Pastor T.C. Arnold
Last Sunday of the Church Year
Matthew 25:1-13
November 22nd, 2009
Jesus said, “Therefore keep watch, because you do not know the day or the hour.” However, many today don’t believe Him. In other words, some people believe they know the day and the hour – the LAST day and the LAST hour. Coupled with the popularity of a new movie that focuses on the year 2012 as being the last year and a specific day in the month of December based on the conclusion of an ancient Mayan Calendar are countless documentaries and news articles that explain the predictions of when the Last Day will occur. On top of that the great Nostradamus is getting a lot of air time with his predictions of the end of the world.
But these predictions are nothing new. The recently deceased Elizabeth Clare Prophet has been preaching a “Dooms Day” message to her followers of The Church Universal and Triumphant for years. What has caught the attention of the media is how there are many in the church who have claimed divine succession by way of direct revelation from God. Apparently the Lord has revealed to them that the world will end by nuclear holocaust but can’t reveal to them who the next “head of the church” will be.
The Seventh Day Adventist Church has claimed the ability to know when the Lord’s return on the last day – based on calculations given in Scripture. When William Miller gave a date between 1843 and 1844 for the return of Christ– and was wrong – the church claimed to simply “miscalculate” and then gave another date. Of course, they were wrong again – we are still here. Many people throughout the ages have had the belief that they can know and understand when the Last Day will occur. But they can’t.
Jesus says, “Therefore keep watch, because you do not know the day or the hour.” Jesus says, “No one knows about that day or the hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.” The fact is true. We don’t know when the Last Day will be. So, what do we do?
First thing we do is stop listening to anyone who thinks they can predict when the Last Day will be. The Second thing is trust in what Christ the Lord says, “You do not know…” Thirdly, and this is where the parable of the Ten Virgins comes in, prepare yourselves for our Lord’s coming again today. St. Paul would give instructions to Pastor Timothy to “be prepared in season and out of season…for the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers who say what their itching ears want to hear” (2 Tim. 4: 2, 3). Even though Paul was talking to a pastor, these words apply to us as well – be prepared.
Jesus would call the virgins who did not prepare with enough oil before they went out to meet the bridegroom, foolish. They knew of the bridegroom’s coming – yet they did not prepare. You see, this is how it works… The groom and the bride have been betrothed by the parents. This has made them man and wife. This is different than an engagement today where a man and woman only promise to enter marriage at a later date. This betrothal arranged by the parents mean that the two were now married. After a little while, on a certain evening, the groom, accompanied by his friends, proceeded in a festive procession from his own or his father’s house to the home of the bride to bring her and her maiden companions to the groom’s home for days of wedding festivities.
This explains the actions of the ten virgins who took their lamps and went forth to meet the bridegroom. These virgins were friends of the bride who went out from their homes with the necessary lamps. When the groom brought the bride out of her home, the virgins came forward and joined the precession with their lighted lamps and had their part in the feasting and the joy of the wedding in the groom’s house. But they did not go to the bride’s house. They would meet the procession at a different place. The bridegroom was a long-time in coming and they fell asleep.
Why did they fall asleep? The reason: because of the bridegroom’s delay. It’s unavoidable. The bridegroom in the parable is Jesus Himself. Most of the time we don’t even think of our Lord’s coming again – because we have been waiting so long. We don’t think about it and so we don’t prepare for it. If we are not expecting anything then what is there to prepare for? Why bring extra oil if we already know what is going to happen?
We have a problem, beloved in the Lord. On the one hand, there are those who believe they know exactly when the Lord will come again – when the last day will occur. They are wrong. On the other hand, most of us, who realize that we don’t know, but just trudge down life’s path never thinking about or preparing ourselves for our Lord’s coming. Because we don’t know, we sometimes forget that our Lord could come today or tomorrow. He could come in ten years, fifteen years, or fifteen hundred years from now. Our preparations for His coming include making sure we have enough oil.
Oil, you see, is an absolute necessity for a lamp. A lamp without oil is useless. Lamps without oil are the forms of Christian life that are without the substance of this life. Lamps together with oil are the forms that are vitalized by the true Christian Life. It’s no wonder Jesus says that Christians have “the light” and that we are the “light of the world” for others.
Beloved in the Lord, our folly is remaining strangers to God our source of life (the oil) while continuing to be empty vessels that were made to hold God’s life. Again, Paul wrote to Pastor Timothy, “having a form of godliness but denying its power” (2 Tim. 3:5). Our Christian life is more than being a vessel (a lamp). It’s more than just being here and going through the motions of Divine Service because this is where we are supposed to be on Sunday morning. Jesus would say that the Christian life has something. It has oil. It embodies the life that Christ provides and that is shared with the nations. Jesus is getting close to His death and resurrection for the masses. He is getting close to climbing that mountain with His disciples and giving them the great commission – “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” Don’t be caught without oil on the Last Day. We don’t know when that coming will be – but it is coming. Live as Christians who are filled with what God desires to give to you. Heed John’s call at our Lord’s first coming, “Prepare the way of the Lord – make strait paths for Him.” This was to usher in the Lord’s public ministry but it could be used for us today in preparation for our Lord who will come again on the last day.
Bottom line, dear friends in Christ, be prepared by living your life for Christ each and every day. Don’t live a life that compromises a relationship with Him in some sort of sin or ungodly living that strains your relationship. And please, don’t think you have time – all the time in the world – to repent later or live Christ’s life tomorrow. We don’t know the day or the hour of His return.
But be assured, beloved in the Lord, His life does belong to you who are faithful in Christ. Be assured that His life is for the sinner – you and me. Be assured that when Jesus went to that cross He did it with you in mind. He knew you and knows you today and in His life He calls you His very own. What comfort it is to know that 2,000 years ago Jesus knew you and had you in mind on Calvary. What comfort it is to know that His coming again will be a glorious day for those in Christ, like Peter would say in Acts chapter two. That joy and glory is yours.
“Therefore keep watch, because you do not know the day or the hour.” You would not think twice about being on your toes when a toddler, who can barely walk, is creeping ever so close to stairs. Watch, therefore, for the coming of the Lord. He will come like a thief in the night. He will come when we least expect. Prepare the way of the Lord. Make strait paths for Him. His coming is one of great joy and anticipation. We who are in Christ have much to look forward to. We who are in Christ have what Christ promises – eternal life. Amen.
The peace of God which passes all understanding shall keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.