Matthew: Parables of Jesus 2023

So if you've got your bibles open, if we turn to Matthew chapter 25, we're gonna be reading from verses 1 to 13. At that time, The kingdom of heaven will be like 10 virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. 5 of them were foolish and 5 were wise. The foolish ones took their lamps, but did not take any oil with them.

The wise ones, however, took oil in their jars with their lamps, and the bridegroom was a long time in coming and they all became drowsy and fell asleep. At midnight, the cryer rang out. Here's the bridegroom. Come out to meet him. Then all the virgins woke up and trimmed their lamps.

The foolish 1 said to the wise, Give us some of your oil. Our lumps are going out. No. They replied. There may not be enough for both of us and you.

By first and you. Instead, go to those who sell oil and buy some for for yourselves. But while they were on their way to buy the oil, the bridegroom arrived, the virgins who were ready went in with them to the wedding banquet, and the door was shut. Later, the others also came. Lord, lord, they said.

Open the door for us. But he replied. Truly I say to truly I tell you. I don't know you. Therefore, keep watch because you do not know the day or the hour.

Tom. Alright. Thanks, Craig. And, if you could keep that story open in front of you, that would be that would be a help. As Craig said, my name's Tom, and, I'm 1 of the pastors here at the church, and, very warm welcome to you.

If it's your first time with us this evening. It's lovely to have you here. You join us actually right at the end of a series that we've been doing for some months now. We've been working our way through some of the parables. In the gospels, and, this is actually the last 1 in, in this series.

So we haven't done a a total treatment of all the parables, but we've done quite a few And, this is the last 1 that we're gonna be looking at in this current series, and, seems appropriate, doesn't it then to be, looking at the return, the return of the lord, the lord Jesus Christ? And so as we come to this story, it's bar heads in particular. Lord, Jesus, we thank you that you, just as you came once that you will come again. And on that day, we will all meet you and we will all see you with our eyes and we will all be called to your great white throne and we will witness, the the end of the old age and the beginning of the new age. And what what a splendid day that will be.

And, we are sorry that so often we, live as if that weren't happening or weren't true. And, we pray that as we reflect on this theme again this evening that you would, warn us with the warnings and that you would encourage us with the encouragement, and, we pray that we would all, by the power of your spirit be more resolved to to live in light of most awesome of days. And, we pray in Jesus' name. Oh, man. Okay.

We're going to, we're gonna begin this evening by by reading an ancient creed together. This is the, this is the apostles creed, and, it'll appear on the screen behind me there. Now some people to make that this is this is this could be as old as 1700 years, this creed, and, may have been written 300 or so years. After Jesus was born. And, it's a creed that has survived the test of time and the test of history, and, is still read by Christians all over the world, as a way of rehearsing the core components of the gospel and the truths which have united Christians across the ages.

And, we're going to begin by by reading it, and I'll show you why in just a minute. So hopefully, you can all you can all see it. And, let's let's read it together. I believe in god, the father, almighty, creator of heaven and earth. I believe in Jesus Christ, god's only son, our lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under pontius pilot.

Was crucified, died, and was buried. He descended to the dead. On the third day, he rose again. He ascended into heaven. He is seated at the right hand of the father, and he will come to judge the living and the dead.

I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Holy Universal Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Our men, And I don't know about you, but I actually I find it quite heartening to think that Christians, have been reading that and saying that together for 1700 years. Because you look at that as a Christian, you think, I believe all of that. I love all of that. I'll that's all true, and I love that.

And for thousands of years, hundreds of years, this is what Christians around the world have come to understand from the scriptures and have freely confessed with their mouths, and it's held the church together and it's glorified the lord, and it's a delight to just go over those truths together. And, for the purposes of this evening, I think it's very interesting that the early church from the beginning, from the very beginning were utterly convinced that Jesus Christ would return and that he was coming back. The history was certain There was a real man called Pontcias Pilate under which Christ was sentenced and crucified. There was a real woman in history. The virgin Mary from which the lord Jesus Christ was born.

All of those historical details were researched and understood and believed but it was that same history, the birth and the death and the resurrection of Christ, those historical events, which guaranteed a future. In other words, it was because the lord Jesus Christ died and rose again and was raised in power on Easter Day that he would return. The history guaranteed a future, the Christ who came once would come again, and they saw all of that. In in the teaching of the Bible and the teaching of the apostles. Now this apostle's creed, as it's known, was probably, not actually written by an apostle.

But it was certainly what they taught. So here's act 17 31. And you can, take take the creed down, Dan. Thanks, His act 17 31, this is Paul. For god has set a day when he will judge the world with justice by the man he has appointed.

He has given proof of this to everyone by raising him from the dead. So that was what the apostles taught about the second coming of Christ. That the lord Jesus had been raised and that resurrection was god's proof to the world that that same man would come again, and all people would have to give account to him, and this resurrected 1 was a qualified 1 to come again to judge the living and the dead. Do you see? The historical resurrection guaranteed a future, the first coming guaranteed a second coming.

And you see that all throughout the new testament. It was there in colossians 3 1 to 4 this morning. Because of the resurrection of Christ because we have been raised with him, there would be an appearing of the glory of our great god and savior, Jesus Christ. That our lives are united to him in resurrection and our lives will appear with him again when he comes. This was the confession of the apostles.

This is what the apostles creed is based on. And the reason that those apostles were so sure of that is because they had simply listened to Jesus. You see, in the stories which span chapter 24 and 25 of Matthew's gospel, the end of chapter 24, and all through chapter 25. Jesus is as clear as crystal that he is coming back. Here's coming back.

Not satisfied with just 1 parable to prove that point. He tells 4 of them. 1 after the other, in order to show us in as many ways as he can that he really is coming back. The end of chapter 24, you've got this master returning and assessing how his servants have done. In this part of chapter 25, you've got the groom coming to collect the bridal party and the bridesmaids.

Then in the middle of chapter 25, you've got another story of a master returning to assess the work of his servants. And then at the end of 25, you've got the son of man appearing with all his glorious angels with him. To call all people together, and the sheep and the goats will be divided. Just as Christians and non Christians will be divided. He tells it over and over again with different stories and different characters to make this singular point that he is coming back again.

He's coming back again. And as you can see in all of these parables that we don't have time to study them all this evening. The return of Jesus Christ is not just a line in a creed. It is an immensely practical doctrine. It it is not just a a quaint hope for the future.

It is something that when understood just utterly transforms how we wanna live, what we wanna live for, and it clarifies the purpose that we're here, and what we should be doing, what we should be avoiding. In some ways, there is nothing more practical than gazing upon the return of Jesus and keeping our eyes to the heavens. And waiting for him to to come back. And you see that very clearly in this this parable here. Matthew 25, 1 to 13.

This is just part of this teaching of the return, but this will be our focus this evening. And the first point that I want to make tonight is this, the bridesmaids depart. So we're gonna we're gonna actually move through the story fairly quickly, and then we'll move to some of the implications of it at the end. So firstly, the bridesmaids depart. You can see verse 1.

At that time, the kingdom of heaven will be like 10 virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. Now as you can see, the word there in this translation that we're using the NIV, they've opted for virgins but it can just as easily be translated bridesmaids. And in some ways, that actually fits the context, just as well, if not better. Because we are dealing here with a wedding. This is a this is a wedding story, and so bridesmaids is a perfectly fine, way to translate it.

And you can see here in verse 1, Jesus is very clear that he is talking about the kingdom of heaven. In other words, this story that he is telling us is illustrating a spiritual principle. This is what life is like in the kingdom of heaven. This story is gonna teach us something about living under the lordship of Christ. It is not just here for our entertainment, It is here to illustrate something important about how we relate to Jesus.

And you see the first 3 words at that time, the kingdom of heaven will be like. So he's talking about a future expression of the kingdom of god. Some of the parables that we've looked at have dealt very much with the kingdom of god as it affects us here and now, but this story is describing the future kingdom of god, what what it will be like when the kingdom comes again in the person of the lord Jesus, what will that would be like? Well, it will be a bit like this story. In front of us.

And so the setting for this 1 is a wedding. Now it's worth saying at our weddings, and you'll all be very familiar with this. When you go to a wedding or when you're part of a wedding yourself, the bride in this country is very much the the main event. Right? And so everyone gets to the church and they've all dressed up and they've got ready and they've found their way to the church And everyone gathers, and the groom and the groomsmen are there at the front, and the guests are arriving.

And there's a lot of buzz around the front, but basically everyone is waiting for that moment. When they have to flip 1 80 and see the bride appearing. That's when the music starts. That's when everyone stands up. That's when the iPhones come out.

You know, that is the the arrival of the bride is is the big thing. But in this time, things were a little bit a little bit different in the and it's quite hard to know because people sort of talk differently about how it happened, but it it seems to be that at this particular time, that the bride and the bridesmaids would gather together and be getting ready in a in a house, and they would be on the lookout for the groom. And at a certain point, the groom and the groom would would arrive to collect the bridal party, and then they would all go together to to another family home or a venue to enjoy. Enjoyed the wedding. And so the the anticipation was when when's the groom getting here?

You know, is that is that him? Is that him over the horizon? Is that him coming down the street there? Is that the groom and the groomsman? Is can we begin begin the festivities?

And so do you see there would be a great sense of anticipation in that bridal house? You know, they they knew he was coming, but they weren't quite sure when he was gonna get there. So it was not like, you know, having deliveroo, for instance, where you can see the little moped, you know, on your app and you know exactly where it is, And you know roughly when when it's gonna be at your house. Or if you've got Amazon Prime, you know, the delivery is 7 stops away, then it's 6 stops away. And it's 5 stops away.

And you can get ready. You know, when your Nando's is coming with deliveroo, you know, when it's when it's about 10 minutes away, you can get the plates in the oven. You can set the table. And then when it's just turning around the corner, you know, that moment, we've all seen it when the when the moped just changes and comes down your road. And you go and stand by the front door awkwardly, you know, you're not quite sure what to do, you know, and you open it and see if it's, oh, hello, you know, and you, you know, there's you it's very clear what you've gotta do when.

You can see when he's coming. But at this point, you you wouldn't you wouldn't know that. And so there'd be great ocean. They'd be looking through the blinds. They'd be curt and twitching.

Is that him, you know, is that him? Is he is he calm? Is he calm? Is that him? That's what the scene is here in the first couple of verses.

They're waiting for the groom to arrive. And at some point, obviously, there is a signal, there is sign. It looks like he's here because we're told, look, end of verse 1, they went out to meet the bridegroom. So there's something that has given them the indicate that that he's here. And so they've let they've gone out.

They've gone out to meet him. K? And so that's the first thing, the bridesmaids depart. Secondly, the groom arrives. A bit more detail about the bridesmaids 5 of them were foolish and 5 were wise.

The foolish ones took their lamps, but did not take any oil with them. The wise ones, however, took oil in jars along with their lamps. The bridegroom was a long time in coming, and they all became drowsy and fell asleep. And there's very little extra detail about that fifth verse. You know, we're not told why there was a delay.

We're not told why he was a long time in coming. And with we don't exactly know why they all decided to become drowsy and fall asleep. You know, we don't there's not a whole load of extra information there. We only know that they all went out and he was a long time coming, and they all fell asleep. That's what that's what happened.

And then verse 6, at midnight, the cry rang out. Here's the bridegroom. Come out to meet him. He's here. He's here at last.

This is him. That all the bridesmaids woke up and trimmed their lamps. Now when waking up in the morning, I'm sure it's true to say that most of us like a process when it comes to being woken up. None of us like to be woken up very, very suddenly. We like to have the alarm go off and then to reset it onto snooze and to set it onto snooze and to set it on a snooze we, you know, we want a gradual defrost.

We don't wanna be emerged in boiling water. We want to be allowed to defrost into the day slowly. And most of us require that kind of process and appreciate that kind of process. But there are other times when you can be aroused instantly even from the deepest of sleep. So if you're lying there in the middle of the night and you're fast asleep and you hear the sound of smashing glass downstairs in your house.

That is the sort of sound that will wake you up without any process at all. It'll be immediate You'll feel all of those stress hormones rushing through your body, adrenaline, cortisol, and whatever, and you could have been in the deepest sleep imaginable. You will be up in an instant that there's a sound and it's alert and you're up. Okay? There's no snook You hear your windows smashing downstairs.

You're not hitting snooze. Are you? You're not gonna do it. You're up and you're out and you're down. Okay?

That's the that's how I imagined the cry in verse 6. Come out, come out to meet him. He's here. They're all drowsy in a seat, and then they're up. They're up.

No one's hitting snooze at this point. Then all the bridesmaids woke up and trimmed their lamps. Now to trim their lamps trimming trimming lamps is not something that many of us will be engaged with anymore. But basically, it seems to be the same thing as putting fresh batteries in a torch. You know what it's like if you've got a torch and you've got old batteries and the light begins to fail and it grows dim and it starts to flicker, and it's pretty useless, really.

So you want nice fresh batteries in to give you a clean bright, powerful, light. That that's kind of the idea to trim the lamp was necessary in order to have a clear bright flame. If you didn't do it, you would just have a frayed old wick that would produce a kind of very smoky dim sort of light, not what you would choose to to navigate the streets and the, of the evening. You would, you would, you would wanna be trimming it and making it as as good as possible. And that's and that's what they do.

All of them do that. And so here we are, the bridesmaids depart. Secondly, the groom arrives they all wake up. And at this point, we are going to see a separation. This is quite interesting that up until now, they have done everything as 1 unit, haven't they?

The 10 take the lamps, the 10 depart, the 10 fall asleep, the 10 wake up, the 10 trim their lamps, but now there is gonna be a separation or rather the separation that already existed is now going to be is now going to be seen. So secondly, the groom arrives thirdly, there's the separation and the supper. The separation and the supper. Verse 8, the foolish 1 said to the wise, give us some of your oil. Our lamps are going out.

No. They replied. There may not be enough for both of us and you. Instead, go to those who sell oil and buy some for yourselves. Now when I was, teaching this passage before, in in the question time afterwards, someone said you know, it doesn't isn't Jesus supportive of sharing.

You know, why why why is he teaching this sort of oil hogging here? And, what's going on? I thought we were supposed to be, it was supposed to be generous. And of course, we are supposed to share, and we are supposed to be generous. But this is a parable and it is making a spiritual point.

Jesus is not here teaching, that we should never share. The point he's making is that when when the groom arrives, you know, the time has come and they need to be faithful. They've gotta be faithful. If they start sharing their oil with other people, no 1 will have enough for the banquet. The time has come, the groom is here they got ready.

Now they've gotta be faith. They've gotta be faithful. I was trying to think of a way to illustrate it. I think it would be like, if you were say you were about to go on an airplane that you're at the check-in desk and you've got your boarding pass. You've got to print it out boarding pass that you need to present to the steward or the stewardess, and they're gonna let you on a plane.

And as you're at the front of the queue, somebody comes running up next to you who's out of breath and gasping and their senses, look, please, please, would you let me on? I haven't got a boarding pass, but I, you know, I really wanna get I really wanna get in this flight. And you feeling sorry for them decide to say, well, I've got a boarding pass. Maybe if I rip mine in 2, I'll give you half, an out of half, and then we can get both get on the plane. You know, what is the steward or the steward that's gonna say?

Now none of you are coming on. Yeah? Right? Yeah. That's how that's sort of what's going on here.

You know, the time has come and they've gotta be faith. They've gotta be faithful. Otherwise, they they're not gonna make it. They've gotta do the right thing with what they've got, and that's what's happening here. So they say, no.

There won't be enough for both us and you. We've gotta be faithful here. You've gotta go back to those who sell oil and so that's what they do. The foolish turnback, and then verse 10, here's the tragedy. But while they were on their way to buy the oil, the bridegroom arrived.

The bridesmaids who were ready went in with him to the wedding banquet, and the door was shut In the time that those 5 foolish ones were gone, he arrives. And when he arrives, he only sees 5 faces. He only sees 5 lamps. He only sees 5 happy smiles illuminated by the wick, only 5 sets of arms ready to embrace him. The other 5 are gone.

And so he gathers them in and he takes them to the party. Verse 11. Later, the others also came. Lord lord, they said. Open the door for us.

But he replied, truly, I tell you. I don't know you. Now this is where we remember that this is a parable because you know, at a at a real wedding, I guess it would be unlikely that the groom would not know any of the bridesmaids, or half of them. I think he most grooms are at least aware of the names of the, you know, the bridesmaids, who their who their wife is having as their bridesmaids. But this is designed to make a spiritual point, isn't it?

They weren't ready, and therefore he didn't know them. That's the big issue, isn't interesting to contrast verse 10 and 12. Verse 10, the bridesmaids who were ready went in with him to the wedding quit verse 12, truly I tell you I don't know you. Do you see how being ready and knowing him go together? That's really the issue.

The foolish ones didn't know him, and therefore they weren't ready. The wise ones were ready because they knew him. Knowing him and readiness go together, not knowing him and a failure to prepare, also go together. This in the end is about whether they knew him or not? Did they intimately know him, or didn't they?

And so there's this haunting scene knocking on the door. Truly, I tell you. I don't know you. And then comes the application verse 13, therefore keep watch because you do not know. The day or the hour.

So that's the story and there's quite a simple story in in many ways, isn't it? But that but it is rich with implications for us. And I just wanna cycle through a few of them now, to help us get get the meaning of this of this of this parable. So I think the first thing that we learn here is that keeping watch is a constant activity. Keeping watch is a constant activity.

Look with me at the end of verse of of chapter 24. Matthew 24 verse 42. Just flick flick there in your bibles if if you can't see it on the page. Here's what Jesus says. Very similar words.

Therefore, keep watch. Because you do not know on what day your lord will come. But understand this, if the owner of the house had known at what time of night the thief was coming, he would have kept watch and would have not let his house be broken into. So you also must be ready because the son of man will come at an hour when you do not expect him. Several years ago, my mom and dad went on holiday, and, they had, booked to go to Spain or somewhere.

I can't remember where it was, and they'd, they parked up their car in 1 of these long stay car parks. And when they got back from the holiday, they got in their car and drove to the family home. As they came up to the front door, my dad put the key in the door to begin to turn it. And as he applied a little bit of pressure to it, the whole front door just just fell in. And he went inside and discovered very quickly that whilst they were away, the house had been ransacked.

The front door had been kicked in, and then they'd kindly propped it back up on their way out to keep the cold out, I suppose. And, they've gone through and stolen a number of things in, in the house. And, it's always interesting when something like that happens, but you because you can't help but ask the question. If I'd known that that was going to happen, what would I have done differently? And there's a number of things, you know, you could have bought a couple of those XL bully dogs, couldn't you?

And, not fed them for a few days and, left them in the house. So that they would have had that surprise when that when they came in. Or you could have rigged up a proper home security system. So you'd definitely be able to, catch them, or you could have booby trap the house, like in home alone, you know, when they put all kinds of things to stop the thieves. You know, or more Christianly, perhaps you could have alerted the police to the fact that this was gonna happen.

In other words, the point is if you knew that it was going to happen, you would do something differently. You wouldn't just do the same thing, you would make a plan because you knew at what time the thief was gonna come back. Well, if that's true with a house robbery, how much more ought it to be true. This is a how much more argument. If true, in that case, how much more so with the return of the lord Jesus Christ, who could come back at any moment.

You see, despite all the predictions that religious people have tried to make over history, we do not know the day on which the lord Jesus will return. And because we don't know, we ought to be ready all the time. Keeping watch verse 13. Keep watch because you do not know the day on which the groom will arrive. Keeping watches a constant activity.

That's the first thing. Secondly, keeping watch may be a lifelong activity. Keeping watch is a constant activity, keeping watch may be a lifelong activity. Very interesting verse 5, isn't it? The bridegroom was a long time in coming.

It took him a long time. There was a delay It didn't come as soon as they thought. There was a lot of time that elapsed between when they thought he would come and when he actually came. And therefore they needed to be ready over the long haul. My wife Laura, if you don't know, she's a she's an emergency planner for Epsim henson Helia hospital trust.

And basically her job is to write, business continuity and emergency plans for the NHS. So she would write things like mass evacuation policies. So if the hospital ever needs to evacuate everybody on mass, she writes the policy for how to do that. Or she does business continuity stuff. So if all of their X-ray machines fail, how are they gonna keep the show on the road?

It's that kind of thing policy writing. And, 1 of her biggest frustrations about the job, which we go through together, you know, on a weekly basis I would say is that the people who need to be in her training sessions, the people for whom she writes these policies are so taken up with the immediate jobs that they've got to do. They never want to strategize for the future. Ever. And so she spends hours laboring over these plans, which are statutory.

I mean, they have to have them. These are legal plans. And and when the training invitation goes out, as the day comes, more and more cancellations won't make it, can't be there. And it's just so frustrating, you know. And of course, when these things actually happen and when you do need to evacuate, everyone's, you know, looking under there, you know, where's the plan?

You know, whose head's gonna roll, don't we employ someone to write these back? You know, but it's so often the case, isn't it? You know, we're so caught up with the immediate details of what what we gotta do today. That we don't strat we don't plan. We don't plan for the long.

We don't strategize for the long haul. And yet, what is it that makes these 5 foolish They did not have a strategy in place for the long haul. They did not have a continuity plan. What do we do if we run out? They didn't think like that.

There was no business continuity. There was no thought. Can can I can I not just keep this thing burning today? But have I got what it takes to survive a lifetime of waiting? I think basically they just they thought that discipleship would be easier than it actually was.

They needed to have counted the cost. They needed to have understood that it might be a life of waiting and not just a quick 1 day of waiting. And so do you see on the 1 hand, discipleship following Jesus is very easy. All we have to do is confess our sins, embrace him as savior, and follow him even a ch church children can do it. But on the other hand, it's harder than we think sometimes.

These weren't ready. They weren't ready. Didn't count the costs weren't ready for a life. And so their foolishness was revealed. Secondly, keeping watch is a lifelong thing.

Thirdly, some who think that they know Jesus won't make it. Some who think that they know Jesus won't make it. Verse 11 to 12. Later, the others also came. Lord, lord, they said.

What do they call him? Lord, lord. Open the door for us, but he replied truly, I tell you. I don't know you. And again, if we could have time, we could go through every 1 of these stories in Matthew 25 and see that there are basically 2 groups.

There are those who get back Jesus coming back, know him and prepare for him, and there are those who don't know Jesus and therefore fail to prepare for him. There are wise stewards and foolish ones. There are wise bridesmaids and foolish ones. There are sheep and there are goats. And this world can be divided today into the same 2 categories, those who know Christ and prepare, those who don't know him and don't prepare.

And yet actually those 2 groups often look like 3. There are those who know him and are preparing There are those who don't know him and don't care to prepare. And then thirdly, there are those who think that they do know him. But have failed to prepare. And in the immediate context, that surely got to be the pharisees, hasn't it, and the religious leaders.

Those people who with their lives and their teaching looked so ready. They'd gone out. They'd set out. We're ready to meet the Messiah, Look, we've got Moses and Abraham. We're ready for him, but at the time when he actually came to walk their streets.

It was revealed that they weren't they weren't there. They weren't spiritually there. They weren't ready for him. And that same warning sounds out to all of us, doesn't it? You see, it is very possible to look the part but to not have the heart to to do all the right things and yet to have never really known Christ.

And on that day, there is a discovery of that. Some people, thirdly, who think they know Jesus won't make it, and therefore, for keeping watch is an individual responsibility. It is our own responsibility. Keeping watch is our own responsibility. Look at verse 9 again.

They replied, there may not be enough for both us and you. You see on the last day, when we all stand before the lord Jesus Christ. If we have never known him in this life, it will not be enough to say, oh, Christian colleague, please, will you share some of yours with me? Christian Dad, who prayed for me and read the Bible with me, and I Didn't listen to him. I didn't wanna know because I thought I knew better.

Dad, will you share some of that with me now? Will somebody in my neighborhood who was and be able to share their oil with me now in this most critical of moments when he's come. And the point of verse 9 to say on that day no 1 will be able to share with you. No. No 1 will be able to share with you.

There will be no 1 else you can borrow from. No 1 else you can le can lend to you. We must each know Christ as individuals in order to be ready. And so If you want to know if you're living in light of the second coming, and I think this is the best this is the best way to know. If you wanna know if you're living in light of the second coming, ask yourself, am I living in light of the first coming?

How how am has what Jesus done in history actually made a am I living in light of that? Has that made a difference? Have I confessed him to be lord turned from my sin, embraced him in his resurrection. Am I am I now living in light of what he did at his first coming? If so, then I'm ready for his second coming.

But if I'm not, and that means nothing to me, or it's just superficial to me, then I'm not ready at all for his second coming. You wanna know if you're ready for the second. Have you responded rightly to the first? Are you trusting him? Who he is in history?

If so, you're ready. If not, you're not. Don't be deceived on that issue. Make sure you know him. Make sure you know him.

Fifthly. Can't remember what number on now. Keeping watch is an individual responsibility. Fifthly, keeping watch is a church activity. In other words, being ready for Jesus is far more ordinary than we might think.

Have a look with me again. Matthew 24 verse 45. This is another parable. Who then is the faithful and wise servant whom the master has put in charge of servants in his household to give them their food at the proper time. It will be good for that servant whose mask defines him doing so when he returns.

Truly, I tell you. He will put him in charge of all his possessions. Do you see that? What what does it mean to be ready in that case? It's just the ordinary acts of caring for god's people.

Do you see that? He doesn't want them to renovate the house. He doesn't want them to demolish it and build a new 1. He doesn't want them to get into property and buy 3 or 4 properties. He just wants them to take care of the children in his household to do very ordinary things for them.

Giving them their food at the proper time. That's readiness. Yeah? And so what does it look like for us to be ready for Christ? It's ordinary acts of service and care for the people in god's household.

It's a Sunday school worker. Who every single week puts in hours after work to prepare their lesson so that they can bless the children of god in the household on Sunday. Is the single man or woman who uses the free time that they have in order to invest in other women and men in the church, giving them their food at the proper time, just caring them, just ordinary acts of weekly care for the people that god cares about. That's what it means to be ready because those people are saying 1 day I'm gonna see the head. But what's the best thing I can do for the head now?

Try and take care of his body. That's that's as close as I can get to him by looking after his just ordinary acts of service. That's what the master wants to find when he gets home. Doesn't wanna find that you've renovated the place. He doesn't wanna find you, but he just wants to have known.

Did you feed them at the proper time? Did you give them 3 meals a day? And make sure they had somewhere to sleep just ordinary acts of service. That's what he's looking for. And so anyone whose life is like that Jesus would say is very ready, very ready for my coming.

Lastly, Keeping watch is a posture of the heart. Keeping watch is a posture of the heart. It is works of service, but it's also a posture of the heart. In other words, there are lots of things in this life that we can prepare for without loving. So a classic example would be a further maths exam.

Okay? Now, you can and that I'm saying this because I we had Naomi babysitting last night. And when she came home, she was studying further maths. You know, in our kitchen and telling us that apparently mathematicians got so bored of regular maths that they had to invent mythical numbers that don't exist in order to do more maths to satisfy. Imagine being wired that way.

I mean, that's store name, you know. Anyway, that's what I think. Okay. So you can prepare for a further maths 6 am without loving it. You can get ready for it without loving it.

But, of course, the return of our great groom is not that sort of thing, isn't it? We prepare for him by loving him. It's a posture of the heart. 2 Timothy 4 verse 8 puts it this way. This is Paul at the end of his life.

He's moving words. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness. Which the lord, the righteous judge will award to me on that day, and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing. Yeah? It doesn't say not to all who have prepared but all who have longed for his appearing.

That's what a Christian is. Someone who longs for the appearing of their savior. It was said about Charles spurgeon. I don't know whether it's true, but apparently every morning when he woke up, he would go to the east window in his house. And he would pull up the shade and look to the horizon and the rising sun.

And if he could not see the lord Jesus approaching with the coming day, he would pull down his shade slightly deflated for the rest of the day. Now, I don't know whether that's true, but I think that cat as the spirit of this parable. In other words, every morning, there's a slight sadness that the lord Jesus didn't come back this day, opening the shade. That's got to be right, hasn't it? That's gotta be right.

Whether we do that literally or not, I'll leave that to you. But that kind of heart which longs to be with him. Is that not the cry at the end of revelation? The spirit and the bride say Come. We want you to come.

Come, lord Jesus. We're opening the shade every morning. Is he here? Okay. No.

Well, come. Come lord Jesus. And I find that a real challenge personally because often I think The coming of the lord Jesus would feel more like an interruption to my life than a delight. Would feel more like an interruption. I know that I ought to be like a tent, which is just lightly pegged into the ground of this world.

Just ready to up and go when he comes just very lightly pegged, but very often I'm more like a house with deep foundations, and I want them deeper. These things I wanna achieve. Places I wanna go, things that I wanna do, a life that I wanna live, you know, very different from my brothers and sisters in Nigeria, but that's who I am in my rich western comfortable way. And it there are times when to those brothers and sisters, it would feel like, come. He's here.

Come. But to us here and to me, it would feel well, hold on. There was there was stuff I wanted to do. It feels like a little bit of an interruption. And you know, I think that's why many of us do have problems in in the Christian life because that that's how we've come to think that our real life is now and not in the coming of the groom.

I was reading out 1 journal, that that put it this way called out called Primer, and it was talking about the return of Christ. And it said that Christians who live in a constant state of, regret and disappointment and guilt. This this is 1 reason why. Much of their distress comes from a failure to realize that their true life lies before them. Much of their distress comes from a failure to realize that their true life lies before them.

That's true, isn't it? I think many of the struggles that we have are at least made worse because we fail to realize that our true life is tied up with the arrival of the groom. And so this is a posture of the heart. Are we going to the east shade every morning? Come lord Jesus.

So those are just a few lessons. From this amazing parable, keeping watch as a constant activity. Keeping watch may be a lifelong activity. Some who think they know Jesus won't make it. Keeping watch is an individual responsibility, keeping watch is a church activity, and keeping watch is a posture of the heart.

Let's bow our heads. And pray that we would know all of those lessons. Therefore, keep watch. Because you do not know the day or the hour. Lord, Jesus, some sorry for the ways in which I am often, think or live as if your return would be an interruption.

Where I'm not watchful. I'm not looking to the horizon, not expecting you, not anticipating you, not hungry to see you because there's just so much in this life that I wanna do. And, I'm sorry for that, Lord. And for how lazy. That makes me spiritually and, for how much distress and difficulty I have in other areas because I simply can't look to the heavens as you command me to look.

And lord, all of us are sorry where that's where that's true for us. And, we thank you lord Jesus. That, the the great encouragement of this story is that you are coming again, and you are our groom. And you're looking forward to being with us, and you're gonna scoop us up like bridesmaids into your arms, and you're gonna take us into the supper to be with you forever. We pray that you would help each 1 of us to do an honest assessment of our own hearts.

Are we ready? Do we know you? Have we trusted you? Are we living in light of your first coming? And therefore, are we ready for your second coming?

Help every 1 of us in this room ask those questions that when you come again, we wouldn't be like those foolish ones. What a tragedy that when you came, they weren't there. They'd gone away. They missed you. We don't wanna be like that.

Help us to be ready. We pray in Jesus' name.