Matthew chapter 25, as I pointed
out in the reading, if you look to the top of the page on page
41, if you have the Cambridge that I'm looking at, Cambridge
Bible, it says the parable of the 10 virgins. And it's certainly
talking about 10 young women who represent sinners, 10 sinners. So it's called the parable of
the 10 virgins. We read that five were made wise,
wise unto salvation, ready to meet the Lord. Five were foolish,
thinking there was no need to make preparations to meet the
Lord Jesus Christ. So I'm going to title this message,
The Wise or the Foolish? The Wise or the Foolish? Which
one are you? I know by nature we're all foolish
and ignorant, blind, dead, and dumb. It's only by the grace
of God that we've been made wise in the salvation. We start here
in Matthew 25 with a new chapter, but it's not a new subject. Both
24, Matthew 24 and Matthew 25 are further exhortation what
the Lord is teaching in the previous chapter. about the wise and faithful
servant of the Lord, and the evil and foolish servant of the
Lord, back there in Matthew 24, verses 45 through 41. The wise
and faithful servant served the Lord out of love and gratitude.
You remember I read in your hearing last week, Peter, do you love
me? He said, feed my sheep. The love of Christ does constrain
his people, the other, the evil servant that's mentioned there
in Matthew 24 verse 48. But if that evil servant shall
say in his heart, my Lord, delayeth his coming and shall begin to
smite his fellow servants and to eat and drink and be drunken,
the Lord of that servant shall come in that day when he looketh
not for him and in that hour that he's not aware and shall
cut him asunder and appoint him his portion. With the hypocrites
there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth, cut him asunder. The
other had no love for his master, no faith toward the Lord Jesus
Christ, was only evil, faithless, foolish, and only served his
self-interest, and that servant was cut off. You see that? He was cut off. He was cut out.
cut him asunder. The Lord Jesus Christ in this
chapter tells us more information about being ready and being prepared
to meet him and what that means to us right now. What does that
mean to us right now? Remember that parables are earthly
stories that tell us about a spiritual and heavenly truth. As it says
there in verse 1, the kingdom of heaven, then shall the kingdom
of heaven be like unto ten virgins which took their lamps, and they
went forth to meet the bridegroom. Five of them were wise and five
were foolish. They that were foolish took oil. They took their lamps and took
no oil with them, but the wise took oil in their vessels with
their lamps, with the lamps. So the parable here is an earthly
story that presents a heavenly and spiritual truth. The kingdom
of heaven is like, what is it like? Salvation is like this,
salvation of the Lord. This statement that's made there
in verse one of Matthew 25, the kingdom of heaven, it's given
in the book of Matthew 32 times. 32 times we read about the kingdom
of heaven, the kingdom of heaven. The book of Matthew, the Lord
Jesus Christ is set forth as the king in his kingdom. You
remember in Matthew chapter 2, the wise men came and said, where
is he this born king? The kingdom of heaven, the Lord
Jesus Christ is king of salvation. He is king of kings and Lord
of lords. It's interesting that in the
book of Mark, Luke and John, that statement, the kingdom of
heaven is like, is never made. There it's called the Kingdom
of God. The Kingdom of God, the Son of
God, the Son of Man was sent to accomplish our salvation.
Now remember the theme and lesson of these two parables are to
teach us about watchfulness, about being prepared and ready
to meet the Lord Jesus Christ when He comes. I read again,
turn to Matthew 24, verse 42. Watch therefore, for you know
not what hour the Lord, your Lord, doth come. Again, Matthew
24, verse 44. Therefore be also ready, for
in such an hour as you think not, the Son of Man cometh. And
then in Matthew 25, verse 13, Watch, therefore, for you know
neither the day nor the hour when the Son of Man, the Son
of Man, the God-Man, the Lord Jesus Christ, is coming back.
Now, in this parable, what do these symbols represent? Well, we know, first of all,
that the bridegroom is the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, hold your
place there and turn over here to John chapter 3. The bridegroom
there represents the Lord Jesus Christ. John chapter 3, John
the Baptist identifies the Lord Jesus Christ as the bridegroom. In John chapter 3, verse 27,
John answered and said, a man can receive nothing except be
given him from above. You yourselves bear me witness
that I said I'm not the Christ. But I'm sent before him. He that hath the bride, that's
the church, is the bridegroom. But the friend of the bridegroom,
which standeth and heareth him, rejoices greatly because of the
bridegroom's voice. This my joy therefore is fulfilled. He must increase, I must decrease. So in this parable, the bridegroom
is the Lord Jesus Christ. the Lord Jesus Christ. Now the
10 women, and I'm gonna use the word, it uses the word here virgins,
but if you look the word up, it simply means maidens or young
maidens, but really they represent 10 sinners, 10 sinners, and that's
all of us. The 10 women represent 10 sinners
who all made a profession of faith, some were wise, and some
were foolish. There's always sheep and goats.
There's always tares and wheat. Some are made wise by the grace
of God. Some are left in their foolishness. The lamps here in our parable
represent the public profession of all who had made a profession
of faith. The oil in the lamps represent
the grace, life, and power of the gospel and the anointing
of God the Holy Spirit. So let's take a look at this
parable here in Matthew 25. And here we see the first thing,
the character and description of those 10 sinners. Five were
made wise unto salvation through the scriptures. You remember
Paul said to young Timothy, thou from a child hath known the scriptures
which are able to make thee wise unto salvation. Five were made
wise by having that word of God revealed unto them by the Holy
Spirit, showing them the Lord Jesus Christ. We know for sure
that none of us are wise by nature. All of us have sinned and all
of us have come short of the glory of God. By nature, we're
ignorant, blind, dumb, aren't we? Paul writes this in Ephesians
chapter 2. He said that at that time you
were without Christ, aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, strangers
from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God
in this world. So none of us are wise in the
salvation. By nature, we're ignorant, and
dumb. Sinners, saved by the Lord's
grace, are made wise to see in the Lord Jesus Christ and Him
crucified, all the demands of God's holy law satisfied, all
the demands of God's justice satisfied by the coming, the
doing, and the dying of the Lord Jesus Christ. And the only reason
we know that, because we've been taught of God. No man can come
to me, our Father says, the Lord says, no man can come to me except
the Father which sent me. Draw him and all those who have
heard and learned of the Father, they come to the Lord Jesus Christ.
In the fullness of time, God sent forth his son, made of a
woman, made under the law to redeem us who were under the
law. So he has made us wise unto salvation
by his purpose, by his grace, given us in Christ Jesus before
the foundation of the world. It says there in verse four,
the wise took the oil in their vessels. They took the oil of
God's Spirit into their heart. They made a new creature with
their lamp, with their profession that they had made. The wives
took oil into their heart, the oil of the Spirit of God. Oil,
usually, it always represents God the Holy Spirit. For we have
the treasure of the gospel in, what are these, earthen vessels,
aren't they? Put there, this treasure put there by the power
of God the Holy Spirit in regeneration. God, who commands the light to
shine out of darkness, has shined in our hearts. to give us the
light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus
Christ. Those who are born again by the
Spirit of God, they see the Lord Jesus Christ as everything in
salvation. They see Him as Christ is all
and in all. The lamp and light of the gospel
put into believers, put into us by the Spirit of God, never
goes out. The gifts and calling of God
are without change. No doubt, Christ is our light. He's our light. Our Lord said
this, I am the light of the world. He that follows me shall not
walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life. He is our
light. He is our life. The Lord Jesus
Christ supplies our every need. So we're only made wise in the
salvation because Christ is our wisdom. The five that remain
foolish in their heart, were born that way, remained that
way, religious and lost, religious and untaught by God the Holy
Spirit, that had no oil of grace, no oil of the Spirit of God put
in their heart. David writes about this, and
Paul quotes it in Romans 3. The fool hath said in his heart,
no God, no God. And then he writes, they're all
corrupt, They have all done abominable works. There is none good. There is none that doeth good.
No, not one. They've all gone aside. They're all together filthy.
There's none that doeth good. No, not one. Not one. That's us. That's us
by nature. The fool has said in his heart,
there is no God. They took the lamp of their profession,
but saw no need of the oil of grace. or the righteousness that's
revealed in the gospel. Paul said of those Jews, they
had a righteousness that they were going about to establish
of their own. They were ignorant of the righteousness
of God and had not submitted themselves to the righteousness
revealed in the gospel. They had a profession of faith,
but no Christ in their heart, no gospel in their heart. It's much like these described
over here in Matthew 23. Turn back over there. In Matthew
23, you remember he talked about the scribes and the Pharisees,
verse 27. What was he who scribed in the
Pharisees? Matthew 23, 27. Hypocrites, for
you are like unto white as sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful
outward, but within you're full of dead men's bones and all uncleanness,
even so outwardly You appear righteous unto men, but within
you're full of hypocrisy and iniquity. Their lamps were all
cleaned up, but there's no life in the heart. No life in the
heart. There's a vast difference between
being religious and being made righteous in Christ. And your
morality is not righteousness. My morality is not righteousness.
Blessed is the man to whom the Lord imputeth righteousness without
worth. So there's a vast difference
between being religious and being made righteous in Christ. There's
a vast difference between joining a church and winning Christ and
being found in the Lord Jesus Christ. Paul said, I count everything
else lost, dung, and ruined that I may win Christ and be found
in Him. There's a vast difference about
seeing about the blood of Christ and being truly justified freely
by His grace through the redeeming blood of the Lord Jesus Christ.
There's a vast difference between being baptized with water and
being baptized into Christ by God the Holy Spirit. By the one
Spirit, Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 12, 13, by the one Spirit have
we all been baptized into the one body. We've been baptized
into Christ. So there's a difference. between
being religious and lost and being regenerated and found and
made righteous in the Lord Jesus Christ. The second thing I wanna
see in verse five, while the bridegroom tarried, they all
slumbered and slept. Now, what do you see in that?
Well, here's what I see. Here we see the common weakness
and sinfulness of the flesh, the flesh of all men everywhere,
both saved and lost. This flesh is still flesh, weak
and sinful. The sin nature of the flesh is
never done away with. Those who are made new creatures
in Christ, they still have this old rotten nature to deal with
every day. That's why there's a warfare. That which is born
of the flesh is just that sinful, dying, weak flesh. All believers
have to contend with this battle every day. The flesh lusted against
the spirit and the spirit against the flesh. These two are contrary
one to another so that you cannot do what you would. I would worship
God perfectly. I would believe him 100% perfectly,
but I'm so frail and weak. We know in part, we preach in
part. Someday we'll see him face to face as Fanny Crosby sung
about. So that which is born of the
flesh, that's all it is, is flesh. While the bridegroom, While the bridegroom carried
they all, it says there, they all slumbered and slept. It reminded
me of this, turn to Matthew 26. Matthew 26, when the Lord was
in Gethsemane, praying unto the Father about what was to take
place about the cup of God's wrath falling upon him. In Matthew
26, 39, and he went a little further and fell on his face
and prayed, saying, oh, my father, if it be possible, let this cup
pass from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but
thy will be done. Matthew 26, verse 40. And he
cometh unto his disciples and findeth them Now this is Peter,
James, and John. He said to Peter, what could
you watch with me for one hour? Watch and pray. Same message,
isn't it? Watch and pray that you enter
not into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing,
but the flesh weak, isn't it? Now look, read on. He went away
again the second time and prayed, saying, O father, if this cup
may not pass for me, except I drink it, thy will be done. And he
came and found them asleep again. They were all slumbering asleep.
How weak and how frail we are. Aren't you glad salvation is
not dependent upon you, upon your faithfulness, but rather
upon him? He left them and went away and prayed the third time,
saying the same word. Then He cometh to His disciples
and saith unto them, Sleep on, take your rest. Behold, the hour
is at hand. The Son of Man is betrayed in
the hands of sinners. Arise, let us be going. Behold,
He is at hand, that doth betray me. So we see the weakness of
the flesh, don't we? The Lord, it says there, The
Lord will tarry, in verse six. At midnight there was a cry made, behold the bridegroom, the bridegroom
cometh. The bridegroom doth come. The Lord will tarry until the
appointed hour of his decreed coming. He may not come as soon
as we expect, but we know for sure that he will come. You remember
Revelation 1 verse 7, it says, Behold, he cometh with cloud,
and every eye shall see him, which pierced him, and all the
kindred of the earth shall wail because of him. This is why we
should look every day for His coming and be ready to meet the
Lord with joy when He comes, looking for that blessed hope
and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, the Lord
Jesus Christ. All those redeemed by His grace
should continually look for the Lord every day. Is this the day
the Lord's coming back? All those who were saved by the
grace of God, as Paul says, we love His coming. We do love His
coming. Now look at verse 7. While the bridegroom tarried,
they all slumbered in sleep. He tarries on purpose. He will
come. At midnight, there was a cry
made, behold, the bridegroom cometh. Go ye out to meet him. Verse 7, then all those virgins
arose and trimmed their lamps. When the Lord comes back, We
all must meet him. Behold, the bridegroom cometh."
Remember, we read several times in the book of Hebrews, it's
appointed unto men once to die and after that the judgment.
So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many, the just
for the unjust that he may bring us unto God. Unto them that look
for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation. Behold, he comes. The summons will be answered. God's appointed a day in which
he will judge the world in righteousness by that man. The Father judged
no man, but has committed all judgment unto the Son. His first coming was not observed
by many, was it? But His second coming will be
observed by all. Every eye shall see Him, even
those who pierced Him, and they will wail because of Him." To
the believer, it's a glad and happy day to be with the Lord.
It says, the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout,
with the voice of an archangel. And then we which are alive and
remain shall be caught up, the dead shall be raised, and we
which are alive and remain shall be caught up in the clouds to
be with the Lord in the air forever. And he said, comfort one another
with these words. Look at verse seven, it's interesting.
Now then all those virgins, all those, both the foolish and the
wise, they trimmed their lamps. Now look that word trimmed up.
and it has to do with garnish and decoration. All those senators
went to meet him, they all trimmed or decorated or garnished their
lamps. Now, the wise by faith and confidence,
by faith with confidence in Christ, depending upon the oil of his
grace, and salvation by the grace, went to meet the Lord, casting
away all their works as filthy rags, and only having confidence
in the Lord Jesus Christ. The foolish, by their works,
their deeds, depending upon what their flesh produced, which is
nothing but sin, they only decorated their lamps with the work and
deed of the flesh, but had no oil, no life in the lamp, in
the vessel. We know that salvation apart
from the Lord Jesus Christ is impossible, right? They trimmed,
they all trimmed their lamps. The wise with the gospel of God's
grace. The foolish with their works
and their deeds. And by the works and deeds of
the flesh, no one can be saved because salvation is by grace.
Now look at verse 8 and 9. The foolish said to the wise, give us your oil. and for our
lamps, because our lamps are gone out. The wise answered saying,
not so, but there, lest there be not enough for us and you,
but go rather to them that sell and buy for yourselves. Now, what do we see here? We
see here the great value of the gospel realized too late. The foolish realized they had
no oil of God's grace, but they realized it too late. Now the
foolish began to value what they once despised, once they saw
no need of grace, no need of a justifying grace, no need of
a justifying righteousness. Once they saw no need of being
made one with Christ, the foolish said to the wise, give us oil.
Our lamps have no light. Our salvation has no truth, no
light. And now they say, give us some
of your oil. Give us what you have. Our profession
was false and not real. Our works are nothing but filthy
rag. Give us what you have. Give us Christ. I can't give
you Christ. The wise answer comes back in
verse 9. The wise answer is saying, not
so. Not so. lest there be not enough
for us and you, but go rather to them that sell and buy for
yourselves. Not so. We only have as believers
what the Lord has given to us. And we only need what the Lord
has given to us and we have none to spare. I can't give you the
grace that God has given me. I can't give you the mercy that
God has shown unto me. Go buy for yourself. Seek the
Lord yourself. Believe the gospel for yourself.
Go to them that sell and buy for yourself, meaning those that
preach the gospel of salvation by the grace of God and ask the
Lord to give you the oil of his grace, the oil of his gospel
into your heart. Buy the truth in the marketplace
of free grace upon the terms of the gospel. Did you get that? Grace is sold in God's marketplace
on the terms of the gospel. You remember what we read in
Isaiah 55? Ho, everyone that's thirsty, come ye to the waters. He that hath no money, come ye,
buy and eat. Yea, come, buy wine and milk
without money and without profit. That's strange economics, isn't
it? Buy everything you need with no money. Grace is free. Grace is free. God who spared
not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall
He not with Him also freely give us all things in the Lord Jesus
Christ? Grace is sold in the God's marketplace. on the terms of the gospel without
money and without price. It's free. Free. Go to them that
sell. One old writer had these thoughts.
Go to them that have the oil of grace. Go to them, Father,
Son, Holy Spirit. God the Father is called the
God of all grace, the God of all grace. Go to Him, the God
of all grace who had called us unto His eternal glory by Jesus
Christ. After you've suffered a while,
make you perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you. Call
upon the name of the Lord. Whosoever shall call upon the
name of the Lord shall be saved. Call upon God, He's the God of
all grace. Go to them, God the Father. Go
to the Son, the Redeemer, the Lord Jesus Christ. For you know
the grace of God in Christ, though He was rich, yet for your sake
He became poor, that you through His poverty might be made rich.
We believe through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, we
shall be saved. Call upon the Father. He's the
Father of mercy. Who'd delight to show mercy?
Call upon God the Son, the Redeemer, who has put away our sin by shedding
of His blood. Ask God the Holy Spirit, who's
the plier of grace, to show and reveal the gospel of God unto
you. He's hid these things from the
wise and prudent and revealed them unto babes. You had the
quickened, quickened who were dead. Now look at verse 10. The
coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. While they went to buy the bridegroom,
the Lord Jesus Christ came. And they that were ready, being
made ready, being made wise in the salvation, went in with him
to the marriage. Door was shut. Afterward came
also the other sinners, saying, Lord, Lord, open to us. But he
answered and said, verily I say unto you, I don't know you, I
know you not. Watch therefore, watch therefore. Verse 10, when
the bridegroom came, those that were made ready by the grace
of God, went into that eternal feast with the Lamb. How are
they made ready? Having on the wedding garment
of Christ's righteousness, being freely imputed, being washed
in the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, we are redeemed with
His precious blood, being born again by the Spirit of God. Verse
10 says, And while they went to buy, the
bridegroom came, and they that were ready went in, and it says
there in verse 10, the last part, the door was shut. Sealed forever. We know that Christ is the door
of the sheepfold, right? He said, I am the door, by me
if any man enter in, he shall be saved. When all the elect
enter in through the door of mercy, the door of grace, when
all enter in through the Lord Jesus Christ, who is the door,
the door of mercy will be closed. to secure within and to exclude
without. Verse 11 and verse 12. Afterward
came also the other sinner saying, Lord, Lord, open to us. Now you see the reference there
on verse 11? Matthew 7, 21. Let's turn there. Is that a familiar statement?
Lord, Lord. Do you remember Matthew 7, 21? Let's begin reading there, Matthew
7, 21. Not everyone that saith unto
me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven, but he
that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. What is that? To believe on Christ. Not everyone
that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom
of heaven, but he that doeth the will of my Father. For many
will say unto me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied
in thy name? Decorated their lamp. And in
thy name have cast out devils. And in thy name done many wonderful
works. Then I'll profess unto them,
I never knew you. Depart from me, ye that work
iniquity. The door of mercy was shut. Back to the text. They did acknowledge that the
Lord Jesus Christ is Lord. And they were brought to own
Him as Lord. They said, Lord, Lord. Every
knee will bow, every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is
Lord. But look what He says unto them
in verse 12. I know you not. I know you not. I don't love you. I never loved
you. The Lord certainly knew about
their person, didn't He? He knew about their character.
He knew about their conduct. He knew about their state. He
knew that they were foolish, graceless, trusting themselves
that they were righteous, instead of looking to the Lord Jesus
Christ. The Lord says they were never
loved with an everlasting love. They were never owned as his
sheep. His sheep say this, He is our God. We are the people
of His pasture and the sheep of His hand. They were never
loved by the Lord with an everlasting love. They were never owned as
His sheep. The Lord, the foundation of God,
stand assured the Lord knoweth them that are His. The Lord never
made atonement for their sin. Depart from me, ye that work
iniquity, I know you not. What a sad state, what a sad
day that will be to stand before the Lord of glory and to hear
him say, I don't know you, I don't know you. Now the elect of God
will not hear that because if you turn one page to Matthew
25, the wise Sinners made wise into salvation
will hear the king say in that day verse 34 Matthew 25 then
shall the king say unto them on his right hand come be blessed
in my father Inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation
of the world come Enter into the joy of the Lord as it says
over here. Look at Matthew 25. It says this
several times. I Look at verse 21. We'll look at this parable next
week, Lord willing. Matthew 25, 21. His Lord said
unto him, Well done, thou good and faithful servant. Thou hast
been faithful over a few things. I'll make thee ruler over many
things. Enter thou into the joy of the Lord. There'll be a joy
when the Lord comes back for those made wise in the salvation.
Now, in closing, verse 13. Watch, therefore, watch, as it
says in verse 44 of chapter 24, watch and be ready. Watch, therefore,
for you know neither the day nor the hour when the Son of
Man, the God-Man Mediator, comes. Watch and be ready. May we never hear those dreadful,
tragic words, I never knew you. depart from me, ye that work
iniquity, but rather hear him say, blessed are you, enter into
the joy of the Lord. Come, ye blessed of my Father,
inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of
the world. May the Lord be pleased. in His sovereign mercy, in His
sovereign grace, to make us wise unto salvation. Do you see all
of your salvation accomplished by Christ and in the Lord Jesus
Christ? You're a blessed man. You're
a blessed man. May God give us grace. to rest
in Him who is all of salvation. Every believer does stand complete
in Christ. Of His fullness have we all received
grace for grace. And that's the only way we can
meet Him and be with Him is by His grace, His mercy, and His
love toward us. He said, come unto me all you
that labor and are heavy laden. I will give you rest. That's
the rest we have in Christ as believers.