We turn in God's inspired word this evening to Matthew's gospel account, and we're going to begin reading in Matthew chapter 24. We begin reading at verse 32 in Matthew 24. Now learn a parable of the fig tree. When his branch is yet tender and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is nigh. So likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors. Verily I say unto you, this generation shall not pass till all these things be fulfilled. Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away. But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only. But as the days of Noah were, so shall also the coming of the Son of Man be. For as in the days that were before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered into the ark, and knew not until the flood came and took them all away. So shall also the coming of the Son of Man be. Then shall two be in the field, the one shall be taken and the other left. Two women shall be grinding at the mill, the one shall be taken and the other left. Watch therefore, for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come. But know this, that if the good man of the house had known in what watch the thief would come, he would have watched and would not have suffered his house to be broken up. Therefore be ye also ready, for in such an hour as ye think not, the Son of Man cometh, who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his Lord hath made ruler over his household to give them meat in due season, Blessed is that servant whom his Lord, when he cometh, shall find so doing. Verily I say unto you, that he shall make him ruler over all his goods. But and 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 with the drunken, The Lord of that servant shall come in a day when he looketh not for him, and in an hour that he is not aware of, and shall cut him asunder, and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites. There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. And now our text this evening is the first 13 verses of Matthew 25. 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. 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. 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 virgins, 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. Beloved in the Lord Jesus Christ, we know from 1 John 2 verse 18 that we live in the last hour. And given the fact that John's first epistle was written Somewhere in the age roughly of 85 to 90 AD, we also must realize we live in the last minutes of the last hour. And from that which God has revealed to us in many passages of Holy Scripture, We also know that the Lord's return is imminent, though we know not when. Many signs point to his coming and to our salvation. I'm not going to list those signs this evening. You can go back and read the entire chapter of Matthew 24 for your devotions tonight, Many are the signs God has given us which point to the nearness of our Lord's return. And these signs ought to bring us to a growing consciousness of our Savior's nearness. In Matthew 24 and 25, Christ speaks three parables each of which is directly related to the signs of Jesus' return as given in Matthew 24. You might remember that in the context in Matthew 24, Jesus' disciples had been pointing to the beauty of the temple and its buildings and to their astonishment Jesus had said to them, see ye not all these things? Verily I say unto you, there shall not be left here one stone upon another that shall not be thrown down. And stunned, the disciples contemplated his words thinking to themselves that such happenings could only come at the end of the world. And so when they were alone with Jesus, they asked him privately, saying, tell us, when shall these things be? And what shall be the sign of thy coming and of the end of the world? Well, the first question concerning the sign, the time of the end, Jesus didn't answer. saying only in the following discourse, of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only. But many signs did the Lord reveal to his disciples and to us to mark Christ's return. These signs are not set before us in an abstract way to satisfy our curiosity, but from a practical point of view, they teach us what we must, how we must walk from a spiritual point of view as we see the signs of Christ's return being unfolded before us. Watch therefore, for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come. And again in verse 44, therefore be ye also ready, for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of Man cometh. So with application to our Christian walk, we have to recognize the signs of Christ's coming. And that's the point also of the three parables which follow, including this parable of the wise and foolish virgins. And so we consider this parable in the first 13 verses of Matthew 25 this evening under the theme watching for the bridegroom. And as we look at this text, we notice, first of all, the waiting virgins. Secondly, the necessary watchfulness. And finally, the final outcome. The parable sets before us 10 virgins waiting for the coming of the bridegroom. Now, the figure of the parable is taken from marriage customs in Jesus' day, and just as we have our own peculiar customs connected with marriage ceremonies, and those customs vary from place to place, even in this country, The Jews also had their own peculiar customs connected with their wedding ceremonies and festivities. Although it's difficult to determine exactly the customs of those days, the general customs have been carried on in various parts of the world throughout the centuries, giving us a knowledge of what took place in general. On the day of the wedding celebration, the bride would take her attendants to the home of the groom. The groom would be at the home of one of his friends, celebrating with his friends the happy occasion of his coming marriage. And later in the day, the attendants of the bride would go out and gather by the wayside to await the coming of the groom. And at the conclusion of the groom's celebration with his friends, he would go out and return to his own home and to his new bride. And usually coming at night, his friends and the bride's attendants would light the way by carrying torches. And people would be on the housetops watching for the arrival of the groom. And upon seeing his party would cry out, behold, the bridegroom cometh. That cry would be the call for the attendance of the bride to arise and light the way for the bridegroom. And then when the groom arrived soon after, the party would enter the house where the bride was waiting and the door would be closed and the celebration and the marriage feast would begin. So to some of those elements we have reference in this parable. But as with any parable, we have to be careful not to attach too much significance to various elements which are peripheral to the central idea of the parable. By teaching in parables, Jesus would have us focus on one particular truth concerning the kingdom of heaven. And here it's evident from the context that the central emphasis of this parable is the kingdom of heaven in its coming and the attitude of the church on earth toward that coming. The significant element of this parable is that group of 10 virgins awaiting the arrival of the bridegroom. Then shall the kingdom of heaven be likened unto 10 virgins. Those virgins await the arrival of the groom, who is Christ. The figure of Christ as the bridegroom you recognize as quite common. In the New Testament, Christ is often called the bridegroom. The church is his bride. He loved his bride so much that he gave his own life for her, as we read in Ephesians 5, that he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word. that he might present it to himself, a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that it should be holy and without blemish. And in the end of time, he shall arrive to receive her unto himself." Those virgins all wait his arrival. The opening word of this chapter then speaks of a particular time, the time when the signs of Christ's coming are being realized. Now, who are these virgins? These virgins represent the church for whom the bridegroom comes. More specifically, they represent the outward membership of the church on this earth. They show themselves virgins, and their virginity expresses purity and holiness. And so also the church on earth is called to show itself as separate from the world, holy and pure. There are 10 of them. Why 10? 10, you might remember, is an important number in Scripture, used often in the symbolism of the Bible and in connection with the symbolism of the kingdom of heaven. And especially as that's seen in the book of Revelation, although elsewhere in Scripture as well, while the number 12 is noted as the number of the church from the viewpoint of her election, the number 10 signifies its fullness with respect to the purpose of God. There are 10 Commandments, for example, because the Decalogue, the 10 Commandments, is the full expression of God's moral will for man. Here, the 10 virgins are symbolic of the full church at any given time in history as God places her in the midst of this world. Always the church institute has her existence according to the will of God and to the fulfillment of his purpose. And so these virgins represent the all who profess to be waiting for the Son of God. There are those, and these virgins represent them, who do not by their deeds openly deny that hope. So far as you and I know and can tell, they're all virgins. Pure and holy. But notice there's a difference between these women. Five are noted to be wise and five foolish. That's a striking description according to scripture because outwardly the ten look alike. Each had a lamp. Each was dressed to fit into the general scheme designed by those who had planned the wedding. They were all outwardly waiting the appearance of the bridegroom. The five who were foolish had no real personal invitation from the bridegroom, as some would have it. They didn't belong. But you couldn't tell it outwardly. Though their appearance was deception, their imitation was perfect. They trimmed their little lamps just as did the wise virgins. And when the bridegroom's coming appeared delayed and everyone grew tired of waiting, they all lay down in a similar posture, wise and foolish alike. all looking beautiful and yet sleeping, an apparently peaceful sleep with their lamps beside them. They look alike. So much alike were these women, a pretty picture of slumbering yet waiting bridesmaids. But as would also come to be seen, not all who are members outwardly of the church on earth shall enter the wedding feast of the bridegroom. The meaning of wisdom and foolishness is important to our understanding of this parable. You see, those are relative terms. It's not that which sets off a person with a good measure of common sense against a person who lacks common sense. Wisdom and foolishness in scripture are directly opposite, moral opposites. Wisdom is a heavenly gift of grace. given by God to all his people, though in different measures. Wisdom is that spiritual virtue by which the Christian is able to consider the things happening around his or her life and is able to apply the truth of the word of God to those events. That's wisdom. And that wisdom comes from life in Christ, who is the wisdom of this world, the wisdom of his people. So when we consider that concept in application to this particular parable and its context, We come to this conclusion, though the wise man or woman knows from scripture that this world cannot go on forever. Christ is coming to destroy it and to create new heavens and new earth in which righteousness shall dwell. And you who are wise know that truth and love it and You live in the constant expectation of the coming of our Savior, of your Lord. Foolishness is the opposite. Foolishness is sin and the natural outworking of the depraved heart of man. Now, a foolish man also knows the truth. so that in this case, these five foolish virgins know that the bridegroom is coming for his bride. They know that. But they are foolish. They ignore the truth, they act as if he will never return, and the world shall go on forever. Foolishness is rooted in unbelief. And the five foolish virgins are revealed as foolish when the appearance of the bridegroom is announced because unnecessary watchfulness is lacking with them. The impending coming of the bridegroom requires watchfulness, beloved. The necessary watchfulness and preparedness for that coming is signified in this parable by the elements of the lamp and the oil. Taken together, the lamps and the oil signify preparedness, the watchfulness of the church as she lives in daily anticipation of her Lord's return. Five of the virgins were foolish. They took their lamps, but no additional oil for the lamps. They have oil, but not enough. Their lamps burn until their oil supply is exhausted. There's a Christian life in its outward appearance. but it's not fed by the deep internal fountain of the Holy Spirit. There's only an appearance of preparation. But what good is only an appearance without actually being prepared at all? Many go under the appearance of being Christian or being religious. being members of the church and knowing that Christ shall someday return. They profess to be looking for that return someday, but their deeds reveal otherwise. There's no spiritual fruit in their lives. The sign of Christ's return, signs that surround us in abundance, They ignore. They enjoy this world to the maximum. And they join hands with the world in as many activities as they can. Their superficial religious life will not last. But the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps. Besides what little oil their lamps could hold, they carried with them a flask of additional oil. And by spiritual application, beloved, you who are like the wise virgins recognize the fact that the church might not very soon enter into its glory. You foresee that God might require of you a long life of self-denial before You shall be called from your labors before the kingdom shall come for you, before you shall see the face of the bridegroom. In the consciousness of God's presence, you live, prepared for what could be a long period of watchfulness, though we know not. And you rely upon the continual supply of the Holy Spirit to carry you through. Knowing that you cannot enter that marriage feast on your own, you look for him who shall usher you in, the bridegroom, our Lord Jesus Christ. But the main point of this parable then for you and for me is an admonition to watch for the coming of the Lord. And there are especially two reasons why this admonition is so necessary and urgent. In the first place, we know not when the bridegroom shall come. And that's emphasized again and again in Holy Scripture. No man knoweth the day nor the hour, not even the angels. And according to the picture of the parable, Jesus shows that the experience of his people is that he is slow in his return. Late afternoon, according to custom, The virgins would gather by the wayside where the bridegroom was known to pass through. And in the parable, 6 o'clock came and no bridegroom. An hour after hour showed no sign of him, and darkness fell. And presently the candlesticks seen in the windows of the houses across the way were seen no more. And in one house after another, the lights went out, streets were empty and quiet. And so the attendants dozed off to sleep. Only at a time when least expected did the cry go out, behold, the bridegroom cometh. And the scene set forth by Jesus in this parable is also your experience and mine. It's not that the bridegroom of the church is slow in his appearance from God's point of view, According to God's counsel, he shall appear at exactly the right moment, a moment fixed by God from eternity. Before that time of God's decree, he cannot come because all things must be made ready and every last elect must be called and gathered into his church. In fact, not only does Christ not tarry from the viewpoint of our faithful heavenly Father, but he comes quickly. As quickly as possible is Christ coming. But the parable looks at his return from our perspective, from our earthly perspective, and from the viewpoint of our desire to see him Our groom appears to be slow in his arrival. The church throughout history has anticipated his arrival on the clouds of glory and has lived in the consciousness of his imminent return, especially you who have read the writings of the reformers and those who lived during the years of the fury of the Roman Catholic Church leveled against the Church of the Reformation, you know that often the Reformers referred to the fact that it wouldn't be long before the bridegroom appeared. And yet, here we are, some 500, 450 to 500 years later, still the Lord tarries. How long must we wait? The days and the hours and the years speed by. Our life is but a vapor, writes James. And the older you get, the more you realize how true that is. Sin continues to develop at an alarming pace and in ways that we never would have anticipated, even a generation ago. We fear for the future of our children who must live in such a wicked society. Yet the Lord tarries. And for that very reason, he knows our thoughts, he knows our fears, and he says to us, watch, watch. The second place, this admonition to watchfulness is necessary because of our tendency to spiritual sleepiness. Notice in the parable, it's not only the foolish virgins who fall asleep. As the night grew darker and the sounds of the town grew quieter, the waiting virgins began to feel drowsy. And it's not that they lacked the desire for the coming of the bridegroom, but they were unable to stay awake in the deep hours of the night. And the danger of such sleepiness is brought to our attention in Scripture and many other passages. We think, for example, of the words of the apostle in 1 Thessalonians 5 verse 6, let us not sleep as do others, but let us watch and be sober. The admonition comes to the church because we're inclined to sleep. In fact, the Lord said the whole church is going to be overcome by lethargy and sleepiness, the elect people of God not excluded, And so great will be the spiritual lethargy of the church institute that Jesus wonders out loud if he shall find faith on the earth when he returns. If we examine ourselves and the church of our day, that ought not surprise us. The picture could not be a more true representation of our day. So easily do we fall into the drowsiness of worldliness. Spiritual lethargy characterizes the church, and the charge is not made without thought, our churches too. It appears sometimes that we are nodding off as those who've been drugged by pleasure and the carnal pursuits of our own earthly happiness. We do well to examine ourselves. We need not spend time considering the foolish virgins from that perspective. It's easy enough to see those in the church who profess to be Christian and yet live and speak as if the world will never end. But sometimes that's true even of the faithful, of us. When we think of Christ's coming, do we long for the coming of our bridegroom? Or is our attitude one that hopes for a return only after we have enjoyed the pleasures of this life to the max? The Lord in mercy gives us the announcement of his coming. Behold, the bridegroom cometh. Go ye out to meet him. And this cry is intended to arouse those who are waiting for his return. And it's this which points to the signs of Christ's coming, the signs he enumerated in Matthew 24. So this announcement comes to you and to me in the form of the signs of Christ's coming. Really, those signs are always before us. In fact, you remember, the chief sign of Christ's coming comes before us every Lord's Day twice, the preaching of the gospel. That's the chief sign, the number one sign that Christ is coming. But those signs are always before us, wars and rumors of wars, earthquakes, famines in diverse places, apostasy in the church. even the gathering of the elect by the preaching of the gospel, all these things serve to remind us to watch and wait for the coming of our Savior. But especially as the end draws near, Scripture teaches us that those signs will multiply in number and intensity. Now we see them. Do we recognize them for what they are announcing to us? Is that how you listen to the news reports or read the news reports? Do you see all these events happening as signs that our Lord is on His way? Just before the end, when the earth shakes terribly beneath our feet, and the sun, moon, and stars do strange things, when Antichrist reigns on earth, and we face persecution much as the church had never seen, then also the virgins which constitute the church of our Lord Jesus Christ shall be unveiled and seen for what they are, wise or foolish. And in that day, God will judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ. There's only one way to avoid such shameful exposure as is seen in this parable, and that is to face up to the truth revealed by the many signs of the times We must ask ourselves, therefore, do we watch for Christ's return as the return of our Savior? Do we watch for his coming in confidence and assurance or with lack of interest? because the time and the hour is hidden in the counsel of God and is known by no man. We must watch. To watch implies in the first place that we are prepared for the coming of the Lord. It means that you and I as sinners are prepared to meet Jesus, the judge of all the earth. We will only watch when we know and believe that though we have been born dead in trespasses and sins and are totally corrupt by nature, yet all our sins are forgiven us in the blood of Jesus Christ. To be prepared for Christ's coming means that we are ready to stand before him without fear in full assurance that we belong to him. But such preparedness is only possible for those who are wise virgins, those who are called to the marriage feast of the Lamb. For those who are spiritual fools, his appearance will bring fear and terror. They will call upon the mountains to fall on them, the hills to cover them, all because they lived in sin and sought for the pleasures of this life to the exclusion of Christ, neglecting even the signs of his coming. Only when we walk by faith and therefore in the way of Jehovah's precepts and in love for him can we possess the blessed assurance that Jesus Christ is our full and complete salvation and the bridegroom who stands above all comparisons that we watch also implies a longing to recognize the signs of his coming and to see him appear. Watchfulness implies that the prayer of Christ's bride is our prayer personally. Come, Lord Jesus, yea, come quickly. The stronger that hope pounds in the hearts of you who believe, the stronger will you make yourselves ready for the appearance of him whose coming is being announced presently by the signs of his coming. And then the final outcome is set before us with unmistakable clarity. For the foolish virgins There is no place at the marriage feast of Christ and his bride. When the cry was heard announcing the bridegroom, all the virgins arose and prepared to fire up their lamps, but when the foolish virgins arose to light their lamps, they discovered to their dismay that their lamps were flickering out and they had no more oil. They were unprepared. for the arrival of the bridegroom. You see, when the day of Christ's coming arrives, a flood of light shall pierce the darkest corners of every heart so that self-deception and hypocrisy will no longer be possible. There will be those who even try to make themselves ready at the last minute. Give me of your oil, for our lamps are gone out. You can hear them cry in that day. Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? And in thy name have cast out devils, and in thy name done many wonderful works. But they have no oil. They have no spirit of Christ. They've been caught unprepared. They belong to Christ only outwardly. Spiritually, they had no place for him. And his answer pierces to the depths of their soul into eternity, I never knew you. How terrible are those words? Depart from me ye that work iniquity. Let us notice that this outcome is indeed final for those who are foolish. Upon the arrival of the bridegroom, there's no change possible, no conversion, no salvation. And here we see also that preparedness necessary for avoiding this outcome of the foolish virgins is a personal matter that each one of us must consider. Everyone is called, especially in light of the signs that his return is imminent, every one of us is called to repent and believe. You must be ready, and I. because this oil of preparedness cannot be given from one man to another. It cannot be given by a husband to his wife, or a wife to her husband, by parents to their children, or by a minister to a young person. There is indeed much that we can and ought to do for each other. We must pray for one another, We must encourage and exhort one another. We may, through our godly conversation, even gain others to Christ, as our Heidelberg Catechism puts it, but one thing we cannot do, and the most important thing of all, we cannot give one faith which causes watchfulness for the coming of Christ. The oil of preparedness is not transferable. When you come face to face with Christ, you must not come with the faith and courage of those who stand around you, but with your own faith and your love for the bridegroom that these foolish virgins had not. And when they later came to the marriage feast, they were rejected. Lord, Lord, open to us. But he answered and said, verily I say unto you, I know you not. Now even here, Christ places the sovereign purpose of God on the foreground. They were not the elect. I never knew you. You were never my own. I never loved you. I never died for you. There's no room at the feast table for you. Final is the horrible outcome for those who are not prepared. The wise virgins are received into the marriage feast and are made partakers of the blessedness of the marriage. Christ is coming, beloved. Make no mistake about it. Nothing can stop him or slow him down. He shall arrive at the stroke of midnight on God's clock. God has appointed the hour, the hour when everything is ready and then the elect are saved and the bride of Christ is brought into the presence of her groom and king into the heavenly mansion, the certainty of that coming is established upon the unchangeable counsel of God. And fixed in that counsel is also the sovereign ground for that return. namely the victory of the cross and resurrection. How the church longs for that day. You do, don't you? Now already Christ and his bride are engaged. And in the time that scripture was written, that engagement was already principally marriage. Marriage that was sure to take place, marriage that could not be broken, marriage that had only to be consummated by the intimacy of the marriage bond. But while the church remains in the world, she is a virgin. Her lover is far from her, physically, And while she waits, she keeps herself unspotted from the world. We who belong to that bride have only to look forward to the consummation of the marriage union and the intimacy of holy fellowship and love with our bridegroom. The perfect joy of heavenly marriage awaits us, beloved. Let us watch, therefore. Watch for him in the various temptations that you face, in the trials of every hour. Watch in hope. Read the signs of his coming. And watch unto the end. Amen. Gracious Father, we thank Thee for the signs Thou hast given us, so that even now, in those signs, we hear the footsteps of our Bridegroom, long for His return, and we long, Heavenly Father, for the gathering at the marriage feast of the Lamb and that marriage which will take us into all eternity. Strengthen our faith. Keep us in the palm of thy hand. For Jesus' sake, amen.