings.

The best part of the engagement we find is when the time of the wedding finally comes....It is joyous time, a time to celebrated.

All things were in place and as they moved closer to the day of the wedding.

We know that the bridegroom with some close friends would leave his home to go to the bride’s home, where there were various ceremonies, followed by a procession through the streets – after nightfall – to his home.

The ten virgins are the bridesmaids who have been assisting the bride; and they expect to meet the groom as he comes from the bride’s house…

Everyone was to have their own lamps or torches, everyone who was asked was expected to be ready… they were told the wedding was coming … they were to be ready for the announcement… soon the bridegroom would be coming for his bride.

Important In the bigger scope of things, Jesus is teaching about his return, and with it the kingdom of God drawing close to people and the call was clear… it could happen at any time, the call was to be ready.

It is still relevant to us, we are called to be ready for the bridegrooms return!

So let me share a few thoughts with you this morning as we get started...

1.

All Wanted to see the Bridge Groom

All Wanted to see the Bridge Groom

If there is a truth we can hold very securely my friends, everyone wanted to see the bride groom when the wedding celebrations were to begin…

Without a doubt they did not want to miss or be excluded from the time of the celebrations.

Verse 1 tells us this truth...

The announcement was made the bridegroom is coming , the wedding is a hand… get ready…

What do we know here?

The bible tells us of two groups of women that will be present… 10 virgins, who are classified as 5 who were wise and 5 who were foolish...

What made the difference?

Why were some considered wise and or foolish?

It was determined by the fact that some had extra oil and some did not.....

So consider this.... some events might take a while to get started or to get underway… as such, you would need extra oil to ensure you had enough to last until the event took place.

Also, some events went on for a long time, the celebration might be extended over a larger amount of time that one would originally think.

No matter the case.... oil was needed to ensure your lamp would be able to produce light for a long time...

Now here is a little extra note to consider, lamps were also a pass into the celebrations, party crasher’s wouldn’t have lamps, they saw the event and would try to get in not knowing how long people had been waiting… so no lamp would give them away.

{ - The kingdom of God only has entry for those who are ready....

{ - In truth the kingdom of heaven would be available to only those who possess the true light of Jesus Christ…

So we know there were 5 wise and 5 foolish virgins, 5 who were prepared and 5 who were not able....

So this leads us naturally to our next thought..

2.

Not All Were Ready

2.

Not All Were Ready

2.

Not All Were Ready

Now we know this to be true, The passage tells us that not all were ready as the events of this passage reveals to us....

Now understand one thing we will see is this truth.

I wasn’t that they didn’t know the events surrounding them…

Oh no.... what is seen is that they knew but choose to do differently...

Now remember a wedding celebration is something that would have been promoted, the father would have invited the community to come and partake in the celebration.

So all would have know of the upcoming event....

People made plans to be ready to attend… and here, we have ten virgins who are supposed to be a part of the wedding party.

But Jesus tells us something particularly eye opening about these 10...

5 were wise… and 5 were foolish.....

Each group took their lamps, but only the wise took oil with them.

They were ready, no matter how late in the night the bride groom came, they would have oil , they would be ready...

So there is a question we must ask at this point....? Does the oil represent anything special?

The answer would have to be, Yes!

Oil must represent the preparation, the gift of grace in the life of the believer.

The wise virgins were the ones who did not waste time, they knew the coming of the Lord (the bride groom) was certain and so they were ready, their hearts were right… They had made their professions of faith.. grace had entered into their hearts.

The foolish are those who heard the message and ignored it… There is plenty of time to get ready.... it will be a while.... is the spirit of their heart.

But the Lord is not delayed for the sake of delay…for the sake of just waiting… the Lord has delayed his coming for the sake of humanity that more might believe in the message the bridegroom is coming.. be ready...

Have you had a change in your heart, is the grace of God indwelling you!

So here is our next thought for today...

3. Bride Groom was Delayed

3. Bride Groom was Delayed

I have always wondered about this phrase in verse 5.. the bridegroom was delayed.

And it begs me to make to ask.. why?

Why is the bridegroom delayed?

Now this is an important question, you see the early church beveled Jesus coming would be fairly quickly, they thought Jesus would return would be in their life time....

Yet if we look at verse 5, we see that is not the case… Jesus said the Bridegroom was delayed.

They were told to be ready, they were told the bridegroom was coming, but the bridegroom was delayed.... ?

Now why was the bridegroom delyed

While the early church felt like the Lord would return quickly, but the Lord Jesus has delayed his coming in accordance with the will of the Father.

Jesus told his disciples that only the Father knew the day and hour of the Son’s return.

,

He will come, return on the right day....

Now what was the effect that this delay help on the 10 virgins...

As the night drew on, we see that the virgins became sleepy, they grew tired and they began to dose off...

Now this word “drowsy” has a two fold meaning tied out to it ....

The first is the natural meaning of the word, it refers to a nodding, sleeping, or becoming sleepy.

The second is a spiritual state of lethargy… or spiritual drowsiness which leads over into spiritual activity.

Now with this being said there is a warning here.

Church we cannot be like the sleepy, drowsy virgins, we cannot be lethargic in our daily walk to the Lord.

Yes our Lord has delayed his coming for good reasons.... but we must be faithful servants using the talents our Lord has entrusted to us...

Be ready, be on the alert, Jesus is coming again.....

You see if anything is certain, we do not know the coming of the Lord, no one knows the day or hour..

Just be ready.........

Now lets move on to my next thought....

.

No One Knows the Day or the Hour

4. No One Knows the Day or the Hour

Now lets move on to my next thought....

4. For Some it was to Late

This my friends is probably the most difficult of the entire passage.

what is it you might ask?

It is the truth that not all were ready when the bridegroom came to get his bride...

{ - Not all will be ready sadly when Jesus (the bridegroom) comes to get his bride, (the church.)

Now lets look at the remainder of the text

Suddenly, the coming of the bridegroom is announced… “Here is the bridegroom!

come out to meet Him”…verse 6