The Bridesmaids - Ready or Not

THE DANGER OF SPIRITUAL PROCRASTINATION

There is a fable which tells of three apprentice devils who were coming to this earth to finish their apprenticeship. They were talking to Satan, the chief of the devils, about their plans to tempt and to ruin men. The first said, "I will tell them that there is no God."

Satan said, "That will not delude many, for they know that there is a God."

The second said, "I will tell men that there is no hell."

Satan answered, "You will deceive no one that way; men know even now that there is a hell for sin."

The third said, "I will tell men that there is no hurry."

"Go," said Satan, "and you will ruin men by the thousands."

The most dangerous of all delusions is that there is plenty of time.

If you could take your copy of God’s word and turn to Matthew 25:1-13.

Let’s walk through this passage together verse by verse.

Matthew 25:1, “Then the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom.”

Matthew 25:1 NKJV

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

Notice three things in this verse that we need to notice.

First, It is about a Kingdom, and about a bridegroom.

Kingdom and a Bridegroom

The bridegroom is betrothed, he has gone on a journey, and he is going to return to be married.

The Parable is about the time between the first and second coming

Second, notice that this is a parable about the time between the first and second coming. We will see that more clearly as we move along through the text.

The Virgins represent the visible church

Third, notice that the virgins represent the visible church, that is, they represent those who profess to be Christians. They are going out to meet the Bridegroom. They are not those people who want nothing to do with the Bridegroom. But whether they represent those who are truly Christian we will see shortly.

(Side Note) Don’t stumble over the fact that in the parable itself these ten are not the bride. The bride makes no appearance. The details of the parable should not be pressed. Look for the larger point. In some texts the church is pictured as the bride. Here the church is pictured as the ones who go to meet the Bridegroom and bring him in. Jesus doesn’t want us to stumble over that difference. The parable is still about how we, the bride of Christ, should prepare to meet him.

Verses 2-4: “Five of them were foolish, and five were wise. 3 For when the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them, 4 but the wise took flasks of oil with their lamps.”

Matthew 25:2–4 NKJV

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.

I don’t think the percentages here are intended to say that 50% of the church is foolish. The numbers ten and five is incidental. What’s crucial is how some were foolish and others were wise.

All ten had a job appointed for them to do. They were to be ready to welcome the Bridegroom with shining lights when he comes. That was their job, their calling—to be ready (v. 10). The means appointed for that calling were oil and lamps. It was their responsibility to use the means that were necessary for the work they had been given to do. They had been appointed to shine when he comes. Give light when he comes.

But five of them did not take seriously their calling to give light, and they neglected the only means by which they could do what they were called to do. They took no oil. They only had lamps.

Their job was to provide light, and they had lamps without oil. Candles without wicks. Torches without fire. Light bulbs without electricity.

Here is the point: The outward form of religion and no internal power. They liked their position, otherwise they would have left. But they did not have a passion to use the necessary means to fulfill their point of their position. Light!

Their foolishness was to think that the mere form of a religious lamp would be sufficient. Or, perhaps, that the power to light a lamp could simply be borrowed at the last minute. In fact, it can’t be borrowed at all.

Verse 5: “As the bridegroom was delayed, they all became drowsy and slept.”

Matthew 25:5 NKJV

5 But while the bridegroom was delayed, they all slumbered and slept.

Notice two things. First,

Jesus warned that his coming would be delayed

Jesus gave us advance warning that his coming would be delayed. This has been a stumbling block for two thousand years. The apostle Peter dealt with it already in his second letter:

2 Peter 3:3–9 NKJV

3 knowing this first: that scoffers will come in the last days, walking according to their own lusts, 4 and saying, “Where is the promise of His coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation.” 5 For this they willfully forget: that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of water and in the water, 6 by which the world that then existed perished, being flooded with water. 7 But the heavens and the earth which are now preserved by the same word, are reserved for fire until the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men. 8 But, beloved, do not forget this one thing, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. 9 The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.

Jesus said in advance here in Matthew 25:5 that he would be “delayed.

Then notice secondly that it is not foolish to sleep.

It is not foolish to sleep

All ten slept, not just the foolish. This is not sleeping on the job of life. Sleeping is part of the job.

What sleeping signifies in this parable is simply the ordinary activities of life. We are not called to go up on a mountain and gaze idly into the sky as we wait for Jesus.

We are called to do our work. Then rest. Then do some more work.

Blessed is the servant whom the master finds doing his work when he comes (Matthew 24:45).

All ten slept because sleep is part of the normal rhythm of life that we should follow as we work and rest and wait for Jesus.

Verse 6: “But at midnight there was a cry, ‘Here is the bridegroom! Come out to meet him.’”

Matthew 25:6 NKJV

6 “And at midnight a cry was heard: ‘Behold, the bridegroom is coming; go out to meet him!’

1 Thessalonians 4:16 says,

1 Thessalonians 4:16 NKJV

16 For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first.

The cry goes out: “He’s here! Go meet him! Let your lamps burn brightly as you go!” This is going to happen some day!

And what we are about to see in the rest of this parable is a very sober warning to be ready.

Verses 7-9 “Then all those virgins rose 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, ‘Since there will not be enough for us and for you, go rather to the dealers and buy for yourselves.’”

Matthew 25:7–9 NKJV

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.’

A life of foolishness deepens foolishness.

When the shout goes out that the bridegroom is here, they trim their empty lamps. Still no oil. Just outward form. They trim their empty lamps when the cry rings out!

This is deep folly.

They have neglected the means appointed for doing their duty, and not even the shout wakens them to their empty lamps—not at first anyway. They trim their empty—their useless—lamps.

And then they ask the impossible. Give us from your oil. The fact that the five wise virgins won’t give them any oil is not meant to teach selfishness.

It’s meant to teach the impossibility of borrowing faith. It’s meant to teach the impossibility of borrowing the power of the Holy Spirit—the impossibility borrowing obedience and faithfulness. It’s too late. That is what we will see.

What the wise virgins mean when they say in verse 9, “There won’t be enough both of us, go buy your own oil,” is this:

We can’t have faith for you and for us. We can’t have inner spiritual life for you and for us. We can’t give you obedience and the faithful use of God-appointed means. If you neglect them, in this life, we can’t create them for you.

Each one bears his own load. So in desperation the foolish virgins, who wasted their lives, ran for the impossible: instant end-time obedience. Instant end-time faith.

Verses 10-12: “And while they were going to buy, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the marriage feast, and the door was shut. 11 Afterward the other virgins came also, saying, ‘Lord, lord, open to us.’ 12 But he answered, ‘Truly, I say to you, I do not know you.’”

Matthew 25:10–12 NKJV

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.’

These are terrifying words at the end of the age when Jesus comes back. “I never knew you.” You were part of the church—one of the ten virgins— You had lamps. You had religion. You had form. But you took no care for what was inside.

You carried the lamp. You kept it shiny. Others looked at you and assumed you had faith and life. And all you had was an empty lamp. And now, you are about to face the one who sees right through your lamp, and says, “Truly, I say to you, I do not know you.”

Matthew 7:21–23 NKJV

21 “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. 22 Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ 23 And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’

You don’t want to hear those words. Many will. But you don’t have to.

Verse 13 says, “Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour.”

Matthew 25:13 NKJV

13 “Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour in which the Son of Man is coming.

“Watch” does not mean look out the window at night. It does not mean go up on a mountain and wait. Even the wise virgins slept when it was time to sleep.

Watch means: Be spiritually awake! Be alive and alert to Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit that he gives now.

Use all the means God has given you to know him and love him and trust him. Be filled with the oil of faith and joy and hope.

Let this thought govern your life: Jesus Christ came to betroth a people to himself at the price of his own blood. If I am a part of that betrothed people by faith in Jesus, he will come to me (and all who believe in him) and say, “Come, O faithful bride, enter into my gardens and into my chambers and learn now for eternity what the dim shadows of earthly pleasures were all about.

Lets Pray...