All right, if you turn in your
Bibles to Matthew 25. Matthew 25. I'm gonna start in verse one. Then shall the kingdom of heaven
be likened unto 10 virgins. which took their lamps, and went
forth to meet the bridegroom. And five of them were wise, and
five were foolish. They that were foolish took their
lamps, but took no oil with them. But the wise took oil in their
vessels with their lamps. While the bridegroom tarried,
they all slumbered and slept. And at midnight there was a cry
made, Behold, the bridegroom cometh, go ye out to meet him. Then all those virgins arose
and trimmed their lamps. And the foolish said unto the
wise, Give us your oil, for our lamps are gone out. But the wise
answered, saying, Not so, lest there not be enough for us and
you. but go ye rather to them that
sell, and buy for yourselves.' 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. Afterward
came also the other versions, saying, Lord, Lord, open to us,
But he answered and said, Verily I say unto you, I know you not. Watch therefore, for ye know
neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of Man cometh.
And this message is entitled, Watch Therefore and Be Ready. God's church here on earth is
made up of sinners. Believers non-believers Those God is saved by his free
and sovereign grace and the Lord Jesus Christ Chose in Christ
before the world was and those he leaves to themselves in their
darkness In their unbelief Who makes you
ready when Christ comes again who makes you to watch in that
hope, faith, being accepted of God the Father. Philippians 1,
6 says, being confident of this very thing, that he which hath
begun a good work in you will perform it until that day of
Jesus Christ. Salvation is of the Lord. It's
God's work. Ephesians 2, 8, for by grace
ye are saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is
a gift of God. Not of works, lest any man should
boast. Not of your works, it's God's
work in you. The new man created in Christ
Jesus. Christ is coming again. And there will be a glorious
wedding. Christ and his bride, his church
is elect. And there will be a judgment. He's coming in his glory. And God will get his glory. Will
you be ready? Will you be watching for him? Looking to Christ, there is one
God, there is one church of God. There's only one gospel. One God given faith. Psalms 110,
three, thy people shall be willing in the day of thy power. So who
makes you ready? Who makes you a wise virgin? Psalms four or five. Get wisdom,
get understanding, forget it not, neither declare from the
words of my mouth. God chose a people in Christ
before the world was, and he sanctified them in Christ Jesus. Made your salvation sure in your
surety, in your substitute, in your representative head, Jesus
Christ his son. And God predestinated you to
be his adopted children in Christ, in whom he sent. And it was necessary
that he sent him in the flesh to be a man and to be God. Because where there's no bloodshed,
there is no remission for sins. He had to be a man because God
can't die. So he sent his son be born of a virgin to redeem
his elect, to be their kinsman redeemer. Christ came and brought
in a perfect righteousness, perfect obedience to the Father's will. He put away the sins of his people,
being made sin for them who knew no sin. As our substitute, he
shed his own blood to wash away our sins. His sacrifice, the
atonement that pleased God for the sins of his people, that
we may be the righteousness of God in him. Hebrews 10, 12, but
this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins forever,
sat down on the right hand of God, He satisfied God's holy
justice in our stead, and he rules and he reigns. With his own blood for the remission
of our sins, all his elect is bright. And when he pleased God,
he sent his messenger, preaching his gospel to those that he had
chosen. And He called them out of their
darkness, revealing that light, His own Son, who is the light. He, by the works of His Holy
Spirit, quickens you, gives you spiritual life and faith to believe
in His Son, Jesus Christ. And He teaches you all things
of God. For grace and truth came by Jesus
Christ. First Corinthians 1.30, but of
him are ye in Christ Jesus. Who of God has made unto us wisdom,
righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption, that according
as it is written, he that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord. This
is God's work in you. God has made him wisdom unto
us. We have the knowledge of God
in Jesus Christ. God has given us his divine nature
and we have the mind of Christ. Teaching us how to walk in this
sinful and present evil world. His Holy Spirit in us teaching
us all things of Christ. The new birth, Christ revealed
in you, the hope of glory. He has made us wise virgins.
holy and pure in Him. He has made you acceptable to
God in Him. God reconciled us to Himself
in Jesus Christ. And He teaches us, calls us by
His Word. And faith comes by hearing, and
hearing from the Word of God through the foolishness of preaching.
And Paul says in 2 Corinthians 11 too, for I am jealous, over
you with a godly jealousy for I have espoused you to one husband
that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ. God has made you wise in Christ. God has begun a good work in
you. And here in chapter 25, verse
one. Then shall the kingdom of heaven
be likened unto 10 virgins which took their lamps and went forth
to meet the bridegroom. And five of them were wise and
five were foolish. They that were foolish took their
lamps and took no oil with them. But the wise took oil in their
vessels with their lamps. It's hard to tell the wise from
the foolish. We don't know who God's elect are. Only God does. We're all born with that same
sinful nature. There's no difference. And they both, the wise and the
foolish, went to meet that bridegroom. Well, they both took their lamps. They both professed to know the
bridegroom. They both had a profession that
they knew him. They knew Jesus. But only the
wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps. Who makes your lamp, your profession,
ready with oil, with grace, Both profess faith in Christ.
The wise had oil in their vessels and their hearts. Grace in their
hearts. God's free and sovereign grace
in Christ Jesus. That pure olive oil. They said that oil was beaten. And it was pure. And it burned
continually day and night. And it pleased God to bruise
His Son, that light that shines day and night. His sin-atoning blood shed for
the remission of sins. He who knew no sin made sin for
us that we may be made the righteousness of God in Him. That God-given
faith in Christ Jesus that endures. That faith that God gives in
His Son, it endures. It's true. It's real. It's not
just a profession. That grace of God who shined
the light in your darkness, made all things light, made you children
of light in Him, This is God's good work in you. He gives you
that faith, that saving faith, that heart faith, that faith
that watches and looks to Christ. Watches for Him, looks to Him. It works with love from Him that
only God can give in His Son. to all those who believe on Him.
To believe that the works God the Father gave His Son to do,
Jesus Christ accomplished them. Finished the works and He gave
them to do and successful. All that was required for your
salvation, He accomplished. Obtained complete salvation for
all those chosen of God by His electing grace. Christ is the
author. He is the finisher of that faith.
He's the object of that faith. He was delivered for our offenses
and raised again for our justification. That faith believes on Him, for
He is our salvation. God sees all, He does all, and
He is in all. He uses all of His creation for
His glory. When all things are naked before
Him, He sees the thoughts and intents of the heart. Nothing
is hidden from Him. He knows all things visible and
invisible. Christ Jesus is that light, and
where there's light, Things are manifest. The light that lights the way
to God the Father, to eternal glory. He is both the light and
He is that way, the only way. The grace of God flows continually
through Him. He's that oil sufficient to burn
day and night. And in Exodus, you can turn there
if you want to, it's only, I'm gonna read a couple of verses. But in Exodus 27, in verse 20,
and thou shalt command the children of Israel that they bring the
pure old olive, beaten for the light, to cause the lamp to burn
always. In the tabernacle of the congregation,
without the veil, which is before the testimony, Aaron and his
sons shall order it from evening to morning before the Lord. It shall be a statue forever
unto their generations on the behalf of the children of Israel. That light that was beaten and
shines, the light that he shines in your
hearts, revealing himself to you in his son. Here in verse five, while the
bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered and slept. Well, some days your faith, you
just feel like you've got all the faith that God could possibly
give you that you believe you're on a mountaintop. And then there's
days when there's like, how can I be saved? I don't I
don't feel that faith. I don't. Lord help my unbelief. We're weak. Our flesh is weak,
our faith is small. He tells us that, and He knows
that. He suffered, He came, He was
tempted just like we are in all things, that He can be our High
Priest and know us, know our temptations, know our needs,
know our faults. God the Father has fixed the
day that Christ will come again to gather all his elect for that
wedding feast and the judgment. He will not, Terry. Let's turn
over to Ecclesiastes, if you will. Chapter eight, Ecclesiastes. Chapter eight, and we'll start
in verse 11. Because sentence against an evil
work is not executed speedily, therefore the heart of the sons
of man is fully set in them that do evil. Though a sinner do evil
and a hundred times in his days be prolonged, yet surely I know
that it shall be well with them that fear God, which fear before
him. But it shall not be well with
the wicked, neither shall he prolong his days, which are as
a shadow, because he feareth not before God. The wicked will be judged. All
will stand before him in judgment, the wise and the foolish. But
the elect of God, who believe by that faith that he gives them,
That enduring faith that looks for Christ, that watches for
him, they have nothing to fear in judgment. He's taken your
sins away by his own precious blood. Christ has put away all
those sins. There is now no condemnation
of them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh,
but after the spirit, who walk in light. He is long-suffering towards
us. And He will try our faith. The
Lord gives you faith, He will test it. He will try it. It's
necessary. He told us He would do it. Because He will not lose one.
1 Thessalonians 5, 9. For God hath not appointed us
to wrath, but to obtain salvation by the Lord Jesus Christ, who
died for us, that whether be we awake or sleep, of course
he's talking dead, we should live together with him. So alive
or dead, we shall live with him. Like we said before, the flesh
is weak and our faith is small. And sometimes we take our eyes
off of him. We start looking to self. The two natures and every believer
war against each other. And that flesh love saying so easily. So easily falls. And Satan so
easily gets our mind off of God takes our eyes off of Christ. We're powerless. We have no strength in ourselves. And everything we do is mixed
with sin. I love what Brother Evan said
the other day. When God gives us a little glimpse
of, of his grace, we get so excited. And the first thing we want to
do is grab a measuring stick, say look how much we've grown.
That's how vile we are. But God humbles us. Because if
God has given you that faith in Christ, he will test you,
he will try it. It's for your growth. Not for your salvation, you're
already saved. But that evidence That evidence
that you have true saving faith in Jesus Christ. Because these
foolish versions, they thought they had faith in Christ. And
they rested in it. They thought everything was okay. It's a gift of God to every believer. all who are his elect. Let's
look in 2 Timothy, if you will. Chapter two, verse 11. 2 Timothy chapter two, verse
11. It is a faithful saying, for
if we be dead with him, we shall also live with him. If we suffer, we shall also reign with him.
If we deny him, he will also deny us. But here's that comfort,
here's who's faithful. If we believe not, yet he abideth
faithful. He cannot deny himself. What comfort. You the apple of his eye, he
chose you. in Christ. And even though you sleep and
you slumber just like the foolish version, it's His faithfulness that keeps
you. He keeps you. He loves you. It's also like Hezekiah, King
Hezekiah. Sometimes God will show you exactly
what is in your heart Second Chronicles 32 31 As God used
his akai during his reign and God blessed him God graciously
blessed him How be it in the business of the ambassadors of
the princess of Babylon? Who sent unto him to inquire
the wonder of? that was done in the land. God left him. God left Hezekiah to himself.
He wasn't given the glory to God. He was taking it for himself.
And God left him to try him. He didn't stop loving him. No,
this is for his good. It's for your good. that he might
know all that was in his heart. That King Hezekiah, God knew
what was in his heart. This was so King Hezekiah would
know what was in his heart. And what did he see? He saw a
sinful, vile creature. And so are we. So who keeps us watching? Who
keeps us ready? It's not our faith. And as David said, as he was
about to leave this world, in 2 Samuel 23, verse five, although
my house be not so with God, yet he hath made with me an everlasting
covenant, ordered in all things, ensure, for this is all my salvation. and all my desire, although he
make it not to grow. Brothers and sisters, God is
faithful to his elect. He made a covenant and swore
by himself, because there's no greater to swear by. And what
God does, he does for eternity, he does forever. Because it's
right, and it's just, and it's holy, and it's good. There's
no turning with Him. There's no changing with Him.
There's no shadow of turning in Him. He
doesn't change. Faith of Christ Jesus. He is
our rest. He is our hope. God gives us that faith and it
looks to Him. He makes us to endure. Remember all he has done for
us What Christ has done for us his righteousness because when
he shows us what we are and what we have not Without him He shows us what Christ has done
for us he brings back to remembrance and we need to be reminded What
Christ, what God has done for us by His grace in Christ Jesus. Because He's coming again. He's promised, He's coming again
and our hope is in Him. That everything He did was enough. It satisfied God's holy justice
that was offended. and that we are righteous in
him and justified in him, declared righteous by his obedience. And even though we sleep in slumber
as the foolish, it is God who preserves us in him. He has sanctified
us, he has justified us, he has revealed Christ in us the hope
of glory. We are kept. We're protected. We're sealed by His Holy Spirit. He gave us a comforter. He said,
I'm not going to leave you comfortless. I and my Father will make our
abode in you. He will not utterly let us fall. He will help us. He will succor
us. He will raise us up. We are His possession. The apple
of His eye. And He will try our faith. We
are called on to suffer. We are called on to take up our
cross and follow Him. Forsake all. Because what else
do we need? Where else would we go? Where
do you turn to when there's no hope left? When God has fixed it to where
you can't do nothing and He shows you you can't do anything. Be careful when you say, I've
left it all in God's hand or I've done this and the rest I'm
gonna leave up to God. Oh, it was always in His hands, always. I'm not beating you up. I've
said that foolish statement before. God ordains all things. He uses
his means and his people, and it's all for our good, he tells
us that. And it's all for his glory. He
will try your faith, that faith that he gives you, it'll be tried
in fire for perfection. Christ suffered. He's gone. But he suffered. And we're supposed to suffer
for Christ's sake. And it's for our good and his
glory. This is God's work. He's worked in you. Free and
sovereign grace in Christ Jesus our Lord and Savior. Salvation is all of the Lord.
Now back in verse six. And at midnight there was a cry
made. Behold, the bridegroom cometh.
Go ye out to meet him. Then all those virgins rose and
trimmed their lamps. Looky there, looky there. It's
hard to tell the foolish virgins from the wise virgins, isn't
it? They all heard that cry. And they all went out to meet
him. Says they all went out to meet him. And they all trimmed
their lamps. The word of God is powerful.
Powerful. Any two edged sword. It's the
dynamite of God. The gospel is the God's dynamite. When an explosion goes off, everybody
hears it. And the foolish, they know how to put on a good
show outwardly. We all do. We know how to hide
our faults and our sins. Polish ourselves up a little
bit on the outside. We read the Bible. We sing the
hymns. We profess Jesus. We listen to the preaching. You can fool others. And you
can deceive yourself. But God knows the heart. It's
His Word. Then it doesn't go out void.
It either is to the saving of the soul or it is the heaping
of coals. on the head, because God knows
who are his. And you can't fool God. He knows
and sees all things, visible and invisible. He created all. And he comforts his elect with
the gospel. And there he sits on his throne,
ruling and reigning, saving his people. The gospel's being preached. And all are hearing. But not all have grace, not all
have faith, and not all believe. But some think they're fine. Then we see in verse eight. And
the foolish said unto the wise, give us your oil, for our lamps
are gone out. But the wise answered, saying,
not so, lest there be not enough for us and you, but go ye rather
to them that sell and buy for yourselves. All heard the cry. and all went
out to meet him, and all trimmed their lamps. And the foolish saw something
in the wise that they did not possess. Their lamps had burned out. Their
profession of faith had no grace. It wasn't given by God. It was her own faith. And they said, give us your oil.
Look how they went to the wives, went to the other virgins. Give
us your oil. Give us your grace. They didn't go to God. They didn't
say pray for us, pray to you God for us. They didn't go to the one they
professed to know. They professed. They knew who the bridegroom
was. But if they'd have known him, wouldn't they have known that
grace and truth comes through Jesus Christ? And the wise knew. They knew.
They knew where this grace come from and they know. But it's
sufficient for who He gives it to. He'll give it to who He will
and who He pleases. And it'll be sufficient for you.
Won't be too much, it won't be too little. It'll be just right. And those made wise by God's
grace also know that salvation is of God only. By grace alone, by that grace and that truth
that comes from Jesus Christ alone. They knew where it come from.
God had revealed Christ in them and they told the foolish, they
told them where to go. They told them where to go. Don't
make me not sound like it, but they did. Turn to Isaiah 55 verse
one. Yeah, you go to the ones who
sell. Oh, everyone that thirsteth,
come to the waters. And he that hath no money, come
ye and buy and eat. Yea, come buy wine and milk without
money and without price. Wherefore do you spend money
for that which is not bread? and your labor for that which
satisfies not, hearken diligently unto me, and eat ye that which
is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness. Incline your
ear and come unto me. Here in your soul shall live,
and I will make an everlasting covenant with you, even the sure
mercies of death. You can't buy free and sovereign
grace that's in Christ. It comes from Jesus Christ. He bought it with His own blood. There's no money. You can't buy
it. And while, 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. Again, notice they did not go
to the throne of grace. They asked not for grace and
mercy from God, the one who draws you. They did not go to the one
who has the power, who sits on his throne and rules and reigns
over all flesh and all things. They didn't go to the throne
of grace. They didn't bow at his feet. The one who grace and truth was
obtained. Salvation was paid in full. They didn't go
to Jesus Christ. That bridegroom that they professed
to know, the very one that they professed to know, and were gonna
go trim their lamps to go see, They didn't go to him. They went
elsewhere. They didn't know him. And the door was shut. Christ is the door. I have found the ransom. Christ's blood shed paid your
ransom. All that the Father gave him.
No more. No more. He's coming again. We're
to be watching for him. We're to be ready. And these foolish virgins thought
they had their lamp, their faith, and their righteousness. And
they were comfortable in it. They rested in it. They didn't
think anything was out of place. God tests your faith. He gives
you faith in Christ. And it's an enduring faith because
it's true faith. And that evidence is Jesus Christ. Him suffering and Him being crucified,
Him dying, His blood shed for remission of sins, His sacrifice
that pleased God. They didn't know who He was.
They didn't know where to get that grace. But the wives were ready, and
they went in. Look over in Revelations here
real quick. Revelation 19, in verse five, look here. And a voice came out of the throne
saying, praise our God, all ye his servants, and ye that fear
him, both small and great. And I heard as it were the voice
of a great multitude. And as the voice of many waters
and as the voice of a mighty thundering saying, hallelujah,
for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth. Let us be glad and rejoice and
give honor to him for the marriage of the lamb is come and his wife
hath made herself ready. And to her was granted that she
should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white, for the fine
linen is the righteousness of the saints. And he saith unto
me, write, Blessed are they which are called unto the marriage
supper of the Lamb. And he saith unto me, these are
the true sayings of God. Made his bride ready, didn't
he? Says she adorned herself. That's what it says. What does she adorn herself with?
He gave her the knowledge. He gave her those final and he
washed her in his own blood and made her as white as snow,
pure chaste virgin. Though she be a whore, we're
whores. He makes us chaste virgins. Clothed in his righteousness, not our filthy rags. He adorned
his bride, God adorned his bride for his son. In him, being confident
of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you
will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ. And here in verse 11, Afterward
came also the other version saying Lord Lord opened us But he answered
and said verily I say unto you. I know you not How dreadful But God is just God is holy God
is righteous and God is good and he only does good We're all condemned. We're born
condemned. If it wasn't for the shedding
of his blood remission for sins, for God choosing us in him, in
electing grace, and him coming to redeem us and call us nobody would be saved. God is
just and holy in what he does. He simply left them in their
darkness, in their unbelief, and gave them no faith. They
heard the gospel just the same as the wise, but it wasn't mixed
with faith. And God is just to condemn them. just as He's just because the
just, the Holy One, the Justifier, is our substitute, made us acceptable
to God, took our sins, was made sin for us, and we may be made
the righteousness of God in Him. And He died. We died in Him.
He's buried. He rose again for our justification. with His one sacrifice, put away all our sins, that God
could look at us and say, come, my beloved son. Because He sees us in Christ,
washed in His blood, clothed in His righteousness. Verily I say unto you I know
you not And only by the free and sovereign grace in Jesus
Christ. I am what I am God separates That new birth the operating grace of the Holy
Spirit, revealing Christ in you. It was done in eternity by God. It was accomplished in Christ
Jesus. And then in the appointed time
of love, He let you know. He let you know what He has done
for you. In verse 13 watch therefore for
ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of Man cometh
Christ Jesus is coming again In all his glory and all his
power To gather all that are his that
the Together in him so we'd be known as we're known at faith.
God give you beside Beside And he tells us Watch And be
ready Examine yourselves Study His Word. Pray. Be vigilant. Walk circumspectly. Watching
for Him and looking to Him all the time, because we need Him
all the time. Pray, God, keep your eyes fixed
on Him. Believe Him by that faith that
He's given you that endures to the end. Worship him publicly
and privately. Read his word. Hear his gospel
preached. Pray God make his will your will. Watch for him. I believe Oh God help my unbelief. Look to Christ Jesus by faith
that God has given you the gift of because he's coming again. Are you ready? Has he made you
ready? Are you watching for that hope
that he has given you in Christ? We don't have to fear this. The
foolish do. But they don't even know any
better. But we do. My brother Evans also said the
ones who worry about apostasy are the believers in Christ,
aren't they? Because they're the only ones
that know the difference. And that's what he does. He gives
you that faith and then he tests it. We're called on to suffer. This is not our home. This is
not our utopia. Things are not going to be pleasant all the time. God is
gracious, and there are wonderful days. We've been a blessed, I've
been a blessed generation so far. Haven't had to suffer through
blood, but we might. We may be called on. Is that
true God-given faith? Is that what you rest here? You
rest in Christ Jesus alone and His righteousness? Is your righteousness? Or do you think everything is
fine? You get the oil when you need it. John 10, 27, my sheep, they hear
my voice and I know them. and they follow me. And I give
unto them eternal life, and they shall never perish. Neither shall
any man pluck them out of my hand. My Father which gave them
to me is greater than all, and no man is able to pluck them
out of my Father's hand. We're kept. I and my Father are one, He has
made us one with God in Him. And oh, what a marriage it's
gonna be. Oh, what a wedding is gonna take
place. He's gonna separate the sheep
from the goat. We're gonna be with Him, known
as we are known, in Him without sin. We don't know that yet,
but look at the hope. Look at the hope that we've got.
Look what we've got to watch for. Be watching for, be ready
for that he which has begun that good work in you, that confidence
we have in him, he will perform it into the joy of Jesus Christ,
our Lord and Savior. Oh, wise virgin. Oh, bride. Oh, church of God. Behold your bridegroom, the Lord
Jesus Christ, your husband. Are you watching for him? Are
you ready? Because he's coming. May God
get his glory. May he bless you.