Could you turn with me to the chapter we read together, the Gospel according to Matthew 25, and the text you'll find in verse 10. And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came, and they that were ready went in with him to the marriage, and the door was shut. I'm sure we're all well aware of this parable or have heard of this parable before of the wise and foolish virgins or the unmarried girls who were waiting for the coming of the bridegroom. And as they waited for him, as was the custom in their culture, that there would be the engagement and then the bridegroom would go away and he would stay away for maybe a year and he would prepare everything for his bride. And when he had prepared everything he would come back and he would get her and there would be the great marriage feast and then he would take her back to where he had prepared for her. And so as the bride was making herself ready the friends would gather and they would gather and they would wait for the bridegroom to come and so Jesus takes this normal thing that took place in their culture and brings it into a type something that he can teach his people about himself and about themselves and about his coming. He is like the bridegroom that has gone away to prepare a place for his bride, the church. We read recently, Let not your heart be troubled. You believe in God. You believe also in me. In my father's house are many mansions. If it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you I will come again and receive you unto myself that where I am there ye may be also. And so Jesus takes this normal wedding situation and he makes it into a type of himself that he as the bridegroom has betrothed his bride and he has gone away to prepare for her many mansions in heaven itself and so he takes this and makes it a type of himself and a type of the church. There are 10 girls who are here they've all come and they're all waiting for the bridegroom. There is a vital difference. It is sort of an unseen difference for they all look the same. They are both unmarried girls. They've all come and they're all waiting for the bridegroom to come. They all have lamps and yet five of them are described as wise and five of them are described as foolish. And the reason why they are foolish is that they had no oil in their lamps. the five that were foolish took their lamps and took no oil with them but the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps and while the bridegroom tarried they all slumbered and slept. In both of the parables that we read there was that period of waiting there was that time by which the good man of the house, after he had issued the talents to his servants, he went away and he did not tell them when he was coming back. It was after a long time, the Bible says. And it was the same here with the wedding. It was a period of time, a period of waiting. And it was during that period of waiting that these wise and foolish ladies, they looked the same. There was no obvious difference. But it was that when the cry came out, behold the bridegroom comes, go ye out to meet them, it was then that the difference was exposed. At the crucial moment when the bridegroom came at midnight, when light was needed, the evidence that they were true believers was needed, It was then that it was exposed that they were foolish. The Bible tells us that oil in the lamp is a type, a type of the Holy Spirit of God. If you think of what is the one thing that differentiates or makes the difference between a believer and an unbeliever, It's the Holy Spirit. The Bible tells us if you don't have the Holy Spirit of God, you do not belong to Christ. It is him who enables one to be wise. It is the one who enables somebody to receive the wisdom of God, who is the Lord Jesus Christ. In Corinthians it tells us, 1 Corinthians chapter 1, On verse 22 it says, the Jews require a sign and the Greeks seek after wisdom. But we preach Christ crucified unto the Jews a stumbling block, unto the Greeks foolishness. But unto them which are called both Jews and Greeks, Christ, the power of God and the wisdom of God. And Christ is the wisdom of God and it's the Holy Spirit of God that illuminates the mind, that enables one to choose the Lord Jesus Christ and enables one to receive the wisdom of God. John chapter 3 when the Lord Jesus is speaking to Nicodemus he explains the crucial element of the spiritual work in the regeneration of a person. Without the Holy Spirit of God nobody can be saved. Without the Spirit of God nobody can be born again because it is being born again of the Spirit. In John chapter 3 Jesus says to Nicodemus from verse 3, And Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. Nicodemus said unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter the second time into his mother's womb and be born? Jesus answered, Verily, verily, or truly, truly, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water, and of the spirit it cannot enter into the kingdom of God. To be born of water is just the natural birth. You must be a human being born into this world, conceived in the womb, housed in water and then born again of the spirit of God. There must be that double birth. And that second birth, to be born again, is the work of the Holy Spirit of God. The one that enables us to look to Christ, the one that enables us to receive the wisdom of God, the one who changes our hearts and causes us to see our sin and our need of a saviour. As I said in Romans, it says, he that does not have the Spirit of Christ, the Spirit of God is none of his. And so the difference between these five ladies in Jesus's parable is five had oil and five had no oil. Five were indwelt by the spirit of God and five were not. spirit of God the Bible tells us enters into the heart and we become a tabernacle, the temple of the Holy Spirit. And so he is an unseen resident in the body of the believer, yet his indwelling is seen in the characteristic change, the Christ-like changes that are seen in the Christian. But those Christ-like changes can be counterfeited. You can live as a Christian and yet not have the Holy Spirit of God. You can tickle the boxes on the outside but not be indwelt on the inside. You can look the part. You can say the right things. You can walk the walk. But if you are not indwelt by the true spirit of God then you are a counterfeit Christian. Just like these five. It was unknown to everybody else. But when the time came, the crucial moment when the bridegroom came, it was then that their error was exposed. It was then that it was revealed that they had no oil. And they were told. But he answered and said, verily, verily, I say unto you, I know you not. One of the most solemn words that would ever be heard by the human ear. You see, there are many people who think that they know the Lord Jesus Christ, but he can only truly be known by the one who is indwelt by his spirit. You see if you are in a relationship with somebody they must also know you. It can't be a one-way thing. We love him because he first loved us. We run after him because he has revealed himself to us. He says I know my sheep and I am known of mine. It is a two-way relationship. The Bible describes it as a marriage. They love each other. Christ knows his bride and the bride knows him. But there are those who pretend. They have no oil in their lamps. They look to the same. They were doing the same thing yet they missed that one thing that is needful. Now they didn't lose it. It's not that they were once true followers of Jesus then they lost their salvation. The Bible tells us that they never had any oil in the first place. They took no oil with them. They were never true followers of the Lord Jesus Christ. They were always empty vessels that looked OK on the outside. And when the time came, it was too late. And while they went to buy the bridegroom came and they that were ready went in with him to the marriage and the door was shut. A door is that which separates one thing from another. you're either outside of the door or you're inside. You're either in this building like us or we're outside of the building and the way in is through the door. Jesus tells us that he is Luke 13 25 he says strive to enter in at the straight gate for many I say unto you will seek to enter in and will not be able. And once the master of the house is risen up and have shut the door and you begin to stand without and to knock at the door saying, Lord, Lord, open unto us. and he shall answer and sound to you, I know you not whence ye are. Jesus tells us that he is the door, is the door of the sheepfold and he says to strive to enter into that straight gate, the gate that leads onto the narrow way unto life. These ladies, they came but they had no oil. I was thinking of the different doors that are spoken of in the scripture. The first one that we read of, what I can think of that we read of, is with Noah. As Noah was moved by God to build an ark for the saving of his house, As he came and as he completed that ark the Lord told him to come in to the ark in Genesis 7. And the Lord said unto Noah come thou and all thy house into the ark for thee I have seen righteous before me in this generation. So as Noah after finishing the building of the ark he is seemingly outside of the ark And God is seemingly inside of the ark. Though we know that God is in all places at all times, and there's nowhere that we can go from his presence, yet there are ways of describing the place of blessing by saying that God is here, like with the tabernacle, was the dwelling place of God. And so God invites Noah to come into the ark the place of safety, the place of refuge, the place where which he would be able to escape the wrath and judgment of God that was going to fall out over the whole world. And so God says to him come, come and all of your house into the ark. Noah is obedient to God and he goes in and he brings with him all of the animals, all of the birds, all of the insects and he brings them into the ark. But then the Lord shuts him in in verse 16. And they that went in went in male and female of all flesh as God had commanded him and the Lord shut him in. God shut the door. It shows us complete security and safety that he was to be preserved that nothing could open that door because God had shut it. You think as the floodwaters began to rise and as the boat began to be lifted off its building where he built it And those that would have stormed the boat tried to get in, yet the Lord had shut the door. Just as with these foolish women, the door was shut. And they cried, Lord, Lord, open to us. But he said unto them, truly I say unto you, I don't know you. And the same with Noah. The Lord shut the door. He did not have any gracious relationship with anybody that was outside of that ark. It was God was shut in with Noah. Noah found grace in the eyes of God. Noah was righteous before God in his generation and everybody else was shut out. No matter how hard they banged on the door the answer would come, open to us I don't know you. does not mean that God didn't know who they were. It's just that he was not in a covenant relationship with them. He had no particular redeeming grace bestowed upon them. They were still in their sin. They were walking in the darkness. They hadn't listened to the preaching of Noah. the Lord shut him in. We know that the ark is a type of the Lord Jesus Christ as that ark provided safety for Noah and his family from the judgment of God so the Lord Jesus Christ provides safety and security for all of those who would trust in him. from the judgment of God because the judgment of God fell upon his son the Lord Jesus Christ and all those in Christ Jesus are found safe because Christ has paid the debt the sum for them. And so as Noah was safe and secure until the judgment was passed so all those in Christ Jesus are safe and secure until the judgment that will be passed. They are preserved in Christ Jesus. They were either inside or outside. The way in was the door and the only place of safety was the ark. Another door was when the Lord Jesus Christ rose again. You see the wise bridegrooms, the wise virgins, sorry, they were shut in to the marriage supper. They were shut in with the bridegroom. They rejoiced with the bridegroom. As the Lord Jesus rose again from the grave, he revealed himself to his apostles or to 500 people. There was a time when the disciples were met together in John chapter 20 and verse 19. And when he had, sorry verse 19, and the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut, where the disciples assembled for fear of the Jews, came Jesus and stood in the midst and said unto them, peace be unto you. And when he had so said, he showed unto them his hands and his side. Then were his disciples glad when they saw the Lord. Then said Jesus to them again, peace be unto you, even as my father has sent me, even so I send you. And so the door was shut. The apostles are there in fear of the Jews, in fear what was going to happen to them, their saviour the Lord Jesus had been crucified and they didn't know what had happened to him and then suddenly the door's being shut, they're locked in the room and Jesus appears in the middle of the room and he is with them. he says look at my hands and my feet. He says I'm not a spirit. Does the spirit have bones etc? He says to Thomas, reach hither thy finger and behold my hands, reach hither thy hand and thrust it into my side and be not faithless but believing. And Thomas answered and said unto him, my Lord and my God, the Lord Jesus Christ, he was shut inside with them. as Noah was shut in with God. The door was shut, there was that safety and that security, that preservation. God was with him in the boat and now the apostles also they are safe and secure with the Lord Jesus Christ. He is with them in the room, the door being shut. He reveals to them that his work was well-pleasing to the father. He rose again to justify them from their sin. Their salvation was now secure. They were eternally his. As he rose again as the first fruit of the resurrection he proved to them that death would have no hold over them anymore. that as he had died and rose again, so they also would die and rise again at the great resurrection. In John chapter 10, Jesus tells them about the security of their salvation. Verse 27. My sheep hear my voice and I know them and they follow me and I give unto them eternal life. They shall never perish neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My father which gave them me is greater than all and no man is able to pluck them out of my father's hand. I and my father are one. And as we can look back at Noah and see that Noah was indeed safe and secure in that ark until the judgment had passed and God opened the door. And we can see with the Lord Jesus Christ that the grave could not hold him. The stone was sealed there and then when the angels came, the stone rolled away. Christ rose again triumphantly and he appears to his apostles and the door was shut and he appears in the midst of them. Look, my hands and my feet. Touch me and feel me. Do you have any food? It was that security. that their salvation was secure in Christ Jesus. And so with these ladies, the door was shut. They banged on the door, Lord, Lord, open to us. But he answered and said unto them, I know you not. They had no spirit of God. They were empty vessels outside of Christ. They looked the part. They maybe spoke the part but they didn't know. They weren't in a relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. In the book of Revelation we have the Lord Jesus as he speaks to the various churches He comes to the church at Laodicea and he tells them that they are lukewarm, neither hot nor cold and he would that they were hot or cold but because they are lukewarm neither cold nor hot I will spew thee out of my mouth because thou sayest I'm rich and increased with goods and of need of nothing and knowest not that thou art wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked. And he continues on with his assessment of them as a church and then he tells them behold I stand at the door and knock if any man will hear my voice and open the door, I will come in to him and will sup with him and he with me. Sometimes this verse has been attributed to the Lord Jesus Christ standing at the door of the needy sinner's heart and there's an image of weakness on the side of Christ that he can't enter into the sinner's heart except the sinner open up. We know that no sinner can truly come to a knowledge of the truth of their sin without that being the work of the Spirit of God in them. And as Christ reveals himself, reveals themselves to them, then he gives them that faith to trust in him. But we see that he's not speaking to somebody who is outside of Christ. He's speaking to the church of Laodicea who had entered into a lukewarm condition because of the material wealth they had been lifted up with pride because of the area that they lived in. and Jesus is giving them an opportunity to repent from their sin opportunity to repent from their lukewarmness and their cold-heartedness and he says I stand at the door and knock if you listen to my words if you realize your condition I am standing at the door and I'm knocking and I'm expecting you to hear my voice and to open the door and to come to repentance over your sin. In the book of Solomon there was an interesting part where the bridegroom he knocks on the door of the bride's house And just like the Lord Jesus Christ here in the book of Revelation knocking at the door of the church of Laodicea and calling them to repent of their sin and turn away from their lukewarmness. And so in the book of Solomon, the bridegroom, he knocks at the door of his sleeping bride. In chapter 5 from verse 2 it says, I sleep, but my heart waketh. It is the voice of my beloved that knocketh, saying, open to me, my sister, my love, my dove, my undefiled. For my head is filled with dew and my locks with the drops of the night. I've put off my coat, how shall I put it on? I've washed my feet, how shall I defile them? My beloved put his hand by the hole of the door. My bowels were moved for him. I rose up to open to my beloved and my hands dropped with myrrh and my fingers with sweet smelling myrrh upon the handles of the lock. I opened and my beloved I opened to my beloved but my beloved had withdrawn himself and was gone. My soul failed when he spake. I sought him but I could not find him. I called him but he gave me no answer. And so the account goes on of her searching for her beloved, the beloved who had come and knocked upon her door. And because she was still in a dreary state, because she was waking up, stirring from her sleep, he passed by. And as the book of Revelation says to this church of Laodicea, you're lukewarm, you're in a sleepy state, you're slumbering, you are weary and tired. But the bridegroom stands at the door and he knocks. Now Jesus is knocking. He's knocking every time the gospel is preached. He's knocking every time that a minister proclaims the truth of the word. He's knocking as a warning that he is coming. He stands the border of time knocking as it was in the days when he was born when the fullness of time was come God sent his son so it will be when the fullness of time comes again that God will send his son the Lord Jesus Christ and he stands and he knocks. As a warning I am standing outside and I'm coming. As the two parables tell us that there is that period of waiting As they waited for the coming of the bridegroom they slumbered and they slept. It's like the church of Laodicea, they became lukewarm because of their material wealth, they became proud and stagnant. They lost sight of the knocking of Christ. Behold he comes as a thief in the night. Now are we ready? Are we truly ready to meet the Lord Jesus Christ? As he comes, suddenly comes, will we be taken by surprise? Will our religion be suddenly exposed that it was just fate? that we pretended to have the Spirit of God dwelling in us but we didn't really have the Spirit of God dwelling in us, we didn't really love coming to chapel, we didn't really love reading the Word of God, we pretended that we always prayed but we didn't really always pray and we only had God in our lives when it was essential, SOS type of God. But when Jesus does come and it's all exposed then the door will be shut. And it will be shut for all eternity, never, ever, ever to be opened again. Today the door is open. It is the Gospel today. Enter in while there is room. As Noah is told, come into the ark. As Jesus says, strive to enter into the straight gate. The cry went out, the bridegroom is coming. Jesus says, I stand at the door and I knock. And as we look at the situation of the world, every single day is getting nearer and nearer to the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. And if we don't know the Lord Jesus Christ, when he comes, he will say, I don't know you. Depart from me, for I never knew you. And these shall go away into everlasting punishment but the righteous into everlasting life. In Revelation also it tells us of one of the other churches I've set before you an open door. An open door that no man can shut. And this is such an encouragement to the Lord's people. Look at Noah. Come into the ark. The door is open. Come in and be with me. And then God shuts the door. And providentially in our lives nobody can stop God. If he has set before us an open door then we're to go through it. And we're to keep moving until he shuts a door, another door. I have set before you an open door that no man can shut. And the door was shut. And the door was shut. And they said, Lord, Lord, opened unto us. But he answered and said, Verily, verily, I say unto you, I know you not. Strive to enter in while there is time. Jesus says, Whosoever has ears to hear, Let him hear. May the Lord give us true ears that hear and a heart that is filled with the Spirit of God that is waiting for the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. May the Lord add his blessing. Amen. Our final hymn is 227 from Gadsby's to the tune 714. 227. From whence this fear and unbelief hast thou, O Father, put to grief thy spotless Son for me? And will the righteous judge of men condemn me for that debt of sin which Lord was charged on thee? 227. ? His spirit unbending ? ? As the world for that birth to bring ? ? Life's wondrous song for me ? ? And will the righteous charge on them ? ? Condemn me for them ? was judged on me. Complete atonement now has been, and to thee at most far been paid. What did I be born of? How then can sheltered in thy righteousness, and sprinkled with thy blood. If thou hast my discharge procured, and freely in my ? The whole of Rome divine ? ? Name and God cannot twice be one ? ? As death might be his surety's hand ? ? And there have been at mine ? my soul unto thy grace, the merits of thy grace, my priest, speak peace and liberty. Trust in medification's blood, nor fear thy burning And I may the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God the Father with the fellowship and communion of the Holy Spirit to be with us each now and forevermore. Amen. Amen.