Are You Ready?

Introduction

If you’ve closed your Bibles, I want to invite you to open them back up to where we were in our Bible reading in Matthew chapter 25. We’ll be using a portion of Matthew chapter 25. We’re going to talk about the whole chapter, but we’ll use a portion of it as the basis for the text for our lesson this morning. But before we do that, I want to take a survey.

It’s a multiple choice. I give you a heads up. There’s only two choices, so you’ve got to pick one. And it’s about where you grew up. And where you grew up largely dictates probably how you grew up. And you either grew up in the city or in the country. And so how many of you are city folks? How many of you grew up in the city with curbs and street lights and sidewalks? And okay, all right. And how many of you were blessed to be able to grow up in the country?

Okay. Let me tell you about how and where I grew up. I want to tell you about a little white house sitting on a hill. On at that time an unnamed dirt road. Later, because of the advent of 911, it became known as County Road 1254. But in my childhood, it didn’t have a name. Little dirt road, few houses on it, not many. We were the first house on that hillside, but others came in. We had the K the Cato’s lived next door. A couple houses over were the Guthrie’s and then the Campbells. Across the road from us was just a pasture, an empty pasture that became my playground. The owner of that pasture was generous enough to let me build a go-kart track when we got a go-kart on that pasture.

Again, it was a dirt road, well watered, and as you might suspect, not a whole lot of traffic on that little unnamed dirt road. If you were driving on that dirt road, you either live there, were going to see somebody who lived there, or we’re completely lost. This is what we did before the internet. We would be sitting in our living room, our living room faced that little dirt road, and we had a big plate glass window that faced onto the front porch and overlooked that dirt road. With rare exceptions. If a car drove down that dirt road and you could always hear them coming, at least one member of the family would stand up to look out the window to see who it was. If you didn’t fulfill all the obligations of your job and announce who it was, you would quickly be asked, who was that?

And to whom you would announce it’s so and so. Or I don’t know. And if we were having company coming over, as a little kid, I would get excited. I loved having company. Again, this was before the internet. There wasn’t much to do. And so I would get excited if somebody was coming over, and and I would not only look out that window to see nosily who that was driving by. But in anxious anticipation that it was them. Company had arrived. And many times when we were expecting somebody, we didn’t know when they were coming over. We didn’t know the exact time, but we knew they were coming over sometime during the day or sometime in the evening before or after supper. And anxious anticipation. Whenever I would hear a car rounding the corner of that dirt road and picking up a little bit of speed in the straightaway that was right in front of our house, I would get up to see.

Is it them? Are they here? In a lot of ways, that illustrates what is to be the Christian’s attitude toward the second coming of Christ.

But we don’t know when, do we?

Is that him? Is he coming? Now we may not do that in that literal sense, but in some sense, that is to be the Christian’s attitude that we live in anticipation of his arrival. And maybe more importantly, we live in anticipation for the judgment that will follow his arrival. So I want us to talk about Jesus coming again. And about us being watchful. About us being ready. Matthew chapter 25 contains three parables that our Lord told, all on the same subject. All of the three parables of Matthew chapter 25 have to do with this subject about being getting and staying ready for his return. Let’s talk about the last two, and then we’ll read the first one. The middle parable is one of Jesus’ most well-known parables, the parable of the talents.

And we read and study that parable many times to make the application that we need to use the resources that we have to glorify God, to use them instead of just hiding and sitting on them. That’s the great application, and that is an application. But all of that was done in anticipation in that story of the Lord of the servants coming back and holding them accountable for what they had done with what he had left them. And so us using our resources, whatever the Lord has stewarded us with, is done in anticipation that he will come back and we will have to answer for what we have done. So you see, that parable was about being ready for the Lord of the servants to return. The last story that he told, which Porter read a portion of in Matthew chapter 25, talks about the separation of what’s going to happen when he returns.

And we stand before him in judgment, but it’s really not just a description of judgment day. It’s a story about us getting prepared for judgment day. Remember, lastly, to the goats on his left, he would say, You didn’t do these things. You didn’t water, feed, dress, visit, and help. And to the sheep before that on his right, he would say, You did do these things. And so you’re ready. But now let’s read the first of those parables that we usually refer to as the parable of the ten virgins. Let’s reacquaint ourselves with this parable. Matthew chapter 25, verse 1. 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, but five of them were foolish.

Those who were foolish took their lamps and took no oil with them. Let’s pause there. We’re going to find out as we read the story that that means they didn’t take any additional oil. They had the oil in the lamp itself, but they didn’t prepare for the eventuality that this might take longer. And so they didn’t take extra oil with them. But the wise, verse 4, took oil in their vessels with their lambs. But while the bridegroom delayed, they 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 and said, No, no, lest there should not be enough for us and you. But go rather to those who sell and buy for yourselves. And when they went to buy, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready. 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. And then Jesus makes the point by saying, Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour in which the Son of Man is coming. Watch.

Of being ready, of being prepared. We saw there in Matthew chapter 25 again, this series of parables, all about preparedness. The ten virgins, the story again was about being and staying prepared. And we’re going to draw some lessons from that parable. The parable of the talents was about using our lives and our God-given resources to be prepared when the Lord of the servants would return. And then the parable, the story of the sheep and the goats had to do with using, again, those resources and being charitable and giving and loving to God’s people. For in so doing, we’re doing that to God Himself, and that will prepare us for eternity. And so let’s make two points from this first story, the story of the ten virgins.

1. To Be Ready, We Have to Get Ready

The first point is if we’re to be ready when He comes, we have to get ready. There has to be some preparation beforehand. Do you not see that thread running through all three of those stories? That we’re to do something now in preparation for then. And so we have to get ready. Again, that’s the point. Jesus said that’s the point. Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour. In regard to the second coming of Christ, that’s a common word. Watch. Watch, therefore. And it’s probably a word that we don’t think about a whole lot. What does that mean? Watch.

Does it mean literally what I talked about in my illustration at the beginning of looking out the window? Or in this case, just looking at the cloud. Just let’s take turns. We couldn’t all do that the whole time, but have somebody stationed looking at the cloud. He’ll come in the clouds, won’t he? And so let’s have somebody always watching. And again, we’ll do that for convenience sake on a rotating shift. That’s not what it means. What does it mean? Watch. Turn with me, if you will, to Matthew chapter 26. It may just be a coincidence that in the following chapter, after Jesus had said, since we don’t know when he will come, watch. And in the very next verse, he’s going to use in a different context, the same word that means the same thing.

Jesus, you remember, is before his betrayal and arrest, he goes to the garden of Gethsemane, and he takes his disciples with him, and he takes three of them deeper into that garden. And he goes away from them and prays. And remember, those disciples had trouble staying awake. They kept slipping off into sleep. And they seemed to be completely unaware of the events that were about to transpire and the seriousness of what was going to happen. And so Jesus says, notice in Matthew chapter 26 and in verse 41, he’d come back, he found the disciples sleeping, and he says, Could you not watch? Verse 40? Could you not watch with me one hour? Verse 41 then says, watch and pray. Lest you enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.

Jesus told those disciples, watch. What does that mean? Although Judas and the mob were on their way, I don’t think it means one of you stand guard and let me know when they’re coming. So what does it mean? Could you not watch? One hour. Watch and pray. It seems to me the idea of watch means to be watchful, to be alert. Again, I go back to my illustration. I was alert. I was ready because I knew company was coming. I didn’t know when, but I was alert and I was aware and I was watchful. And by the way, I didn’t tell you about what else transpired on those days in which company was coming. Part of it was I was springing to the window to see who is that.

Is that them? But there’s some other things that had to happen. I had to make my bed. I never understood that. And all the time we had company, and they never went in my room. But I still had to make my bed. Just in case, I guess, the whole house caught fire except for my room, and we’d all run into there, and it’d be nice. Mom wouldn’t be. I don’t know. But we had, I’d make my bed. We had to clean up, sweep, vacuum, do those other kind of things. We had to put things away, and there was preparation. And why? Because somebody’s coming. When Jesus says, watch to those disciples, watch and pray. He’s saying something’s about to happen. You need to be alert and be ready and prepared.

And so when Jesus tells us he’s coming again, and because of that tells us we need to watch.

Look at Ephesians chapter 6. A familiar text. We may have missed the word watch in it, but in Ephesians chapter 6, that’s that context where Jesus tells us, or Paul, Jesus through Paul tells us to put on the whole armor of God so that we might be able to withstand the devil. He says in Ephesians chapter 6 and in verse 18, praying, verse 18, praying always, with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end. With all perseverance and supplication for the saints. Being watchful. Watch and pray. Seems to carry it with the idea of being on alert. Being and getting ready. There’s at least two senses in which the child of God needs to be watchful. Needs to get prepared now for then.

Of course, there’s eternity. We’ll talk about that. But I think there are myriad of lessons in the scriptures, and life surely has taught us this as well. That we need to be prepared, and maybe this is the point in Ephesians chapter 6. And he’s not saying, be watchful for the day of judgment, but be watchful for the day of temptation. When you’re going to need that whole armor, you might need not need the whole armor of God today. But you better put it on because you might need it tomorrow. And so, how’s your life today? Is it good? Everything going alright? Are you finding it easy right now, at least in this hour, to worship and to glorify God and to focus on Him and to resist temptation?

It’s not always going to be that way. And so we need to prepare for the bad days in the good days. You’re Floridians, you don’t need an illustration above a hurricane, do you? When do you prepare for a hurricane? When the shingles are flying off the roof? No. You prepare for a hurricane when it’s sunny outside, don’t you? Because you know it’s coming. Look in the Old Testament, the book of Ecclesiastes. Is not the advice of the wise man in Ecclesiastes chapter 12. In this context, in Ecclesiastes chapter 12, verse 1, the good days are the days of youth before those bad days that he’s going to describe later in chapter 12 come that describe the problems of old age, the difficulties of old age.

Because we don’t have the energy, or maybe even the time. And so we prepare now. Look at Ecclesiastes 12, verse 1. Remember now your creator in the days of your youth, before the difficult, before the difficult days come, and the years draw nigh when you say, I have no pleasure in them. What’s he saying? Prepare now for darker days ahead.

And so we build up our faith when the sun is shining spiritually upon us. We read and study God’s word and attach ourselves to God’s people and the encouragement that comes through that. Because we know we don’t know when.

2. We Need to Stay Prepared

Days that will rattle our faith and shake us to our core. And the preparation we made beforehand will get us through those dark days. But we also get prepared for eternity now. Paul said to the Corinthians, today is the day of salvation. We’ll extend it an invitation in just a few moments. And that invitation is extended every time we are together for this reason, and that is He is coming again. And you need to get ready. But what’s another lesson from our ten virgins, five wise and five foolish, and that is the other lesson is that if we’re to be ready at his coming, we not only need to get prepared, but we need to stay prepared. Those five foolish would have been okay, wouldn’t they?

If the bridegroom had come very early, the oil they had in their lamps would have been all they needed. But as that story told us, he delayed his coming. And that oil ran out, and they had not prepared for him delaying their coming. And so they weren’t ready. They were ready, but then they got to the point where they weren’t anymore. It may be that there’s some in this audience that need to answer that invitation. To believe, repent, confess, and to be baptized this very morning to get ready. But I suspect that most of our audience has done that. You had your lamps. But the challenge for many of us now is staying ready. Because like these ladies, we slumbered and slept. And our Lord’s delayed is coming.

And maybe right now, you’re running low on oil. Or to modernize that analogy, your batteries are running a little low. You’re discouraged. Let’s just be honest. You’re weak. And if that shout and that trumpet came now, you might be a little worried that you’re not ready. So the challenge is twofold. Yes, get ready. Obey the gospel. Do what he tells you to do. But then how do I sustain? How do I stay ready? Well, here’s some helpful advice. You add to this list. One thing you can do is press on. Look with me in the book of Philippians, chapter three. Brother Ken, before his prayer referenced Philippians chapter three. Let’s look at it again. Paul, near the end of his life, in those dark days when his oil could have been running low, when his batteries could be depleted.

In a prison, Paul says in Philippians chapter 3, begin reading with me in verse 12. Not that I’ve already attained or already perfected, but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has laid hold of me. Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended, but one thing I do, forgetting the things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press. Press on. Keep going. Knowing that he’s coming again, don’t get so discouraged, so despondent and so weak that you give up. What would Paul’s advice be when you get weak and you’re stumbling, and if you don’t know that you can make it another day, what would Paul say? Press on.

Press on. It’ll be worth it. What would the advice of our brother Peter be? Peter would say, grow. In first, or excuse me, 2 Peter chapter 3. In this letter about persevering and enduring temptations and tribulations, Peter would conclude that letter this way, 2 Peter 3, verse 18, but grow. Grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Peter was writing to a group of Christians who were undergoing what he called fiery trials. And in that short epistle of people who are undergoing what to us might be unimaginable persecution. What’s Peter’s closing words? Grow.

Because you got to do both to do the other.

Don’t stagnate in your faith. Don’t become still move on.

And if you’re to stay prepared for the eventuality, not the eventuality, the certainty that someday, unknown to me, he will come again. One of the ways that I am watchful is that I am growing. Lastly, we cannot talk about getting prepared and staying prepared without echoing the words that seem to be used almost every time the Lord’s second coming is discussed in Scripture. Watch and pray. Do a word search in your Bible and see how many times the second coming is discussed, and these words are used, and how many times they’re used together. Watch and pray. That’s what Jesus told his disciples as they were to be watching in the garden. Watch, but also pray. Maybe one of the reasons we’re to pray as we watch is because prayer is another way, again, that keeps us connected to our Father.

That keeps us mindful of him and his coming, his return and the judgment that we will stand. Watch and pray. Watching again certainly carries with it the idea of the knowledge of the certainty and the awareness that he is coming. Something is about to happen. Jesus told his disciples that were there sleeping in the garden. Something’s about to happen. You need to watch. Something’s about to happen. And we need to watch. And we need to pray. Pray that our sins are forgiven. Pray that God will be with us at that moment. Pray that he will help us to grow and to press on until that moment. But I know he’s coming. And I want to be prepared. And so I’m going to watch and pray. Are you ready?

Conclusion

Do you have your lamps all trimmed and bright? Do you have enough oil in your reserve that you can press on? That whenever, whenever you are ready. You need to render obedience to the gospel. Do you need to do something to get better prepared for that coming? Then why not do that now? Why not make that decision now as together we stand and as we sing?