So something came to my attention this week. Actually, it came to my attention before, but it came to my attention even more this week, and I thought it was worth discussing as a family. We all know Sarah is pregnant again. So that announcement came, it came in the form of a text, and the text said the Cunninghams want to let the Zudes, the Jacks, and the aunts know that they won the contest. Praise God. And I thought that was a pretty clever way of making that announcement. I still think it's a fairly clever way of making that and letting us know. But I want to make sure of something. I want to make sure that everyone understands there's no contest. But I want you to really listen to me and really understand there is not a contest. To me, it's very obvious there's not a contest, and that's why I thought that was a clever way to make that announcement. Because to me, it's extremely obvious there is no contest. God will decide how many babies everyone in here has. All we are to be is faithful, and as we be faithful, then God will determine exactly how many kids we have and when we have them. If we are faithful, look, I'm just telling us all this because it's become to my attention, we need to discuss this. So some of you are going to say, what is he even talking about? Well, just listen and you'll hear what we're talking about. Men and women, especially those of you who are still in what we would perceive as childbearing age. Check your hearts. Make sure you understand there is no contest. Make sure you understand that God will decide these things. There's nothing you can do to make yourself have more children. There's things you can do to have less children. But you're going to have how many children you have as you are faithful to God's Word. Children are a blessing. The Scriptures would teach us, but there's nothing we can do to have more of them. There's a concern that what I've heard is the culture around here is have as many babies as you can have. That's certainly not what's being taught. What's being taught is to be faithful to God's Word. 1 Corinthians 7. To not withhold from one another, except for a short time by mutual consent. What's being taught is to be one with your spouse. To be intimate. To be physically intimate. That's what's being taught. And then we all, you all, We will have as many babies as God has for us to have. And whether you have two, zero, twenty, that doesn't make you any more holy or any less holy if you have few. There's no contest for holiness here. There's no contest. The race you're going to run is the race of obedience, and the obedience is obedience to the Word of God. So married people will come together Regularly, they will not withhold from one another because their bodies are not theirs. They will be one that that that mystery of Christ in the church, they will be physically one and God will decide. So all of us. If we have been caught up in this contest. There's no contest. Sarah and Corey aren't doing things better because Sarah is now pregnant. Or Greta and Brad aren't doing things worse because Greta's not yet pregnant again. Greta may become pregnant again. She may never become pregnant again. God will decide. Brad and Greta's job is to just do what Scripture's taught them to do. We are not a church that says have as many kids as you can possibly have. Don't walk out there and tell people that because that's just not true. And some of you believe that. We are a church that would teach us, have as many kids as God would have you have, or as few kids as God would have you have. Don't concern yourself with that. Just trust God. No mandate from leadership to have lots of kids. Just like there's no mandate from leadership to wear skirts. Women, you are to be chaste, discreet, and reverent. There's no mandate to home educate. Or we are to teach God's commands diligently to our children. There's no mandate. But there's a culture that we're creating. Glory to God and praise God. And I'm very thankful for that. And I'm thankful for the culture, the culture that's being created that we're having comparably lots of babies to most people I know out there. Praise God, because we are just trusting God. And whether we have lots of the congregation or few, all we are to be is to be to be living out what Scripture says. Be one. Don't withhold. Trust God. Yeah? Okay, great. Let's get into today's Scripture passage now. We're in the Olivet Discourse, called that because on the Mount of Olives, Jesus gave a sermon to the disciples based on a question they asked of what are the signs of Him coming back and when will He come back? So it goes into a very long answer that we're in the middle of. Answering to that. Today is part five for us. And it's titled, The Olivet Discourse, Part Five, Got Oil? Y'all have seen the Got Milk commercials or the Got Milk. The question of this parable is you got oil. So Jesus is going to use another parable here to warn these disciples to be ready. Be ready for his return, because no one knows when it's going to come. So just be ready. He's going to use another parable. to show that. Let's read Matthew 25 verses 1 through 13. Then the kingdom of heaven shall be likened to ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. Five of them were wise and five were foolish. Those who were foolish took their lamps and took no oil with them. But the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps. But while the bridegroom was delayed, they all slumbered and slept. And at midnight, a cry was heard, behold, the bridegroom is coming. Go out to meet him. Then all those virgins arose and trim their lamps. And the foolish said to the wise, give us some of your oil for our lamps are going out. But the wise answer saying, no, unless there should not be enough for us and you, but go rather to those who sell and buy for yourselves. And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came and those who were ready went in with him to the wedding and the door was shut. Afterward, the other virgins came also saying, Lord, Lord, open to us. But he answered and said, Assuredly, I say to you, I do not know you. Watch, therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour in which the Son of Man is coming. Jesus uses the analogy of a wedding here in this parable to make this point. Remember, the wedding was weddings were like the biggest event in Jewish culture. Weddings were big, huge celebrations in Jesus' day. He's going to use this concept of this big, huge celebration in this parable, again, to point out the urgent need to be ready for the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. In this parable, the first thing we see is the wedding is announced. The wedding is announced. So this huge celebration that a wedding was, this week-long festival, just joyous occasion with feasting and dancing and partying all week long. This was this was a big deal, and everybody in this culture understood you want to be invited to the big weddings. You wanted to be invited to these things. This was a big ceremony you wanted to be part of. So Jesus uses this. To show this big deal, this wedding, this time of Jesus' return, this time of the Second Coming. It's the big deal. It's the big wedding. It's the big deal. We've seen this before. Jesus using this wedding. We'll see it a little bit. Using this wedding as a parable or an analogy to show them how big a deal this is. We talked about this a little bit before when we look at weddings, but there's three phases to a Jewish wedding. The first phase was the engagement. So there was an engagement. What happened, the engagement was it was really had nothing to do with the bride and groom to be it was the parents, the fathers, the two fathers would come together and they would decide that their daughter and their son were going to be married. And then those two young adults would be in a engagement period. So they would be engaged based on the dad sitting down and saying, your daughter, my son, we're going to have them be married. They're now engaged. The second phase was the betrothal phase. After some period of engagement, there would be a betrothal phase. What would happen in Jewish weddings is or Jewish marriages is this betrothal is when the groom and the bride would come together. And they would give vows and they would make a covenant. So family and friends would be sitting around watching this betrothal. And this betrothal was now they are legally married. If you would break a betrothal, it would be the same as getting a divorce. So you've had this engagement and then you've had the betrothal period. The betrothal period would last up to a year. And during the betrothal period, what was going on? Now, remember the betrothal, there was a covenant that had been made. It was a binding covenant in Jewish law and Jewish culture. It was a binding covenant that made these two are now married. In this betrothal period, not to be divorced during the betrothal period, the young man who was going to be the new husband would be going out to get a job, save up money, build a house, buy some land, be ready to provide for his new wife. So during this betrothal period, the husband-to-be was out getting everything ready that he could take on a wife. And the father of the bride was, remember, he was saving up all his money so he could throw this big, huge party. So that was the betrothal period. And then the last phase of a Jewish wedding was the actual wedding party, festival. And that's what we're looking at right here. This is when, remember we talked about this before, they're in this patrol period and people had been invited. They knew they were going to get to come and then they would go out and they would announce, hey, the bridegroom's here. It's time for the wedding. So everybody would then go to the wedding, the ceremony, the weeklong festival. So this wedding party would all be ready to come whenever they were called. So in this parable, the calling is happening. Behold, the bride grooms arrived. Get up and go meet him. So the wedding party, including the bridesmaids, would be ready at any time during this patrol period to go to this this big festival, this big party. So in this parable, we're going to see the bridesmaids come prepared or not. The bridesmaids become prepared or not. Let's look at verses one through five again, then the kingdom of heaven. Shall be likened to 10 virgins, now, first of all, virgins were bridesmaids in Jewish weddings, so it's customary to have virgins, so there's no there's no spiritual meaning to this virgins being something about virginity as we would know it and what the what the the ramifications of all that are, is simply bridesmaids. You can simply put the word bridesmaid in there in our culture and understand what's being talked about. Same heaven shall be likened to ten bridesmaids who took their lamps. Now those lamps were actually not lamps. In the lamp that you put on a hill and don't cover it, that's actually a light, a candle. This word is lampas, which actually is a torch. So these lamps are actually torches. big, long wooden poles with tightly wound cloth that they would put oil on to burn, but they had a torch. So these the king of heaven shall be likened to ten bridesmaids who took their torches and went out to meet the bridegroom. Now, five of them were wise and five were foolish. Those who were foolish took their torches and took no oil with them, but the wise took oil in their vessels with their torches. But while the bridegroom was delayed, they all slumbered and slept. So there are these 10 bridesmaids who are all planning on being part of the wedding, all planning on being part of this ceremony, all had their torches. They all had their entry. See, because when they'd have this celebration, the bridesmaids would light up the processional with these big torches so that the light would shine. They put these torches around the party and these lights would burn. So they had these torches and that was kind of their entry point into the wedding party, if you will. Now, there's 10 of them, all with their torches, and they all look kind of the same. To an outsider looking in, you've got these ten virgins, these ten bridesmaids, dressed and ready, and they've got their torches. So they all kind of look the same. But they're not the same. Five are foolish and five are wise. This is the message of this parable. They look the same, but five of them have oil and five of them don't. Five of them are prepared. and five of them aren't prepared. Five were wise and five were morose or morons or foolish. Not outwardly distinguishable. If we were to see these ten bridesmaids hanging out, waiting during this Petrova period, waiting to be called to the party, they'd look the same to us. There's nothing distinguishable about them from looking at them. But the wise carried oil. They were prepared. And the fools weren't. They, just like the wise, had their torches. They looked ready. But they didn't have any oil. The oil in this parable represents true readiness. It represents true saving grace. It represents actually having The things of salvation is what the oil represents. It's kind of like we saw, we looked at the wedding before Matthew 22, 11, remember the guy that came to the wedding, but he didn't have on the white wedding garment. But when the king came in to see the guests, he saw a man there who did not have on a wedding garment and he threw him out because he came to the wedding unprepared. This oil. These torches with oil are kind of like the wedding garment in that parable. Whereas he came without the right garment, he couldn't say he wasn't clothed in the righteousness of Christ. These five foolish bridesmaids were like Paul talks about in Second Timothy, having a form of godliness, but denying its power, they looked Like the other bridesmaids, they looked ready. They had a form of godliness. They had a form of religion. They had a form of coming to this wedding. But they denied his power. They had no oil, which was going to be the power to light their torch. These foolish bridesmaids appeared ready. They seemed intellectually ready. They seemed socially ready. But they had no light in their life. They had no oil. They had no oil that would be lit to burn and give off light. The theme of dead faith, false beliefs, fake religion, fake salvation. It's a theme that Jesus keeps repeating over and over again. Have you noticed? He just keeps repeating this. Matthew 13, 28. He said to them, an enemy has done this. The servant said to him, do you want us to then go and gather them up, them being the wheat and the tares? But he said, no, lest while you gather up the tares, you also uproot the wheat with them. In other words, the wheat and the tares look much alike. You would not know the difference until they bore fruit or didn't bear fruit. So for you to go out there and dig them up, you can't tell the difference. Just like these bridesmaids, the ten of them look the same, you can't tell the difference. Matthew 13, 5 through 6. Some fell on stony places where they did not have much earth, and they immediately sprang up because they had no depth of earth. But when the sun was up, they were scorched, and because they had no root, they withered away. Remember the seed that was spread on that soil, that rocky soil? What happened? Those plants immediately shot up. They looked like every other fruit-bearing plant, but as soon as it got too tough, they withered and died. This theme that Jesus keeps repeating over and over again is a theme that I want us to keep understanding. Jesus wants us to keep hearing it because our churches, institutions called churches, are filled with these kinds of people, are filled with people that look like They're going to bear fruit. They spring up and they're all excited until they wither away. They look just like they sit in the pews and they look just like the believers in there. You can't tell the difference. Stand up here and look out. You can't tell the difference between any of you. You look at these ten bridesmaids, you can't tell the difference, they all look the same. They're all ready. They look ready. They all look ready. No oil. No fruit. No salvation. Half of these bridesmaids, the bridesmaids were a small select group out of all of Jewish culture, half of these bridesmaids, half of these that look like they were ready, half of these these young women had no oil. Lots of people. Sit in churches, they look like they're ready. Verse five. But while the bridegroom was delayed, they all slumbered and slept, so the bridegroom didn't come. So they said, hey, they came because they were ready. The bridegroom's coming any time this wedding is about to happen. And then it didn't happen and it didn't happen and didn't happen. So then all these ten bridesmaids went to sleep. Now, we know that five of them were wise and had oil, so even the wise ones went to sleep. So, look, we're going to continue to do life. We ought to sleep. Sleep's a good idea. We're going to eat. Some of us are going to work. We're going to keep doing life just like these bridesmaids. Nothing wrong with that they slept. Matthew 24, 38, for as in the days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage until the day that Noah entered the ark. Life was going on as normal. The issue was some of these bridesmaids that were sleeping were ready and sleep was fine. Someone weren't ready. And their sleep was. Was unprepared. The question is, are these bridesmaids ready as they sleep? The question is, are they prepared? Or not. The question is, are you prepared or not? Question is, are you sitting here this morning? The question is, are you listening to this CD somewhere? The question is not that the question is, are you ready? Got oil. Because we see in verse six again, like we keep seeing, the bridegroom arrives unexpectedly. The bridegroom arrives unexpectedly. Verse six. And at midnight, a cry was heard. Behold, the bridegroom is coming. Go out to meet him. Midnight seems like a funny time to start a wedding, doesn't it? At midnight. We had one at 930 in the morning and that was strange enough, but midnight. They had it at midnight. But this is how God operates. He brings deliverance and judgment at unexpected times. Exodus 12, 29. And it came to pass at midnight that the Lord struck all the firstborn in the land of Egypt from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sat on his throne to the firstborn of the captain who was in the dungeon and of all the firstborn livestock. The deliverance of Israel and the judgment of Egypt began at midnight. The point is, the bridegroom, Jesus, is going to come very unexpectedly. And he did to these ten. He came while they were sleeping. None of them were going to sleep if they knew Jesus was coming. They'd have been awake and ready, right? None of us know when he's coming, so we actually go to bed at night. The point is that Jesus keeps making over and over again in this Olivet Discourse, he keeps talking about answering the question, when? Don't know when. When you don't expect it, that's when. Matthew 24, 27, for as the lightning comes from the east and flashes to the west, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. Like lightning, it's going to come suddenly. Verse 36, but of that day and hour, no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, but my Father only. No one knows when He'll come. Only God in heaven knows. Verse 44, therefore, you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming in an hour you do not expect. Be ready. Judgment is going to come unexpectedly when you aren't ready. When you aren't expecting, verse 50, the master of that servant will come on a day when he is not looking for him in an hour that he is not aware of. This theme, Jesus keeps trying to get them to understand, keeps trying to get us to understand. We don't know when he's coming. He's going to come like a thief in the night. He's going to come in an hour we don't expect him. In answer to the question, when am I going to die, God? When am I going to meet Jesus? You don't know. I don't know. Only God knows. You're going to expect it. I don't care if you're 95 and you're dying. When you're dying, you don't expect it. At some point, maybe you go into a coma. At some point, you drift. At some point, you don't know when that's coming. Verse 6, And at midnight a cry was heard, Behold, the bridegroom is coming. Go out to meet him. The bridegroom is coming to take his bride and his bridesmaids to this celebration. The second coming. This represents Jesus' return. This represents the time when we will stand before Him. Be ready. He's going to come unexpectedly. You don't know when He's going to come. You don't know when you're going to stand before the Lord and Savior. You don't know when you're going to stand before the righteous judge. Verses 7-9. Something very humbling and very sobering about this section. For me, as I looked at this, the reality is the oil can't be shared. The oil can't be shared. The oil that represents true saving grace is non-transferable. It's non-transferable. Verse 7. Then all those virgins arose and trimmed their lamps. First of all, trimmed. The Greek word made them ready, put them in order. So all the ten virgins got up and tried to make their torches ready. They all lit them, did whatever they did to them, put the oil on them for the five wise ones. So they made them ready. All those virgins arose and made their torches ready. And the foolish said to the wise, give us some of your oil. Fire lamps are going out. But the wise answered saying, no, lest there should not be enough for us and you, but go rather to those who sell and buy for yourselves. So try to visualize this parable that these Jewish people would understand very well. These bridesmaids wake up. They're told the bride group's coming, get up and get ready. So their torches, their entry point into this big party, they all get them and get up and try to get them ready. And the foolish ones get up, try to light them, don't know what happens, maybe they smolder, maybe they burn for a second, then they go out because there's no oil. They weren't prepared. Look, were they ready, were they prepared? No, they looked prepared, didn't they? They weren't. They didn't have oil. They didn't do what Paul commands in 2 Corinthians 13, 5. Everyone listen, everyone sitting in here this morning, 2 Corinthians 13, 5, examine yourselves as to whether you were in the faith. Examine yourself to see if you really have oil. Test yourselves. Do you not know yourselves that Jesus Christ is in you? Unless, indeed, you are disqualified. Had these foolish bridesmaids stopped for 13 seconds and thought, I don't have any oil. Pretty obvious, some of you, if you just stop for 13 seconds, I don't have any true saving grace. Some of you. are very firm when you test yourselves, examine yourselves. These foolish virgins were deceived into thinking they were ready for the wedding because they had their torch and they were on alert, waiting to be called. Verse 9, 8 again, And the foolish said to the wise, Give us some of your oil. For her lamps are going out. I can't get into the party. I can't shine that light that's necessary. You got to give me some of your oil because I won't be able to get in. Our cloth won't stay lit. Chair, give us some. They're desperately begging for some oil. From these brides, these bridesmaids who are wise and were ready. those with true saving grace. And those fools are saying, help! We need help! We're unprepared! Just figure that out! Help! There's nothing the wise can do for them. This verse is not teaching selfishness. The wise are saying, look, I've got enough for me by God's grace. Can't give it to you. It's not transferable. See, without the torch lit, the bridegrooms can't get into the party, to the wedding, to the ceremony. They can't get in. They're locked out. They can't be identified as bridesmaids. Remember, they all look the same. They can't be identified. Wheat and tares. Sheep and goats. They all look the same. Reminds me of Luke 16, 19 through 30. Look at this. There was a certain rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen and fared sumptuously every day. But there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, full of sores, who was laid at his gate, desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man's table. Moreover, the dogs came by and licked his sores. So it was that the beggar died and he was carried by the angels to Abraham's bosom. The beggar went to heaven. The rich man also died and was buried. And being in torments in Hades, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham afar off and Lazarus in his bosom. The rich man's in hell. Then he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me and send Lazarus that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue for I'm tormented in this flame. But Abraham said, son, remember in your lifetime you received good things and likewise Lazarus evil things, but now he is comforted and you are tormented. And besides all this, between us and you, there is a great gulf fixed. No one, so that those who want to pass from here to you cannot, nor can those from there pass to us. In other words, it's too late, dude. You won't even get water on your tongue. There's a great gulf that can't be... Nobody's coming there and nobody's coming this way. We can't come and help you. Lazarus couldn't help you if he wanted to. So then the rich man says this, I beg you, therefore, Father, that you would send him to my father's house, for I have five brothers, that he may testify to them, lest they also come to this place of torment. Abraham said that if they have Moses and the prophets, let them hear them. And he said, no, Father Abraham, but if one goes to them from the dead, they will repent. It's too late. This rich man says, hey, help me out. Can't. Hey, at least go tell some people. Look, there's oil right there for them to buy. Moses is there, the prophets are there. Right now, the apostles are there. Will be shortly. It's all there for them. It's too late for you to do anything about your predicament, rich man in hell. Just like these bridesmaids, when Jesus appears, when the bridegroom comes, it's too late. You either got your oil or you don't. Look, salvation is not transferable. There's nothing the wise can do for the foolish when they're standing before their maker, when the bridegroom comes, when Jesus appears. If people aren't prepared, if people are not prepared, if people do not have true saving grace, there's nothing the wise can do for them. Salvation is not transferable. I can't give you my oil. If I were able to give my oil, To Tanner or to Sarah or to Kathy or to Brett, I give it. I give it now. I can't. Apostle Paul in the book of Romans says this, I tell the truth in Christ, I am not lying. My conscience also bearing me witness in the Holy Spirit that I have great sorrow and continual grief in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were a curse from Christ for my brethren, my countrymen, according to the flesh." Paul says, look, I so desperately want my fellow Israelites, my birth, my nationality, to be right with God that I'll give them my salvation. But he can't. This is so humbling. It's such a humbling, sobering reality. I think about that. And I'm so humbled that I have oil. And I'm so in awe and sobered by the fact that I can't share it. I cannot give my salvation to anyone. Do you know how many many Many, many people we know who look like those five bridesmaids, those fools. They look ready. They're probably sitting in church right now. They're not prepared to see Jesus. And they're about to discover that they aren't ready. Can you imagine the dread? Can you imagine the dread of dying, thinking you were right with God and standing before him and him saying, I don't know you. We know many people in that condition. And while we cannot share our salvation, we can absolutely preach the gospel. You can absolutely call them to repentance. We can hope that God has oil for them. We can't give them our oil. Are you humbled? Beloved, are you humbled by your readiness? Are you humbled by the fact that you are ready, that you do have oil? Are you puffed up by that? It ought to be a... I can't even, you know, it's another one of these times I just, I can hardly stand up considering that. That I'm ready. By God's grace, I'm ready to see Jesus. Luke 6.46, But why do you call me, Lord, Lord, and do not do the things which I say? In Luke's Gospel, he then goes on to compare, Jesus goes on to compare, those that build their house on the foundation of Christ and those that build them on the tapsoil of the earth. The world versus the foundation of Christ. And he goes on to point out those that don't build on the foundation of Christ. He doesn't know them. They look ready. See, those houses look the same, don't they? They look ready for the storm. But one's going to fall and one's going to remain standing. They look the same, but they're very different. These 10 bridesmaids look the same, but they're very different. Everyone sitting in here looks the same, but some of us may be different. We can't give them our oil, it's non-transferable. But we can beg them to consider if they're prepared. See, I get to sit with lots of people who are coming to understanding of they're not right with God. And I'm thankful that they at least know they don't have oil. So maybe by God's grace, they'll humble themselves and get oil. You see, all these bridesmaids look the same. And in this moment, in this moment, they see they're not all the same. Five of them see they're not ready. It's going to become painfully obvious to them in this moment that they aren't ready. And they thought they were ready. Salvation is non-transferable. We can't share oil. The reality seen in the next verses, verses 10 through 12, is this. When the door is shut, it's too late. When the door is shut, it's too late. When Jesus appears to us, it's too late. We either have oil or we don't. Verse 10, And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went with them to the wedding. And the door was shut. The wise bridesmaids went into this joyful celebration. The wise bridesmaids are now in in this marriage. They're part of this marriage. Their torches are burning. Verse 11, afterward, the other virgins, the fools, came also, saying, Lord, Lord, open to us. Look, hey, look, hey, look at us. We're virgins. We're bridesmaids. We got our torches. Let us in. Come on, let us in. We're here now. begging to get in. You see the exclamation point, it goes like this. Afterward, the other versions came out saying, Lord, Lord, open up! Open up! We want to come in! But he answered and said, Assuredly, I say to you, I do not know you. He said, I don't know you. You looked apart. But you have no saving grace. You weren't ready. You had no oil. It's too late. Does it remind you of Matthew 7, 21 through 23? Not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of my Father in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in your name, cast out demons in your name and done many wonders in your name? And then I will declare to them, I never knew you. Depart from me, you who practice lawlessness, you who didn't have oil, you who didn't have truth saving grace. I don't care that you went to church. It's not about looking ready. Listen, it's not about looking ready. It's not about going to church. It's not about reading your Bible. It's not about doing good deeds. It's not about being religious. The question is, do you have the right heart? The question is, do you have a changed heart? The question is, do you have oil? Do you have oil? Do you have true saving grace? Or are you one of the five fools who's just doing all the right things? Do you have oil to light the torch? Or do you go around smoldering all the time? Luke 13, 25-27. You're only going to see 25 up here. When once the master of the house has risen up and shut the door and you begin to stand outside and knock at the door saying, Lord, Lord, open for us and he will answer and say to you, I do not know you, where you are from, then you will begin to say, we ate and drank in your presence and you taught in our streets. Boy, we took communion. We listen to sermons all the time. But he will say to you, I tell you, I don't know you, where you are from. Depart from me, all you workers of iniquity. The question Jesus will ask is not, did you look the part of a Christian? He's not even going to ask, did you read your Bible every day? He's not even going to ask, did you attend church every Sunday? He's going to say, do you have the oil that can burn the light? Do you have a different heart Do you have true saving grace? So the marriage has begun. The foolish bridesmaids want in, but it's too late. There's no second chance. Listen, remember this from this parable, if you remember nothing else, there's no second chance. There's no purgatory. You die, you meet Jesus, you have oil or you don't. You have true saving faith or you don't. Don't be deceived. Don't be like those bridesmaids, those foolish bridesmaids who thought they were ready, but didn't even stop to notice they didn't have oil. Didn't even stop to notice they really didn't have fruits in their life. There's no second chance. Those foolish bridesmaids weren't ready. We are to be ready every day. Verse 13, be ready. Same warning Jesus keeps giving. Be ready. Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour in which the Son of Man is coming. You don't know when your judgment is coming. Be ready. You might get hit by the Wonderbread Shark today. Be ready. This is the fifth time in the Olivet Discourse that he has warned them to be ready. Look, better late than never is not true when it comes to salvation. It's late equals never. If you're late, it's never. It's not better late than never. is if you're late, it's too late. You don't have oil, you don't get another shot. Some of you today need to hear this. You don't get another chance. Repent! Hate your sin like God hates it, and come under the authority of the Holy Scriptures and of God, the Creator of the universe, the righteous Judge. You don't get another chance. Luke 21, 34-36. But take heed to yourselves, lest your hearts be weighed down with carousing drunkenness. Now listen, some of you are going to say, okay, I don't carouse and I'm not drunk. If I even know what carouse meant. However, it says, and cares of this life. So, but take heed to yourselves, lest your hearts be weighed down with the cares of this life. And that day come on you unexpectedly. Take heed that you are not weighed down by the things of this world. We talked about this yesterday in men's Bible study. If you're sad or depressed, what are you focused on? Are you focused on the heavenly call? Are you focused on something temporal? You're focused on something temporal, are you not? By definition, you're weighed down by the things of this world. Take heed. That if you're weighed down by the things of this world, that day is going to come on you unexpectedly. All of a sudden, you're going to be standing facing God, every one of us. And Jesus tells us to take heed, we're not weighed down by the cares of this life. Verse 35, for it will come as a snare on all those who dwell on the face of the whole earth. For all of the citizens of the earth, it's going to be a trap. Guess what? For all the citizens of heaven, which is what we are, beloved, by definition, it's not going to be that way for us. Verse 36, watch therefore and pray always that you may be counted worthy to escape all these things that will come to pass and to stand before the Son of Man. Watch, therefore. Don't be surprised. Don't be caught off guard. Pray always. What does it mean to pray? Oh God, please, please, I hope I'm in. Sure hope I'm in. Sure hope I'm in. No! Pray always. Pray that my heart's lined up with His heart. Pray that my will is surrendered to His will. Pray that Your will is surrendered to His will. That Your heart is lined up with His heart. Always be in that frame of mind. Always be in the frame of mind. Am I thinking like God's thinking? Always be there. Some of you this morning weren't thinking like God, were you? Were you? He says, don't get carried down, weighed down by the cares of this world. You be ready. You be praying. You be thoughtful. You be lining your hearts up with God. Your will up with God's will. So this won't come. Unexpectedly and catch you not ready with no oil. Test yourselves. Examine yourselves. See if you're in the faith. Don't be found unprepared. First Thessalonians 5 to you yourselves know perfectly a day of the Lord, so comes the thief in the night. Second Peter 3 10. But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night. Revelation 3 3. Remember, therefore, how you have received and heard. Remember how you have received and heard what? The truth. Hold fast. And repent. Repent of what? All your sinful ways. All the ways you're not lined up with God. Therefore, if you will not watch, I will come upon you as a thief. And you will not know what hour I come upon you. You might be doing life. You might be sleeping. But when you're sleeping, be ready. Don't go to bed not ready. Look, don't be earthly minded. If you are too earthly minded, if you are earthly minded, you don't have oil. What is it that you're focused on? The Apostle Paul says, the one thing I do, the one thing I do, and by the way, the Apostle Paul says, imitate me as I imitate Christ. So I'm going to tell you, by God's grace, I imitate Paul as he imitates Christ. And this is the one thing I do. I forget what's behind. And I strive towards my heavenward call that God's put on my life in Christ Jesus. Forget what's behind, forget this earthly stuff. Paul says the one thing I do. Is I forget what's behind. And I focus on my heavenward calling in Christ Jesus. The call that God's put on my life in Christ Jesus. That's what I do. Don't be earthly minded. Death and judgment are going to come without a warning. And it's going to come soon. James 4.14. Whereas, do you not know what will happen tomorrow? For what is your life? What is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away. We don't know when we're going to die and face the righteous judge, but it's going to be soon. I don't care if you're Jack's age or Mariah's age or Dick's age. I think Dick's the oldest in the congregation. It's soon. God knows when we will die, we don't know. Psalm 139, 16, your eyes saw my substance yet being unformed in your book, they were all written these days fashion for me when as yet they were none of them. There were none of them. Our days are numbered. Are you ready? You don't know your days. I don't know my days. We don't know we're going to stand before Jesus to be judged. We don't know that. Are you ready? Five times Jesus warned them, you don't know when this is coming. Be ready. It seems like we've been hearing the same message over and over again lately, doesn't it? Just over and over again, we keep hearing the same message. Why, Mike, do you keep preaching the same thing over and over again? Because Jesus does. Because there are some of you here today that need to hear this message. You need to be warned there's going to be judgment. For all of us. And it's going to come where you don't expect it and we need to be ready. Same things over and over again. That's why I love preaching exegetically. I love just going through the Scriptures because we just keep saying what Jesus keeps saying. And apparently, these are His disciples. Five times in this short discourse, He has reminded His disciples that they don't know when He's coming. The answer to their question, I don't know when, you don't know when, be ready. I don't know when, you don't know when, be ready. Test yourselves. Got oil? Matthew 25, 1 through 13. Then the kingdom of heaven shall be likened to ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. Now, five of them were wise and five were foolish. Those who were foolish took their lamps and took no oil with them. But the wise took oil in the vessels with their lamps. But while the bridegroom was delayed, they all slumbered and slept. And at midnight, a cry was heard. Behold, the bridegroom is coming. Go out to meet him. Then all those versions arose and trimmed their lamps. And the foolish said to the wise, Give us some of your oil. Our lamps are going out. But the wise answered saying, No, lest there should not be enough for us and you, but go rather to those who sell and buy for yourselves. And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came and those who were ready went in with him to the wedding and the door was shut. Afterward, the other versions came also saying, Lord, Lord, open to us. But he answered and said, Assuredly, I say to you, And I know you watch, therefore, for, you know, neither the day nor the hour in which the Son of Man is coming. Do you have oil? I know you're sitting in here today. I know you're listening to this message today. Got oil? Who are you really sitting in here today? Closing thought. Salvation is non-transferable. And when it's too late to obtain it, there's nothing that can be done to change your destiny. Have you got the oil of true saving faith? If not, what are you waiting for? If so, praise God that you are ready for the wedding. This message, this parable ought to either drive us to our knees in fear And we ought to be surrendering or we ought to be humbled. We ought to be driven to our knees in thankfulness and humility that we are ready. Are you surrendered to His will? Is your life His life? Really? Everybody sitting in here is going to nod probably. Some of you are honest enough. Blake would shake his head and probably say no. But many of you are sitting in here and you say, yeah, I'm surrendered. His will is my will. You look the part, you're sitting in church, you're nodding your head. Is it true? Because judgment's coming unexpectedly and soon. Are you ready? Am I surrendered? Are you surrendered? Gracious Heavenly Father, You have given us Your Son, You have given us Your Word, You have given us repeated testimony, Father, that it doesn't matter what we look like. It doesn't matter how many times we go to church or read our Bibles. It doesn't matter what good things we do, Father. It only matters If we have the oil that can burn bright your light, if we are completely and totally surrendered to you, Father. Father, I pray right now that you would be revealing to those who are deceived their deception, and you would drive them to their face in brokenness and surrender. Father, and I pray that you would, for those that are affirmed by knowing that we have oil, Father, we would be driven to our knees. in humility and thankfulness and obedience, all for Christ's sake. Amen.