Matthew 25:1-13 – When He Returns – Bible study

Matthew 25:1-13 When He Returns We are reading a parable. A parable is an earthly story with a heavenly meaning. Christ often spoke in parables to separate the sheep from the goats, the saved from the lost, those who study the Scriptures from those who were only curious about the Scriptures. In \#Matt 25:13\, the main point of the parable is given. It deals with the Son of Man (another title for Jesus), coming back to the earth. Interestingly, I do not think this is the next return of Jesus to the earth (rapture), but I believe Jesus is primarily speaking about His last return the earth (advent when Jesus establishes His kingdom). Regardless, in this parable some truths are given which apply to both returns. In order to appreciate the parable, you need to know a bit more about weddings in this day. A formal wedding in antiquity, would consist of three parts. 1. The Promise – Here a couple is selected for marriage, usually by their parents. In some cultures, this could occur at birth. In most, it was later in life. In some cases, the marriage partners had nothing to say about who they married. In some cases, they did. (Ruplesh and Nisha Patel of India were selected for each other by their parents.) 2. The Betrothal – At some point, the couple is brought together and introduced. At this time, some sort of exchanges of made. Abraham sent 10 camels loaded with riches to Rebeccas parents \#Ge 24:10\. The family of the woman often gave a like gift, called a dowry, to the husbands family. This meeting would end with a great celebration. From this time, the couple was legally married but would have no physical relationship. Instead, the wife would begin preparing her wedding garment and the husband would go build their home. 3. The Wedding – At a general time (within a day or so), they would return. Exact times were often impossible in that events could happen which would delay people and communications were not good. At the general time, those guests who were invited would begin to wait for the return of the groom along the road to the brides home. I am certain that different people watched in different ways. Some sent a child down the road who could run tell them. Others, apparently most, just got dressed and waited day and night until the groom came, but there seems to be three conditions that were required of the guests: a. The guests had to be present when the groom arrived. b. The guests had to be dressed in the wedding garments. \#Matt 22:11-14\ c. The guests had to have a lite lamp. In Jesus story, five of the ten maids of honor invited to this wedding were not ready when the groom arrived. They had no oil in their lamps and so had to leave to get some, missing the grooms arrival. Indeed, the groom answered truthfully in \#Matt 25:12\. He did not know these five maids for he likely was not from there. These were his wifes friends but it was a shamefully rude thing not to have been present when the groom arrived and it was not the custom of the time for the women to regulate the door, so they were turned away. This is the earthly story. What heavenly truths can we learn about the coming of the Son of Man? I. When the Son of Man comes, He will find a split group. A. Some will be ready. Some will not. 1. I am not sure if the numbers in this parable are particularly important or not. 2. 10 maids in all, 5 ready, 5 not. 3. That means 1/2 were not ready. 4. Does it mean that possibly 1/2 of those that I am preaching to this morning will not be ready when Jesus comes? B. What do we mean by not ready? 1. Well, everyone seemed to have the externals in order. a. All ten were invited. b. All ten had the knowledge of the grooms coming. c. All ten had a lamp. d. All ten had a garment. 2. But five were missing what goes on the inside! a. If you are not ready on the inside, nothing else matters. (1) Traditionally people would get some things right on the outside (go to church, clean up a little, give a little money) but neglect the inside all together. (2) Now, I am not so sure they getting the inside or the outside ready! b. \#Matt 25:2\ In this parable, our Lord calls these 5 foolish. (1) The most foolish people in the world are not those who never hear of Jesus. (2) The most foolish people in the world are not those who hear but never investigate Jesus. (3) The most foolish people in the world are not those who hear, who investigate, and then reject Jesus. (4) The most foolish people in the world are those who hear, investigate, claim to accept, but but never realize the internal change that Jesus has on His followers! c. You dont have to wait to find out if you have oil! (1) If you cant light your lamp now, dont expect it to burn later. (a) I try to make Bible principals easy to understand. (b) Perhaps the most practical thing I have ever said is, "If your Christianity wont get you to church on Sunday morning, dont expect it to get you to heaven when you die." (c) If you cant shine like Jesus today, you have no oil. (2) But anther thought came to me. (a) If you cant light your lamp now, you can expect to burn later. (b) Im afraid it wont be the kind of burning that you will like. C. Remember 1. Salvation is not an external work but an internal. 2. It is possible that one-half of those sitting in this building today are not ready for Son of Mans return. II. When the Son of Man comes, he finds a surprised five. In fact, they will have several harsh surprises. A. The 5 were surprised that their lamps wouldnt light. 1. We have all been surprised by some things that we did not expect. a. How many of you have ever thought you were ready for something only to realize you forgot the most important element? b. Have you ever gone to a birthday party without the present? c. Have you ever gone to a ballgame and forgot the tickets? d. Have you ever been invited some place and left the directions. (When I worked at Hampton Inn, a man called the front desk about 4 AM and asked, "Can you tell me the name of some churches?" I mentioned a few names of some local Baptist churches. He said, "No, I dont think so. What about some churches with the word saint in it?" I asked, "You mean Catholic churches?" "Yes." I told him the name of the only one I knew but he still wasnt satisfied. He explained. "Im here for a 10 AM wedding but I left the name and address of the church at home. Whats worse is this isnt a local wedding and all the wedding party are staying in different hotels and I cant reach any of them." I didnt ask but I hoped he was the best man. 2. Here, these maidens were standing on the street with a lamp in their hand and did not realize they had no oil until they went to light it. 3. What a surprise to realize at the last possible moment that you arent ready! B. The 5 were surprised that their friends wouldnt lend. 1. The first thought of these 5 foolish maidens, when they realized they had no more oil, was to borrow it from someone else. 2. How surprised they were to learn some things cannot be borrowed! a. In the parable, dont beat up the maids. (1) They are didnt want to run out of oil either! (2) Bottom line – It is not the fault of those who did prepare that you did not. b. In life, something just cant be borrowed. (1) You cannot borrow salvation. (2) Not from your parents, your preacher, your church, your spouse. 3. Some things you just have to have your own. a. Dont expect to borrow someone elses life preserver on a sinking ship. Bring your own. b. Some things just cant be borrowed. C. When they returned, the 5 were surprised that the door was closed. 1. The only things worse that being surprised that you werent prepared is the surprise that it is now too late. 2. The maids run back to town to get ready, only to return and find it is too late. a. April 15 was yesterday. b. You go to work at 3 and find out you were supposed to be at work at 7. c. The concert was last Friday. 3. None of those will compare to finding out that Gods offer of salvation has run out. 4. We are blessed to live in this day of grace. a. In the Old Testament, not everyone had every privilege. (1) Everyone could be forgiven. (2) But only Levites could serve. (3) Only a priest could handle the sacrifices. (4) Only the High Priest could enter the Holy of Holies. b. When Jesus died, all of that was changed. (1) Anyone can be saved. (2) Everyone can find some place to serve. (3) Every believer is their own high priest with equal access to God. c. But these privileges have made us proclaim an easy gospel. (1) Many preach no sacrifice, no repentance, just believe. (2) Salvation is not that cheap. i. God must call. John 6:44 No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day. ii. At that call, you must respond. aa. Faith bb. Repentance cc. These are internal responses. iii. You must respond with the time limits. aa. The arks door was shut by God \#Gen 7:16\. bb. \#Matt 25:10\ The groom shut the door to the maidens. D. When they asked, the 5 were surprised that the Lord wont open. 1. Obviously, they never thought that would happen. 2. Some people live on the 2nd changes of others. 3. Preachers have preached Gods mercy for so long, some will be surprised to find out it will end. 4. But there are deadlines: a. Death b. Rapture c. Jesus Advent d. And then God sometimes just shuts the window. 5. I notice in the parable that the groom is at the door. a. That really wouldnt be the grooms place but the father of the bride. b. However, in this parable, Jesus is the Groom. c. Not only is Jesus the Groom, Jesus is the Keeper of the door of life. No one else will be guarding that door but Jesus! d. In \#12\, Jesus answer that He did not know the 5 unprepared. (1) If you are the unprepared, Jesus does know you; just not in the one way that He must to open that door. (2) He knows you by your sin and by your rejection. He knows you attitudes, your blasphemies, your lies, and your evil, (3) Sadly, the only way that door would open would be if Jesus knew you in the free pardon of sin! (4) But He does not know you in that so He does not know you at all! III. When the Son of Man comes, He finds a secured five. A. \#Matt 25:10\ The door is closed for both the foolish and the wise. B. So far, we have only considered that from the side of the five foolish maidens. C. But what about the five prepared maidens? 1. The same door that keeps the unprepared out keeps the prepared in. 2. For the foolish, it is a curse. For the wise, it is a blessing. a. The shutting door means loss for those on the outside. b. The shutting door means protection and blessing for those inside. 3. Those on the inside are protected. a. Pain, suffering, failure, death, sickness can no longer get in. b. Joy, reward, blessing, fellowship are ours forever. c. When the Son of Man returns, our eternity begins! As nicely as I can say it, let me say, "As much as we want you to be prepared today, you will not be our concern then." Today, we love you. Today, we tell you. Today, we beg you. Today, we weep with you. In that day, we will be with Himon the inside.