Alright, now back in this parable
that Brother Aaron just read in Matthew 25. This parable is, if you've done
any studying on it, or if you've read anything about it, or if
you've heard messages on it, you may recognize it very clearly. It's really one of the classic
passages of Scripture that a lot of men claiming to be preachers
use to just flat mess up the scriptures. Trying to go into
parables like this and make every element of the parable represent
this, that, whatever, whatever tradition they happen to be in.
I even read quite a bit on the number ten. There are ten virgins
here. Why ten? And people write volumes
on stuff like that. But listen to me now. These parables
are simple parables. In fact, this parable, the lesson
of this parable, is really quite obvious. And I'm not oversimplifying
it when I say this. It's obvious. You know, there
are things in this world that are just flat obvious. You know
what I'm saying? It's like last week, I had a
fellow, a friend of mine, I was talking to on the phone, and
he asked me this question. He said, do you miss living in
the South? I wanted to do like that comedian
and say, here's your sign. But I would tell any of you all,
ask me that in August. And there's another obvious answer.
Yeah, I'm the kind of guy, I like about 70 degrees all year round,
smooth sailing all the time. But that's not what I'm going
to get, so I don't worry about it too much. But that's obvious.
Well, the lesson of this parable is obvious. I call it a parable
of preparation. A parable of preparation. The
very first word sets it in its context. Verse 1 of chapter 25
says, Then. Then. Well, when is then? That's very simple. Well, what has the Lord been
talking about? This is part of what they call the Olivet Discourse,
or the Olivet Sermon. It's preached by our Savior on
the Mount of Olives. In Matthew 24, he had spoken
of several things. One of the things he had spoken
of is the impending destruction of Jerusalem, which was future
at the time of his message because that didn't take place until
A.D. 70, when Jerusalem and the Temple were all destroyed. But
he also included in that discourse in Matthew 24 prophecies of his
second coming, the second coming of Christ. And when it says,
then, that's what it's talking about. It's talking about when
the Lord returns to this earth. The second time. His second coming.
And the central thought and lesson of this parable is simply this.
It's like the Boy Scout motto. Be prepared. Alright? Be prepared. The Lord's coming
again. Be prepared. This is a parable
of preparedness. the parable of preparation, and
it stresses the importance of each individual who professes
to be Christian, who professes to name the name of Christ and
professes to be saved, to be ready. Be ready. Are we ready
to face the Lord? Are we ready for the judgment?
Are we ready for eternity? These are the issues of this
parable. Let me ask you this, and I would include this now.
Some of us will go to meet the Lord before He comes a second
time. We're going to be talking about
our brother Don McGinnis. He's gone to meet his Savior
already. It may be that some of us will be alive when He comes
again. I don't know. But let me ask
you this. If we were to die today, if I
were to die today, if you were to die today, Would you be ready? That's what it's talking about.
If the Lord returned today, could He return? Yes. Will He? I don't know. You don't either.
He already said that down here in the 13th verse. Look at it.
Watch therefore. That means be ready, be prepared.
Watch. Watch. Don't take your eyes off
of this. Don't take your mind off of this. And he says, for
you know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of Man
cometh. Now, there are fellows who think
they do know the day and the hour. I listened to one this
morning, December 21, 2012. But the Lord says you don't know.
And I believe the Lord. I believe the Lord. There are
fellows who are trying to figure it out. But all I can tell you
when, it's then. Verse 1. Then. Whenever then
ends. I know he's coming again. But
if he would return today, would I be ready? Would you be ready? Now, some of you might say, some
of us might say, I'm not ready. You might be honest enough to
say, I'm not ready. Some of you might say, well,
I'm not really sure if I'm ready. And I say, what a terrible state
to be in. Can we be sure? Well, can we
be ready? He says, watch and be ready.
Can we be sure? Or is it like some preachers
tell us that any assurance is presumption? You know, there
are preachers who preach like that. Any assurance is presumption.
My question is, well, is that what the Word of God says? Well,
let me tell you something. First of all, He commands us
to be ready. Look back up in chapter 24. Look
at verse 42. He says, look at this. He says,
Watch therefore, for you know not what hour your Lord doth
come. Now there's another testimony that we don't know the hour or
the day. That's what Christ says now.
Always weigh what men say against what Christ says. And he says
in verse 43, he says, But know this, that if the good men of
the house had known in what watch the thief would come, he would
have watched and would not have suffered or allowed his house
to be broken up. He would have been ready. If
he'd been prepared, see, for the thief to come. He says in
verse 44, look at it. Therefore, be ye also ready. That's a command. That's not
a suggestion. That's not if you've got the
time. First of all, you may not have the time. I may not have
the time. I don't know when the Lord's
going to call us home or call us to face him, and I don't know
when he's coming. He says, he says, for you don't
know for in such an hour as you think not. He says in verse 44,
therefore be also ready for in such an hour as you think not.
The Son of Man cometh. He's going to come when we think
he won't come. It had something to consider. He says in verse
45, 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, being faithful and wise. Verily I say unto you,
that he shall make him ruler over all his goods. And if that
evil servant shall say in his heart, My Lord delayeth his coming."
Well, I've got time. He's not coming today. and shall
begin to smite his fellow servants, to eat and drink with the drunken.
The Lord of that servant shall come in a day when he looketh
not for him, and in an hour that he is not aware of, and shall
cut him asunder, and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites,
there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth." That's one of the
most quoted lines in the New Testament. There shall be weeping
and gnashing. You know what gnashing of teeth
is? Gritting teeth. And so he says, be ready. I want
to tell you something. You know, it's impossible for
you or me to be ready and not know it. If you don't know it, you're
not ready. So think about this now. Let's
go through the parable. And I'm not going to ask you
to do sword drills this morning, but you're going to feel like
I am. Because I've got a lot of scripture, and you might want
to have your pencil ready just to jot them down if you don't
get to them before I read them. But listen to this very carefully.
This is a parable of preparation. Be ye prepared. Look at verse
1. He says, when He comes again,
shall the kingdom of heaven, that's the sovereign rule and
reign of Christ here on earth in the last days between His
first coming, His ascension, and His second coming, through
the church, through the spreading of the gospel throughout the
world. And He says, then shall the kingdom of heaven be likened
or compared unto ten virgins which took their lamps, those
lamps are torches, and went forth to meet the bridegroom. So here
we have ten virgins, ten young women, unmarried women who were
virgins. These were the, according to
the Jewish tradition, these were the girls who would be the attendants
at a wedding, like the bridesmaids or something like that. And these
ten virgins are going out to meet the bridegroom. Members
of the church are represented as such. Paul in 2 Corinthians
11, verse 2, he made this statement. He said, I have espoused you
to one husband that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ.
Now what that means is that Paul's desire for those who profess
to believe the gospel, that they would be found to be in the end
pure in Christ. That's what he's talking about.
Because Christ is our purity. The only purity we have is Christ. And so, that's a common way to
refer to believers. Now, the Bridegroom is Christ
in His return at the end of the age. He calls Himself the Bridegroom
in John chapter 3 and verse 29. He's referred to as the Husband
of Christ when He's married to the Church. He's the Bridegroom.
So this is Christ. So these ten virgins, these ten
young women, are going out to meet the Bridegroom. Meet Christ
when He comes again. And each of these women have
a lamp, a torch. Now what does that represent?
It's a light. That's what it is. You say, well, hallelujah,
it's a light. Well, what is that light? Well,
it shines forth. A light. What is He talking about,
the light? He's talking about their testimony,
their profession of the truth. Matthew 5 and verse 16 says this,
let your light shine before men. What is that light? It's the
gospel truth. It's the testimony of Christ
and Him crucified. So this lamp, this torch, represents
them to be professors of the faith. In other words, all ten
of these virgins profess to be believers. They profess to be
married to Christ. They're not the kind of people
who say, I don't believe in God, or I don't believe the Christian
religion, or I don't believe the gospel. These are ones who
profess to believe, like you, like me. That's who he's talking
about. Now, when Christ comes back the
second time, when He comes the second time, rather, these all
go out expecting to be received in the wedding. They go out to
meet the bridegroom. They're expecting to meet him
and to be received. Now, the rest of this parable
fills it in. Look at verse 2. He says, 5 of them were wise
and 5 were foolish. I read a fellow who said that
means that about half of you are going to be saved and half
of you are going to be lost. Now, that's foolish. I don't think
that means anything like that. But all I know is this. There
were wise and there were foolish. What does that mean? That means
five were true believers, the wise, and five were false professors. They only had a profession. Five
were false professors. All of them had lamps. All of
them had a profession of faith. All of them had an outward profession,
claimed to be so. But only five were saved. And what he says here, look at
verse 3, he says, they that were foolish took their lamps, and
took no oil with them, but the wise took oil in their vessels
with their lamps." Well, what was missing in the five foolish
virgins' torches? What was the oil? They didn't
have oil. In other words, that was just the wick burning. And
you know what happens with a wick when it burns and there's no
oil? It burns out. So it's just a flame, you see,
a smoke. A false profession. Well, what
is this oil? Well, classically in the Scripture,
oil represents grace. Oil represents the work of the
Holy Spirit within. True salvation. And these five
wise virgins, they had oil in their lamps. Now, outwardly,
now think about this. Outwardly, all ten appeared righteous
before men. All ten looked alike outwardly.
All ten looked like they were saved. All ten looked like believers,
but in reality, only five of them. It's possible, now listen
to me, it's possible to be very active in religion, to claim
to be a Christian, to know a lot of truth in our heads, and not
have a true, saving relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. That's
what he's teaching. Now that's a frightening thought.
Because think about it. We know those who sit in false
churches where a deadly message is preached are lost. The Scripture
tells us that. We've seen that in other parables.
The parable of the wheat and tares, for example. A lot of
places who claim to be Christian, but they're not. They're Christian
in name only. They deny the truth. They deny
Christ and what he accomplished at Calvary. how God saves sinners
by His free and sovereign grace without the deeds of the law,
without the aid of man. We know there are places who
preach that, and they're lost. Somebody says, well, are you
saying they're all going to hell? No, I'm not saying that at all. I'm
just saying they're lost. They haven't found the way yet. If they're going to be saved,
they're lost sheep, aren't they? But there are many who sit in
gospel churches, just like this church. who attend meetings week
after week, and who have a measure of outward interest in spiritual
things, but who do not truly love Christ and love His Word
and His people, who have no oil of grace within." And that's
a frightening thought. The first thing that we normally,
when we hear things like that, is usually we say, is it I? You remember the disciples, when
the Lord pointed out amongst them there was a traitor, there
was a betrayer, And they all said, is it I? Is it I? They
recognized their potential. They recognized that they could,
their sinfulness. They recognized that, but for
the grace of God, there go I. And it's only God's grace that
makes a difference among any of us. But you see, this is a
very serious thing, and it's an extremely serious thing to
remember that when the final test of life comes, All profession
fades away in the presence of Him whose eyes are like a flame
of fire, the book of Revelation says. Look at verse 5. He says in verse 5, while the
bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered and slept. Now, when
people see that word tarry, they think of delay. Well, he's delaying. Why is he delaying? Well, that's
just from our viewpoint, but he's not delaying at all. The
Father knows the time and the hour and the day. Our Lord said
that it's set in stone. It will not be changed. I don't
care what they do in Palestine. The day of His second coming
is not going to change from the time it was set forth in eternity
in the sovereign mind and purpose of God who works all things after
the counsel of His own will. You're not going to change God.
If you can change God, He's not God. Did you know that? If you
can change God, He's not God. You better look for someone else.
So that time is set. But from our viewpoint, we think
it's a delay, don't we? I mean, you think about it. We
know better because the Scripture tells us better. But it says,
while the bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered and slept.
Now, there are two things about this. You know, people think
about slumbering and sleeping here, and there are volumes written
on the word slumber and the word sleep. Listen. You know, I've told you all before
that I believe in the KISS method of preaching. Keep it simple,
stupid. I'm talking to me now, not you. But let's not complicate this
up now. And get our minds off on something
the Lord's not teaching here. We all slumber and sleep. We
go about our lives. What He's talking about in the
slumbering and sleeping here are two things. Number one, our
ignorance of the time of His return. Now, let me put it to
you this way. If you knew the Lord was coming
tonight at midnight, I'll tell you what, you wouldn't be going
to sleep tonight. You wouldn't be thinking about
Superbowl either, would you? If you knew the Lord was coming
tonight at midnight. But you're going to lay down
and go to sleep tonight. And there's nothing wrong with that.
You ought to lay down and go to sleep tonight. But what he's
talking about is their ignorance of the time, and we don't know
when he's coming. But secondly, he's talking about
our confidence in our profession. This sleeping and slumbering
has to do with a clear conscience. And that's the thing, you know.
Now, God's people, God's people are to have a clear conscience.
Not based upon their own goodness, or their own, you know, not based
upon the fact, well, I went to church today, or I've done a
pretty good job. No. Our clear conscience is by the
blood of Christ. I have a hope. I have a Redeemer. I have a Savior. I have His blood
to wash away all my sins. I stand before God, clothed in
His righteousness, and that's my acceptance, completeness before
God. I'm a sinner saved by the grace
of God. But all ten of these virgins,
even the false professors, had some confidence they could lay
down and go to sleep. Somebody told me one time, they
said, well, a lost person cannot have assurance. You better read
God's Word. Oh, yes, they can. There's plenty
of lost people who laid down their heads to die, and they're
just as sure as anything that they're going to wake up in the
presence of the Lord. But how do you know if it's a
false peace or a true godly peace? Well, what's the basis of it?
What's the ground of it? If it's anything but Christ and
Him crucified and risen again, it's a false peace, isn't it?
My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus' blood and righteousness.
So, they don't know the hour. They have confidence in their
professions. Look at verse 6. He says, "...and at midnight
there was a cry made, Behold, the Bridegroom cometh, go ye
out to meet him." There's the key to it all, isn't there? The
Bridegroom cometh. You know, there are folks today
who are so caught up in what they call end times events that
they don't even see the Bridegroom. They're so tied up in the second
coming of Christ that they've missed the Christ who is coming. Do you know that? I was down
at the grocery store the other day and had a young man who'd
seen me on TV and he said, I've been getting ready to study the
book of Revelation. He said, I'm interested in end-time
events. And I thought, oh my soul. Here
he goes. Now, my friend, there's nothing
wrong with studying the book of Revelation. It's a book of
Christ, just like the book of Genesis, Exodus, and Viticus,
and go right on up through it. But I just know what most people
have in mind when they go in there. You see, don't miss Christ. The Bridegroom coming. That's
who we're looking for, isn't it? The Bridegroom. Keep your
eyes on the Bridegroom. I'll tell you right now, cut
to the chase. That's the way to be prepared. You want preparation? Keep your eyes on the Bridegroom,
on the Lord Jesus Christ, and what He accomplished at Calvary
the first time that He came. Because if you're focused on
what He accomplished at Calvary, to save you from your sins and
to justify you before God, then you'll go out to meet the Bridegroom
and you'll be received. Behold, the Bridegroom coming.
He's everything. He's our all in all. Go ye out
to meet Him. Go to meet Him. And then look
at verse 7. It says, "...then all those virgins
arose and trimmed their lamps." Now, for the wise ones, This
trimming of the lamp was a preparation of grace. A preparation of grace. But for the foolish, it was merely
tending to the outward appearance. Just the outward appearance.
You know, religion, men and women, by nature, are so concerned with
outward appearance, and listen to me now. We ought to refrain
and avoid even the appearance of evil, but listen to me. How
I appear to you right now behind this pulpit is not how I am before
God in Christ. Because being behind this pulpit,
it doesn't stop the aging process. It doesn't stop me from snorting
and coughing and getting tired and getting sick. And it doesn't
stop the thoughts. You say, preacher, I'm glad you
don't see the thoughts that go through my head. I'm glad you
don't see the thoughts that go through mine. I'm telling you
the truth. How I appear today is not how
I am before God in Christ. I'm perfect in Him. I'm righteous
in Him. I'm holy in Him. I'm accepted
in the Beloved. He's my hope. That's what I'm
saying. So it's not just trimming an
outward appearance. Not trying to look good before
men. But look at verse 8. And he says here, he says, "...and
the foolish said unto the wise, give us of your oil." Now, look
at this. They say, give us of your oil,
for our lamps are gone out, or our lamps are going out. This
wick's burning out. You see, there's no oil. And
it says in verse 9, the wise answered and said, say not so,
let there be not enough for us and you, but go you rather to
them that sell and buy for yourselves. Now, this is not teaching that
salvation can be bought. It's not teaching that salvation
or the work of the Holy Spirit can be bought, but many times
the Scripture uses language such as this to put things in its
proper perspective. Now, let me read from Isaiah
chapter 55. Here's an example of what I'm
talking about. Now, first of all, if that one parable in Matthew
25 were teaching that salvation or the work of the Spirit can
be bought What would that do to the rest of the Bible? What
would that do to our salvation, our gospel? It would destroy
it all. No, that's not what that means.
Listen to Isaiah, the prophet in Isaiah 55, verse 1. Ho, everyone,
that ho means listen. Everyone that thirsteth, come
ye to the waters. And he that hath no money, come
ye, buy and eat. Come and buy without money. How
are you going to buy something without money? What he's relating
here is this point. In salvation, there is a price
to be paid. And don't you ever forget it.
Somebody says, well, I thought salvation was free. It is to
you. And it is to me. But it costs somebody something.
It costs the Father His Son. It costs the Lord Jesus Christ
His life. He paid the cost. Jesus paid
it all. That's what we sing. Oh, the
cost. I mentioned this this morning
on the TV program. The cost of forgiveness is not
your repentance or my repentance. It's the blood of the Son of
God. It's the blood of the Lord Jesus
Christ. That's what it costs. His blood. And that's why he said, he that
hath no money, come ye, buy and eat. Ye, come, buy wine and milk
without money, without price. Why do you spend money for that
which is not bread? That's false religion. And your
labor for that which satisfy not. Hearken diligently unto
me, and eat ye that which is good, and let your soul delight
itself in fatness, wholeness. That's what that means. Salvation
is free to me and to you. We don't have any money. Neither
did these five foolish virgins. Neither did the five wise virgins.
We can't buy salvation. But Christ bought it and He paid
for it, lock, stock and barrel. He bought us with a price and
we belong to Him. So go back to this parable now.
It says in verse 10, it says, Now 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." Oh, my
soul. When the Lord comes again, the
door will be shut. Mark it down. Then it will be
too late. Now, I know some say, He's coming, and then you're
going to get a second chance. It says here the door was shut. What door? The door of salvation.
The door of eternal life. Who is that door? Christ said,
I'm the door. Christ said, I am the way, the truth, and the life.
No man cometh unto the Father but by Me. The door was shut. It would be too late then. No
use going out looking to buy wine or milk then. The gospel,
the salvation that is given forth in the gospel, communicated,
will be stopped. That's it. And then he says in
verse 11, Afterward came also the other virgins, saying, Lord,
Lord, open unto us. Now the five wives went into
the marriage. But here come the five foolish. They say, Lord,
open unto us. But he answered, verse 12, and
said, Verily I say unto you, I know you not. I know you not. Now, when he says, I know you
not, it doesn't mean that he cannot identify them. It doesn't
mean that he cannot name them. It means if this knowledge here
is the knowledge of selection and relationship and love, That's
what he means, I don't know you. There's many of you here today.
I know your name, but I don't really know you. I know my wife,
and she knows me in a special way. I just know your name. But you see, here's the thing.
God knows His people. Look over at 2 Timothy. 2 Timothy
chapter 2 and verse 19. And let me tell you something,
right here is a believer's assurance, confidence. 2 Timothy 2.19, nevertheless,
the foundation of God standeth sure or steady. Now, where do
you think is going to follow that one? Look at, having this
seal, this stamp, the Lord knoweth them that are His, them that
belong to Him. They belong to Him by sovereign,
divine, electing grace before the foundation of the world.
They belong to Him by justifying grace in Christ. They belong
to Him by redeeming grace at Calvary. They belong to Him by
regenerating grace by the power of the Spirit. And He's coming
to get them. That's right. The Lord knoweth.
Now, I'm going to come back to 2 Timothy 2 in just a second,
but let's go back to the parable. Now, when Christ comes the second
time, the door will be shut, no salvation, too late then.
The door is now open. You hear me? The door is now
open. Sinners are bidden and urged to enter into the kingdom
of God by the door, Jesus Christ and Him crucified. Come unto
me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I'll give you
rest, he said. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt
be saved. But soon the door will be shut.
How soon? I don't know. Soon enough. Whenever
he says, shut the door. But look at verse 13. Now here's
the lesson. Watch therefore. Watch. Be on watch. For you know
neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of Man cometh. Be prepared. The lesson of the
parable is simple. Be prepared. But here's the issue,
what does it mean to be prepared? What is preparedness? How can
we be prepared? What does it mean to be prepared? So this preparedness, now here's
what it has to do with. It has to do with our attitudes
and our actions and our hearts as professing believers in light
of this fact, the Lord is coming again. And I would add this,
either that or I'm going to Him soon. Peter wrote about this. He wrote about those who said,
who said, well, where is His coming? He's not come yet. That
means He's not coming. You may say, well, that's not
me. I believe in the second coming of Christ. Let me ask you this
now. It's one thing to say, I believe He has come and He's coming again.
But do I live like He has come and He's coming again? There's
a difference. You see, there are five wise
virgins and five foolish virgins. They all had a profession. These
foolish virgins went out to meet the bridegroom, but they had
no oil. Listen to me, as I told you before,
I don't know when the Lord is coming back, but I know two things. I know that He is coming back.
That's number one. I know he's coming back, he's
going to judge this world in righteousness, he's going to
gather his church unto himself and we'll be glorified with him.
That's a fact. Secondly, I know what we are
to be doing up until that time. I know exactly what we're to
be doing. What are we to be doing? Preaching the gospel to the lost and making
ourselves ready for his coming. That's what we're to be doing.
This parable is a warning against life as usual. Back over in Matthew
24, he said in those days it's going to be just like in the
days of Noah. People will be going, doing this, doing that,
marrying, giving in marriage. They'll be going to work, coming
home from work. They'll be fooling with the children,
grandchildren. They'll be doing this, that,
everything that people do every day. Life as usual. And then the flood will come
when they least expect it. What's he telling us? He's saying
don't live life as usual. Don't just go about your daily
life without thinking and being concerned with these issues.
Now, that doesn't mean go out and quit your job and wear a
sandwich sign up down the street. The Bible also has issues to
deal with there. It says if a person doesn't work,
they don't eat. They're capable. But it means you live your life
in the light of the coming of the Lord. That's what it means.
As we said, a person can have an outward profession without
inward grace. You can be baptized in water without being baptized
in Christ. You can join a church without
being joined to the true church, the body of Christ. You can go
through all the motions that appear good unto men, but not
unto God. We have to be washed in the blood of Christ, forgiven
of all our sins. We must be robed in His spotless
robe of perfect righteousness to be justified before God. And
the evidence that we're washed in his blood and robed in his
righteousness is the work of the Holy Spirit within that brings
us to repentance of our dead works and idolatry and drives
us to Christ for all salvation. All of these, you think about
it. And it's imperative that we understand this. Somebody
said, do I have a right standing with God? Well, I do if I'm in
Christ. Do I have the power of the spear
within? Remember, God searches the heart. That's the problem
with these five foolish virgins. They had a profession, but no
heart. The Bible says, The Lord seeth
not as man seeth, for man looketh on the outward appearance, but
the Lord looketh on the heart. Well, let me ask you this question.
First of all, turn to Jeremiah chapter 17. Now, here's what
I want to know. I just want to turn to a few
scriptures here. How can I know my own heart? How is that possible? Now, I
want you to first go to verse 9 of Jeremiah 17. And I want you to see described
here the most deceptive thing in the world. Did you hear what
I said? You thought it was some kind
of a governmental organization that
was flashing up nanoseconds of products on your TV screen or
something? No, sir. What is the most deceptive
thing in the world? Here it is. Look at verse 9.
The heart is deceitful above all things. What does that say? The heart. What is the heart?
It's the fallen human mind, affections, and will. In other words, the
most deceptive thing that we have to deal with in this life
is our own hearts. The heart is deceitful above
all things, and desperately wicked. Who can know it? I, the Lord,
search the heart. I try. I test the reins. That's
what drives you, motivates you, and turns you in this direction
or that direction. That's what that means. Like a horse, the
rider has the reins and he turns the horse right, left, whoa,
stop, go. God says, I test the reins, even to give every man
according to his ways and according to the fruit of his doings. The
heart is deceitful. Now, here's my question. Well,
then, is there any hope for any of us? Could I be deceiving myself
right now? Well, go back up to verse 5 of
Jeremiah 17. A lot of times when we go to
this passage, we just read verses 9 and 10. But we need to read
them in context now. Now listen to this. Thus saith
the Lord, Cursed be the man that trusteth in man. You know what
causes a person to trust in man? A deceptive heart. And maketh flesh his arm, salvation
conditioned on me. That's making flesh the arm.
God will save me if I'll do my part." That's the arm of the
flesh right there. "...and whose heart departeth
from the Lord." That's the deceptive heart. Verse 6, "...for he shall
be like the heath in the desert, and shall not see when good cometh,
but shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness, in
a salt land, and not inhabit." It's going to be a bad, bad thing.
That's what he's saying. Verse 7, look at this, "...blessed
is the man that trusteth In the Lord, in Jehovah our Savior,
in Christ. You know what that is? That's
an honest heart. That's a purified heart, made honest by the Spirit
of God to look to Christ. And whose hope the Lord is. Is the Lord your hope? Or is
your profession your hope? Is your doing your hope? Is your
church going your hope? Is your tithing your hope? Is
your attendance your hope? Is your baptism your hope? Is
anything your hope but the Lord? That's the deceptive heart. It
says in verse 8, For he shall be as a tree planted by the waters,
and that spreadeth out her roots by the river, and shall not see
when heat cometh, but her leaves shall be green, and shall not
be careful in the year of drought, neither shall cease from yielding
fruit. Turn to Hebrews chapter 4. Now listen very carefully. How can I be prepared? That's
what I'm asking. If the Lord were to split the
skies in the next five minutes, how can I know right now that
I'm prepared? That I've got oil in my lamp?
That's what I'm saying. You know, it says the Lord searches
the heart. The Lord looks on the heart.
Well, how can I know what the Lord sees when He searches my
heart? Is that possible? Well, look
at Hebrews chapter 4. Here's how you can know. Look
at verse 12. He says, For the word of God
is quick and powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword. It
cuts both ways, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul
and spirit and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner
of the thoughts and the intents of the heart. Neither is there
any creature that is not manifest in his sight, but all things
are naked and open unto the eyes of him with whom we had to do.
How can I know how God sees things? My friend, you've got the manual
right there in your hand. It's called the Word of God.
You could just as well call this the manual of preparation. Think
about it. This tells me everything I need
to know. This book, this Bible, this Word of God tells me everything
I need to know about me. You know what it tells me? It tells me I'm a sinner. I cannot
save myself. I don't deserve to be saved.
I cannot earn salvation. My only hope is to flee. to the Lord Jesus Christ, and
cast my soul at His feet, and say, Be merciful to me, the sinner."
That's preparedness. And anyone who does that, I'm
going to tell you what they are. They're a creation of God. They're
the work of the Spirit within. For it's the Spirit. We could
go to so many scriptures. You know, how do you react to
the Word of God preached? Do you need it? And I want to
say this before I close. This is not based on how you
feel or how I feel. Let me tell you what happens. Let me tell you where your feelings
come from. They come from the flesh. If you're a Christian, you're
in a warfare with the flesh. You may feel this way, feel that.
You may feel good. This has to do with what you
see as your need. Couple weeks ago, I had a heart
catheterization and they put two stents in my right coronary
artery. I didn't feel like doing that.
I didn't want to do it. I didn't say, man, I get another
one. But you know what? I needed it.
I needed it. And I feel better now because
of the need. It was met. You may not feel
like coming to church. You may not feel like reading
the Word of God. You may not feel like praying. But praying,
I'm going to tell you something, you need it. You need Christ. And it has nothing to do with
what you, it has to do with what the Word of God says about me
and about you and about Him. That's preparation. You children,
you may not feel like getting up and going to school tomorrow,
but you need to do it. You need to do it because you
need an education. You say, well, the Lord may come
back. He may. He may not in your lifetime. I don't know. You get
an education. You need it. I need Christ. You see, this is the issue. I
need Him of whom to know is life eternal. And you know what I
find as we see what we need in the Word of God? I've run out
of time. I'm going to come back to this
next time on some of these because We need to see these scriptures
of preparation. I find that as we see what we
need and we act upon that by the power of God's grace, we
desire it more. We desire it more. And that's
not me getting holier, that's me growing in grace and knowledge. We need Christ. Without Him,
we're nothing. Without Him, we're nothing.