Are you Ready?

When we look at the passages of this text, Matthew gives us the parable of the ten virgins each of which attended a wedding celebration at night with their lanterns.

In our text, we find ten virgins who was invited to the same feast, 10 being the number of testimony. The bible teaches us that 5 were wise and 5 were foolish. Five is the number of grace. In other words, he gave 10 the opportunity to have the benefit of a great testimony, and only 5 of them took his grace for granted. If we look at verse one all of them have been welcomed or invited if you will.

All ten of these women were welcomed to the marriage feast. They were all issued invitations. They were to be the bridesmaids. Each one was looking forward to the moment to be with the bride groom. The word said the Bridegroom was delay. In the delay something is revealed about the 10. You will fine 5 were ready but five were not! Are you ready?

They were all invited; they had all accepted the invitation. They had sent their RSVP’s in. They wanted to be a part of that number. They were looking for the bridegroom. They wanted to enter into the Kingdom of Heaven.

And can I tell you that all of us here have been invited to join the bridegroom at the Marriage Supper of the Lamb.

Over and over throughout the Scriptures, we read that God is calling out to us to come to Him. We are all invited to enter into His rest, enter into his peace, and to enter into his love. Jesus has called us, in fact, he says “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” Even in his death He died with His arms outstretched in welcome.

Many times, when we are driving our cars, we run our tanks on empty, and we pass up many invitations to stop and fuel up, but we ignored the warning because we wanting a better price, and sometimes the better price is not always the better deal. But this wasn’t the case of these virgins. They had accepted the invitation; they had made themselves ready. They had brought their lamps were looking for the bridegroom. Why would Jesus use this parable to describe the Kingdom of Heaven? Why would he discuss prepareness and liken it to the Kingdom heaven? I believe he knew a generation such as ours would be reading this. We who look ready are actually lacking the tools of readiness!

Are you ready? That is question we need to ask ourselves. Are we spiritually prepared to see the Lord?

While these virgins were alike in that they responded to the call to meet the bridegroom and to go to the bridal feast

Did I say all of were all dressed in the same bridesmaid gowns, they all carried a lamp, and while waiting on the bridegroom, they all fell asleep waiting for the bridegroom.

Yessssss, while they were sync in their response, but they were out of sync in their preparation.

The hymn writer ask a similar question. Have you been to Jesus for the cleansing pow'r? Are you washed in the blood of the Lamb? Are you fully trusting in His grace this hour? Are you washed in the blood of the Lamb?

‎2. Are you walking daily by the Savior's side? Are you washed in the blood of the Lamb? Do you rest each moment in the Crucified? Are washed in the blood of the Lamb? ‎

3. When the Bridegroom cometh with your robes be white, Pure and white in the blood of the Lamb? Will your soul be ready for the mansions bright, And be washed in the blood of the Lamb?

‎4. Lay aside the garments that are stained with sin, And be washed in the blood of the Lamb? There's a fountain flowing for the soul unclean: O be washed in the blood of the Lamb?

‎Chorus. Are you washed in the blood, In the soul cleansing blood of the Lamb? Are your garments spotless? Are they white as snow? Are you washed in the blood of the Lamb?

The Parable of the Ten Virgins speaks of the readiness of the saints.

“Then the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom. 2 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. (Mt 25:1–4).

Are you wise or foolish?

In the Bible, foolishness is most often an ethical concept and goes beyond a lack of native intelligence. Its is often contrasted with the wise (Prov. 1:7)

The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction. (Pr 1:7).

The fool first is a person who acts without counsel and is indiscreet. The fool has been described as hot-tempered, ignorant (Eccl. 2:14), indolent (4:5), and thickheaded (2:12). He is easily led astray (Prov. 1:22), A fool is describe as rehearsing his folly like a dog that returns to its vomit (26:11).

The Bible says this concerning the foolish: Ruin is his end (Prov. 10:8). If he is capable of learning (Prov. 18:2; 23:9), it comes only through brutish discipline. That means a fool needs to bump his head a few times before he learns his lesson! I say all this to say we all know some fools and many of us have been fools at one point in our lives and there are some that are still foolish even after they are saved!

The fool is the deliberate sinner who persists in evil (Eccl. 5:1 [MT 4:17]), lying, slandering, and enjoying mischief like sport (Prov. 10:18, 23). Refusing to obey God (1 Sam. 13:13; cf. MT Deut. 22:21; 2 Sam. 13:11–14 If you heard the preacher at the Revival he mentioned Ammon who raped his sister. If you look at 2 Sam 13 you see he was described as a outrages fool.

The fool thus “practices ungodliness” and does injustice (Isa. 32:6). Such is the example of Nabal, whose name means “fool” (1 Sam. 25:25). Elsewhere, the fool is the atheist, one who openly declares, “There is no God” (Ps 14:1; 53:1 [2]).

In the NT the fool is described as witless (Luke 11:40; 1 Cor. 15:36) and dull (Matt. 23:17), one who opposes truth (2 Tim. 3:8–9) and fails to make adequate provisions.

Jesus contrasts the wise, who obey his teachings, with the fool who refuses to obey. Its liken to (Matt. 7:24–27) when Jesus says: 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.” (Mt 7:24–27).

Wisdom is a capacity of the mind; in the OT it involves both knowledge and the ability to direct the mind toward a full understanding of human life and toward its moral fulfillment. Wisdom is thus a special capacity, necessary for full human living, but one which can be acquired through education and the application of the mind. Wisdom forms a central part of the nature of God.

Are you ready for the DELAY?

5 As the bridegroom was delayed, they all became drowsy and slept. (Mt 25:5). Delay is something we should expect. How we handle delay is critical in our walk. When God does not come when we want him we must continue to trust. Even though all went to sleep Jesus uses this parable to remind us DELAY will happen. 2 Peter 3:4 4 They will say, “Where is the promise of his coming? Peter explains this concept of delay this way: For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all things are continuing as they were from the beginning of creation.” 5 For they deliberately overlook this fact, that the heavens existed long ago, and the earth was formed out of water and through water by the word of God, 6 and that by means of these the world that then existed was deluged with water and perished. 7 But by the same word the heavens and earth that now exist are stored up for fire, being kept until the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly.

8 But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. 9 The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. (2 Pe 3:4–9).

We cant rush God we need to remain ready

Are you Ready with you Oil?

These lamps were simply torches that allow the virgins to see and be seen. Unlike modern lights that we plug into the war to work these lights relied on the oil need as fuel to burn.

We must keep an able supply of oil so our lamps will continue to shine. Luke 12:5 reminds Stay dressed for action! and Keep your lamps burning! Mark 13:35 puts it this way: 35 Therefore stay awake—for you do not know when the master of the house will come, in the evening, or at midnight, or when the rooster crows, or in the morning— 36 lest he come suddenly and find you asleep. 37 And what I say to you I say to all: Stay awake.” (Mk 13:35–37).

And my question is, how could these women be so foolish? Why didn’t they think or prepare to bring some extra oil. They saw that the others had extra oil. Well the bible didn’t tell us why these virgins failed to have enough oil, but the most likely answer is, they didn’t think that it is necessary.

Throughout the Bible, we find that the Holy Spirit is represented by oil. While these virgins were pure and had a measure of oil, they didn’t have enough when the bridegroom tarried.

And that’s the problem with the saints today. There are too many who do not believe that they need to get sanctified and filled with the Holy Spirit in order to make it.

They do not believe they need to be holy. They believe that they are saved and that is good enough, but that isn’t good enough. They need to go on. Because the Hebrew writer wrote, in Hebrews 6:1 let us go on unto perfection. In other words, keep oil in your lamp.

While the foolish virgins were away and the hour was the darkest, the bridegroom came, and the door was shut. Though the foolish virgins came and begged to get in, they were denied. They were left out. They were left out in the dark; they were left out in the cold. There was no hope. It was too late. They could have been ready, but they weren’t because of their own choices.

And this isn’t the first time that people were left standing outside of a shut door begging to get in. Noah had preached faithfully to a wicked and perverse generation. He had warned them of the coming judgment. But they ignored the opportunity, they ignored the warning, and perished outside the door of the ark. Many pastor's and preacher has preached this same message to their congregation and people has turn a def ear.

And my question for us, will we be ready when the bridegroom comes? Do we have enough of God in our services, in our homes, and in our hearts to make it in? The invitation has been sent out, you have already been invited, but are you ready?

Someone may say but pastor I haven’t seen the invitation in my mailbox, but let me remind you of when it came.

Do you remember Rev. 3:20 when he said behold I stand at the door knocking and if any man hear my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and sup with him and him with me. That was an invitation.

Do you remember Matt. 11:28 when he said come to me all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest? That was an invitation.

But don’t stop there go on to verse 29. Verse 29 says Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. That was an invitation.

Please don’t leave verse 30 out which says, For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light. That is an invitation, but my question is are you ready?