Well, let’s take our Bibles and turn to Matthew 25:1-13, a message I’ve called Ready and Waiting. We’re in a series if you’re joining us for the first time on the parables of Jesus. We’ve called it Famous Short Stories. Now, we’re going to focus today on just being alert and ready and awake to the reality of Jesus’ second coming. When it comes to the second coming of Jesus and the eternal state, I do not want to be known as Philip the Unready. I do not want for that day to overtake me. I don’t want to be found sleeping at the wheel. When Jesus comes, I want to be found alert to the lateness of the hour, alive to the priorities of God’s kingdom, attuned to the prophetic significance of events that are happening around me, aware of my personal accountability to God and afraid of losing my full reward in the life to come because of prayerlessness, carnality, ill-discipline or a failure to take up my cross.
I do not want to be known as Philip the Unready. And I hope that my desire is your desire, that you and I would be found ready and waiting when Jesus comes. In fact, this whole theme is dear to me. I grew up in a Baptist home. I knew the gospel from my earliest days, yet I never came to Christ until laying into my teens. And the verse that the Lord used to awaken me, to shake me to embrace Christ was Matthew 24:44, “Be ready for in such an hour as you think not the son of man comes.” I knew I wasn’t a rebel without a cause. I knew that at some day, I needed to deal with this issue. While I had rejected Christ in the sense of not receiving the gospel, I hadn’t rejected the reality of Christ and the need to deal with him, but I put no urgency on it until a preacher preached that text and I reminded myself that Jesus could choose a moment to return, that would be a moment that I wasn’t ready for.
We need to be ready and waiting. And so given that concern and given that compulsion, let’s turn to Matthew 25, 1 to 13. The parable of the 10 Virgins or the bridesmaids, it’s part of our series on the parables Famous Short Stories. And here’s a short story told by Jesus calculated to promote readiness and the part of those who are alive when he returns to the earth at his second coming in part and glory to establish the millennial kingdom. In fact, you see this in verse 13. The point of the story is simple and clear, “Watch therefore, for neither the day nor the hour in which the son of man is coming,” and these parables are calling us to be awake and alert to the reality of Jesus’ return. To think about that reality and to allow the thought of that to shape your response, the times, the business of every day carries a pressing agenda that causes the thought of Jesus’ second coming in the eternal state to fall under the category of any other business and it shouldn’t.
It should be indeed the primary business of you and me to live a life marked by being ready and waiting for Jesus in return. Now let’s put the text in its context. This is part of what’s known as the Olivet discourse or the mini-apocalypse. This is a text, Matthew 24 and 25. Jesus addressed his disciples to the east of Jerusalem on the Mount of Olives overlooking the city. It’s a book that draws from Zachariah, Daniel and will set us up for the book of Revelation. It outlines the events leading up to Jesus’ second coming, and I would say this, events that are centered on the nation of Israel and the nations, the church is not the focus of the Olivet discourse. I don’t think the church is to be found in the Olivet discourse. Remember what triggered this teaching. Where Jesus said in chapter 23 that the house of Israel or the temple would be left desolate.
And as they’re in and around Jerusalem, he talks about the temple being destroyed. Not one stone being left on top of another, which worried his disciples no end, the temple was the centerpiece of Jewish worship. They also knew from their prophetic Old Testament Scriptures, especially Zachariah 14, that the coming of the Messiah was tied to events surrounding the temple, the city of Jerusalem and the nation. And so when Jesus says that, it triggers a series of questions in their mind. And so when they approach Jesus at the beginning of chapter 24 tells us, they ask him then, “When will these things be and what will be the sign of your coming and the end of the age?” So when’s the temple going to be destroyed? That would be AD70, right? But in their minds, they attach it to prophetic questions as it relates the end of the age.
And so Jesus, in this discourse, is really answering the second question. He’s pivoting off their first question and he’s answering the second question, the signs regarding the end of the age, this is a mini-apocalypse and it’s focused on the nation of Israel, the city of Jerusalem, and then the nations at the end of the age. Bear that in mind, we’ll come back to that. This discourse like the rest of the Bible is not just for information but for transformation. Jesus anticipates in the light of this prophetic discourse, the downward spiral of interest regarding his return as time goes by and his coming is delayed. You pick that theme up in chapter 24:48 in the Parable of the Good Servant and the Wicked Servant. “My master is delaying his coming.” And you get that in our parable of the 10 virgins, 25:5. “But while the bridegroom was delayed, they all slumbered and slept.”
So there’s this theme, and you’ll pick it up again in verse 19 of the Parable of the Talents, “After a long time, the Lord of those servants came and settled the accounts with them.” So these parables of preparation are anticipating the downward spiral of interest as time goes by. That the coming of Jesus will fade from focus and that’s a great danger. And so in these parables, Jesus urges readiness. One writer, Douglas Webster says, “In his sermon on the end of the world, Jesus prepares not only the first disciples but also the last disciples for his coming.” I love this little phrase, “Jesus dampens speculation and ramps up readiness. His sermon calls for commitment, not curiosity, patient endurance, not complacency.” So the intent of this parable along with the parables either side of it is to call us to a state of readiness.
It’s the way a fireman lives. We have several firemen here at Kindred and you and I have known firemen across our lives and they always live in a state of readiness. The firemen that I know have a bag somewhere in the home, in a closet or in the bedroom that they can just grab should they be called in an emergency. They’re always ready to react, to act, and even when they’re in the fire station, they’re always in uniform, so to speak, so that as soon as the bell rings or the horn blows, it’s down the pole or it’s into the fire truck and off they go. That’s the state of being that Jesus wants from you and me. So let’s look at this parable. I’ve got a simple outline. We can almost take this outline and apply it over every parable we’re going to preach. I haven’t done that nor will I, but here’s a good little outline if you’re a preacher, this is what you want to do with the parable.
The parable, the point, the practice. Let’s look at the parable. What’s the point? There’s usually one central theme and thrust, and then what is the application, the practice that comes out of it? Let’s look at the parable. Since the parable is centered upon a Jewish wedding and the role of 10 virgins or bridesmaids or witnesses to the marriage, we need to begin with an understanding of the parts of a Jewish wedding because we read in verse one, “Then the kingdom of God shall be likened to the 10 virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom.” The then is attaching itself to the teaching on Jesus’ return. When we’re at that place, when we’re in those days, when the coming of Jesus is near, the kingdom of God can be likened to 10 virgins taking their lamps and going out to meet the bridegroom.
I’m indebted to my friend, Mark Hitchcock, who in his book Bible Prophecy outlines three to four stages to a Jewish wedding. I’ll just go down it quickly so that it forms the background and we’ll understand this passage a little bit better. Okay? A good preacher always wants to put the text in its context and understand the cultural or historical surroundings of what is going on. Phase one would be the selection of the bride by the father. The first step of any marriage ceremony in the Middle East was the selection of a bride. In ancient Israel, the father of the bridegroom made the official selection with the input and consultation and encouragement, no doubt, from his son or his mother in most cases. Although in some cases the selection of the bride took place very early on when the man was a boy and the woman was a girl.
The second phase is the betrothal of the bride and the groom. When the selection was made, the father of the groom contacted the father of the bride, and if the proposal for marriage was acceptable, the two families entered into a binding contract, a legal document, spelling out the terms of the marriage, the financial arrangements. It’s a bit like our modern engagement period, although much more formal and much more legally binding. And during this period, gifts would be exchanged, the dowry would be exchanged, and the betrothal period would sometimes last for one year in the case of a virgin and one month in the case of widows. The third stage is the marriage of the bride and groom. So you’ve got the selection of the bride by the father, that can take place years before, then you’ve got the betrothal of the bride and the groom, the families agreeing, the contract being signed and the financial arrangements being discussed, the marriage of the bride and groom.
When the betrothal period comes to its appointed end, the couple can then be officially joined as husband and wife in a presentation ceremony. Now, we’re getting into our text. This is triggered when the father says to the son, “Go get your bride.” That’s what we’ve got here, right? It’s midnight, the cry goes out, the bridegroom comes, this is where we’re at. We’re getting in that third stage. And he leaves his father’s house, usually in an evening, in a torch lit procession, and he goes to take the bride, he enters the bride’s home, her father places the bride hand in the groom’s hand, and then they turn to return to the bridegroom’s home. Often, the bride is accompanied by virgins or bridesmaids friends or witnesses to the marriage. And they too join this torch lit procession back to the house where the marriage will be acknowledged publicly and a great festival and party will take place and that can last up to a week.
So where we’re at then in our parable is this third and fourth stage. That’s where Jesus is focused. The challenge is to be ready for the bridegroom’s return. Now, before we go any further, let me remind you that this is a parable, not an allegory because often, commentators and Bible scholars are tempted to look at this story and draw all kinds of significance to the word midnight, which has no prophetic significance. It’s just telling us that the bridegroom is going to arrive at an unusual hour. Who are the virgins, what is the oil? And they get into all this elaborate interpretation, but as I’ve said, this is not an allegory, it’s a parable. And most parables have one central theme on thrust and we get it in verse 13. “Watch therefore for you know not neither the hour or the day in which the Son of Man is coming,” because when the bridegroom comes, some of the virgins are caught unprepared. They don’t have enough oil and that’s the point of the story.
We don’t need some fanciful interpretation. In fact, if you read church history, some have argued the virgins represent the church and the two types of virgins symbolize Gentiles and Jews. The number 10 stands for the completeness of the church and the oil represents the Holy Spirit. That’s imposition, not exposition. In fact, I’d make an argument, this parable has more to do with Israel than the church. So the virgins are not the church. If anything, the virgins are the living Jews within the nation of Israel upon the Son of Man’s return to set up his kingdom. So you get the point, I think I quoted this early on in the series, Gary Inrig, “Although the details may have symbolic significance, more commonly, a parable is intended to teach one main point.” Therefore, we need to seek to grasp the truth firmly and not wander into the lush forest of speculation, trying to assign meaning to secondary details. Don’t do that. It’s a simple story.
Some people were prepared and other people weren’t prepared, and the point is, are you prepared? Simple as that. So when it comes to the parables of Jesus, it’s often a case of wonderful things in the Bible I see most of it put there by you and by me, so be careful. Now, we’re at the parable. Just a few things simply that will get us to the heart of this story. Number one, this is plain and apparent, notice the division, the key to this parable is the contrast drawn. There’s 10 virgins, 10 bridesmaids, 10 witnesses on the bride’s side to the marriage and five of them are foolish and five of them are wise. There’s the interpretive key. There’s a contrast being drawn. One group is being pitched against another group. There’s the smart and there’s the stupid. There’s the wise and there’s the foolish.
And when it comes to Jesus’ return and the establishment of the millennial kingdom, the world will be divided into two groups, the wise and the foolish. The nation of Israel will be divided into two groups, the smart and the stupid. Those who were prepared for Messiah and those who weren’t prepared for Messiah. That’s the clear point being made here. You even get this theme, don’t you? When Jesus returns and you have the judgment of the Gentile nations and they’re going to be divided into what? The sheep and the goats. And so there’s this binary idea going on here. When Jesus returns, what group are you going to be part of? The wise or the foolish? Because there’s going to be no more opportunity after the second coming.
Just as a little aside, Matthew is picking up the language of wisdom literature, right? This is the language of Proverbs and Ecclesiastes and the Song of Solomon and Matthew’s picking that language up. In fact, he picks up Jesus teaching back in the Sermon on the Mount Matthew 7:24-28. There’s the wise man who builds this house on the rock and there’s the foolish man who builds this house on the sand. And if you know anything about building, foundations are everything and Jesus makes an application. Well, the wise build upon the foundation of my teaching and the foolish build their lives on the shifting sands of human opinion. Half of the occurrences of the adjective foolish in the whole of the New Testament are in Matthew’s gospel. And equally, half of the occurrences of the adjective wise are found in Matthew’s gospel. So it’s a big theme, when we get to the end of the age, there’s going to be the wise and the foolish, those who were prepared, those who were ready, those who will be saved, and then those who will be lost.
As the son of Belfast, you know our fascination with the story of the Titanic, which was built in our city and brought great grief to both the city and the country of Northern Ireland. If you read something of the story, there were all kinds of people on the Titanic. There was the rich and the famous, there was the poor, there was first class, there was second class, there was steerage. But when that great vessel went down into the dark waters of the North Atlantic, in the white star office in New York, and in the white star office in Liverpool, there was two columns with names on them, the saved and the lost. Just two columns, not the rich, not the poor, not first class, not second class just saved and lost. And this parable is warning us that when human history hits the iceberg of God’s judgment upon Jesus’ return, it’ll get down to two columns, the saved and the lost. So, which one do you belong to?
That was the thing that woke me up. Be ready for in such an hour as you think not the Son of Man comes. You may not get to choose the moment you trust Jesus because Jesus may choose a moment for coming back that doesn’t allow you a further choice. That’s the division. Secondly, we’ve got the delay. The bridegroom’s delay was not unheard of. We mentioned this, the dowry, the negotiations, the financial arrangements. Sometimes, there were some last minute negotiations that went on and that may well be what’s going on here, but there’s a delay and therefore, there was a challenge and a call to greater vigilance and renewed anticipation on the part of the bridesmaids. They anticipated the bridegroom’s coming and then something put that on pause. Was it a negotiation over the dowry? We don’t know, but the bridegroom was delayed in his coming, verse five.
And so they all slumbered and slept. They all did that. Even the wise, that’s just telling us they were taking a little nap. That’s not really at the heart of the story. The issue is were they going to be ready and alert when the bridegroom did come? I think Jesus is reminding us that should the passage of time go by from the Mount of Olives discourse to the moment he actually returns, will our focus fade or will we keep the thought of his return and the events that surround it and the consequences that follow it? Will we keep that to the front of our mind or will it begin to fade? That’s the danger of the delay. Okay? We all know that temptation, that the longer you have to wait for something and your attention span might shrink and your focus might fade. And that’s what Jesus is warning us about.
Listen to John MacArthur, “The statement that the bridegroom was delaying reinforces Jesus teaching that a second coming to the earth will be unexpected. It will not be delayed from a divine perspective but from a human one.” But the main thrust of the parable, like the main thrust of the entire discourse is directed to the generation who will be living during the latter part of the great tribulation. Even the short period of time that will lapse between the signs of his coming and the actual appearance will cause some to think the Lord is delaying his return. On the church age side of it in terms of secondary application, it’s just a reminder to us to stay awake, we’ll come back to this, to the, any moment return of Jesus.
Robert Murray M’Cheyne, a Presbyterian pastor in Scotland who was an avid pre-millennialist and a lover of the nation of Israel. He was in a minister’s meeting one night and just I think, had sensed in his own day a lack of prophetic interest. And so he asked each of the ministers that night if they thought Jesus could come back that day, that night and some himmed and hawed and some gave a distant stare and some articulated that they didn’t think that and that was the basic feel of the room. No, it’s unlikely that Jesus would come back today. And Robert Murray M’Cheyne quoted Matthew 24:44, the text the Lord used to bring me to Christ, the text that preempts this parable on the 10 virgins. And he said, “Such an hour as you think not, gentlemen, the son of man comes,” and it’s keeping that perspective alive that this parable is promoting.
Thirdly, the dereliction, we’re under the parable. We’ve got the distinction or the division, we’ve got the delay, we’ve got the dereliction. This is verses 6-12. The bridegroom comes and the bridesmaids rise to meet him. But with the passage of time, the lamps of the foolish were going out. Look at verse three. Those who were foolish took their lamps and took no oil with them. So they made no preparation for the delay. They didn’t anticipate the delay. Verse eight, “And the foolish said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil for our lamps are going out.'” That’s in the present tense in the Greek. Their lamps would soon be out of oil. That was not where you want to be when the procession back to the bridegroom’s house is about to take place. So they were to trim their lamps upon hearing that the bridegroom’s coming and they were to go out to meet them. So verse seven, the virgins arise to trim their lamps and some were able to do it and some weren’t able to do it.
We talk about trimming the lamps here. It might’ve been a small lamp with a wick on it that would be cut and then extra oil would refill the base, but more than likely, these are more torches than lamps. The Greek seems to indicate there’re more torches, a long stick with some rags or clothing or material on the end of it. And as that started to go out, you would just add more oil to that and keep it burning. And that seems to be the picture we have here. And sadly, half the group were out of oil and had to go and buy some and they lost their spot. They lost their opportunity to be part of the procession and the feast. In contrast, the wise, verse four, had taken extra oil and had anticipated a delay and they were ready and waiting for the bridegroom and the call to go out to meet him.
And that’s the point of the parable, right? It’s picking up on Matthew 24:44, “Therefore also be ready for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you don’t expect.” It’s midnight, the bridegroom’s coming unexpected. In fact, they were sleeping, but at least those wise bridesmaids virgins were ready and they had oil enough and they weren’t shut out of the kingdom, which is the implication of this story. For those who weren’t ready to go and get the oil, they buy it. But at this stage, the procession has come and gone. They’re in the house, the door has been shut and they’re locked out of the kingdom. Lost, with no opportunity to fix that.
Now, little sidebar, because I think there’s an interesting aspect to this story and that is the unwillingness of the five wise virgins to share their oil with the five foolish virgins. And that maybe our instinct is to, that’s really unkind, that’s unloving. Why didn’t they share their oil with those who had run out of oil so that they might join the procession? And initially, there was no panic on the part of the five foolish virgins because others had oil and maybe they had this idea that indeed, they could borrow it. But when you get to verse nine, the wise answered and said, “No, lest there should be not enough for us and you, go rather to those who sell and buy for yourselves.”
Basically the wise saying this, “Look, we have extra but we need the extra. And if we share it with you, the chances are none of us will get to the feast without the lamps going out. So why should we all get shut out? Why should we pay for your mistake?” And the point of the parable, I think in that little interesting part of the story is that this is a parable of preparedness and this is a parable of personal preparedness.
Leon Morris in his commentary in Matthew says, “Being ready for the second coming of Christ is not something that can be shared or passed on. It’s an individual matter.” David Garland in his commentary in Matthew said this, “One might think that the wise maidens should have shared their supply of oil with those who were ill-provided so that all might enter together into the feast. But the parable is an allegory about spiritual preparedness, not a lesson on the golden rule. Spiritual readiness is not something that can be transferred from one to another. The point is that one must take steps to furnish oneself with oil before going to sleep while one has the chance.” I love that. That’s the challenge, isn’t it? We must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ to each give an account for the things done in the body. Philippians 2:12-13 “Work out your own salvation with fear and with trembling.”
I like what old Bishop Lightfoot says, “There are some things that must be bought, they cannot be borrowed. Character is like that. It cannot be loaned from person to person. Character is something that must be developed individually, forged by one’s own meditations and by one’s own decisions.” A great man died the other day. He lived long and well through the years, he had planted his roots deep in the soil of proper conduct. He had become a veritable moral force for right. What a pity that his strength of will and his love of goodness could not be transferred to those who were at his bedside. But character cannot be bequeathed.
Lightfoot goes on, “Obedience to God is another thing that cannot be borrowed. Here, each one is accountable. Individually, the husband cannot stand for the wife nor the wife for the husband. All the faith and dedication in the world of parents is not enough for the children and all the hope and enthusiasm of a boy or a girl cannot suffice for an indifferent father or mother. The plain truth is that God expects personal obedience of his commands because he holds every man personally accountable and responsible for what he does.”
Love that godliness can’t be borrowed, it’s yours to pursue. To be born in a Christian home doesn’t make you a Christian. You must decide for Christ. Get the point? Daniel Webster, the great American statesman, was once asked what was the greatest thought that ever had entered his mind? To which he replied, “My personal accountability to God.” Is it not the primary thought? Is that not the thought that should shape us in the daylight and keep us awake in the night hours? Someday I will stand face to face with the Lord God Almighty and give an account for every moment, every hour, every day, every action, every thought. And then the basis of that, my eternal reward will be decided, not my salvation because that’s a gift.
Righteousness is imputed by faith alone, but what we do in the body has eternal significance. So you and I need to be awake and alert to that. Christianity is not a private thing, it is a personal thing, but it is something you must own. I hope your Christianity isn’t a religious hand me down from your father’s or your culture or your upbringing. I hope it’s yours by choice, by conviction, by conduct. I remember a pastor friend of mine shared with myself and the staff of his son, that he’d got a call from his son who was nowhere with the Lord and a burden to the family and the father called him, he was away at a school. And here’s what he said, “Dad, I’ve been living off everyone else’s Wi-Fi, but now I have got my own password and I’m living five bars.”
What he meant, he’s talking about faith there, spirituality. I’ve been living off you and mom and everybody else, but it was never mine and I’ve stopped living off everyone else’s Wi-Fi. I got my own password and I’m living five bars. I hope that’s true of you. This parable will challenge you to that end, let’s move on and we’ll get quick here. The parable, the point, the point’s simple, I’ve already said that, self-explanatory. Verse 13, “Watch for you don’t know when Jesus is coming.” Watch for you don’t know when Jesus is coming. That’s a thread that has been sewn into the fabric of this text. In the parable of the fig tree, when its branches already become tender and put forth leaves, you know that the summer is near. So you also, when you see all these things, know that it is near at the door.
This generation will not pass away till all these things have taken place. There’s going to be a generation alive in the time of the rapture, the tribulation and the second coming of Jesus and the establishment of the millennial kingdom and they’re going to see it all happen and they need to be awake to that and alive to that. And then we’ve got this in verse 13, “Watch therefore for you know neither they hour nor the day.” Don’t be distracted by the things of the world, don’t be dead to the priorities of the kingdom. The call of Jesus to his audience was to be alert, alive and awake toward God during the interval between Jesus’ first coming and second coming. And here’s the point. This is a lifestyle and this is a mindset that cannot be achieved by last-minute adjustments. It demands a constant practice and a long-term provision like the five virgins.
They played the long game, they had enough oil, they could sleep because they were tired, but when the bridegroom came, they could awaken. They had oil. They were ready, their life was in order. They didn’t have to make any last-minute adjustments. They’d been anticipating this, they’d been living for this and they were ready for it when it came. And my friend, so should you and I, and I’m going to get to that in the practice. So before I leave this thought of the point, remember, contextually and prophetically, we’re dealing with the generation of Jews that will be alive at Jesus coming and I think the intent of this parable is that there’s an invitation to join Christ and his bride, the church, during the festivities of the millennial kingdom. See, Jesus will return with the church at the second coming, Revelation 19, “To set up his kingdom.”
There’ll be the judgment of the Gentile nations separating the sheep from the goat, Matthew 25. And then those who are wise within the nation of Israel will enter the kingdom. Those who are foolish will miss it. That’s where we’re at. So that’s the parable. That’s the point. Closing, finally, the practice. Here’s what I would say, what is true of the last generation? The generation will be alive to see these signs blossom like a fig tree, you know the summers near. Well, those who see the signs outlined by Jesus will know they’re in very significant days leading up to the coming of the son of man and the establishment of his kingdom. What is true of that last generation and the need to be ready must be true of every generation if they’re to be watchful. Aren’t we to be watchful?
If Israel is to be ready and watching, isn’t the church to be ready and watching? They’re to be ready and watching for the second coming and the establishment of the kingdom we’re to be ready and watching for the rapture and the removal of God’s people to heaven, the judgment seat, the marriage supper of the lamb and then we will return with Christ Revelation 19 and 20.
So the vigilance that must mark the lead-up to the return of Christ with the church must mark the lead-up to the return of Christ for the church. Think about just some texts on that. I’ll go to a couple. What about Romans 13:11 picks up this theme of watchfulness regarding the church, “Knowing the time that now it is high time to awake out of sleep for your salvation is nearer than when you first believe the night is far spent. The day is in hand. Therefore, let us cast off the works of darkness and let us put on the armor of light. Let us walk properly as in the day not in revelry, drunkenness, lewdness, lust, strife or envy. Put on the Lord Jesus and make no provision for the flesh.”
1 Thessalonians 5:4-8 regarding the day of the Lord. “But brethren, you are not in the darkness so that that day should overtake you. You were all the sons of light and sons of the day. We are not of the night nor of the darkness. Therefore, let us not sleep as others do, but let us watch and be sober for those who sleep, sleep at night, those who get drunk, get drunk at night, but let us who are in the day be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love and the helmet, which is the hope of salvation, for God did not appoint us to wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ.” The day of the Lord is a great tribulation period. We’re not appointed to that. We’re not part of the night, we’re part of the day. Let’s live as those who are awake to that reality when Jesus will come and indeed remove us from the wrath that is to come on the earth by means of the rapture.
Chapter 1:10 of that book says of the church that they’re to we it for Jesus from heaven whom God raised from the dead. Even Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come. By the way, that phrase wait, it’s an interesting one. It literally means to remain up, to remain up is to stay awake. When these royal weddings take place or royal ceremonies take place. My wife remains up and starts watching British television at like three in the morning. That’s our word, remain up. It’s the word that maybe it would describe a parent who’s lent the teenager the car for the first time and they’re going to remain up until the child’s home and they get to check if the car’s in one spot and in one piece. It’s the image of a child waiting up for Christmas morning.
I remember the days I could hardly sleep on Christmas Eve waiting up, remaining up for the coming of Christmas. It’s a picture of a girl waiting up for the arrival of her boyfriend. It speaks of excitement, it eager anticipation, talks about the tip toe of expectancy. That’s us guys. That’s the practice for us in the church age. I think this parable relates primarily to the nation of Israel and living Jews at the coming of Jesus. I think that’s the import of the Olivet discourse. But if there’s an obligation for you and me, we are to just be as watchful as they ought to be in a future day. We need to watch against everything that might interfere with our readiness. Watch against every sin of every kind and description, watch against our adversary and his devious methods, watch against the spy in the castle of our heart called our flesh that will betray us. Watch against the squeeze of a surrounding Christless culture.
Watch against doubt and corrosion of biblical faith. Watch against inconsistency of walk and hypocrisy. Watch against pseudo-gospels and false teachers. Watch against slothfulness regarding spiritual disciplines. Watch against uncharitableness toward others. Watch against pride and self-conceit. But not only do we watch against stuff, we watch for stuff. We watch for Christ, we look for our new bodies. We look forward to the seeing departed saints, the judgment seat, the marriage supper of the lamb. Eternal rewards, eternal responsibilities. The coming millennial kingdom, the coming eternal state. We stay ready for quitting time. What does that look like? As we close, I’ll just throw this your way, a little outline of things and passages that encourage you to go home and look at.
Promoting watchfulness requires you to study prophecy. It requires you to study prophecy which has fallen out of favor in today’s contemporary church. But you know what, the book of Revelation that most Christians stay away from. It’s the very book in the Bible that has a blessing attached to it, to those that read it, understand it and do it. Study the book of Revelation. In fact, we have a giveaway coming up on our radio broadcast you should get your hands on, 101 questions on the book of Revelation by Dr. Mark Hitchcock. Study prophecy. Paul says to the Thessalonians, “I don’t want you to be ignorant regarding those who have fallen asleep before the rapture and the state of their souls and how we relate to them and they relate to us.” Then Paul goes on to talk about the rapture and the reunion and the resurrection and the removal. Study prophecy.
Number two, know the time. Romans 13:11, what does Paul say to the Romans? Know the time that it’s high time and that your salvation is nearer when you first believe. Do you know the time, prophetically, where we might be? Now, we’ve got to guard against speculation for sure, but here’s some thinking I’ve been doing quite often, right? If the rapture is the next prophetic event and the rapture is without signs, it could happen at any moment, it’s imminent and I live under the overhanging reality of that and that should decide my decisions, that should shape my thinking and the course of action. It should help me decide what I’m going to give my money and time and energy to. But in the other hand, the rapture won’t happen in a vacuum because it is a trigger event. What do I mean by that? Well, what I mean by that is that when the rapture takes place, although there’s no signs that precede it could happen at any moment, it will trigger a series of events that will happen in quick succession.
The Book of Revelation talks about things happening quickly in succession. Look at the book of Revelation, you’ll find the conjunction, and, repeated. This happens and this happens and this happens and this happens, sequentially. At the end of history, things will move fast and the rapture will trigger that, a series of events that will happen in sequence in a compressed period of time. So I want to watch about speculation, but given what we’re reading here in the Olivet discourse, Jesus outlines some of the birth pangs, some of the contractions that this world will go through until the birth of the kingdom. Wars and rumors of wars, disasters, natural disasters, people claiming to be Christ. There’ll come a moment when the temple in Jerusalem will be taken over by Antichrist and the abomination of desolation according to 2 Thessalonians when he sets himself as God in that place. All kinds of events Jesus describes.
And so here’s the point I’m making, hopefully I haven’t lost you. If the rapture is signless, yes, but it’s a trigger event, we might begin to see the stage setting that will allow for those events to happen quickly and sequentially. And so, know the time. It’s high time, guys, globalism, Israel [inaudible 00:47:05] the land and the Middle East on fire. Chinese power, the kings of the east, the moral climate, the days of Lot and Noah, the rise of Russia to Israel’s north in alliance with the nations that will invade Israel in the battle of Gog and Magog, a Christless society. The Antichrist will be able to take and use so that if you don’t have his mark, whatever that is, you can’t buy or sell. Did we see a dry run of that in Canada with the truckers? If you don’t play ball with the government, you get shut out of the economic system.
What about the spirit of lawlessness? What about natural disasters and wars? What about fear and panic? We saw that in COVID, whole nations acting as sheep. People complying to little men, giving up their freedoms and their ability to travel as governments and those in government manipulated the data and shared what they felt you needed to know. The fear and the panic, we’ve seen nothing like it. The manipulation that went on. We see apostasy in the church, we see European convergence. Maybe we’re seeing the stage being set and the rapture will be the trigger event. And so know the time. It’s the last hour. Time is short. So give your things to the things that last, study prophecy, know time… In the last three or four, I’ll just throw your way. Watch and pray, right? 1 Peter 4:7, “The end of all things is on. Be serious, watchful and pray.”
Stay in radio contact with headquarters in the midst of the battle of the last days, “Gather with the saints,” Hebrews 10:24-25. That’ll help you stay watchful. In the company of brothers like this who will stir you up on the faith and good works. Romans 13:11-14, “Put off and put on. Make no provision for the flesh. Work at your sanctification.” And lastly, love Christ… 2 Timothy 4:8. Pursue Christ. Know him, worship him, understand what he did for you. Live your life for his glory. That’ll keep you watchful. Do you know why I would say that? Because according to 2 Timothy, 4:8, there’s a crown for those who what? Love the appearing? No love his appearing. We’re not looking for the Antichrist, we’re looking for Christ. “Him we love, whom we have not seen,” says Peter.
You want to be watchful? Be a disciple of Jesus. Love Jesus. Live for Jesus. Confess your faith in Jesus. Evangelize for Jesus. That’s watchfulness. As we close, listen to J.C. Ryle, “The ancient Christians made it a part of their religion to look for his return. Backward, they looked to the cross and the atonement for sin and rejoiced in Christ crucified. Upward, they looked to Christ at the right hand of God and rejoiced in Christ the advocate. Forward they look to the promised return of their master and rejoiced in the thought that they would see him again.” We ought to do the same. Let’s look back and love Christ the crucified. Let’s look up and love Christ our great high priest. Let’s look forward and anticipate Christ our king.
My old pastor back in Northern Ireland, Ivan Thompson, who’s now with the Lord tells the story of a fishing fleet off the coast of Scotland heading home. And they were out at sea for several weeks and as they returned, the news got out that the boys were coming. And in one of the vessels, the captain got his spy glass and he looked to the harbor in the shoreline of the village. And he said, “John, I see Mary. James, I see your mother is there. William, I see Catherine and the two boys.” And one of the man on his little fishing vessel was named Angus. And he asked the Captain, he said, “Captain, do you see Mary?” And the captain spied to the shoreline? He said, “Angus, I don’t see her.”
So when the boats docked, Angus looked anxiously for his wife, but she wasn’t there. And so he headed up the little country lane to the cottage, and as he came through the door, his wife Mary was there and she threw her arms around him and hugged him and gave him a sweet kiss and said, “Oh Angus, I’ve been waiting for you.” To which he replied, “Aah, but the rest of the wise were watching.”
There is a difference between waiting and watching. One can be passive, the other is always active. Let’s not just wait. Let’s watch. Let’s actively give ourselves to those things that will help us from being embarrassed when Jesus comes for you and for me. And if you’re not saved, you need to get saved. Be ready for in such an hour as you think not, the Son of Man comes, don’t get shut out. Don’t get locked out of God’s great heaven.