We turn to Holy Scripture, Matthew 25, and read the first thirteen verses. Then shall the kingdom of heaven be likened unto ten 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. 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 of 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. 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 virgin, 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. Our text for this New Year's Eve service is the last few words of verse 10. And the door was shut. Dear flock of Dundas, the year 2005 is drawing to a close. Within a few brief hours it will be behind us. if the Lord tarries. And then the year 2005 will be history. Then the door of this year will be shut. And this evening we wish to look at one of the parables of the Lord Jesus, and especially this which He taught in that parable that the door was shut. It's the parable of the ten virgins. It speaks, if you will, of a few girls arriving a little late for a wedding feast. A little late for a wedding feast. And what could be so significant about that? Well, we wish to see that And we will look at this text under the theme, The Door Was Shut. First, a momentous act. Second, a momentous difference. And thirdly, a momentous opportunity. The door was shut. First, a momentous act. Second, a momentous difference. And thirdly, a momentous opportunity. First, let's look at the parable. The parable speaks about a wedding feast and that tells us at the very outset that there is a wedding feast to come, a heavenly wedding feast. And the question which you must ask yourself, will you be at this wedding feast? You see, the heavenly bridegroom is coming for his heaven-born bride. When he will come we do not know, but that he is coming we are sure of. And so, in light of his coming, the Lord Jesus paints before us the coming of a wedding feast in a parable, and we are told that there are ten virgins waiting with the desire to be at this wedding feast. These ten look very similar. They have a lot in common. All ten have heard of this wedding feast. And all ten have made some preparations for the coming of the bridegroom. All ten have lamps. But there is a difference which you cannot see with the human eye. Five are wise. Five are foolish. And that some are foolish is attributed to the fact that they have forgotten the most fundamental and basic ingredient for their lamps. They have forgotten oil. And there was no reason why they should have forgotten oil. There was no reason why they should have been without oil, for the markets of oil have stood open in the town, and there was plenty of supply for them to purchase the oil in the town. There was no lack of oil. for them to purchase. But still, outwardly, there is very little difference. And is that not what we find in the visible church today as well? Outwardly, many look the same. Many confess scriptures to be the word of God. Many believe in the coming of the bridegroom. Many wish to go to the wedding feast in heaven. Many frequent the house of God, many receive instruction, and they believe that all will be well when Christ returns. For, you see, in the church the foolish also make a good and a sound confession. They also speak a certain language, but they lack what is most needed. What do they lack? Well, from Zechariah 4 and other passages in Scripture, we learn that oil is a symbol of the Spirit. And that tells us that that is what many miss, the Holy Spirit. And so the foolish virgins and all who are like them are a people who have never passed from death unto life. That tells us that they have never really needed the work of the Holy Spirit in their life. For, you see, the grace of God must be applied in our hearts by the irresistible power of the Holy Spirit, and the Lord graciously offers His Spirit, and there is no lack with the Lord, and the markets of free grace have stood open also in this past year to us as a congregation, so that there is no excuse for any to be without the heavenly oil of the Holy Spirit. And now we go on in the parable. And we discover that the bridegroom has delayed his coming so that he arrives much later than was anticipated. And the virgins, all ten of them, grow weary and they begin to slumber. And before midnight they are all sunk in a deep sleep. But then, at midnight, a cry is heard Behold, the bridegroom cometh! Go ye out to meet him!" And all ten virgins awake at that announcement, and they begin to trim their lamps. They all have lamps, but the foolish virgins cannot keep the flame of their lamps burning. And at this moment they learn that they are lacking oil, the most basic ingredient needed for their lamps. And so, recognizing their need, they turn to the wise and they ask them for some oil. Please give us of your oil, for our lamps are gone out. But the wise say, no, rather go to the sellers and buy for yourselves. And so these five foolish virgins, they set out on an errand to try and get some oil. And while they are on this errand, the bridegroom comes. Oh, what joy! The bridegroom comes. And those who are ready for his coming went in to the wedding feast with him. And the door was shut. What a momentous act! And the door was shut. The door to the wedding feast, which had stood open for so long a time, was shut. It was not left open. It was shut. Can you see it in your mind taking place? that great door to that great wedding feast clanging shut. Gently it may be closed, but firmly the door was shut. And that is a solemn act, don't you think? This is no small thing that takes place Do you feel something of the solemnity as it is described before you by the Chief Prophet Christ? He uses very simple words, using words which any child can understand. But, oh, what great significance this has! And the door was shut. An important door was shut. The only door into the wedding feast was shut. A solemn act. It's also a divine act. For who shut the door? It doesn't say, does it? But do you think that just anybody would do this? Do you think that just any guest who would have been at the wedding feast, just any attendee of his own accord Decide that the time has come to shut the door. Surely not. We read one other time of a door being shut, also a significant door, the door of the Ark of Noah. And then we read, And the Lord shut him in. And is that not the case here as well? that the master of the house has arisen and he has shut the door at the precise and at the exactly ordained time? Is it not that the Lord God Himself has shut the door? And when the Lord does something, can somebody undo what He did? When the Lord shuts Can anyone open? No. And that tells us, thirdly, that this is an irreversible act. This is a final act. That what has been done cannot be undone. It cannot be reversed. You see, the Lord has not made any mistakes in shutting the door when He shut the door as if He left somebody out who should have been at the wedding feast. No. Those who were at the wedding feast, those who were brought into the wedding feast, were the only ones who belonged at the wedding feast. Now, what is this that is described to us? What is going on here? What are we speaking about? What does this mean? Why are we emphasizing this? Well, I trust that it is clear to all of us, but it will not hurt to spell it out. For the Lord Jesus is speaking of a time in which the door to the wedding feast of the bridegroom, in which he is united to the bride, that wedding feast, the door to the wedding feast will be shut. The kingdom of heaven will be shut. And when this happens, none can enter into the kingdom of heaven anymore. there will be no more opportunity to enter, for the door will be shut. The gate of mercy will be closed. And whereas before this door was shut, the mercy of God could be obtained fully and it could be obtained freely and it could be obtained without money and without price, then when the door is shut, mercy can no longer be obtained. Simply put, The door was shut means the day of grace is over. The judgment will have begun. The sheep will be separated from the goats. And if a sinner then begins to cry for mercy, he will not receive mercy. And if a Pharisee begins to see his need for a new heart and begins to beg for a new heart, he will not receive it. no matter how earnestly he cries, for the door is shut. What a momentous act this is. You know, there are in life many important events and many happenings in life which have great consequences. And can you think of some? And perhaps there have been such events also in this past year in your life. What has impacted you the most? Or perhaps for a young boy or a girl you had a fight with a friend. It's a sad event. Or it can be that you had a very happy event in this past year. You got married. Or you received a child. Or it can be that you lost a loved one. And when you hear that news and you take that news to heart and you let that news sink in, then you realize how shattering His death is. Or it can be that you went to the doctor and you received the news from the doctor that you have cancer. Or it can be an accident took place. All kinds of events which are monumental events, maybe as great as the tsunami waves which crushed the shore off of Sumatra last year. All major events. But none of these events are as momentous as the acts we have been describing. And the door was shut. A most solemn divine, irreversible act? And do you know that to this momentous happening we are all hastening? We are all hastening on to this day when the door will be shut, when the day of judgment will begin, when the day of grace will be over. Do you realize that? Do you know this? Do you know that the door of 2005 opened? We have hastened through it. We have run through this year, haven't we? And now we come to the last few hours of this year, 2005. And do you know that we are hastening on to another important event, which may be sooner than you realize, in which the door to heaven will be shut? Are you ready for it? Are you ready for this momentous event, for the door of heaven to be forever shut? for it to clang shut. Are you ready for this inevitable moment that the heavenly clock will strike midnight and the door of mercy will be shut forever? Are you ready for it? A momentous act. Secondly, we see a momentous difference For those who were ready, Jesus tells us, went inside the wedding feast with the bridegroom, and the door was shut behind them. The door was shut, but before the door was shut, some could go inside with the bridegroom, and the door was shut behind them. And so these wise virgins, and all with them, they went inside the door and were not left to be outside the door. They were with the bridegroom and they could eat and they could drink with him. They were at the wedding feast. They were safe. And what a prospect this is for the true people of God to be at the wedding feast of the Lamb. Does it thrill your heart, dear child of God, to hear of this wedding feast and that you may be at the wedding feast with the bridegroom, the Lord Jesus Christ? And what will you find at this wedding feast? Can we say anything about this wedding feast? Because the wedding feast hasn't started yet, has it? Can we say anything? Well, we can say some things, can't we? Can we not say, for instance, something about the feast itself and what a feast it will be? That God's people can sometimes enjoy a feast of fat things here below? Oh, When the Lord comes over, they can enjoy such moments. But the feast in heaven will be far greater than any feast that God's child may experience here below. The feast in heaven will be far greater. There will be unending supplies for this feast. It will not be so as it was at the wedding feast in Cana, that somewhere after beginning the feast, they ran out of supplies and more supplies needed to be brought. For at this feast in heaven there will be no lack of supplies, and no supplies will be needed to be brought. There will be no lack at this wedding feast. God's people will not have any lack. They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more. The pure river of water of life will flow continually and will flow unceasingly out of the throne of God, the Scripture tells us. and God Himself shall feed His people and lead them unto living fountains of water. There will be no lack. There will be full supplies. There will be joy at this feast. There will be no sadness. Here on earth we experience sadness. We experience pain. We experience brokenness and sorrow. But there, none. can already hear it described in Revelation 19, let us be glad and rejoice and give honor to Him, for the marriage of the Lamb is come. Oh, isn't it so that now you find your burdened soul sighing, your heart breaking? Don't you find it that you have tears that run down your eyes and down your face, and you find so many reasons to grieve because of your inward corruption, when you find that you fall into sin? then there will only be joy. God shall wipe away all tears from your eyes. There will be light. There will be no darkness, only light. God's people may be in the presence of the glory of God, and the Lamb Himself will be the light thereof. There will be love, no hatred. After all, it is a wedding feast And Christ is the bridegroom and His love is perfect. There is no shortcoming with His love. It will be a place of happiness, joy and peace. We can speak of the feast, can't we? But we can also speak of the bridegroom at this feast, for he is the center of this feast. And is that what you anticipate especially? Dear child of God, the bridegroom, His presence, Forever? Him? Do you not find it precious that here in this parable the Lord Jesus uses the word, and they went in with Him? With Him who has become precious to you, who has wooed your heart to Himself so that you say, He is altogether lovely. And I will see it in perfection there. Is it not wondrous to say that He has drawn you and you have run after Him? and that one day you may gaze upon him and see him face to face and say with the song of Solomon, My beloved is white and ruddy, the chiefest among ten thousand. His mouth is most sweet. Yea, he is altogether lovely. With him inside the door. Some will be inside Others will be outside. Some will be inside the door. Others will be outside the shut door. Before the foolish virgins, the door is shut. And they came to a shut door. And they stood outside of that door, not inside that door. They were not at the wedding feast. Listen, they knock. Lord, Lord, open unto us! But the door isn't opened. Instead, the bridegroom comes and says, I do not know you. And the door remains shut. And they remain outside of the kingdom of heaven. Inside there is abundance. Outside there is poverty. Inside there is joy. Outside there is no joy, but a deep and painful sorrow, especially in light of hearing those words, I know you not. Inside there is light. Outside there is darkness. Oh, but what about the lamps of these foolish virgins? Do they not have oil now? Did they not go to the market now? And did they not try and purchase oil? And do they not have oil in their lamps now? The parable doesn't say that they came back with oil. And that that fact is omitted is significant. Is it not so that they are still without oil and they are outside without light? Inside there is love. Outside there is envy and no love. Inside is the bridegroom. Outside there is no bridegroom. And that is their lot forever, to be without the bridegroom. And what will happen to such Jesus tells us a few chapters before this chapter. He says in Matthew 22 that they will be bound hand and foot and taken away, cast into outer darkness where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Will this be your lot? For whom will this be the lot? who is described here among the foolish virgins. These are not outright atheists, are they? These are not the outright godless, the outright rebellious? Yes, such who persevere in atheism and in outright godlessness and in outright rebellion, they will inherit such a law too, but that is not what is being described with these five foolish virgins. The five foolish virgins are those who have spent their time with the wise virgins. They are those who knew about the wedding feast, who had hoped to attend this wedding feast, who looked quite similar to the wise virgins, who had many things in common with them, in fact. These are those who gather with the church just as the wise, and so they should gather with the church but they are spiritless. They are without the Holy Spirit. They pray, just as others, but they do not have the spirit of grace and supplication. They read their Bible, just as others. They believe in the second coming of Christ, just as others. They have impressions upon their heart and mind. They may have felt conviction for sin and for their foolish ways. They may have, in fact, been outstanding Christians, in fact, outwardly at least, who have done many things in the Christian community. They may be teachers. They may be preachers. They may be people who have said and done many powerful things. Jesus says in Matthew 7, Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name and in thy name done many wonderful works? and then I will profess unto them, I never knew you. Depart from me, ye that work iniquity." And Jesus says in Luke 13 verse 26 and following that they will say, We have eaten and drunk in thy presence, and thou hast taught in our streets. But he shall say, I tell you, I know you not. When she are, depart from me. All ye workers of iniquity, there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Inside the wedding feast, or outside the wedding feast? Where will you be? Where will I be? Inside or outside? Ready or not ready at the return of Christ? Welcomed in or left outside? Close to the door? Not far from the kingdom? Thou art not far from the kingdom still means thou art outside. Knocking upon the door after the door has been shut? That is still outside. Where will you be? That's an important question, isn't it? That if the Lord were to come back in a few hours, and if at midnight this very night the cry would be heard, Behold, the bridegroom cometh, and the angel would herald it forth on the trumpet, would you be ready? Would He bring you inside of the wedding feast, or would He leave you outside? behind the closed door. That's a momentous difference. But today we can also speak of a momentous opportunity. It's our third point. You and I have a momentous opportunity because the door is not shut yet. The Bridegroom has not come yet. That He is coming is sure. When He is coming is soon. His coming cannot be far away. But He has not come yet. That means that we still live in the hour of opportunity. There is still time to enter into the kingdom of heaven. The gate of mercy is still open today. The day of judgment has not come yet. And here you see there is a momentous opportunity for one thing to see your need. It's a momentous opportunity to see your needs. What is our need? What do we need? Do you know what you need? Well, we need what the five wise virgins had and what the five foolish virgins had not. We need the Holy Spirit. We need the heavenly oil. We don't need just some outward religion. We don't need just some prayer. We don't need some scripture reading, some impressions, some convictions that leaves you the same. We need the Holy Spirit. And now we need the Holy Spirit not just to work generally. We need the Holy Spirit to work specifically so that He leaves a result. What result? Oh, that there comes a bond. to Christ, that there comes a cleaving to the Lord Christ. You see, this is what the five foolish virgins missed. They did not have a bond to the bridegroom worked by the Holy Spirit. And that is why the bridegroom said to them, I know you not. Five wise virgins knew of the work of the Holy Spirit and were united to Christ. And they were brought to cleave to Christ. And to them the bridegroom could say, I know you. You are mine and I am yours. Have you come to see what you need, my dear friend? Have you learned your need? Have you learned your great need? And do you see that in the short time the Lord gives you, you have a momentous opportunity to see your great need? I believe it was a 15-year-old girl who was shot in Toronto streets this past week. Her time was up. we have only a short time. And in that short time, we need to see our need rightly. And we need to be convinced of our emptiness, of ourselves, and this, that we need the heavenly oil of the Holy Spirit to unite us to Christ, that we need more than just an outward religion, just an outward form. We need the heart and the truth and the life of true religion by being united to the Lord Jesus Christ. and you are receiving then a wondrous opportunity not only to see your need, but also to hear that there is a rich supply. The five foolish virgins could have had their supplies and their vessels filled with oil before the bridegroom came, for The stores which sold the oil had stood open during the day, and while it was day they could have gone to buy, for the markets of oil stood open and there was no lack, and the store owners would not have turned them away because there was not enough. No, there were plenty of supplies, and now how much more with the Lord! and grace that you and I need. The market of free grace stands open. And we may preach to you a rich Lord who meets a sinner's emptiness. Are there not full? Are there not abundant supplies and riches with Him? There is no lack with this Lord. There is only fullness. There is only sufficiency with Him. There is no emptiness with Him. None at all but fullness. and see where a poor and empty sinner can find the supplies that you are needing. You cannot find it in yourselves, but you can find it with the Lord, with the Lord alone. Do we not hear Jesus crying out in John 7, verse 37-39, If any man thirst, let him come unto me and drink. He that believeth on Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. And this spake he of the Spirit." And does he not promise, I will take away the stony heart and give you a heart of flesh and I will put My Spirit within you? In Ezekiel or in Joel, I will pour out My Spirit upon all flesh promising to pour it upon sons and daughters, old men, servants and handmaids. And so are you empty? Are you empty? Are you poor? Do you see something of your poverty and something of your need? And are you desirous to go to the wedding feast? Can you not then apply to the bridegroom and the father of the bridegroom with your emptiness? Confessing, Lord, in order for me to go to this wedding feast, I need what only Thou canst give. Will Thou also give? And do we not find Him even at this very hour ready to give? For the Bridegroom, He is not dead! He is alive! He is not off His throne, but on His throne. And is there any lack of power with this Bridegroom? Is there any lack of supply with Him? He is at the right hand of the Father with all grace, with all love in His heart, all authority in His hand, all blessing ready to gift, waiting to open the windows of heaven for an empty people who with their emptiness turn to Him and say, O Lord, but for a drop! O Lord, but for a crumb! And those that trust in Him, the market of free grace stands open. And what is sold at these markets Oil, dear friends, heavenly oil, heavenly supplies for your need. Buy of Him without money, without price, and look to Him to fill your emptiness. Look to Him to supply you with heavenly oil. Open, saith the Lord, wide thy mouth believing, I will, if thou plead, fill thine every need, all thy wants relieving. Oh, but you say, can there be hope for me? Can I come to know the Spirit's work in my life? Is this heavenly oil also for someone like me? I have almost resigned myself to going lost. I am so empty. I have nothing. I've been waiting, perhaps, for a long time to have a saving interest in Christ and to know His mercy and to know His grace and to know the Spirit's work. But is it possible for someone like me, who is so poor, who is so empty as I am, Well, you do not need to produce this oil yourself. You need not save yourself. You cannot. If that was the case, then you would go lost. But with the Lord, there is mercy. How great is His mercy! Oh, look into the starry skies. and see how high the heavens are, so great is His love, so great is His mercy, so great is His grace. With the Lord there is mercy. With the Lord there are spiritual riches beyond our understanding. With the Lord there are heavenly graces for poor and needy people, precisely for a people who say, I have nothing. For Jesus has said, I have come, that they might have life and that they might have it abundantly. And you know what the Lord Jesus here is speaking in Matthew chapter 25. But He will not be done speaking after Matthew 25. For He will go on in the mission which the Father has given to Him And He would come to know what it was to have heaven shut to Him, to be in the thick darkness of night in the middle of the day on Golgotha. And to Him there was no mercy. And the Father closed His ears and the door of heaven was shut to him. And the agonies of hell were endured. Oh, the door of hell stood open to him. And he hung there on the cross, cursed of God. He hung there to a shut door of heaven so that the door of heaven may swing open to any poor and needy sinner who deserves to be cast away. And the Holy Spirit, He delights to give to the chief of sinners in an acceptable time, in the day of salvation, today. And then do you find a prayer in your heart when you think of a closed door? Do you say, then, from out Thy presence cast me not? Thy face no more to see. Thy Holy Spirit and Thy grace take not away from me, but give. Oh, will you continue perhaps in your carelessness and in your sin? Will you who are young continue in the ways of the world and in the ways of pleasure? Will you who are a young child, will you live on without Christ? Will you who continue in your hypocrisy, Or you would say, Oh, all is well with me. I am ready. That's the language of the foolish virgins. For if it's right, the wise have found that all is not automatically well, for the wise also acted as fools when they went and fell asleep in the coming of the Lord Jesus. Ah, but you say later, not now. For now I will continue without this supply of needed oil." That's a response also of a foolish virgin. Do we not find that that is the case with these foolish virgins? They do what is needed, but they do it too late. They go to the market, but they go too late. They begin to pray, but too late. Such is the case with many. seeing that they need to go to the market, but seeing that they need to go too late. Repent, but repent too late. Sorrow for sin, but too late. Begin to pray, but too late. Be anxious about their souls, but be anxious too late. And isn't that what hell is, Ryle says? Hell is knowing the truth, but too late. This parable is told to you and this sermon is preached to you that you will see your need now and that you will run with your need to the Lord now and that you will seek of the Lord grace now and that you will do so in the beginning of your days before it is too late that you do so today and not tomorrow. How late do you think these foolish virgins came to the door? I don't think they came much later than that the door was shut. They were only a little too late, just a little too late. But to come a little too late is no little loss. for it means you lose all. Will you be a little too late? Will you be outside or inside, without Christ or with Christ? And the door was shut. Amen.