The Wise and Foolish at the Bridegroom’s Coming (Part Three)
Text: Matthew 25:1-13, 31-46
So we’ve been going through this series for a while now… and we’ve been looking at the wise and foolish virgins from Jesus’ parable found in Matthew 25. We’ve seen how the wise virgins were ready for the Bridegroom’s coming, because they had faith. We know they had faith, because they acted accordingly by having plenty of oil. They had heard that the Groom may come at any time, they believed what they had heard, and they prepared themselves accordingly. Whereas the foolish virgins thought they were going to be accepted to the wedding feast, but they lacked the faith. And that was made evident as well, by their failure to prepare accordingly.
Now if you’ve read your Bible, this actually isn’t a novel concept. Think about it for a second. Bible scholars tell us that 2 million or more Israelites probably came out of Egypt during the Exodus, but how many perished in the wilderness due to unbelief? Some rebelled and followed Korah and were destroyed for their sin and rebellion. Some died in the wilderness, because they lacked the faith to go into the Promised Land. We can also go to the New Testament and look at Judas. Judas had walked with Jesus and even did ministry with Jesus for a little over three years. He had seen Jesus heal the sick, raise the dead, give sight to the blind, miraculously feed thousands, walk on water… and yet, when it came right down to it, Judas was lost. He knew Jesus, but what he believed about Jesus was wrong. Judas believed that Jesus was going to overthrow the Roman rulers in Israel, and set up a physical kingdom. Jesus wasn’t interested in that. He came to seek and save the lost. He came to redeem man from sin and Satan. So Judas is an example of someone saying they believe in Jesus, but they believe the wrong things about Him.
And, that’s what we’re seeing in this parable of the wise and unwise virgins. So let’s go to our text this morning, and read from God’s Word, and we pray that as we do, God will give us eyes to see, ears to hear, and that He will make our hearts fertile ground, so that when the seed of His Word is planted there-in, we will bear much fruit for His glory. (READ Matthew 25:1-3), Now I’m going to drop down a little further in this chapter, and read a bit more, because ultimately this is what the parable is getting at (READ Matthew 25:31-46).
So all ten of these virgins had heard that the Bridegroom was coming. All ten of them had been told this. All ten of them took their lamps, but only five took oil for their lamps. In other words, only those five – who were wise, and had oil for their lamps, were truly prepared to meet the Bridegroom. Why were the five foolish ones unprepared? Because of unbelief. Plain and simple. The wise believed, and they acted on their faith, foolish didn’t believe and failed to act because of it.
Now it’s interesting to me, because in the parable, all ten of the virgins fell asleep. That’s another way of speaking about death. So we could say, without doing any harm to the meaning of the passage, that five of them died in faith, and five of them died in unbelief. And you know what happens to an unbeliever when they die?
They go to hell. And in that instant they’ll know that Jesus was real. They’ll know that He is the Son of God. They’ll know, and there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. The five foolish virgins pleaded with the Bridegroom “Let us in! Let us in!” And they heard the words, “I do not know you.” When you die – it’s too late.
So you have to have faith. Acts 16:31 says – “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved.” But what does it mean to believe? What actually is true, saving faith? Let me summarize it for you in a nut-shell. To believe in Jesus means that you believe that He is God the Son, come in human flesh, born of a virgin. It means that you believe that he lived a sinless life, satisfying the requirements of God for righteousness, and that He died on the cross in order to take the punishment for your sins. While on the cross He endured the wrath of God on your behalf, and died – thus satisfying the requirements of God’s justice against sin. He was buried and rose again 3 days later, showing that He accomplished His mission and that we have now been justified before God – and you believe that He did everything that needed to be done in order to do that – to make us righteous before our holy, heavenly Father. It means that you trust that Jesus paid it all, and did everything required for your salvation. You can’t add to it, you can’t work for it, you can’t earn it, it’s all been taken care of – and you rest in that.
Now how does one come to believe all of that? Romans 10:14-17, “How then will they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in Him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written ‘How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the Good News!’ But they have not all obeyed the Gospel. For Isaiah says, ‘Lord who has believed what he has heard from us?’” (Now catch this last part… verse 17) “So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the Word of Christ.” (Greek: Ara ho pistis ek akoe de ho akoe dia rhema
Christos. – Literally: Faith comes from hearing, and the hearing that produces faith comes from Christ speaking to you. In other words, this is Christ speaking to you, to your heart, through the preaching of His Word, which produces in you – FAITH!).
Faith is not just having knowledge about Jesus. Satan and his demons have knowledge about Jesus. Faith is more than just knowing something… it’s understanding, it’s applying that knowledge as it’s intended to be applied. It’s about having a conviction about what you know. If you go to Hebrews chapter 11… well let’s just turn there.
Hebrews 11:1, “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” So you have complete assurance, trust, conviction in Jesus – in Who He says He is, and what He says He has done. That’s faith. But look at what else faith is… or rather I should say look at what faith does.
Hebrews 11:4, “By faith Abel OFFERED to God a more acceptable sacrifice than Cain.”
Hebrews 11:7, “By faith Noah, being warned by God concerning events as yet unseen, in reverent fear, CONSTRUCTED an ark for the saving of his household.”
Hebrews 11:8, “By faith Abraham OBEYED when he was called to go out to a place that he was to receive as an inheritance.”
Hebrews 11:17, “By faith Abraham, when he was tested, OFFERED UP Isaac…”
And you can read on down through the entire chapter of Hebrews 11… by faith, they did something, by faith they achieved something, by faith they obeyed.
`So we can say this – faith is knowing about Jesus, it’s trusting completely in Jesus, it’s understanding and applying what you know about Jesus, it’s having the conviction that God’s Word is true, and that it will come to pass… and then it’s acting in accordance with all of that. So when the Bridegroom says he’s coming, and you have faith in that word… you show your faith by having oil for your lamp. James says it like this in James 2:20 – “Faith without works is dead!” It’s not real. It’s not true. It’s unable to save. It’s self-deception. That’s not being legalistic… and it’s not works based salvation. That’s not what I’m saying, and that’s not what the Bible teaches. Obedience isn’t what saves you. Obedience is a sign showing you have been saved. It’s a mark of a true Christian. In John 14:15, Jesus makes it incredibly clear, “If you love Me, you will keep my commandments.” We obey BECAUSE we love… and we love Him, because He first loved us. Let me just give you a few of those commands that God gives us in the New Testament – “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength.” “Love your neighbor as yourself.” “Repent from your sin.” “Go into all the world and preach the Gospel, and make disciples.” And “Do not forsake the assembling of yourselves together – especially as you see that Day approaching.” I mean… those are some good ones to start with right there.
Let’s go back to these wise virgins and see how it played out for them. They had been told that the Bridegroom would be coming. They didn’t know when exactly, but they believed, and because they believed, they prepared themselves. And because of that, when He did come, they were taken into His presence, taken to the wedding feast. This is the same picture we get in Revelation 19:9, “… Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb…”
Church; it’s been almost 2000 years since Jesus ascended up into heaven, and since that time – wise Christians have been looking for Him to return. They have believed His promise that He will come again. During the reigns of Nero and Caligula, Christians were persecuted at levels we can’t even imagine. They were burned at the stake, crucified, beheaded, fed to wild animals, imprisoned, beaten, enslaved and tortured beyond belief. In the Dark Ages, again, Christians endured great persecution, tribulation, and suffering… And even today the Center for the Study of Global Christianity says that 900,000 Christians have been martyred in the last 10 years. That’s 90,000 a year.
I recently spoke (by email) with a believer from a country that is predominantly Islamic. I want to read to you what he wrote to me. He said, “Where I live, we were shocked to learn that American churches were so easily closing their doors due to fears of Covid. Here, if we are caught gathering with the believers, we know for a fact we will either be imprisoned or we will die. We will be executed, and yet we must obey the Lord. There in America, so many churches simply complied with the demands of state governors, while facing no real threat other than paying fines or possibly brief imprisonment. How do the churches in America expect to stand when true persecution comes?” Here’s how I replied to him, “It’s the wheat and tares my friend. True Christians will persevere. But the persecutions that come will certainly show us who those true Christians actually are.”
Let me close with the words of our Lord, “When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, then He will sit on His glorious throne. 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. And He will place the sheep on His right, but the goats on the left. Then the King will say to those on His right, ‘Come, you are blessed by My Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.’” “Then He will say to those on His left, ‘Depart from Me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.’”. Where will you be on that day? Which group will you be placed in? The wise or the foolish? The sheep or goats? The believers who enter in to the glorious kingdom, or the unbelievers who go to eternal fire?
CLOSING
