The following sermon was delivered on January 12th, 2025 at Free Grace Baptist Church in Paulsville, Washington. The speaker is Roy Linberry on the parable of the 10 virgins. If you would, to the book of Daniel chapter 7. Daniel chapter 7, I'll be reading verses 13 through 28 this morning. Give you a moment to turn. Daniel chapter 7, beginning in verse 13, let us worship God through the reading of scripture. I kept looking in the night visions, and behold, with the clouds of heaven, one like a Son of Man was coming, and He came up to the Ancient of Days and was presented before Him, and to Him was given dominion, glory, and a kingdom, that all the peoples, nations, and men of every language might serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion, which will not pass away, and His kingdom is one which will not be destroyed. As for me, Daniel, my spirit was distressed within me, and the visions in my mind kept alarming me. I approached one of those who were standing by and began asking him the exact meaning of all this, so he told me and made known to me the interpretation of these things. These great beasts, which are four in number, are four kings who will arise from the earth, But the saints of the highest one will receive the kingdom and possess the kingdom forever, for all ages to come. And then I desire to know the exact meaning of the fourth beast, which was different from all the others, exceedingly dreadful, with its teeth of iron and its claws of bronze, and which devoured, crushed, and trampled down the remainder with its feet, and the meaning of the ten horns that were on its head, and the other horn which came up. and before which three of them fell, namely that horn which had eyes and a mouth uttering great boasts, and which was larger in appearance than its associates. And I kept looking, and that horn was waging war with the saints and overpowering them until the Ancient of Days came and judgment was passed in favor of the saints of the Highest One, and the time arrived when the saints took possession of the kingdom. And thus he said, the fourth beast will be a fourth kingdom on the earth, which will be different from all the other kingdoms and will devour the whole earth and tread it down and crush it. And as for the ten horns out of this kingdom, ten kings will arise and another will arise after them, and he will be different. from the previous ones and will subdue three kings. And he will speak out against the Most High and wear down the saints of the Highest One. And he will intend to make alteration to times and in law, and they will be given into his hand for a time, times and half a time. But the court will sit for judgment, and his dominion will be taken away, annihilated and destroyed forever. And then the sovereignty, the dominion and the greatness of all the kingdoms under the whole heaven will be given to the people of the saints of the highest one. His kingdom will be an everlasting kingdom and the dominions and all the dominions will serve and obey him. And at this point, the revelation ended. As for me, Daniel, my thoughts were greatly alarming me. My face grew pale, but I kept the matter to myself. Amen. I pray the Lord that at His blessing to the reading of His Word, Matthew chapter 25, and I'll be reading verses 1 through 13 this morning and that will take up the remainder of our time. I'll give you a moment to turn. This is a passage commonly known as the Parable of the Ten Virgins or the Parable of the Virgins, a parable that Jesus gives us as part of this Olivet Discourse, this discourse that is being preached upon the Mount of Olives following his exit from Jerusalem after denouncing the Pharisees. But let's read from the book of Matthew beginning in verse 1 of chapter 25. And then the kingdom of heaven will be comparable to ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. Five of them were foolish and five were prudent. For when the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them. But the prudent took oil and flasks along with their lamps. And now while the bridegroom was delaying, they all got drowsy and began to sleep. But at midnight there was a shout, behold the bridegroom, come out to meet him. And then all those virgins rose and trimmed their lamps. The foolish said to the prudent, give us some of your oil for our lamps are going out. But the prudent answered, no, there will not be enough for us and for you too. Go instead to the dealers and buy some for yourselves. And while they were going away to make the purchase, the bridegroom came And those who were ready went in with him to the wedding feast, and the door was shut. And later the other virgins also came, saying, Lord, Lord, open up for us. But he answered, Truly I say to you, I do not know you. Be on the alert then, for you do not know the day or the hour. Amen. I pray that the Lord would add his blessing to the reading of his word and the preaching of it. As I've already mentioned, I believe that this, the beginning here, Matthew chapter 25, begins the turning point or marks the turning point of the Olivet Discourse. Now, I trust that over the past several weeks that we've been together, it's been clearly demonstrated how Matthew 24 is applicable not to the future coming of Christ, but its focus is on the judgment on Jerusalem that came in 70 AD. as Jesus was bringing about in His judgment that which He had told them in chapter 23 would come upon their house, their house being left to them desolate. And now we have this turning point. Now, some people hold that the entire discourse, both chapters 24 and 25, speak of Christ's future and final return. Other people put the transition in chapter 24, verse 36. We spoke about that a little bit last week. But here in the beginning of chapter 25, we see that the language and the focus begins to change. First, I want you to note the change in theme. Chapter 24 had been taken up with terrors and tribulations and cosmic signs. And now the tenor becomes much more gentle and Jesus is speaking in parables with pictures from ordinary life. But there's not just the change in theme or the change in tenor, there's also a temporal change that's happening here. Back in chapter 24, Jesus was speaking of things that would soon come to pass. He made that very, very clear. All the way from 23 when He says, He begins to talk about what that's going to look like in answer to the disciples' questions. And then in verse 34, I believe it is, where he says, truly I say to you, this generation will by no means pass away until all these things have taken place. He's telling them things that that specific generation must be prepared for, looking for, that there are the signs that they're supposed to see so that then they know what to act, or know what to do, how to act, meaning to get out out of the city to get out of Dodge when they see the sign, the abomination of desolation standing in the holy place, Jerusalem surrounded by armies. And then he now, not only is that tenor changing, but the temporal nature of it is changing. He's now giving parables of events that are indicated to not be happening for a long time now. And this is part of why I think there's a lot of confusion over these things as people oftentimes fail to draw a distinction between the two parts of this discourse, those things which were near and those things which were then far off. You'll see right here in our own parable, in verse 25, now while the bridegroom was delaying, they all got drowsy and began to fall asleep, in verse 5. The idea here is that something is taking a long time, longer even than was probably expected by these maidens, by these virgins. But if we were to look in verse 14 and 19 in the next parable, which we'll be looking at together, Lord willing, next week, He also likens it to a man going on a journey who called his own slaves and entrusted his possessions to them. Verse 19 says, now after a long time, the master of those slaves came and settled accounts with them. So do you see how he's gone from talking about, hey, this stuff's about to happen, pay attention to the signs, to now let's talk about some parables of things that are a long way out. things that have some time and length to them for their fulfillment. We just read the parable last week in chapter 24 where the person was condemned Then the person who was condemned was the one who thought the events were going to be far off. That was verse 48 of chapter 24. But here we see it's the people who didn't prepare for a lengthy wait that are in the wrong. So you see the difference and the contrast there. Last week, it was those who thought it was gonna take a long time, who weren't gonna be ready for what was coming. Now Jesus is talking about those who are not looking for being prepared for the long wait and the long time. They're not ready or prepared to play, as it were, the long game. The judgment that we see in chapter 25, if we were to continue reading, we have the parable of the virgins, and then we have the parable of the talents, and then we see the judgment completing out the chapter for us, beginning in verse 31, this picture of Christ and His final judgment separating the sheep from the goats. That is the future and the final judgment. But the events of chapter 24 describe the judgment upon the unfaithful Israel as God was bringing the old covenant economy to a close and then instituting the new covenants. He's speaking of the end of the age, that Jewish age, and that was coming to a close. He was bringing it to a close even as the new covenant era was being ushered in. So we see that temporal change. And in fact, chapter 25, in at least most of the English translations, as well as the Greek, you'll see it begins with this word then. It's the Greek word. which simply means at that time or even from that time. So there's a temporal indicator here. It's like, okay, now we're done with this stuff and now we're moving on, now moving forward. And then at that time or from that time, what it does is it indicates that what Jesus is talking about now begins once the things that he's just described have taken place. So once that's done, we're moving on. Then the kingdom of heaven will be compared to the ten virgins. In other words, once the Judaic system is brought to a final close, then the kingdom is now being brought to the fore. He's now bringing that in the sight of his disciples and describing the kingdom. We have a lot to get to this morning. In fact, we've got a little bit of an excursus to take before we really get into the parable so we can understand properly the context here. I've got to ask the question, well then, what is the kingdom? Jesus is now changing his theme as he's pronounced the judgment upon Israel, his disciples have asked questions about it, he's then given them the answers, and now he says, the kingdom, then the kingdom of heaven will be comparable to 10 virgins who took their lamps. Well, what does he mean when he says the kingdom of heaven? What's he talking about? What do we know about it? Well, let's go through some of those things. One, we know from even our passage in Daniel this morning, we know that it is an everlasting kingdom. That is a kingdom that once it is established will last forever. Daniel chapter 7 verse 27 says, Now if you remember the context of Daniel, he's talking about all these major kingdoms of earth. He's got these four beasts speaking of the four kingdoms and he's talking about how the kingdom of God will then put all of those to an end. The kingdom of God is established and the sovereignty and all dominion is given to Christ and to His saints. The kingdom that is being spoken of in the book of Daniel is one that will follow on the heels of that fourth kingdom. Now, if you're not sure what the fourth kingdom is, there's a lot of research that has been done on that. There's a lot of historical data to point to it, but really, if we pay attention to the book of Daniel, we have this really described for us. It's the kingdom of Rome. It was the Roman Empire, that which was in power in Jesus' day. In fact, the very tool that was used to bring judgment upon Jerusalem and to close out that old covenant era was the armies of Rome. If you remember the general, Titus, who then came and laid siege to the city, and in fact the very abomination of desolation that Jesus is speaking about when we read the parallel passage in Luke, he tells us what that means. When you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then know that her desolation is near. This is the Roman armies and that was the last worldwide kingdom that the Bible has concerned itself with and we find that in the end, it is the kingdom of God that has disestablished that kingdom and has become a kingdom that will be forever, that is everlasting, whose dominion continues forever. The fact this vision of the four beasts is very similar to Daniel's interpretation of Nebuchadnezzar's dream of the statue that was representing the four kingdoms. That's probably a little more well known from the book of Daniel. I think it was in chapter two, if you remember, is the head of gold and the chest of silver and the bronze and then the thighs, the legs of iron and the feet of iron and partly of clay. This represents the four kingdoms, Babylon being the head, the Medes and the Persians being represented by the silver, the Greek Empire being represented by the bronze, and then the Roman Empire represented by the iron. And what happens in the book of Daniel, if you read from chapter 2, verses 35 and 44, we read this. It says, the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver, and the gold were crushed all at the same time and they became like chaff from the summer threshing floors and the wind carried them away so that not a trace of them was to be found. But the stone that struck the statue became a great mountain which filled the whole earth. If you remember the vision, there was a stone that was cut out without hands and it smashed the statue and just obliterated it, blew it to pieces, and then it grew into a mountain that filled the whole earth. Verse 44 says, In the days of those kings, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which will never be destroyed, and that kingdom will not be left for another people. It will crush and put an end to all these kingdoms, but it itself will endure forever. The kingdom of heaven, God tells us here in His Word, will put an end to all other kingdoms and an end to all other dominions, and it will not be left for another people, which means it will never be conquered. The kingdom of God will never be overtaken. It will instead crush and put an end to all these kingdoms and it will endure forever. That's what the scripture tells us about the kingdom of God. It's an everlasting kingdom. What else do we know? We know that it is a present reality, not something future. The kingdom of God is not something simply to which we look forward all of the time, but rather it is a present reality. It's something that Jesus brought. Jesus and John the Baptist both declared that the kingdom was being inaugurated in the coming of Christ. That was, as you've heard me say over and over again, the message that John the Baptist came. It was a message of repentance, yes, but what did he say? Repent, why? For the kingdom of heaven, or the kingdom of God, is at hand. And then Jesus came preaching the same thing, Matthew chapter 4 verse 17. From that time, which by the way is the same word that Matthew 25 starts out with, from that time, Jesus began to preach and say, repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. So Jesus is saying that here is the kingdom. Now if that's not enough, remember that his casting out of demons stood as proof that the very kingdom prophesied in Daniel had arrived. In Matthew chapter 12, verses 27-29, Remember, he was being accused, casting out demons by the power of Satan, by the power of Beelzebul. And he says, if I, by Beelzebul, cast out demons, by whom do your sons cast them out? For this reason, they will be your judges. But if I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you. Or how can anyone enter the strongman's house and carry off his property unless he first binds the strongman and then he will plunder his house? It's interesting, we hear Jesus speaking right here about the arrival of the kingdom of God through the binding of the strongman in order to plunder his house. Does that language remind you of anything else? The binding of the strongman and the kingdom? a kingdom that is spoken of in the book of Revelation, what we refer to as the Millennial Kingdom, where Satan is bound for this thousand years in Christ's rules and reigns. It's not a literal thousand years. It's the period between his first coming and his final coming, but it's a time when Satan has been bound for a very specific purpose, the book of Revelation tells us. He's bound specifically that he might not deceive the nations. Meaning what? Meaning that the kingdom goes forward, that the kingdom can expand. Meaning that the very thing that Daniel talked about, about this kingdom crushing and putting an end to all of the kingdoms of the world, it can happen. We've been given that authority and that power because Satan is no longer being allowed to deceive the nations. So then the gospel can go forward and it can be powerfully pressed into these areas that have historically been in complete darkness. What Jesus was doing, this is what he's saying here in Matthew 12. He's saying, I came so that I might bind the strong man. Now go, he's going to give the great commission, but basically go plunder his stuff. Go take his stuff. Take it back. That's really the Great Commission. I mean, we're going to get there. I'm excited we get to Matthew 28, but we've got a lot of ground to cover before we get there. But Jesus is saying that, saying, I have conquered. I came, I have bound a strong man. How can anyone enter the strong man's house and carry off his property unless he first binds the strong man? In other words, the fact that I'm casting out demons by the Spirit of God shows, it demonstrates that he has been bound. And because of that, he then will give a commission to his disciples to go disciple the nations. Now, what are some other things that Jesus taught about his kingdom? Well, if you remember, Matthew chapter 13 is a chapter that is very well known because it's full of what we call the kingdom parables, and there's a number of them. It's been years probably since we were in Matthew 13, but you remember we walked through those. But some of the things that we learned is that the kingdom has an outward component of those who profess faith, but whose works will eventually betray a false profession. The kingdom has this outward component. We saw the parable of the soils really bring that out. The parable of the soils, there were those who had faith for a time and it was on the rocky soil, the sun comes up and the heat scorches it, withers away. The seed that fell on the thorny ground where the weeds came up and choked it out. We find that there is this outward component. People who are making a profession of faith, but whose works eventually betray that their profession was false. We also see that in the parable of the wheat and the tares. We see these wheat and tares growing up together, and if you remember, recognizing that tares look very much like wheat. It's a plant called bearded darnel. And it looks very much like wheat when it's young. Only when it's fully mature can you see the difference. So we see this idea that the kingdom is made up not only of true believers, not only of those who have made a true, not only profession of faith, but have repented of their sin, have trusted in Christ, that He is their substitute, died for their sin, that He rose again for their justification, but also for those who profess outwardly only, but whose life is not changed. We see also that the kingdom starts very small. But it progresses into something very large, very huge. It continues to grow as a mustard seed. Very famous parable, this small seed that is planted and then grows to become a large tree that even the birds of the air can nest in its branches. Again, that parallels very much what we just read from Daniel. We know that the kingdom started very, very small. You know, some people say, well, just these 11 men, just these disciples. There were others besides the 12 who were following Jesus and who were Christians. But it was a very small contingent at the time of the crucifixion, the resurrection, at the time right before Pentecost. And yet, this small contingent of people have turned the world upside down, have brought Christianity around the globe. God has been at work for 2,000 years in expanding the kingdom and He's not done with it. He's not ready to stop. We also saw in Matthew 13 the parable of the leaven or the yeast. And what did that teach us? It teaches us that the kingdom's progress in the world is slow but sure. just as yeast working its way through a loaf, that it will continue to work through until the whole is leavened. We also learn from Jesus that the kingdom of God is a spiritual kingdom, not a carnal kingdom. And along with that is the fact that we know that Christ Himself is the King of the kingdom of heaven. John chapter 18, verses 36 and 37, Jesus answered. He was being questioned. He says, my kingdom is not of this world. It's not carnal. It's not worldly. If my kingdom were of this world, then my servants would be fighting, so that I would not be handed over to the Jews. But as it is, my kingdom is not of this realm. Therefore Pilate said to him, So you are a king? And Jesus answered, you say correctly that I am a king. For this I have been born. And for this I have come into the world to testify to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears my voice. Jesus told Pilate, I was born so that I would be made a king. And he says, I am a king. The kingdom again is a present reality, but then he says it's not a carnal or worldly kingdom. It's the reason why his kingdom cannot and does not expand at the point of a gun or any kind of force or anything like that. The kingdom of God expands by the people of God faithfully carrying out his mission. It expands by the faithful preaching of the gospel of Christ. It expands by the Holy Spirit working through that and changing the hearts of men so that they come under His Lordship. That's what the kingdom does. It's not of this world, it's not a carnal kingdom. It also means that, because it's not of this realm, that we don't worry about, there is no geographical boundary for the kingdom of God. The kingdom of God is not Europe, it's not America, it's not just a particular continent or anything like that. The kingdom of God is where the people of God are. So that territory of this kingdom is measured by spiritual subjection and obedience to Christ. That's how the territory of the kingdom is measured. And finally, not that there's not a lot more to say, but we still have to get to the parable. Finally, the kingdom will be handed over from the Son to the Father when all enemies have been put under the foot of Christ, including death." That's a famous passage from 1 Corinthians 15. This is verses 22-26 where we read, "...as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive, but each in his own order. Christ the firstfruits, and after that those who are Christ's at His coming And then comes the end, when he hands over the kingdom to the God and Father, when he has abolished all rule and all authority and all power. For he must reign until he's put all his enemies under his feet. And the last enemy that will be abolished is death." Very similar to what we're seeing in Daniel, this idea of the kingdom of Christ expanding, the kingdom of Christ continuing to grow. so that He has put all rule and all authority and all power under His feet. It has all been abolished. And then will come the end. Then He will return. Then will be His final coming. For He must reign until He has put all enemies under His feet. He won't come before that has happened, before all dominion, all rule, all authority and all other powers have been abolished until, as Daniel said, that the kingdom of God has crushed all of those. now. Recognizing that Jesus now has moved his attention from the judgment on the adulterers of the old covenant to a description of the new covenant kingdom, we'll now turn to the parable of the virgins, recognizing what Jesus is saying. From that time, the kingdom of heaven will be comparable too. From that time, the kingdom Now some people make a distinction between the kingdom and the church, and there might be some minor differences and things that you could tease out, but for all intents and purposes, when we speak of the kingdom of heaven, it would be appropriate for us to think of the church. From that time, the kingdom of heaven will be comparable to ten virgins. I'm going to look at this parable, the three headings, The first being the two companies, the second being the midnight call, and the third being the varied consequences. The two companies, the midnight call, and the varied consequences. Now, as with any parable, we need to be very careful that we don't over allegorize it, that we don't try to find every detail. There's applications that we can make, but to sit there and try to assign meaning to every detail that's in the parable, that's not the way parables work. Parables have a singular meaning that we must understand. There's a picture that's being painted. Now, there's a number of details that inform how we are to understand it, but we just need to be careful that we're not trying to completely allegorize every detail and find some very specific parallel, because parables are a picture, and they, parables are a picture, and they break down at, if we press them too far. But we need to make sure that we understand the picture that's being painted here and then make application to our situation. So let's start with the two companies. This comes from verses one through five, the two companies. Then the kingdom of heaven will be comparable to ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. Five of them were foolish and five were prudent. For when the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them, but the prudent took oil and flasks along with their lamps. And now while the bridegroom was delaying, they all got drowsy and began to sleep. So Jesus presents us with a single group composed of these two companies. We have 10 virgins composed of five who are wise or prudence and five who were foolish. Now, on the surface, this picture here, notwithstanding the idea that you got foolish and wise virgins, but the picture of what's happening here is fairly common in first century Palestine. One commentator notes this. Weddings could last all day, and after dancing early in the day, the groom typically left his house with a contingent of friends, walking to the home of the bride. And after ceremonies there, the wedding procession, accompanied by singing and dancing, returned to the groom's home for the wedding proper and the ensuing feast. And this procession and wedding typically occurred at night. So it would begin early on with a lot of festivities, a lot of partying, a lot of dancing. The groom heads to the bride's home, and then there's again more celebration, and then the entire wedding procession proceeds back to the groom's home. That's the picture that we have here with these 10 virgins, is the company at the groom's home awaiting his return. waiting for that procession to come back. They're waiting for the return for the wedding ceremony and the wedding feast. The distinction here in these two companies, as I've already said, is then between the wise and the foolish virgins. And that distinction really is one of preparation. That's the distinction being made, one of preparation. The wise ladies had prepared for a long wait while those who were foolish did not. That's really what it comes down to. However, we're going to back up because the theology behind this is a little more robust. It's not just about time. It's not just about waiting for a long time. The real distinction is between those who were only outwardly part of the church versus those who were in reality part of the church. That's really the distinction and it comes out as we see in the end, right? We see that only one group, one of these companies was brought in to the wedding feast and experienced the wedding feast. The other group was excluded from the wedding feast and they heard the words of the groom that nobody wants to hear, which was what? I never knew you. I don't know you. It's the same distinction that we saw between the wheat and the tares, whereas, again, their appearance when they're young is similar, but in time, their true nature becomes evident. These foolish virgins had this lamp of profession, but what they didn't have is the inward conviction, the inward disposition that would see them through all the trials of the new covenant age. They didn't have, they in fact were not converted. Much like what we already spoke of, the seed that was sown on the rocky soil, when the sun came up, they withered away. In the same way, these virgins were not prepared to wait for the bridegroom's appointed time. They were not prepared for the life that was ahead of them as part of the kingdom of God. In other words, they were not prepared for the duty that was required by their profession. They made a profession of faith, but they were not prepared for the duty that that profession required. Now what's interesting here I think Matthew Henry was the one that really brought this out. It says to note really that all of them had fallen asleep, both the wise and the foolish. Now, that's not really the sin that's in focus in this parable, but there was a really interesting application that he brought out of this, which is this, that it is true that many Christians, even true Christians, grow weary and they grow remiss when it comes to their zeal. They fall away, they lose the passion. They go through periods of apathy and depression many times or all kinds of things that will often sort of cause them to lose focus on that which they're called to be focused on. And in fact, the picture is very telling. If we make application from this, the way Matthew Henry is, the picture's telling because it's sort of a progressive in the way that it works. First, they became drowsy, and then they fell asleep. There is a danger there in flirting, then, with temptation. If you allow yourself to nod, you'll soon find yourself fast asleep. If you allow yourself to nod, you will soon find yourself fast asleep. Matthew Henry also said this, he said, if it was hard for the disciples, speaking of the Garden of Gethsemane, if it was hard for the disciples to watch with Christ for an hour, much more to watch with Him for an age. But it is the duty of Christians to keep watch. that we do not fall into temptation. But we have here the two companies. We have those who were wise and those who were foolish. Those who prepared for what the duty that was required of them and of their profession and those who did not. Then we come to the midnight call. The midnight call. This comes from verses six through nine. But at midnight there was a shout. Behold the bridegroom come out to meet him. And then all those virgins rose and trimmed their lamps. The foolish said to the prudent, give us some of your oil for our lamps are going out. But the prudent answered, no, it will not be enough for us and you too. Go instead to the dealers and buy some for yourselves. So we see that after this lengthy wait, they finally hear the call from afar as the bridegroom is returning to his house. The bridegroom's coming. We've been waiting. We don't know how long it's gonna take. How long is the journey to the bride's house? How long are they there with their celebrations? How long for the wedding procession to come back? They didn't know how long specifically they would be waiting, but it would be a lengthy time. So lengthy anyway that they became drowsy, that they fell asleep, and then they were awakened by this cry. Behold, the bridegroom is coming. Come out to meet him. This is a beautiful picture for us, the final return of Christ. Again, helping us understand that Jesus has now stopped talking about the 70 A.D. first century judgment coming upon Jerusalem, and he's now speaking of not only the kingdom, but the kingdom as it leads all the way up to the final judgment and the final return of Christ. It actually mirrors the picture that Paul paints for us. So, now with the picture of the virgins in your head, hearing the call at midnight, behold the bridegroom come out to meet Him. I'm going to turn your attention to 1 Thessalonians chapter 4. This is verses 16 and 18. For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God. and the dead in Christ will rise first. And those who are alive and remain will be caught up together with Him in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore comfort one another with these words." Jesus is saying the same thing. He's giving the same picture that Paul is giving. The Lord will descend from heaven with a shout. There will be this cry at midnight. Behold, the bridegroom come out to meet him. Now, it's very interesting, and I know I've been kind of, you know, kicking this rock every time I get a chance to as I'm walking by. There's an interesting theology that has developed through the dispensational hermeneutic when it comes to this, and we often have this idea of the secret rapture of people just sort of disappearing and being taken off to heaven and these kinds of things, and often that's grabbed right from this passage in 1 Thessalonians. But the rising to meet the Lord in the air isn't Jesus coming to take us out of the world, but it's us meeting Him and accompanying Him on the remainder of His journey. Again, it's not Him taking us out of the world. Let me just sidebar a little bit and recognize this is one of the reasons why it's so important that we get this stuff right. Because, for instance, If we take Matthew 24 the wrong direction, and we start applying Matthew 24 to the final coming, it leads us to an escapist mentality, an escapist theology, and I hear people saying it all the time when I interact with them. It's like, oh, Lord, come and save your people. Take us out of this terrible place. Take us out of this world. Take us home. But when we understand what God is doing in the kingdom and what He's called the church to do, now we're not tempted with, Lord, take us out of this world, but rather, Lord, send us into the world so that we might win it for you, so that we might do mighty things for the kingdom, so that we might live lives that are commensurate with the profession that we make. Because what you believe What you believe will affect how you act. What you believe will affect what you do. And if we believe that things are getting worse and worse and worse and worse and worse, and Jesus is just around the corner, then that's going to affect how we act. But if we believe that Jesus has said, that stuff is going to happen, and his disciples were aware of it, the Christian church escaped because they fled Jerusalem, and now the kingdom of heaven will be like this long period of time, and through it, the kingdom of God is going to put under foot all dominion, all power, all authority, that it will be victorious, that the kingdom of God will be victorious, that God will accomplish everything that He prophesied through the prophet Isaiah, through the prophet Daniel, throughout the Old Testament, and even into the New Testament. Then He will be faithful to that. That's going to change the way we act. Where was I? The rising to meet the Lord in the air. It's not Jesus coming to take us out of the world, but it is us meeting. It's the Christian church meeting Him and accompanying Him on the remainder of the journey, just as we see with the virgins here. In fact, this is a very common practice for conquering kings and generals who, on their return back to the home city, would be preceded by a herald who would shout, The general's coming. The king's coming. And then the city would really empty and meet the victorious army out and accompany them the rest of the way back into the city in a parade. The same thing is happening here with the wedding feast. And the fact that this is what Paul means when he speaks of rising to meet the Lord in the air is found not only in the parable of the virgins, which draws that out very distinctly, but also in the only other instance of that word being used in the New Testament, which comes from Acts chapter 28. Paul is coming to Rome, verses 14 through 16. He says, there we found some brethren. We were invited to stay with them for seven days, and thus we came to Rome. And the brethren, when they heard about us, came from there as far as the market of Appius and the three inns to meet us. And when Paul saw them, he thanked God and took courage. And when we entered Rome, Paul was allowed to stay by himself. with the soldier who was guarding him. So we see the same idea that they're coming out from the city to meet him and accompany him back into the city. It's the same thing that we see here. The midnight call, behold, the bridegroom, come out and meet him. And when this call came, the distinction between the wise and the foolish virgins became apparent. When the call came, it was no secret who was foolish, who was wise. That distinction becomes more apparent. Those who were not prepared began to beg for supply from the wise virgins." Now, of course, it's not possible for a Christian to impart his own conversion, his inward disposition to another. But I want you to notice the reply. No, there's not enough. There's not enough for us and you. In other words, our oil is for the purpose of meeting the bridegroom. That's what it's there for. Our oil is for the purpose of us meeting the bridegroom. Their conversion affects their salvation alone. The time will come. when the tares will be weighed, they'll be measured, and they will be found wanting. The time will come when the false professors in the church, their works will betray their false profession. May the Lord be gracious and bring them, anybody who is currently professing with a false profession, may He bring them to Himself so that their profession is true, so that they truly repent. of their sins so that they truly have faith in Christ Jesus. So that's the midnight call. Now let's look at the varied consequences, the varied consequences. Verses 10 through 13 of our passage. And while they were going away to make the purchase, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the wedding feast, and the door was shut. Later the other virgins came, saying, Lord, Lord, open up for us. But he answered, Truly I say to you, I do not know you. Be on the alert then, for you do not know the day or the hour." Here's the truth of the gospel. Those who are truly converted will find the blessing of the wedding feast, and those who are only making an outward profession will not. Don't make the mistake of thinking that there will be another chance. Certainly, when the bridegroom returns, when the king returns, when there is that trumpet call, when there's the voice, the shout of the archangel, when the announcement has been made, there is no more opportunity. The door, it says, was shut. They went in and the door was shut so that the other virgins came, knocked on the door. Lord, open up for us. Truly I say to you, I do not know you. The danger of an external only Christianity cannot be overstated. The danger of saying I'm a Christian because I go to church, or saying I'm a Christian because I was raised in a Christian household, or saying I'm a Christian because I live a good life and I pay my taxes, or saying I'm a Christian because I live in a culture where all my friends and everybody around me as a Christian were saying, I'm a Christian because I participate in activities, and I teach Sunday school, or I preach at a church, or I lead people, or I'm part of prayer meetings, or any of those things. If those are the things that we look to, then we're looking in the wrong place in terms of our own security in Christ. All of those things are about behavior. And there is a place for us to look at the fruit of our life, but don't misunderstand this. When Christianity becomes about externals only, when Christianity becomes only about that which you are doing, becomes about your actions, then you've missed the gospel. Because if your actions were good enough, then you don't need Christ. When we focus on behavior modification over true faith and true repentance, we foster that false gospel. It leads people to trust in their own works rather than the work of Christ. And Jesus told us that this is a danger. Matthew chapter 7. Verses 21 through 22, you'll hear some similarity here with our parable. Not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven will enter. Many will say to me on that day, Lord, Lord, did we not prophecy in your name, and in your name cast out many demons, and in your name perform many miracles? And then I will declare to them, I never knew you, depart from me, you workers of lawlessness." Many will say to me on that day, there will be many who have made a profession of faith and who are trusting either in their profession or in their works to save them. Even if they're saying that those works were in the name of Christ, they were not being done because of a true faith in and a love for Christ. We'll see later in this chapter that there's going to be many people at the judgment, that final judgment, who will not realize that if their works were not Christ-centered, truly Christ-centered, then they were meaningless. We'll see that here at the end of chapter 25. Now notice how Jesus wraps this up. This isn't part of the parable proper, but it is the point of the parable. Verse 13, be on the alert then, for you do not know the day or the hour. Now this is a very similar phrase to the one that he used for the judgment on Jerusalem in Matthew 24. Very similar. Just as He wouldn't give a time and a date for the judgment that was coming upon Israel, neither will He give a time of His final coming and judgment. We're not going to know. But, understand that while these words are similar from 24 and 25, they couldn't be further apart in terms of their focus. In the first, Jesus tells them to be ready to recognize the signs of His coming. So He says, I'm not telling you the day and the hour. I'm not giving you the date and time. He says, but I'm telling you everything you need to know. I'm giving you all the signs to look out for. Make sure you're watching for these because that will help you know that the time is near. And as you know that, you will see the sign. And when that happens, you get out of Jerusalem. He's telling them in chapter 24, recognize the signs of His coming in judgment so that they can take the appropriate action and not be caught off guard. Here, it's quite different. He's telling them not to be watchful for His coming. That's not what He's saying. Rather, He's telling them to be watchful of themselves so they will not be excluded from the feasts. quite different. He's not saying you just need to be out there looking around, waiting for the coming, being watchful. He's not giving any signs of any of this. All he's saying is, be like the wise virgin. Be prepared for yourself. It's going to be a long time. Make sure that you are ready when that time actually comes. When he says to be alert then, he's telling them to watch. To watch for themselves. Be watchful of themselves so that they will not be excluded from the feast. That was the warning of the wise and the foolish virgins. In fact, it's the same word that's used in the Garden of Gethsemane where the disciples are told to watch and pray. And Jesus then upbraids them for not being able to keep watch with Him for an hour. See, the parable of the virgins isn't meant, as I said, to have us looking into the distance, keeping careful watch for His coming, but it's rather meant to have us looking inwardly to ensure that we are ready for His coming. that we won't be excluded. It's the very thing that Peter was writing about in 2 Peter chapter 5. Verse 11. Now for this very reason, applying all diligence in your faith, supply moral excellence, and in your moral excellence, knowledge, and in your knowledge, self-control, and in your self-control, perseverance, and in your perseverance, godliness, and in your godliness, brotherly kindness, and in your brotherly kindness, love. For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they render you neither useless nor unfruitful in the true knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. For he who lacks these qualities is blind and short-sighted, having forgotten his purification from his former sins. Therefore, brethren, be all the more diligent to make certain about his calling and choosing you. For as long as you practice these things, you will never stumble. Christ will be abundantly supplied to you. You will never run low on oil. He starts with faith, applying all diligence. In your faith, supply moral excellence. It all begins with faith, a true and abiding faith, the faith that comes from God alone. That's what Jesus is saying. Get ready. For the journey, the kingdom of God will be compared to ten virgins. Again, this isn't about modifying behavior, but it's about cultivating a fruitful life that flows from union with Christ in true faith and repentance. I'm going to leave you with the reading from Hebrews 6, verses 11 through 12. And we desire that each one of you show the same diligence so as to realize the full assurance of hope until the end, so that you will not be sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises. We desire, if I can paraphrase that with our teaching, and we desire that each one of you be like the wise virgins who were prepared, who had that full assurance of hope to the end, and to imitate those who would inherit the promises. It is your duty to ensure that your soul is prepared, for there will not always be time to buy oil. I pray that the Lord would grant us grace to be found in Christ and to be prepared for that final day. Let's have a word of prayer. Our Heavenly Father, we thank you again for this day. We thank you again for the time that we have together, for bringing us together. We thank you for the blessings of the church. I thank you, Lord, for your word. I thank you for the opportunity we have to open it together and even. further in the week to open it again and to discuss these things and to ask questions and I pray that through all of this you would cause us to grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. I do pray that you would that you would give us a confidence and a hope that is found in true faith and true repentance and the work that Christ Jesus did on the cross for our salvation. Father If there be any of us whose profession is false, may we be convicted of that and be brought to faith in Christ. Father, we thank you for the forgiveness of sins that we have in His name and through His blood shed on behalf of His people. We thank you that we, as your people, will not come under judgment because Christ has been judged in our place. Thank you for the glorious gospel of Christ. We thank you for the news, the good news of the kingdom, the gospel of the kingdom. And we ask now that you would strengthen us, that you would encourage us, that you would inspire us to be effective and to be vigilant, to seek to expand your kingdom by our faithful living, by our faithful preaching, by our faithful interactions. with this world day in and day out. Father, we pray that you would exalt your name in our midst and through this church. Amen.