Matthew 25: 1-13
Are You Wise or Foolish?
1: Then shall the kingdom of heaven be likened unto ten virgins, which took their lamps, and went forth to meet the bridegroom. 2: And five of them were wise, and five were foolish. 3: They that were foolish took their lamps, and took no oil with them: 4: But the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps. 5: While the bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered and slept. 6: And at midnight there was a cry made, Behold, the bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet him. 7: Then all those virgins arose, and trimmed their lamps. 8: And the foolish said unto the wise, Give us of your oil; for our lamps are gone out. 9: 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. 10: 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. 11: Afterward came also the other virgins, saying, Lord, Lord, open to us. 12: But he answered and said, Verily I say unto you, I know you not. 13: Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh.
So many of us are like the foolish virgins, we think we’re ready for His coming, but we’re not. When He comes, we’ll be running around trying to get last minute things done, but we’ll be too late.
Are you ready for His coming? And what does it mean to be ready?
Jesus commanded us to watch for His return and to occupy till He comes.
So what does that mean?
In this world today, so many are like the scoffers Peter wrote about in 2nd Peter Chapter 3. They mock and call us fools for thinking that Christ is coming back any time soon or at all. They say, “You Christians and all your preaching about the second coming of Christ, are you crazy. You’ve been preaching about this since forever and nothing has changed. No Christ coming in the clouds, no sound of trumpets, so don’t talk to me about Him returning. It hasn’t happened yet and it’s not going to happen.”
That’s what they think and what they say. They don’t want anything to do with Christ and His Church, they are the unsaved and the lost, and it’s a shame.
But what’s even worse are those foolish virgins in the story Jesus told above. They know He’s coming back, but they’re not ready. Like the wise virgins, they have their lamps, but not enough oil.
And what is oil a symbol of in the Bible?
Oil is a symbol of the Spirit. The anointing of the Spirit and that’s what they are missing. It’s what most Christians are missing.
We know about Jesus or at least we think we do.
We know about God the Father at least a little bit.
But what do we know about the third member of the Trinity, The Holy Spirit?
Oh, we have our theology and our creeds all right. We believe Jesus died for our sins. We accept His death on the cross and believe He rose from the dead on the third day. We say we believe He ascended into Heaven and is coming back one day, we say we believe in the Holy Spirit, but most of us ready don’t have much of an idea who He is and what He does. So we sit in Church thinking we’re ready for Christ to return, but are we really?
Who is to Holy Spirit?
He is that “Other Comforter,” that Jesus promised the Disciples would come and help them remember all that He taught them. And He is every bit as much God as Jesus and the Father are. If we truly believe and accept what Jesus did for us on the cross, and know that He died and rose again for the forgiveness of our sins, what we call being “Born Again,” then we have the Holy Spirit within us. But too few of us have had the anointing of the Holy Spirit in our lives.
But how do we receive that anointing you ask?
Jesus told us in Luke 11:13
If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?
Can it be that simple? Ask for the Holy Spirit and receive Him. You have not, because you ask not, to paraphrase James 4:2-3.
It’s the Holy Spirit’s job to point you to Christ, to convict you of your sins and to lead you along the path God the Father has laid out for you. And we all have a path.
It’s through the Holy Spirit that we truly come to know Christ and welcome Him into our lives as a partner, friend and companion. He is the comforter Jesus said He would be. He is the teacher, and the one who give us power to be His witnesses throughout the world.
Jesus is coming back and we don’t have that much time to get ready for Him. He could come back tonight, tomorrow, next week, next month, next year or a hundred years from now, but He is coming back. Personally, I feel His coming is just around the corner, but it doesn’t matter when He returns. The fact is, for YOU, He could come today. None of us knows when our time on this earth is up. Death could claim us at any time and in any number of ways. Before the end of this day, YOU or I could be standing before God and answering for what we did in our lives for Christ. Sadly, many of us, far too many of us, won’t have much more to say then, “Well, I went to Church some times and gave an offering once in a while. I helped here or there but, I guess I didn’t do all that much.”
The question is, knowing that, are you Ready to meet Him?
We are told in scripture to watch for His return.
We are told to occupy till He returns and that means we need to be about His business here on earth. Each one of us has a job to do for God in this world. We all have different talents and gifts. My calling is different than your calling, my gifts are different than your gifts and my talents are also different then the talents God, has given you. Some have the gift of teaching, of helps, others for organization. There are many different gifts and talents, gifts of prophecy, healing, wisdom, evangelism, knowledge and more. And we need to use these gifts and talents as we wait for His return.
So I ask you to search yourself and discover what your gifts and talents are, and then ask God to show you what you should be doing as you wait for Him. And don’t worry about what He’ll ask you to do. Look at your gifts and talents, and know that whatever the Lord has in mind for you to do, it will be something that you will Love doing.
Ask God for the anointing of the Holy Spirit. Ask to be filled with the Holy Spirit, and for God through His Spirit to show you what He wants of you.
Just before Jesus ascended into Heaven the Disciples were told to go back to Jerusalem and wait for the Holy Spirit to come upon them. And so it is with us, we must ask for the coming upon of the Holy Spirit and we just might have to wait for Him. But to all who ask it shall be given.
Don’t be like the foolish virgins who aren’t ready.
I Pray for You to Be Filled with the Spirit and be ready for His return.
I’ll leave you with part of an old poem by CT Studd:
Only one Life, Twill soon be past.
Only what’s done for Christ will Last.