Well, I think we have this week and next week. Is that right? And that'll be the conclusion of the Thursday lunches for this for this term. However, you want to. For the calendar year, the calendar year, well, you have your scripture passage there before you, which is in a larger font than my Bible, so I'm going to read from that. I need to I'm getting to the point where I need a larger font Bible. Well, this is one of the parables that Jesus spoke about the coming of the Son of Man in judgment upon the earth and the end of days here on earth. And so let us read together the word of God. Then the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom. Five of them are foolish and five are wise. But when the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them. But the wise took flasks of oil with their lamps as the bridegroom was delayed. They all became drowsy and slept. But at midnight, there was a cry. Here is the bridegroom. Come out to meet him. Then all those virgins rose and trimmed their lamps. And the foolish said to the wise, give us some of your oil for our lamps are going out. 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. And while they were going to buy, the bridegroom came and those who are ready went in with him to the marriage feast and the door was shut. Afterward, other virgins came also saying, Lord, Lord, open to us. But he answered, Truly, I say to you, I do not know you watch, therefore. For you know neither the day nor the hour. Let us pray. Heavenly Father, we are gathered here today. We desire to hear from your word and we pray that the truth would set us free. And we pray that you would come by your spirit and minister among us and apply the truth of the scriptures to us that we might hear or rightly that which is set before us, the truth that Jesus has proclaimed. and appropriated in our own lives by faith in his gospel. We pray in Christ's name. Amen. Well, I don't know if you receive many wedding invitations, but when you're in college ministry, inevitably you're not only going to be asked as a pastor to perform weddings, but also receive quite a few wedding invitations. They usually go up on our refrigerator and we put them on the calendar. We plan for them. They're out of town events. We plan for our preparations of going out of town and going to the wedding and joining in the celebration there. But imagine receiving a wedding invitation several months off and perhaps it's a wedding that would be out of town for you and you make your preparations and your plans and you go that weekend, you arrive and You check into your hotel room and you enjoy sights in the city, but it's time for the wedding. And so you arrive for the wedding, but you're a few minutes late. And the doors to the church have been closed and someone says, go home, you're not welcome. And more than likely, you would be a little bit more than unhappy. After preparing for that and spending all of the money and effort to get there and then to be told at the door after arriving late that you're not welcome. That seems to be a harsh word, doesn't it? And here in this passage this morning that Jesus presents to us, this parable of these ten virgins. Five of them are said to be basically unprepared. And they are turned away at the door. And much like you and I would be angry, I'm sure they were angry as well, and that's often maybe how we would hear a parable like that, it seems to be almost unfair that that because they didn't have oil for their lamps and they arrived a few minutes late, that they would not be welcome into the wedding party. What's the big deal? Well, a big deal is that they were was not important to them. to actually, truly prepare to meet the bridegroom. It was not important for them to truly prepare to meet the bridegroom. The context of this parable is in the Olivet Discourse, where Jesus begins to speak about the end times, about when the Son of Man will return once again in judgment upon the living and the dead. And in verse 36 of chapter 24, he says this statement that is going to be refrained in the following parables. But concerning that day and hour, that day that Christ will return, no one knows, not even the angels of heaven nor the sun, but the father only. And from there on, he begins to tell several parables that begin to draw out the implications of that statement that begin to reveal the nature of the coming kingdom in the return of the Lord Jesus Christ. And so you have a parable set before us in verse 22 of chapter 24, where he speaks of the kingdom being like a thief in the night. And if the master knew the time, the hour in which the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake and been prepared. Goes on and talks about the faithful and the wise servant who, while the master is away, handles the affairs of the master wisely. But there's the foolish servant who presumes upon the master's good graces and says, I expect that the master will be away for a long time. And so he begins to treat the servants cruelly, beating them and withholding their food. And so Jesus wants to make the point very clear. That faithfulness now is part of the preparation for the judgment to come for the return of Christ and seeing him face to face. And it's all leading up to this final judgment, which we'll speak about in a few minutes and chapter twenty five, verse thirty one to verses forty six, he begins to tell about how the son of man, when he returns, will separate the righteous from the wicked. And he tells us part of the qualifications for that separation. But here in this parable, that's that's set in this context. It's going to communicate to us the sense that all people need to be prepared for the coming of the bridegroom. Now, this parable is a little bit odd for us because of the way in which we perform weddings in our day and age. For what Jesus is playing off of here is their own understanding of of ancient Mideastern weddings and wedding celebrations. in which the bride would often have typically 10 bridesmaids who would take their preparations, particularly here, their their lamps, which would allow them to greet the bridegroom when he comes. And they go to the house of the bride and they primp and they do all the things necessary to make the bride beautiful and ready. Because later on that evening, the bridegroom is going to come to the house of the bride in order to take her to the place of the wedding, which would most likely be his own father's house. And what we see in the parable is that the bridesmaids, these these ten virgins, virgins not speaking of their sexual purity, but rather the fact that they are unmarried, These bridesmaids have come and five of them are considered wise, while five of them are considered foolish because they're unprepared to meet the bridegroom. And so let me draw out a few implications from this. One is that the bridegroom's arrival is promised to be imminent. The bridegroom's arrival is promised. to be imminent. And what I mean by that is that it could come at any time. He could come at any time, this theme that Jesus draws out that no one knows the day or the hour is said over and over in the whole context of this this passage versus chapters 24 and 25. And so no one knows the day or the hour. And yet here in this passage, what we see in verse five is that the bridegroom was delayed. The bridegroom was delayed. Now, what most hearers of Jesus's words originally would have thought was that the bridegroom is delayed because he and his father have gone to meet with the father of the bride to settle the matter of the dowry, to pay the bride price. And oftentimes in that culture, it took quite a bit of haggling to decide on what the bride was worth. And so they might have labored into the to the hours of the night, disagreeing over what the dowry might be until they can all sign on the dotted line. And make an agreement. And only then was the bridegroom released to go get his bride and to bring her to the place of the wedding. And so that from the perspective of the of the bridesmaid, from the perspective of the guests of the wedding, it could be at any time. They might agree very quickly or it may take them hours upon hours, and so the coming of the bridegroom is imminent in the sense that it could come at any point. It's like waiting in the doctor's office. And you go and you sit down and your appointment is for two o'clock and you're there at two o'clock and you're thinking it's two thirty. It might be three, it might be four, but it could come at any time. And from the perspective of the bridesmaids, the coming of the bride could come at any time. And likewise, the Scriptures tell us the same thing about the coming of Christ, that it could come at any time. Paul tells the Thessalonians, 1 Thessalonians chapter 5, he says, you have no need of me to write these things to you again, because you already know that he will come like a thief in the night. You already know that the coming of the Son of Man is imminent and that he will come. And so there's an expectation Really, in all of these parables and all of that, Jesus is saying about the end of the age, there's the expectation that the bridegroom is coming. And whether he comes early or late. Five of the bridesmaids are unprepared, it matters not that they fall asleep, it matters that they have come prepared to meet the bridesgroom. You know, the scriptures speak of the difference between the wise and the foolish, those who are wise in the Lord, because the beginning of wisdom is what? It's the fear of the Lord. Those who begin to see and perceive life from the perspective that God gives in his word. who do not live divorced from the revelation of God, but rather live underneath the revelation of God and therefore submit to it, recognizing that when he says, my son is coming again. That they take him at his word. For they are wise by fearing the Lord, but the fool. The fool is the one who does not submit to the knowledge of the Lord. The fool is the one who is not prepared because he does not see the warning signs. In fact, the Scriptures tell us that he is basically suppress the warning signs. Suppress them as if to say they're not real, they're not true, I will not give in to that claim over my life. And so the fool is the opposite of the blessed man, which we find in The book of Psalms and chapter Psalm number one, where it says that the blessed man is the one who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers. But his delight is in the law of the Lord and on his law, he meditates day and night. But you see, the wise. Are the ones who fear the Lord. And therefore, they do not go down the path that the Lord warns them against, but the foolish are not prepared because they do not take heed to the warning of the Lord. The wicked will not stand in the judgment nor centers in the congregation of the righteous, for the Lord knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish. So there's this contrast between the wise person who takes seriously the warnings given in Scripture and the foolish person who does not see because he is blind and cannot see the folly of his ways that he's not prepared. For the coming of the bridegroom. In some ways, it's it's almost as though you might be nearsighted. Someone was nearsighted. What is it they see? They see the things right there before their eyes. They see the things that are most urgent in life. They see the things that can immediately pay out for them, the things that provide them with a sense of pleasure or joy right now in the here and now. But he's really saying that the wise person is the one who is farsighted. Who begins to look down history and see that one day, someday the sun is going to return. And I will live now to prepare for that day. So the wise person is the one who can see far off. And they hear the warnings that the son of man is coming. And recognize that now is the time. Now is the time to prepare for the bridegroom. Secondly, what we see here is that the foolish person. The foolish person. Is the one who's denied entrance into the wedding banquet, the foolish person is denied entrance into the wedding banquet here in this parable, we see that. As they were going to buy, that is going to buy their oil after the they hear the word that the bridegroom is on his way, and so they hastily begin to make preparations. And so while they're going to buy their oil at the marketplace, the bridegroom came and those who were ready went in with him to the marriage feast and the door was shut. And afterward, the other virgins came also saying, Lord, Lord, open to us. But he said, truly, I say to you, I do not know you. I mentioned before that sometimes we look at that and we say that seems harsh. That they're late. And they're shut out from the wedding banquet, it seems to be too harsh for us, I mean, after all, God is a God of grace, isn't he? He's a God of great compassion and love, isn't he? You see what Jesus is playing on here is the custom of the day and oftentimes, particularly for the for the wealthy. As soon as the wedding party had come into the house, the doors were shut and no one else was allowed in. And that was to sift through those who would be imposters, who truly did not belong at the wedding feast, wedding crashers, we might say. in our own day and age. But what about the fact that they were originally part of the wedding party? Shouldn't they be let in? But what the master says here is truly, I say to you, I do not know you. That is to say, I do not recognize you as being part of the wedding party. Because you did not come with the bridegroom and with all those who belong to him But what about these these five wise virgins who who seem so harsh by not sharing their oil? But you see, when they say we would not have enough, what they mean is we would not have enough to join in the procession and honor the bridegroom. By lighting our torches. In other words, we cannot share our own spirituality with others. We're accountable for our own spiritual condition in life. And what this parable shows is that the true bridesmaid, the true believer is is marked out by a sense of being prepared to honor the bridegroom rather than simply joining in on the feast and and being willing to participate in all the joy and the blessings and the benefits of the great wedding feast. It's first and foremost a person who's willing to honor the bridegroom by coming prepared. You see, they expect to be let in simply because of their status. We're bridesmaids, and so we ought to be let in. I don't know if you've seen the commercial. It's been airing recently. It's some form of credit card commercial. It's a man talking about he and his father traveling to Norway because they found out that they're Norwegian by descent. And they get to Norway and they buy the sweaters and they eat the food and they they're rowing around on the on the boats. And then all of a sudden they go to the to the public attorney's office, you might say, and find the records that show they're not actually Norwegian. They're Swedish. And so they have to buy a ticket in order to fly to Sweden. And what they realize is that they're not who they expected themselves to be. And what the bridesmaids learn, the foolish ones, is they're not who they expected that they were. And there will be many people who at The end of time, when Christ comes again, will realize I'm not who I thought I was. And Christ will make that clear and evident and they will be shut out from the wedding party. So Jesus here is saying that he's going to sift out those who do not truly belong. It's what he says later on this chapter, and when he says that when the son of man comes in his glory and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne and before him will be gathered all the nations. And he will separate people, one from another, as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. Christ will separate those who truly belong to him. From those who do not. And to for those who do not, he will say away from me, for I never knew you. It's the very thing he says in the Sermon on the Mount. When in speaking to those who would say, but we've prophesied in your name, we've healed in your name, we've done great works in your name, but he will say away from me because you don't truly belong to me. You don't truly belong to me. People might say, but I'm spiritual and that in our day and age is a claim that a lot of people make is to be spiritual. That is, I do spiritual things and I have a sense that there's a there's a transcendent God and and maybe I am some sense even worship him and honor him. But the master says, I don't know you. In other words, it's not the true God that you know. Others might say, but I'm a member of the wedding party. In other words, I'm a member of the church. Surely I'll be welcome. What he's saying is not all members of the church are welcome because not all members of the church actually know the Lord. After all, he's speaking to the covenant people of God, isn't he? This warning is not given to the outsiders. It's given to the people of God to take heed. Because the bridegroom is coming and we must be prepared, otherwise we will end up much like Haman. In the book of Esther, where the tables are turned on him, if you remember the story, Haman despises the Jews and Mordecai is a Jew and his daughter Esther is the new queen. And what they find out is that Haman despises the Jews and wants to rid the land of them. And so he builds this great set of gallows in which he can kill the Jews. But in the end, when the king finds out. It's Haman who's killed on his own gallows. And for those who get. To the point where they see the Lord coming in glory and they realize I'm not who I thought I was. Then the very life that they lived will turn on them. And they will realize. that in the end it brings to them destruction and death. And they will not be welcomed in. But the glory really is this, and this is the last point, that the wise person is welcomed into the wedding feast. The wise disciple is welcomed into the wedding feast. And here the wise women fall asleep, and yet they've come prepared to honor the bridegroom They've come prepared and the true disciple is the one who who sees, first of all, his need of the grace of God, that that is the primary way in which we are prepared to meet the bridegroom. That it's not our own works, but it's the fact that in Jesus Christ we are declared righteous and our sins are removed as far as the east is from the west and we receive it by faith. And so the true disciple is wise and hears the word of God and submits to it and says, I cannot be righteous on my own. And if I am to be prepared for the coming of the bridegroom, I must trust by faith that Christ alone can save me. But not only that, but the wise disciple is the one who wants to live a life glorifying the bridegroom. so that when He comes, they join in with the procession and they light their torches and they do their dance in order to honor the bridegroom because He has arrived. And likewise, the wise disciple says, I want the assessment of my life to bring glory and honor to my Savior. I want the way in which I love my family. I want the way in which I perform my job with integrity. I want the way in which I love the unlovely, all to bring pleasure and joy to the bridegroom. So that when Christ comes, we would be able to hear those words, well done, good and faithful servant, because we know that the way we have lived has brought great joy and pleasure to the Lord Jesus Christ. It's much like a like a wife who prepares her home for her husband who has been away on a long trip and he is coming home and she wants nothing better than everything to look beautiful and to smell beautiful and to prepare everything that she has. To honor him. And in much the same way, the wise disciple. Is prepared for the coming of the sun. Because he or she has used their whole life to live for his pleasure and to live for the joy of seeing his face. Book of Revelation ends in chapter or just before the end in chapter 19 of speaking of the wedding feast of the lamb in this parable, and many of Jesus's parables speak of wedding feast point to this final wedding feast of the Lamb, where it says Hallelujah for the Lord our God, the Almighty reigns. Let us rejoice and exult and give him the glory for the marriage of the Lamb has come and his bride has made herself ready. It was granted her to clothe herself with fine linen, pure and bright. For the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the Saints. And so here what we see is that the way that we live our life now begins to prepare us for that day in which we enjoy the wedding feast of the bridegroom. Unless we think that these are good works done in our own power, Paul reminds us that we are God's workmanship created in Christ Jesus for good works that he has prepared in advance for us. See, these righteous deeds that are our garment are none other than the righteousness of Christ that he is working into our very life. As we walk in them by faith in Christ, we're prepared for that day. So that we take heed to Jesus's warning. Watch, therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour. Watch. Be prepared, that is, so that on the day when the Son comes, we will greet Him and be welcomed with great joy and know the pleasure of pleasing our Savior. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, We long to see your son. And we pray that as we trust in Christ and in his gospel, that we would long even more to see his face and to know that. We have pleased him in the way that we have lived. So that we would hear well done, good and faithful servant and know that the one who has loved us so well, the one who has died for us is pleased with his people. For this, we pray for Christ's sake. Amen.