Ready For Christ’s Return

I want to read these first 13 verses in Matthew 25. Follow with me in your Bible.

Jesus said, “Then the kingdom of heaven shall be likened to ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. Now five of them were wise, and five were foolish. Those who were foolish took their lamps and took no oil with them, but the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps. But while the bridegroom was delayed, they all slumbered and slept. And at midnight a cry was heard: ‘Behold, the bridegroom is coming; go out to meet him!’ Then all those virgins arose and trimmed their lamps. And the foolish said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’ But the wise answered, saying, ‘No, lest there should not be enough for us and you; but go rather to those who sell, and buy for yourselves.’ And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the wedding; and the door was shut. Afterward the other virgins came also, saying, ‘Lord, Lord, open to us!’ But he answered and said, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, I do not know you.’ Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour in which the Son of Man is coming.”

In Acts 1, we have the story of Jesus’ Ascension from the Mount of Olives. Jesus is teaching this passage from the same spot, on Mount Olivet. In Acts 1, Jesus had risen from the dead, He was seen alive after His death for a period of 40 days, we have what we know as the Ascension. The Bible teaches the Incarnation, in which God became a man through the womb of the Virgin Mary; the Crucifixion, when He died on the Cross for our sins; the Resurrection, when Jesus rose from the dead; and then 40 days later, we have the Ascension, when Jesus physically, bodily ascended back up into heaven, when a cloud received Him out of their sight. Then He had what is called the “exaltation.” So we have the Incarnation, the Crucifixion, the Resurrection, the Ascension and the exaltation. Christ is exalted at the right hand of God the Father, and He “ever lives to make intercession for us.”

But it’s not over yet; Jesu Christ is coming again. Jesus Christ, Who died, arose, ascended and is exalted on high is coming back in power, glory and majesty.

Now the Bible tells us that when the disciples were on the Mount of Olives and they saw Jesus go up into heaven, then two men appeared. I believe they were angels. A lot of times in the New Testament in the Gospels where it mentions that a man appeared here or there, it is referring to an angel. These angels said, “You men of Galilee, why do you stand staring into the heavens? The same Jesus, Who you saw go, shall come in like manner as you saw Him go into heaven.”

What does that tell us? It tells us that the same Jesus, Who was incarnate, crucified, died, resurrected, ascended and exalted, is coming back. Not only is He coming back, but He is coming back visibly and physically. “Every eye will see Him.” So both the Old Testament and the New Testament teach, very clearly, what is known as the Second Advent or the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. Just as the prophecies predicted His first coming, so the prophets predicted His Second Coming. And Jesus spoke about it over and over again.

Today the question is, are you ready for the Lord’s return? Have you been born again? Do you have the Holy Spirit? Are you living a life of holiness, consecration in serving the Lord?

We look at today the parable commonly called The Ten Virgins or bridesmaids. In those days, bridesmaids were young girls who weren’t married, so they were virgins. The translation renders that virgins, but some modern translations have ten “bridesmaids.” It’s interesting that we have bridesmaids in the parable, we have the groom in the parable but we don’t have the bride herself. She’s not in the parable, and I think you’ll understand why as we get into it.

Now the main lesson of the parable is a warning, found in verse 13. It says, “Watch therefore…”—here’s the reason or the rationale—“…for you know neither the day nor the hour in which the Son of Man…”—which is a title for Messiah or Jesus Christ—“…is coming.” Because we don’t know the day, because we don’t know the hour, because we don’t know when the Lord will come, we need to be watching, we need to be ready, we need to be looking for His return.

This parable is one of the most misinterpreted and misunderstood and thus, misapplied parables in all the Bible. The parable is so misunderstood that I want to take the time—since it is my last in this series—to bring some clarity and understanding to it.

First, I want to look at the setting and context of the parable. You can’t understand a parable unless you back up in the text to find out what leads up to it and why the parable was given. Notice in verse 1 it says, “Then the kingdom of heaven shall be likened to….” Notice the word “then.” The word “then” is a time word. So when you read the word “then,” you have to ask yourself, “When is the word ‘then’ in verse 1?” The answer is found back in chapter 24, verses 1-3.

I love this section of the Bible. I want to give you some information. Matthew 24 and 25 are a famous sermon that Jesus gave. It is known by Bible students as the Olivet Discourse. East of Jerusalem is the Mount of Olives. Basically it was called the Olivet Discourse because Jesus was on the mountain when He gave the teaching. Matthew 24:1-3 is so important to understanding the parable.

Matthew says, “Jesus went out and departed from the temple, and His disciples came up to show Him the buildings of the temple. And Jesus said to them, ‘Do you not see all these things?’” He was pointing at the stones of the temple, which is Herod’s temple. “Assuredly, I say to you, not one stone shall be left here upon another, that shall not be thrown down.”

So they’re in Jerusalem at the temple. The disciples, who were country bumpkins from Galilee and had never seen a building so big, were ooing and aweing. So Jesus, to kind of calm them down, said, “You see all these big stones…?” Some of the stones in Herod’s temple were the size of a freight train box car. Huge, big, solid stones. We saw them when we were in Israel recently. Jesus said that “Not one stone will be on top of another. They’re all going to be thrown down.” That took place in 70 AD. It actually happened just as Jesus predicted. In 70 AD, Titus and the Roman armies came and destroyed Jerusalem, as Jesus said.

But in Matthew 24, Jesus was not going to deal with that; He’s not going to explain when these things shall be. That happens in Luke 21. The Olivet Discourse appears in Mark 13, Luke 21 and Matthew 24 and 25. But the classic is Matthew 24 and 25, where He deals with the two questions the disciples asked Him. Notice Matthew 24:3. “Now as He sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately, saying, ‘Tell us, when will these things be?’” They’re asking about the destruction of Jerusalem. “And what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?”

Notice that they asked about three events in verse 3. “When will these things be?” What things? The destruction of the temple. He doesn’t deal with it here; it’s recorded in Luke 21. “What will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?” That sets the context for this parable.

When the disciples asked, “What will be the sign of Your coming?” please note this: they were not referring to what we know today to be the rapture of the church. Let me explain. The Bible teaches that before the Second Coming of Jesus Christ, which happens after seven years of tribulation on the earth—it’s called the time of Jacob’s Trouble—Christ will come and catch up the church, the bride, the true believers, the body of Christ to be with Him in heaven.

You ask, “Well, where does the Bible talk about the rapture?” In 1 Thessalonians 4 starting in verse 13. Paul says, “I don’t want you to be ignorant concerning those who have fallen asleep. I don’t want you to sorrow as those who have no hope.” Some of their loved ones had died, Christ hadn’t returned and they thought they would miss out on the Lord’s coming. He said, “If we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even them also who have fallen asleep…”—a metaphor for death—“…in Jesus, God will bring with Him.” So “to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord.”

Last Tuesday, we buried my 92-year-old father, who loved the Lord, loved Jesus, served him all of his life, a man of the Word. We laid him in the grave with the expectation that one day “the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first.” He is with the Lord, but his body is going to be resurrected and reunited with his soul and spirit, and he’ll have a new body in heaven for all eternity. What a blessing that is.

So we sorrow—I’m going to miss my Dad and miss his prayers and his wise counsel. I believe that all God is doing in my life and through my life is a result of my Mom and Dad praying for me and raising me to love God and love His Word. But I know that someday I’m going to see him again and we’ll be reunited, because “the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up…” The word is “harpazo” in the Greek or “raptured” or “snatched up” or “taken by force.” There is a Latin Volgate translation of the Bible that actually renders the Greek word “harpazo” as “raptured.” Then we will be “…together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air.”

In John 14:3, Jesus said, “If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also.” What a blessed promise that is. Jesus is preparing a place in heaven for me. It’s a real place. He’ll come again and catch me up to meet Him in the air.

This is not taught in Matthew 24 and 25. The rapture is not in view. Go back to Matthew 24. When the disciples asked Jesus, “What will be the sign of Your coming?” they didn’t know anything about the rapture. They’re asking about the Second Coming. And before the Second Coming, the church will be caught up, the antichrist will be revealed, there will be a covenant made with Israel for seven years, God’s wrath will be poured out upon the world and at the end of the seven-year period, Christ will return in power and great glory. So when Jesus moves into chapter 25, and says “then,” it is in context to the tribulation period just before the Second Coming.

Let me outline Matthew 24 as we survey it. In verses 4-14, we have the beginning of sorrows or birth pains. Jesus said, “These are the beginning of sorrows.” He uses a very interesting word in verse 8. He uses a word for birth pains; we call them contractions. There will be war, famine, pestilence and earthquakes. In verses 15-28, He describes the tribulation period, a time of trouble that was never before “nor ever shall be.” “For as the lightning comes from the east and flashes to the west, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be.” Then in verses 29-31, He speaks about His Second Coming and His soon return. Then He gives the parable in verses 32-35 about the fig tree. When its leaves bud it tells you that summer is coming. “So…when you see all these things…”—the signs of the tribulation—“…know that it…”—My Second Coming—“…is near—at the doors!” Then in verses 36-51, He describes the uncertainty of the time of His coming. He says, “As the days of Noah were, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be.” Then he tells us in verse 38 what the days of Noah were like: “They were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage.” They were just going on like life is going to continue, and they didn’t realize the flood was going to come, the door was going to be shut and they would be left out.

There is a parallel between the days of Noah and the ark and the parable of The Ten Virgins. The foolish virgins were left out, the door was shut and they couldn’t get in. The wicked people who rejected Noah’s message and preaching couldn’t get into the ark. The door was shut, the flood came and took them away and they were not saved. They didn’t get in.

So the entire end of the Olivet Discourse actually begins in Matthew 24, about verse 37, and goes all the way to the end of chapter 25, where Jesus is talking about the need to be ready, be watching and looking for the coming of the Lord. Then He tells about the two in the field; one taken and the other left. The two grinding in the mill; one taken and the other left. Notice in verse 42, He says, “Watch”; verse 44, “Be ready”; verse 45, “Be faithful. Don’t be a slothful servant.” So the emphasis is watching, readiness and faithfulness.

Then Jesus gives this warning, in chapter 24, verses 48-51. “But if that evil servant says in his heart, ‘My master is delaying his coming,’ and begins to beat his fellow servants, and to eat and drink with the drunkards, the master of that servant will come on a day when he is not looking for him and at an hour that he is not aware of, and will cut him in two and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites. There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” And without skipping a beat, Jesus moves to chapter 25, verse 1: “Then the kingdom of heaven shall be likened to….”

So what is the context? The context is basically that during the time of the tribulation, there will be Jews in Israel who will be looking with anticipation for the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. I believe the seven-year tribulation is primarily for Israel. It will come upon the whole world, but it is primarily for Israel.

When you study prophecy, there are three groups that you have to keep distinct and in their own place. First, is God’s plan, purpose and program for Israel; secondly, is God’s plan, purpose and program for the church; and thirdly, is God’s plan, purpose and program for the Gentile nations. They all three have their own place and category.

But the tribulation is primarily the time of Jacob’s Trouble, preparing Israel to see Jesus coming and to believe. Those will be our wise virgins. The foolish virgins will disregard the signs of the times, the things that are happening in the world, and won’t be ready for Jesus when He comes back in His Second Coming with power and great glory.

Now it has a secondary application, and only a secondary application, to the rapture. The rapture could happen at any moment. But this isn’t the Lord coming, but it’s the church being taken up. We’ll be “caught up…to meet the Lord in the air,” 1 Thessalonians 4:17. The Bible also says, referring to the rapture, in 1 Corinthians 15:53, “This corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal has put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written: ‘Death is swallowed up in victory. Oh death, where is your sting? O grave, where is your victory?’” Basically, Paul was sticking out his tongue at death and saying, “You can’t get me!” Through Jesus Christ, he’s conquered sin and conquered the grave. We will be resurrected.

So, basically, the context is the tribulation period. During that time, the people who are wise in Israel will be looking for the Messiah to come because they’ve received salvation during this period. The church has already been raptured; we’re in heaven. We’re enjoying the marriage supper of the Lamb. We’ll come back with Him in His Second Coming.

But there is the basic principle of being ready. Have you been born again? Are you ready to die? Are you ready to be raptured? If you are left during the rapture, are you ready for Christ’s return in His Second Coming?

Now we move from the setting of the parable to the story in the parable. The story involves three important elements. It is an earthly story with heavenly meaning. As always, you have to be careful to realize that not every aspect of the parable has a significance or has a meaning. We’re going to find that both the wise and the foolish virgins slept. There is no indictment against them for sleeping; nothing wrong with sleeping. That’s not the point of the parable.

The first element of the parable I want to look at is the wedding. Weddings were a big deal in the Middle East at that time, and they still are, even as in our culture. When you get a wedding invitation, you think, Oh, goody! We got invited to the wedding! I hope they’ll feed us something good, and it’ll be fun. We get to put on nice clothes and show off. I do a lot of weddings, and everyone comes all fancied up, and they’re on their best behavior. Everyone likes a wedding. No one likes a funeral.

The Jewish rabbis taught that even the rabbis could stop studying the Law to go to a wedding. Weddings were so important that they could give up the studying of the Law to go to enjoy a wedding.

A Jewish wedding had basically three phases. It started with the parental arrangements. This is something that I think is kind of cool. Being a father of three daughters, I wish I could have hand-picked whoever they would marry. But God has blessed us with three great sons-in-law. I love them all. They all love the Lord. But when your children are little, you think, You’ve got a cute little girl, and I’ve got a cute little boy; let’s get them together. Let’s go on vacations together and hope they fall in love. Actually my daughter number two met her husband when they were babies in the nursery at church. They grew up in church together. So you think, Let’s set this up so they’ll meet each other. So the first phase was by parental arrangement.

The second phase was the espousal or the engagement. This would be a year before they consummated the marriage. The espousal period was what Mary and Joseph were in when she became pregnant. It was a horrible thing; they were just engaged, and she shows up pregnant. But it was by the work of the Holy Spirit. During the espousal period, the only way to break it—because it was legally binding—would be by legal divorce. If you were espoused and the man died, the wife would be a widow who never consummated her marriage. During the espousal period, the groom would prepare his house. So it was a legally binding period.

Then the third phase—and this involves the parable of The Ten Virgins—was the wedding feast, or what we call the reception or the party. They would consummate the marriage at the end of the wedding feast. They would have a one-week feast. The groom would go at some time to get the bride and the bridesmaids, and they would go in a procession as a parade. This is our parable. The parable is that the bridegroom came, they would be ready and they would all march down the street. They would have their lamps or their torches, and there would be music and dancing. People would come out and join them.

This is the part I don’t particularly care for; I’m glad I wasn’t married in those days. You wouldn’t go off on your own until everyone spent the week at your house with you. No thank you. I remember when we got married, I thought, Enough with the cake. Let’s get on the road! Let’s get the honeymoon rollin’. We took off in my ’66 VW Bus, jammin’ down the highway, and my two front tires blew up. But we finally got there. And we’re still married, by the way.

So everybody comes over to the house of the bride and groom, and they party for seven days. After seven days, they kick ‘em out, get rid of ‘em! But the procession that would lead to the party is the picture that we have in this imagery.

The second image is the bridesmaids. Who are the ten bridesmaids or virgins? This is probably the most important element. I believe that they are the true and false believers. In the context, they are Jews who lived during the tribulation. They are those who anticipate and look forward to Christ’s coming and those who do not. So they are true and false.
Even in the church today, we have true believers and false believers. I never want to assume that everyone who comes to this church is a true Christian. You’re not a Christian because you’re in church today. You’re not a Christian because you’re an American. You’re not a Christian because of the color of your skin. You’re not a Christian because you’ve been baptized. You’re not a Christian because you’ve been confirmed. You’re not a Christian because you listen to sermons on Sunday or because you believe in God. You’re only a Christian if you’ve been born again of the Holy Spirit. The foolish virgins had no oil. Oil is the symbol of the Holy Spirit. So there were the false and the real or genuine and authentic.

They were alike in several ways. They were all virgins. They were all invited to the banquet. They heard the good news; they knew about the Messiah’s coming. They all were invited to the wedding, and they all responded to the wedding invitation. Verse 1 says, “Ten virgins…went out to meet the bridegroom.” They all expected him, and they all went forth to meet him. And they all had lamps or torches. They “took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom.”

Our English translation “lamps” isn’t the best. We think of a lamp that you put oil in. This was more of a torch. Kind of like the Indiana Jones big stick with a rag on the end. You pour oil on it and light it. You could go walking along with it. So they had these big sticks, they wrapped cloth on the end and put a wire mesh around it to hold it in place. Then they would keep on their person a little oil flask. They would pour the oil on the cloth and ignite it. Then they would walk around with this thing we call a torch.

In Australia, they call flashlights “torches.” I’ll never forget when they said, “Hey, you have a torch, mate?”

“Torch? What do you mean ‘torch’?”

“Yeah, torch.”

Then this guy took out a flashlight. That’s not a torch; it’s a flashlight. It’s bizarre what they call things now.

But this was a torch that the virgins had, a real torch. All the virgins had torches. And they all fell asleep, verse 5. It says, “While the bridegroom was delayed, they all slumbered and slept.”

That’s not a picture of the church sleeping and missing the rapture. Some have falsely interpreted this parable to conclude that some Christians will miss the rapture. They’re called “partial rapture theorists.” I don’t believe that. I believe that if you’re born again, you’re going up. If you’re not born again, you’re not going up. You’re either saved, or you’re not saved. “You’re either a saint or you ain’t,” we say. The rapture is not a reward for super saints. It’s not just the “deeper life club” that will get raptured. Anyone born again will go up in the rapture. If you’re not born again, you will not go up in the rapture. You must have the oil of the Holy Spirit.

So they were all invited, and they all responded to the wedding invitation. They all had lamps, and they all fell asleep. But there is an important difference: the foolish virgins took no oil, while the wise virgins took oil for their lamps, verses 3-4. What does this mean? Some point out truly that the oil is a symbol of the Holy Spirit. That’s true, but I’m not sure that is what Jesus is saying. But I believe He is saying that the wise were genuine believers. They were born again and had the Holy Spirit. But the foolish were professors; they weren’t true possessors.

At the end of the Sermon on the Mount, which Jesus gave in Matthew 5-7, He said that on that last day, people will cry—as these foolish virgins did—“Lord, Lord, open to us!” And He says, “Then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’” Can you imagine hearing those words?

“I went to church. Not only church; I went to Revival Christian Fellowship, the only truly anointed church. I was baptized. Not only baptized; Pastor Miller baptized me personally. Twice. He held me down a long time.”

Big deal.

“Oh, I know Pastor John!”

“Come on in!” No.

“Lord, Lord, open to us!” But the door is shut, and it’s too late. You missed the opportunity. That’s the message. “Now is the acceptance time. Today is the day of salvation.” The Bible says, “Today if you hear God’s voice, harden not your hearts.”

One of the reasons I wanted to conclude with this parable in my series Listen Up is because I want you to listen up. If you have not been born again, you’re lost. If you die in your sin, you will go to hell for all eternity. If you’re not truly a child of God, you’ll miss the rapture. You’ll have to go through the tribulation period. You need to be ready and looking for the Lord’s return.

Jesus also finished that Sermon on the Mount with the parable of the wise and foolish builders. They parallel the wise and foolish virgins. Remember He said the wise man built his house on the rock. And when the wind came and the waves beat on it, his house stood. He was saved. Judgement came and he stood. The foolish man built his house upon the sand, and when the tide came and the wind beat up his house, it fell. And great was the fall, because he heard the words of Jesus, but he didn’t obey them. He didn’t put them into practice. So we have the wise builder and the foolish builder. We have the wise virgins and the foolish virgins.

Jesus said that the wheat and the tares would grow together. You couldn’t distinguish between the two. If you tried to pull out the tares, you’d destroy the wheat, so He said to leave them until the final judgment. Then they will be separated.

In the professing church today, as in this church today, there are people who claim to be Christians, but they’re not. They haven’t been born of the Spirit. They don’t have the life of God in the soul. It’s not just professing, it’s possessing the life of God. It’s having oil to burn brightly when Jesus Christ returns. Are you ready?

The third image is that of the bridegroom. Verse 6 says, “And at midnight a cry was heard: ‘Behold, the bridegroom is coming; go out to meet him!’” Clearly, the bridegroom is representative of Jesus Christ at His Second Coming. “Then all those virgins arose and trimmed their lamps.” In other words, they all had lamps, and they all lit them. “And the foolish said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’” So if you have a torch and you don’t saturate it with oil, it will just go out; it won’t burn. “But the wise answered, saying, ‘No, lest there should not be enough for us and you; but go rather to those who sell, and buy for yourselves.’”

Now some say that this is not very nice. These wise virgins should have been generous and given them some oil, but we’ll see that salvation is not transferable.

Verse 10, “And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came.” So they had to run to the store. It’s midnight, but the stores are closed. They can’t find any place to buy oil. They weren’t prepared; they should have had their flasks filled. They weren’t ready. “And those who were ready went in with him to the wedding; and the door was shut.” If you want to underline in your Bible, you should underline “the door was shut.” Those who were ready went in; those who were not, the door was shut. “Afterward the other virgins came also, saying, ‘Lord, Lord, open to us!’ But he answered and said, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, I do not know you.’”

It’s one of the saddest parables in the Bible. There comes a day for every human being when the door will be shut. Are you ready?

Let me make some applications. The coming of the Lord may be delayed. You know why? Two thousand years ago Jesus promised to come again. And our father, our grandfathers, our great-great grandfathers all believed Jesus was coming back, but He hasn’t come back yet. But I believe Jesus is coming back. And I want to live my life in light of His coming. The only reason He has tarried is because He is longsuffering, and “He’s not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.”

Some of you have only been saved for a year or two. What if Jesus had come 10 years ago? You would have been lost. What if Jesus had come 20 years ago? 30 years ago? Some of you would have been lost before you became a Christian. What if you were to die right now? What if you were to die and go into eternity? Are you ready to die? Are you ready to meet the Lord? That’s the message of this parable. They were not ready. That’s the reason they were foolish: they weren’t real believers. But God is waiting for us to believe.

The second point I would make is that the Lord will come unexpectedly. Notice in verse 6 when he came: “at midnight.” Isn’t that crazy? At midnight? How many of you girls would like it if you were going to get married and your fiancé said, “Sometime in the summer. I’ll come by to get you. Just be ready”? You’d say, “You’re crazy!”

When a girl gets married, on the day of her wedding, she gets up at 2:30 in the morning to start the process of just putting on makeup. There is a whole team of professionals to put her makeup on. It takes six hours. Then the hair team comes in. Then the dress team comes in. Then she walks down the aisle, and everyone goes, “Ooh!” In 45 years of doing weddings, I’ve never seen an ugly bride. Isn’t that amazing.

But, again, the bride’s not mentioned in the passage. She’s not even in view. The church is the bride of Christ. We’re not in the picture.

The idea was that you didn’t know the day or the hour. How many times did Jesus say that? “No man knows the day or the hour.” We might know the period of time. We might know that we are living in the end of time. But we don’t know the actual day or the actual hour when the Lord will come. Jesus said that He would come “like a thief in the night.”

Did you ever have a thief call you and say, “Hey, can you leave the door open for us? We’re gonna rip you off at 1:00 in the morning. Just sleep tight. We won’t wake you and we’ll be gone”? No, they don’t announce their coming. When you get ripped off, it’s like, “Man, I can’t believe this happened!” They come unexpectedly. That’s the idea. So the Lord will come unexpectedly, “like a thief in the night.”

Thirdly, being prepared is not transferable. In verses 8-9 in the parable, the foolish virgins said, “Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out. But the wise answered, saying, ‘No, lest there should not be enough for us and you; but go rather to those who sell, and buy for yourselves.’” That’s not teaching that we can buy or earn salvation. What it is teaching is that your mom and dad might be Christians, but that doesn’t make you a Christian. God has no grandchildren, only children.

You may be raised in Sunday school, but that doesn’t make you a Christian. You may be baptized and believe, or maybe your wife or husband is a Christian, but that’s not going to get you to heaven. When you stand before God, you can’t say, “Well, my wife went to church.” Salvation is not transferable. You can’t be saved for someone else. You can’t give them the Holy Spirit. You, and you alone, must make a decision. And make it you must. You’re either for Him or against Him; to believe in Jesus Christ and to be forgiven of your sins, or to reject Him.

Sadly, quite often what people do is they procrastinate. “I’ve got time. I’m young. I want to party a little longer. I want to have fun. I want to go to college. I want to get married. I want to have kids. Maybe when I’m really old and retired—maybe when I’m in a rest home and I can’t have fun anyway, that’s when I’ll give my heart to Jesus.” How do you know you’ll make it that far? Nobody has a lease on life. You have no guarantee how long you’ll have.

Opportunity cannot be regained is my next point. Notice verse 10: “The door was shut.” If you die without Christ, there is no hope. No second chance. No purgatory. Nobody’s prayers can get you out of hell. You must be saved before you die. “The door was shut.” Afterward they cried, “‘Lord, Lord, open to us!’ But he answered and said, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, I do not know you.’”

May question to you is, do you know Christ? Do you have a personal relationship with Him? Don’t delay. Come to Christ today.

My fourth and last point I want to make in closing is in verse 13. It is a stern warning of the parable. “Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour in which the Son of Man is coming.” That’s the message of the parable. If you miss verse 13, you’ve missed the whole parable. The whole story He’s telling is watch, be ready, be prepared. Be prepared to die, be prepared for the rapture, be prepared for the Second Coming of Jesus Christ.

I heard the story of a group of demons meeting with Satan in hell. They were discussing how to tempt men to keep them out of heaven and damn their souls to hell for eternity. One demon stepped up in the meeting and said to Satan, “I’ll tell people there is no God.”

Satan said, “Well, that will only fool a few. Most people know by creation that there is a creator, and they see the hand of God in creation. Very few people are truly atheists.”

The second demon stepped up and said, “I’ll convince men there is no hell.”

Satan said, “Well, that’ll convince a few people, but most people have an in-built conscience and realize there is payment for their sins, that there is judgment or retribution for their wrongs. Most people believe in some kind of judgment or hell.”

So the third demon stepped up and said, “I have it; I’ll convince people not that there’s no God or no hell. I’ll convince people that there’s no hurry.”

Then Satan said, “Go and you shall prosper.”

That is one of Satan’s greatest tools and lies: delay. “You’re too young. You’re having too much fun. What are your friends going to say? Don’t become a Christian right now.” Or he might say, “You’re too old. You’re too wicked. You’re too sinful.” Procrastinate, procrastinate, procrastinate.

Do you know that, spiritually, there is a law of atrophy? Every time you say “No” to Jesus Christ, your heart becomes a little more calloused, and you become a little more professional in how to say “No.” You do it again, and your heart becomes more calloused. Do it again, and your heart becomes more calloused. Again, and more calloused. So your heart can atrophy, spiritually. Jesus said that you would get to the point where you cannot believe. Your heart is so hardened and your eyes are so blinded to the truth.

So in closing, Jesus said, “Watch.” Be ready. Be prepared. Then He gives us the reason: because “you know neither the day nor the hour in which the Son of Man is coming.”

Don’t play with eternity; if you’re not ready to meet Jesus Christ, I want to give you an opportunity to invite Jesus Christ to come into your heart and forgive your sins. You can have absolute assurance today that your sins are forgiven, that you are a child of God and that when you die, you’ll go to heaven. If the Lord returns, you’ll be “caught up…to meet the Lord in the air.”
If you don’t have that assurance, don’t be a fool. Trust Jesus Christ.

Let’s bow our heads in a word of prayer.