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MATTHEW 25
WELL DONE
Intro: We spent three weeks studying the answers Jesus gave to His Disciples regarding their questions about the signs of the end times. Jesus summarized His answer with two commands: Watch therefore…. For the coming of the Son of Man will be unexpected… Be ready!
He continues His answer in Chapter 25 with three parables. Remember that a parable is a little story with a big meaning! (Courson)
These parables trouble my soul… They keep me praying… They keep me giving, going, sharing, serving, sacrificing, witnessing… As exciting as chapter 24 was… Chapter 25 is chilling… Missler calls this a Problem Parable… Listen carefully.
PARABLE OF THE TEN VIRGINS
1 "Then (Smith – WHEN? When Jesus comes again) the kingdom of heaven shall be likened to ten virgins (bridesmaids) who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. 2 Now five of them were wise, and five were foolish. 3 Those who were foolish took their lamps and took no oil with them, 4 but the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps.
· Psalm 119:105 Your word is a lamp to my feet And a light to my path.
5 But while the bridegroom was delayed, (Like most construction projects) they all slumbered and slept.
· Brides and grooms behaved very differently in the days of this parable.
o Guzik - There were three stages to a Jewish wedding in that day. The first was engagement - a formal agreement made by the fathers. The second was betrothal - the ceremony where mutual promises are made. The third was marriage - approximately one year later when the bridegroom came at an unexpected time for his bride.
· Ray Bentley was telling us of the time between the betrothal and the marriage… The Groom would tell his bride, “I go to prepare a place for you… If it were not so I wouldn’t have told you. When everything is ready, I will come and get you, so that you will always be with Me where I am.”
· The Groom would leave her waiting for his return and go and work on their home… Sometimes it took a month, sometimes 6 months to a year… The work would be overseen by the Groom’s Father…
· When the father was satisfied, he would wake the groom in the night and say, “Go for your bride… Go now! Go surprise her!”
· Jesus and Paul and Peter told us that the Lord would come like a thief in the night… Unexpected… A surprise! Perhaps at midnight?
THE MIDNIGHT CRY
6 "And at midnight a cry was heard: 'Behold, the bridegroom is coming; go out to meet him!' 7 Then all those virgins arose and trimmed their lamps. 8 And the foolish said to the wise, 'Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.' 9 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.' 10 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. 11 "Afterward the other virgins came also, saying, 'Lord, Lord, open to us!' 12 But he answered and said, 'Assuredly, I say to you, I do not know you.' (present tense)
13 "Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour in which the Son of Man is coming.
· Smith – Note the similarities in the Ten Virgins:
o They ALL were virgins…
o They ALL had lamps…
o They ALL slumbered and slept…
o They ALL were waiting…
o They ALL were awakened by the return of the groom…
o They ALL trimmed their lamps…
o They ALL rushed to meet the Groom…
· But… Five were wise and had bought the lamp oil…
o Five were foolish and had not bought the extra oil…
o Five were ready for the wait… Five were not…
o Five had oil… Five did not… Five were able to stay. Five were not.
This parable is not about lanterns… It is not about sleeping… It is NOT even about oil…. It is to teach us to…
BE READY
Half of the bridesmaids had become lazy… There were tired of waiting and had begun to busy themselves with other concerns than being ready for the groom.
· Why? They REALLY didn’t know Him. They knew the bride! It was fun to hang out with her; She was always happy and singing; Maybe she served donuts and coffee on Sunday mornings… but they never had a relationship with the Groom.
o AND… He surely never had one with them. How could this possibly happen? We are given a hint in the Beatitudes…
· Matthew 7:22 Many will say to Me in that day, 'Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?' 23 And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!' (NLT - break God's laws)
· You who “toil to transgress…” (Strong’s)
o You work at getting around God’s will, instead of searching to fulfill it.
o You practice sin like a lawyer practices law. You look for loopholes rather than looking for the heart of God…
o The Pharisees would quote their interpretations to Jesus… And Jesus would turn away and heal a lame man – violating their interpretations as if He never even knew them.
Calvary Chapel Simi… WE ARE SOME OF THE TEN BRIDESMAIDS… Are we faithfully invested in the oil of the Holy Spirit and waiting faithfully for His shout?
· Have we turned away from distractions of this world to make our hearts and minds ready? GET READY! Stay ready! The groom is looking for a current relationship from us!
· Missler – “Is your relationship with the Lord a daily experience?” Are you going to be talking with Him tomorrow? I hope so… AND so does He!
PARABLE OF THE FAITHFUL SERVANT
14 "For the kingdom of heaven is like a man traveling to a far country, who called his own servants and delivered his goods to them. 15 And to one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one, to each according to his own ability; and immediately he went on a journey.
· Jesus is preparing us with this little story… With a BIG meaning… While we are waiting for Him to return, we are to be busy for Him!
o Even a young Jesus told His Mom – Luke 2:49 – “Ma, I must be busy in My Father’s business…” paraphrased badly!
o 1 Corinthians 4:2 Moreover it is required in stewards that one be found faithful.
HOW FAITHFUL SHOULD WE BE?
16 Then he who had received the five talents went and traded (Same word that Jesus used in ch 7 to describe those who work/toil at sin) with them, and made another five talents. 17 And likewise he who had received two gained two more also.
18 But he who had received one went and dug in the ground, and hid his lord's money.
· Why didn’t this servant do anything with the money he was entrusted with? Listen – we are about to find out…
19 After a long time the lord of those servants came and settled accounts with them. 20 "So he who had received five talents came and brought five other talents, saying, 'Lord, you delivered to me five talents; look, I have gained five more talents besides them.'
21 His lord said to him, 'Well done, good and faithful servant; you were faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.'
22 He also who had received two talents came and said, 'Lord, you delivered to me two talents; look, I have gained two more talents besides them.' 23 His lord said to him, 'Well done, good and faithful servant; you have been faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.'
24 "Then he who had received the one talent came and said, 'Lord, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you have not sown, and gathering where you have not scattered seed.
25 And I was afraid, and went and hid your talent in the ground. Look, there you have what is yours.'
26 "But his lord answered and said to him, 'You wicked and lazy servant, you knew that I reap where I have not sown, and gather where I have not scattered seed. 27 So you ought to have deposited my money with the bankers, and at my coming I would have received back my own with interest. 28 So take the talent from him, and give it to him who has ten talents. 29 'For to everyone who has, more will be given, and he will have abundance; but from him who does not have, even what he has will be taken away. 30 And cast the unprofitable servant into the outer darkness. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.'
Look, the last servant was lost… He was full of fear rather than full of faith… The Lord called him lazy and wicked…
· He was unwilling to labor for his master…
· He was less concerned with pleasing his master than the other servants…
· He actually felt like he was going to be OK with not working on behalf of his master… But the Master condemned him…
o NOT THE OTHER servants….. It was not theirs to condemn…
o But God expects fruitfulness from ALL of His own.
You can’t earn salvation, but you have to earn your crowns. Missler
Listen, don’t wait until it is too late….
At concourse G, gate seventeen,
My sweat and panting pleas
That obstacles were unforeseen
May have been fantasies
For all they cared of where I’d been.
The door was locked within.
“I waited at another gate,”
I pled. They said, “Too late.”
I wait, and weary, fall—hurled back
Through sluggish centuries—
Asleep. The roof of my poor shack
Unrhythmic’ly taps. These
Drops of rain suddenly unite
In weeks of raging night.
I linger, doubting. Then flail straight
To Noah’s ark. Too late.
Again I dream. Esau. I scratch
My hairy arms and smell
The wildness in my clothes, and snatch
At ev’ry hollow shell
Of happiness—in vain—and grope
For Birthright, Blessing, Hope.
And strain with tears to shed the weight
Of bitterness. Too late.
Now in my dream I waited and I slept.
And suddenly a shout
At midnight wakened all, and swept
Us from our slumbers out
To meet the groom with lanterns bright.
But mine would not ignite.
I flew and back. A bolted gate.
A burning lamp, too late.
“Excuse me, sir, I think your flight
Is boarding now.” “Yes.”
My tongue was thick with sleep. “All right,
I’m coming.” “Good, unless
You plan to spend the night in dreams.”
“No, I’ll be there.” It seems
I stand before an open gate,
and it is not, too late.
John Piper
January 13, 2013
Next week – The sheep and the goats…
Smith 27 Mis 45