November 16 Sermon Text

Here is a text of yesterday's sermon. If you attended service, you don't need to read it again, but I would like to hear your comments and questions about it.

11-16-08 “Be Prepared” Matthew 25:1-13

Are you prepared for Jesus to return? Are you ready for the angel to blow the trumpet and for Jesus to come down from heaven? Are we ready for the time of grace we live in now to give way to the season of judgment? Are we prepared?

The promise of Jesus’ return is certain. After Jesus’ death and resurrection he ascended into heaven right in front of his disciples.

In Acts 1 we read, “As they were watching, [Jesus] (he) was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight. While he was going and they were gazing up toward heaven, suddenly two men in white robes stood by them.

They said, "Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking up toward heaven? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven."

Are we ready for Jesus to come down from heaven on the clouds?

In his teaching ministry, Jesus concerned himself with our preparedness for this event. Our text this morning is one example of this teaching -- Matthew 25:1-13.

Matthew 25:1 "Then the kingdom of heaven will be like this. Ten bridesmaids took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom. Five of them were foolish, and five were wise.
When the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them; but the wise took flasks of oil with their lamps.

As the bridegroom was delayed, all of them became drowsy and slept. But at midnight there was a shout, 'Look! Here is the bridegroom! Come out to meet him.' Then all those bridesmaids got up and trimmed their lamps.

The foolish said to the wise, 'Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.' But the wise replied, 'No! there will not be enough for you and for us; you had better go to the dealers and buy some for yourselves.'

And while they went to buy it, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went with him into the wedding banquet; and the door was shut.

Later the other bridesmaids came also, saying, 'Lord, lord, open to us.' But he replied, 'Truly I tell you, I do not know you.'

Keep awake therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour.”


“Be prepared” – it’s the Boy Scout’s motto – it’s also the message of this parable. Jesus will come again – be prepared.

When Jesus ascended into heaven, his followers expected his return within their lifetimes. They lived with acute anticipation for the return of Christ. They expected him any minute!

Their anticipation changed everything in their lives. They thought about Jesus, talked about Jesus and they lived their lives oriented toward Him by remaining faithful to his teaching. They prepared their lives to meet with Jesus. They wanted to be ready for Christ’s return!

They modeled their lives after Christ’s life and came to be known as Christians – little Christs. But Jesus never came back…not in their lifetimes.

Since the first Century dozens of predictions have been made for the moment of Christ’s return. All the timelines have come and gone. Jesus has not returned.

What do we do with this greatly delayed prophecy?

This parable gives us the answer. Be prepared. Remain ready even in the delay.

Ten bridesmaids go out to meet the bridegroom – five foolish women and five thoughtful women. The bridesmaids represent confessing Christians. All ten go out to meet with the groom, who in this case represents Christ.

The wise bring their lamps and take extra oil with them. The fools bring their lamps, but no extra oil.

The wise women make preparations to meet with the groom. They don’t know how long it will be before he arrives, so they take extra oil with them. The fools simply grab their lamps and do not prepare for potential delays.

The groom’s arrival takes longer than expected and all ten women fall asleep. When the groom finally shows up at midnight they quickly prepare their lamps, but the foolish women find that their lamps don’t have sufficient oil.

They try to borrow from the wise women, but they refuse since it would leave them all with insufficient oil. Instead, the fools dash to the market for more oil.

While the fools go shopping, the wise women go into the banquet hall and the door closes and locks behind them.

When the foolish bridesmaids return with their oil to join the party, they find the door locked. They knock on the door and plead, “Lord, lord, let us in,” but the groom replies, “I don’t know you. Get out of here.”

The frightening reality of this parable is that all ten women represent converted Christians. They are the same except for one aspect – their preparedness for Christ’s return. They each expect to join the end of time banquet. They all have lamps, but only half of them get in.

Their preparedness determines whether or not they get to attend.

We must prepare for Christ’s return. This parable reveals that once Jesus returns the era of grace ends and the era of judgment begins.

Jesus’ words, “Ask and it shall be given to you, knock and the door will be opened to you,” have a statute of limitation. They’re only valid until the time of judgment occurs.

Once Jesus returns, it’s too late to ask for what we should already have. We must already have enough oil. We must already possess what we need for judgment day.

After Jesus returns, it’s too late to knock at the closed door of the end of time banquet. If we wait until Jesus returns to prepare ourselves and enter the party, we’ll hear the words, “Too late. I don’t know you.” Our preparations for the return of Christ must happen before he arrives.

Does this make sense? I mean, at its simplest level, Christ declares that we must prepare ourselves in advance for his return. We can’t wait till we see him riding the clouds down to earth and then get ready for judgment day. Make sense?

OK, what does preparing for Christ’s return look like? What do all ten bridesmaids have that we need? And what can we learn from the differences between the two sets of bridesmaids in order to ensure we are like the wise women?

All ten women have the first necessity of preparation for the wedding feast. They believe the groom will arrive and they go out to meet him.

For us, this means we must believe Jesus will return. We must at minimum trust Jesus’ promise that he will return and there will be an end of time banquet feast.

This simple faith in Christ’s return requires a change in life orientation. The bridesmaids dropped what they were doing and went out to meet the groom. Their lives changed because they believed the groom would arrive. They oriented their lives around the groom’s arrival. They were no longer self-centered. They became groom-centered.

Do we believe Christ will come again? If so, we must become Christ centered. In talking with people about Jesus’ second coming I heard someone say, “I’m not ready for Christ to return, not because of a lack of faith; it’s just that I want to have kids first. I’d like to do some things with my life first. I’ve got things I’d like to accomplish.”

Words like these betray not only a shallow understanding of the cosmic significance of Christ’s return, but also a self centered life orientation. Jesus expects us to put the promise of his return above our own personal concerns.

At minimum we must figuratively go out of our homes like all the bridesmaids do and wait for the groom.

I think this implies deep conversion. We take Jesus at his word when he says, “I am the way and the truth and the life and no one gets to the Father except through me.” It means receiving the unmerited favor of Jesus by having our sins forgiven and our lives renewed.

Only upon belief can we begin waiting for Christ’s return. But Jesus tells us this isn’t sufficient preparation. We must make further preparations in order to be ready when Christ returns.

The foolish and the wise bridesmaids differ in their level of preparedness. They all believe, but only half of them prepare. The wise have extra oil and the foolish don’t. The wise have positioned themselves to be constantly ready, while the foolish will only be ready for a short period of time – until their lamps burn out.

The foolish bridesmaids represent excited but lazy Christians. They believe Jesus is coming again. They receive the promise with joy and run out to wait for him, but they are too lazy to prepare for the wait.

The wise bridesmaids represent the excited and diligent Christians. They also believe Jesus is coming again. They receive the truth with joy and prepare to wait for his arrival. They take the possibility of meeting Jesus as the most significant meeting of their lives, so they prepare well for it. They’re ready to wait as long as it takes.

The foolish bridesmaids represent half-committed Christians. They want to be Christians, but not too much. They want to be Christian, but not so much as to change their behavior, their thoughts, or their words. They want to be Christians, but not so serious a Christian as to make Christ the director of their lives.

The wise bridesmaids represent the totally committed Christians. They desire to follow Christ with everything they have. Their relationship with Jesus and their expectation of his return change everything about them.

They think differently, speak differently, and act differently. They prepare for Christ’s return in such a way that they can wait for his return. They bring extra oil.

What do we need in order to be prepared for Christ’s return? Conversion is not the end of our obligations as Christ’s disciples. What is the oil of this Christian life? How do we adequately prepare for Christ’s return?

I suppose this is the time in the sermon – toward the end – where the pastor gives you the three simple things you need to do to be ready – three steps to being prepared for Christ’s return.

But this text doesn’t offer such easy solutions for preparedness.

A short search for what commentators believe the oil represents for the believer include:

Good works
Faithful prayer
Constant repentance
Serving the needy
Faithful listening to God’s Word
An ongoing relationship with God
Faith, hope, love
The fruits of the spirit
Vocational fidelity
Faithfulness to your household
And the list goes on and on.

Read you Bible every morning and you’ll be OK. No. Do a good deed every day and you’ll be fine on judgment day. No.

The application is continual in nature. Be prepared all the time. Always be ready. Live in constant devotion, anticipation, and preparedness for Christ’s return.

Jesus calls us to have the same conviction the first believers had. Their response to Jesus’ promise of coming again in judgment changed everything about their lives.

They thought about Jesus and talked about Jesus. They gathered in groups to praise God and learn from one another. They prepared their lives to meet with Jesus to the point that they were called Christians – Christ imitators, little christs.

We will meet with Jesus some day. It might be today, it may be tomorrow, it may not happen until we die. But on that day we will each be accountable for our own preparedness. We won’t be able to borrow someone else’s oil. We won’t have time to prepare then. We need to make our own preparations now.

What does Jesus want from you this day? What does the oil of preparedness mean for you this day?

Let’s turn to God in listening prayer and respond to this Word of God with complete devotion.