Matthew 25. Some disciples ask our Lord,
I said this morning, Lord, what's it going to be like? What's it going to be like before You come? He said, Then
shall the kingdom of heaven be like ten virgins, which took
their lamps, the light in which they walked, the light in which
they felt comfortable. And they were forced to meet
the bridegroom, both of them, in the same way that they had
a heart to do so. Five of them were wise, verse
2, wise unto salvation, and five were foolish, left to themselves. They that were foolish took their
lamps and took no oil with them. Five of them that were foolish
had their walk, their profession, the manner in which they felt.
This is the way you follow after God. This is the way you long
serve Him. But the wise took oil in their
vessels with their lamps." That oil, as I said this morning,
and this is where I left off, that oil being a picture of the
Lord Jesus Christ bruised. That oil, the olive oil that
comes from that crushed berry made to burn. It's the light
by which they walk. A man walks in Him, walks in
the light. A man walks in Christ doesn't
stumble spiritually. And it says that verse 5, that
while the bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered and slept.
But I want to mention one thing before I go into that. I looked
at this word there. Notice in verse 1 it says, the
kingdom of heaven is like to ten virgins that took their lamps. And it says in verse 3 that those
that were foolish took their lamps, but they took no oil with
them. The wives took oil as that word
took, took, took. Same word that was used when
the Lord, who is described as the man that wrestled with Jacob. And when Jacob, the Scripture
says that Jacob grasped hold of him and held on to him. And
the man said, the Lord Himself, said, let me go. And Jacob said,
I won't. I won't do it. I'm not going to do it. I'm not
going to let you go. Bless you, bless me. I'm not
going to let you go. He held on to him. That word
right there, took, means hold on to. Everybody took. Everybody held
on to their lamp. They took their lamps, but they
took no oil with them. The wives took oil in their vessels
with the lamps. And while the bridegroom tarried,
they all slumbered and slept. The wives, as we said in the
Song of Solomon, it says, I sleep, but my heart is awake. But those
that were foolish slumbered in darkness, death, spiritually
dead. Then the Scripture says At midnight,
and this is where we'll begin tonight. At midnight, and this
is, remember, this is the way the Lord said that His kingdom,
the place where He has raised up a hearing of His Word, a place
where He has been pleased to allow His Word to be preached,
He said this is the way it'll be. There'll be some wise virgins
and some foolish virgins there. There'll be some wheat and some
tares. That's the way it's going to
be. And at midnight, there was a cry made and it said, Behold,
the Bridegroom cometh. Go ye out to meet Him. At midnight, when all things
were made ready, when Almighty God in His infinite Power says
it's over. It's done. And while you're thinking
right now, well, he's talking about something a long time from
now. Oh, he's talking about the end
time. He's talking about way over there. Tonight may be the
end time for you. It may be over tonight. There's
somebody in this room right now. That's closer, unless the Lord
returns to dying, than anybody else. And it may not be the oldest,
it may not be the youngest, it may just be maybe me. It may
be over in a time when you think not. It could be just done. Your heart beats for the last
time. You took your last breath. It's appointed unto man once
to die. At midnight, when men normally
are sleeping and everything's fine, everybody's resting, had
a good night's rest at midnight. The cry, Behold, the bridegroom
cometh. Go out to meet him. Nothing is
more certain. The angels that were standing
by as the Lord was ascending into heaven, He said to those
men, His disciples that were there, He said, you men of Galilee,
why stand you gazing into the heavens? The same Jesus. that
you see ascending shall come again. He shall return. I go to prepare a place for you
that where I am, there you may be. I will return. It's certain, certain. His bride
is bitten. Come to Him. Behold, the bridegroom
coming. Now, I'm not sure. I'll be real
honest with you. I'm not sure. the exact meaning
of what is taking place right here. But I can tell you this.
I can tell you of one or two things that I know that are for
sure. Behold, the bridegroom cometh every time a man stands
in a pulpit and proclaims and sets forth the gospel of free
grace. Every time a man sets forth the
gospel He is saying, the Bridegroom cometh. Behold, the Bridegroom
cometh. He said He will return in a day
that you think not. Behold, the Bridegroom cometh.
It may be this message right here preached at the mouths of
God's means, God's ministers, preachers of the Gospel, the
voice of a great multitude that shall send forth that which is
certainly so, Could be. Turn over to 1 Thessalonians.
1 Thessalonians chapter 4. 1 Thessalonians 4 verse 16. 1 Thessalonians 4. The scripture says, For the Lord
Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout. with the voice
of the archangel, with the trump of God, and the dead in Christ,
shall first rise, shall rise first. Then we which are alive
will remain to be caught up together with them, the clouds to meet
the Lord in the air, and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Therefore,
wherefore, comfort one another with these words." I don't know.
I don't know exactly. But I know this. The Lord says
in this parable, He said there was a cry made, Behold, the Bridegroom
cometh. Go out to meet Him. The Bridegroom
cometh. Whether a man leaves this world
in death physically, whether or not this is the preaching
of the Gospel to men to behold, to listen, to watch for, the
Bridegroom cometh, whether the Lord Himself, the Scripture says,
the trump of God shall sound and it's over, it's done. It's
over in the twinkling of an eye. But whatever the Scripture says,
at midnight there was a cry made, and behold, the bridegroom cometh.
Go out to meet him. Go out to meet him. A man whose
heart beats for the last time. That man is going to meet God. It's appointed unto man once
to die, and then what? Then the judgment. Man is going
to meet God. We are going to meet Him. We are going to see Him. Arise. Be ready. Then all those
virgins arose and trimmed their lamps. The wise arose out of their slumbering
frame. Remember, everybody was slumbering. Everybody was sleepy. Everybody arose and trimmed their
lamps. Remember, the lamp is the manner
in which a man walks. That is the light in which he
walks. If the light is in you, it is
darkness. How great is this darkness! But God has commanded His light
to shine in our hearts to give the knowledge of the glory of
God in the face of the Lord Jesus Christ walking the light, walking
Him. They all rose, verse 7, all the
virgins arose and trimmed their lamps, got them garnished, shined
them up. That's what it means. Everybody
got their lamps, got it ready, getting ready to meet the bridegroom,
put all things in order. The wives arose out of their
slumbering frame, truly ready to meet the bridegroom. The foolish
arose also, and I don't doubt for a second that there may be
some awakening of conscience, or attempts at reformation in
order to obtain salvation. But these foolish were destitute
of the oil of God's grace, God's presence, the Lord Jesus Christ. The Scripture says that all of
them arose, and they trimmed their lamps. And as soon as they
realized the bridegroom cometh, something very sobering takes
place. The foolish said to the wise,
Give us of your oil, for our lamps are gone out. If you look possibly, I know
in the Bible here, the Cambridge that I have here, it has an exact
interpretation of that word, gone out. If you look in your
middle margin there, it says, going out. Give us of your oil. Our lamp is going out. Now let me say this. The foolish
did not have the light of the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ. They were without oil. It never
says in this passage that they ever had any oil. Read it. It doesn't say they
had any oil. The wise did. The foolish did
not. What they did, the Scripture
says, as soon as it was over, It's over. Behold, the Bridegroom
cometh. It's over. Whether it's in death,
whether it's in the coming of the Lord, it's over. It's over. He's returned. Our lamps are
going out. What does that mean? They're
going out in our eyes. Somehow, these people realize
We have no light to walk in. We have no oil for our lamps. Give us of your oil. A man may
live by a form of godliness without the power of God thereof, but
woe to that man if he dies that way. Give us of your oil. Our lamps are going out. Going
out, we realize. This they said, the Scripture
says, unto the wise. The foolish said unto the wise. Unto the believers. Now, I'll
show you the deadness of a man's heart. Where is their oil found? What did the Lord Jesus Christ
say? If any man thirst, let him come unto Me. Come unto Me, all
ye that are weak and heavy laden. I'll give you rest." If any man
thirsts, come to Me. Come to Me. I am the way. I am the truth. I am the life. No man comes to the Father but
by Me. And the foolish, blind, say to
the wise, give us of your oil. We want your oil. Man by nature
seeks not. The door. He doesn't know. Man's blind. He's blind. He's blind. Salvation is by grace. Salvation is not by going to
religious people, religious folks, going to this. Salvation is of
the Lord. Give us of your oil. Ours is
going out. The wise answered. Verse 9, Not
so. lest there be not enough for
us and you." I can't. The response to the unwise was
one of absolute honesty. Can't do it. We cannot give you
of our oil unless there be not enough for us. The Scripture
says in 1 Peter 4, verse 18, The righteous scarcely be saved. The righteous scarcely. That word scarcely there means
with much work. The righteous are saved by much
work. But it is the work of the Lord
Jesus Christ. It is His work. It is His righteousness
that Brother Scott is talking about. His obedience. His righteousness. The righteous scarcely be saved. But listen, that which He provides
is exactly what is needed to the salvation of a sinner. What
it took, He paid. What the price was, His blood. He paid it. What it cost, the
Lord provided Himself. The righteous are saved with
much work, scarcely, but what He paid is what He took. He didn't
pay a pittance. God so loved the world that He
gave His only begotten Son. Give us of your oil. Our lamps
are going out in our eyes. We have nothing to stand on here. You give us your oil. Can't!
We can't do it lest there be not enough for us and you. Salvation is not a joint effort
between folks here. Tell you what, come on over to
my side and I'll just kind of give you a little bit. Salvation
is of the Lord. Go ye rather, verse 9, last part,
go ye rather to them that sell and buy for yourselves. Man is going to do just exactly
what he wants to do. A man does what he wants to do.
A person that comes to Christ comes because Almighty God has
made that man willing, has given him a heart to come. I know folks
say, Well, what you all are preaching is that God makes robots out
of people. They come like, you know, just
lifeless folks that just come just doing something. First, God said it just right.
God saves a man against his will with his full consent. Leave
a man to himself. And that man will not come. But Almighty God gives him a
heart to come. He wills to come. He's willing
to come. God's people are willing to come. They desire to come. But those
that don't come, you know why they don't come? Because they
don't want to. You will not come. That's what
the Lord told the Pharisees. You will not to come. You will not come that you might
have life. You don't want to. You don't
desire to. The foolish said, give us your
oil. Our lamps are going out, we realized
in our eyes. But still, that was not enough
to save them. The wise answered, Can't do it. Not so, lest there be not enough
for us and you. But go ye rather to them that
sell." Now I looked up something. Turn with me to John 2. This
is very interesting. John 2 verse 13. How is it going to be, Lord? How is it going to be before
the coming? This is the way it's going to be. Be wise and foolish. John 2, verse 13, And the Jews' Passover was at
hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem and found in the temple those
that sold oxen and sheep and doves and the changers of money
sitting. And when he had made a scourge
of cords, he drove them all out of the temple, and the sheep
and the oxen, and poured out the changers' money, and overthrew
the tables, and said unto them that sold doves, Take these things
hence. Make not my father's house an
house of merchandise. And his disciples remembered
that it was written, The zeal of thine house hath eaten me
up. There were some men that were
sitting in the temple. They had these dogs. They had
these animals, these sheep, oxen. They were selling these little
sacrifices. Y'all want to get right with
God? Look here, I've got this sacrifice over here. Come buy
this from right here. I'm going to make it easy for
you. I'm going to help you out. This
is easy believism right here. Come over here. And the Lord
walked in and took a court and drove them out. And He said,
this is going to be My Father's house. It will be called the
house of prayer. You made it. In another portion
of Scripture, it said you made it a den of thieves. That's what
you've done. Those that sold. That's what
they were doing. Selling. Free, easy, believing. Come here, right here. Our oil. Give us some oil. Our oil is
going out in our sight, and the wise says, can't. Can't do it. Lest there be not enough. Go
rather to them that you desire to go to. Go to them that sell,
and buy for yourself. The same word, sell, in Matthew
25, is the same word sold in John 2. I can't. Go where you desire to go. God's
people are willing in the day of His power. Give us your oil. We can't. Go where you want to
go. Do that which you desire to do. And the Scripture says,
verse 10, and while they went to buy, the bridegroom came. Now you think about this. A believer,
by God's grace, has been made to come to Him. Given a heart
to come to Him. Buy of me, He said, you come
buy of me. Without money, without price. Procure it. We dealt with that
about a week ago. That's what that word, buy, means.
Procure of me. Get it at my hand. That's what
He said. The wise told him, he said, go
where you desire to go. That's the insinuation. While
they went to buy, the bridegroom came. The foolish evidently took the
advice of the wise here. They went to buy, but they did
not go to the Lord Jesus Christ. They went another way. And the
Lord said in John 14, 6, I am the way. A man that tries to enter in
another way, but by the door, is a thief and a robber. A thief of God's glory. A thief
of God's honor. Go buy where you desire to buy.
And they went. Tried to obtain grace by their
own works. And that's what man by nature
does. He tries to obtain grace by his own free will. Now, this
is just so. And while the Scripture says
they were trying to buy, the bridegroom came. Verse 10, And
they that were ready went in with him to the marriage, and
the door was shut. Those that were ready, those
that had been clothed with the wedding garment, Those washed
white in the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, garbed in His righteousness. Those with the oil of grace that
Almighty God had granted with the presence of Himself. Those
who rested in the Lord Jesus Christ. Those that had been given
faith in Him. The Scripture says, they that
were ready, made ready, didn't make themselves ready. Ready
by God's grace. It says, "...and they went in
with him, and the door was shut." Hosea 2.15 describes the door
of hope. The door of faith, Acts 14.27,
which is the preaching of the Gospel, but especially the Lord
Jesus Christ Himself imminently who is the door, John 10, 17.
What's it going to be like, Lord? It's going to be like this. There's
going to be some wise and some foolish, some tares and some
wheat. There will be those that have
tried to manifest that they've got a lamp by which they walk,
and they're going to make a fair profession in their own eyes.
But there will be some that have an oil that is within. oil in
their vessels, and that's the light in which they walk. There
will come a time when there will be a reckoning. Time will be
no more. The Bridegroom shall come." Now,
like I said, whether it's death, I'm telling you, you think about
the suddenness of what happened and the preparation that was
not made after He came. I mean, just over. Just done. Before I could think, before
I could react, Afterward, the Scripture says
in verse 11, came also the other virgins saying, Lord, Lord, open
to us. Think about that Scripture where
the Lord says, many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord,
haven't we prophesied in Your name? Haven't we done many mighty
works in Your name? Haven't we cast out devils in
Your name? Afterwards, the Scripture says,
the other virgins, those who were virgins in name only, after
they came from attempting to find a place to buy oil, but
they came as they went without any. They came afterwards, after
the bridegroom was come, after those who were ready had entered
in, after the door had been shut. It reminds me of the Scripture
that says when Noah entered the ark, 120 years. The Scripture says Noah preached
the Gospel. He preached the saving of eight
souls. Eight. The eight that Almighty
God had just sovereignly decreed, sovereignly ordained that He
would put in the Ark, a picture of all of the elect in the Lord
Jesus Christ, secure. The Scripture says, after all
was in, all the animals that God had ordained would be there,
Noah and his wife and sons, their wives, and what happened? And
the Lord shut them in. The Lord shut the door. The Lord
shut the door. The Lord shut the door. What's
it going to be like, Lord? What is it going to be like before
you come? This is the way it will be. There
will be some wise and some virgin. I mean, some wise and some foolish.
And in that day, when the Lord says it's done, it's over, it
shall be over, the bridegroom shall come and the door shall
be shut. And the other virgins shall say,
Lord, Lord, open to us. Verse 12 says, He answered and
said, Verily I say unto you, I know you not. I don't know
you. Oh, He knew their persons. He
knew their conduct. He knew their eternal state.
He knew they were foolish virgins, graceless professors who made
no account of His righteousness, who trusted totally in their
external profession of religion. But He never knew them as His
Father's choice in Him alone. I never knew you. He never knew
them in the everlasting covenant, never knew them as His sheep,
never knew them to believe Him or to trust Him or to cast themselves
upon His mercy for salvation. Watch, therefore, the Lord said
in verse 13, watch, for you know neither the day nor the hour
wherein the Son of Man cometh. Watch. Be mindful. How does a man watch? How does
he watch? Well, I'm sure that there are
a lot of answers to that, but I can tell you this. I would
say the Lord's words said, search the Scriptures. I would watch by hearing the
Word. I would watch by agreeing with
God, disagreeing with myself. Watch, therefore. Be watchful. Watch, therefore, against Satan's
snare and his charms. Watch, therefore, against false
teachers and doctrine. Search the Scriptures. Watch,
saith the Scriptures. Why? For you know neither the
day nor the hour wherein the Son of Man cometh." Last Scripture,
Matthew 24, verse 44, Therefore be ye also ready, in such an
hour as ye think not, the Son of Man cometh. Who then is a
faithful and wise servant, whom his Lord hath made ruler over
his household? to give them meat in due season.
Blessed is that servant whom his Lord, when he cometh, shall
find so doing." Listen, if a man, if a woman, desires
not to cast themselves upon the mercy
of Almighty God, To come, as I've heard Brother Scott say
many times, empty-handed. Empty-handed. Which is something. And I'm telling you, that is
a blessed something. I've thought a lot about that,
Scott. That's something. A man that Almighty God has made
to cast himself upon God's mercy. Cast himself upon Christ. Lord,
have mercy on me. Have mercy on me, a sinner. I need you. If a man casts himself
upon the mercy of Almighty God, it is because Almighty God has
given that man a heart to do so. God has given him a heart
to do so. But I'm telling you on the other
hand, and hear me well, if a man casts himself not upon the mercy
of God and will not come, it's that man's fault. He chose to
not do that. He said, I will not have this
man to rule over me. Lord, what's it going to be?
This is the way it's going to be. Salvation is by sovereign
saving grace. By grace you're saved through
faith and that not of yourself. It's the gift of God. Those that
are wise are made wise unto salvation. Almighty God leaves a man to
himself. That man is foolish. Scripture
says it means stupid. Stupid. Foolish. Foolish. If God Almighty allows Himself
to do that which that man desires, that man will perish. What shall
I do? What shall I do? This would be
My Word. Cast yourself upon Him. Cast
yourself upon Him. If you desire to, if you long
to, if you long for Him, He'll receive you. If you long after
Him, if you hunger after Him, He'll receive you. He's drawn
you. My sheep are going to hear My
voice. They'll come to Me. They'll follow
Me. Somebody says, well, wait a minute.
You're making salvation to be totally, totally, totally in
God's hands.