In the sermon titled 'Wise and Foolish Girls' by Scott Brown, the focus is on the practical and everyday applicability of Jesus' teachings, specifically the parable of the ten virgins in Matthew 25. The sermon emphasizes the importance of readiness and preparation for meeting God, drawing connections to the spirit of Amos' command to 'prepare to meet your God.' Brown highlights the love and mercy of Jesus, who patiently warns and appeals to believers to ready their hearts. The sermon outlines three parables in Matthew 25, each teaching a different aspect of readiness: the ten virgins (readiness), the talents (diligence), and the sheep and goats (love for brethren). The message stresses that readiness is a continuous theme in both chapters 24 and 25, urging believers to live their daily lives in anticipation of Christ's return. The parable of the ten virgins serves as an illustration of the visible and invisible church, warning that not all who appear to be part of the church are truly prepared. The sermon encourages personal reflection on one's spiritual state, emphasizing true preparation as a matter of the heart and a deep longing for Christ. Brown uses vivid imagery, likening the anticipation of Christ's coming to the excitement of a wedding, and cautions against being deceived by outward appearances. The sermon concludes with a call for spiritual wakefulness, urging believers to examine their lives and ensure that they are truly ready to meet the Lord.

It would be hard to find a more practical, daily applicable passage of Scripture for us to be in than the one we're in here today. And what we find here again are the the gracious, patient words of the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords, the Lord Jesus Christ who speaks to his disciples and he's urging them to prepare themselves to do what in the spirit of Amos was commanded in Amos chapter 4 verse 12, prepare to meet your God. Here the Lord Jesus Christ comes to his disciples and he gives them this principle of activity for every day of their lives, that they would spend their lives preparing to meet their God. And so it is very practical, it's very everyday. It has to do with, you know, when you rise in the morning as you go about your day's work, as you as you turn in in the evening and go to bed.

Everything is designed to be preparatory for the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. You also see the love and the mercy of Jesus here. Because He comes and He warns. He comes and He appeals to you to make your heart ready. He doesn't cut you off at the knees.

He comes and he appeals to you to make your heart ready. He doesn't cut you off at the knees. He comes and he appeals to you with words of loving kindness. It's his kindness that leads us to repentance, that he waits before he brings down his sword of judgment, which absolutely will come down. Now, there are three parables in Matthew chapter 25.

And the first one, of course, is the one we're in today in verses one through 13, where you find that the parable of the 10 virgins and the focus of that, the meaning, the importance of it, is readiness. And then the second one is the parable of the talents. And the focus and the meaning of that is diligence and increasing. And then the third is the sheep and the goats. And the force of it is the presence or the lack of the presence of love for your brethren.

If you did it under the lease of these, my brethren, you did it unto me. It has to do with the way that you treat your brothers and your sisters in the body of Christ. And that is a distinguishing mark between the sheep and the goats. So we have these three parables of readiness in chapter 25, but they really are just a continuation of what we already read in chapter 24. The chapter break is unfortunate because there's really no change at all in the subject matter and the Lord Jesus is just continuing to speak about this matter of readiness.

And so it's connected with chapter 24 and you immediately see the connection because it speaks of, in chapter 25, the wise and the foolish virgins, which is a direct connection to what was just said by the Lord Jesus at the end of chapter 24. So he's picking up this theme of the previous parable of the foolish and the wise servants and then continues it and applies it to young girls, young single girls. And So the whole of these two chapters are really asking the same question over and over again by giving You know various illustrations of what readiness really looks like who are you while you are waiting? What what are you like? What's happening in your heart your life?

What What does it mean to be ready? And he's illustrating this fact that we live in between two worlds. We live in between the world that was established by the Lord Jesus Christ in his first coming and the world that he will establish in his kingdom at his second coming. And what he's saying is that the bridegroom will come for his bride. And this really is just an explanation of the reason the world was created was for the rescue of a bride, to rescue sinners, that God would glorify Himself in the rescue of sinners, and He would also glorify Himself in the judgment and the punishment of the wicked.

God is glorifying himself through these things. And so the theme of chapter 24 is brought forward and as the theme of 24 was watchful servants and in verse 46 in chapter 24 we read blessed is that servant whom his master when he comes finds him so doing and we learn in chapter 24 that watchfulness takes place in the midst of everyday life like Just like in the days of Noah, they were eating, they were drinking, a father was giving in marriage, someone was getting married. It was practiced in the workplace, where three of the parables in chapter 24 were just part of workplace life. You're just two men are out there, they're working in the field just like normal life. Two women are doing their household work, they're making food, they're preparing.

And then you have a homeowner who's just, he's either preparing or not preparing for a thief. He either has a secure house or not. It's just normal life. These are the things that every person has to be involved in. But the most important character of the story in chapter 24 is found in verse 50, the master of that servant.

And here what we find is while you find all these different examples of work life, home life, protecting your family, getting ready for a wedding, all these kinds of things, The issue really is that there really are only two parties involved. There is God Himself and those who stand before God. And again, to really speak the words that prepare to meet your God. And so the Lord has us as a church in a place in scripture where, for week after week, we're being confronted with this question, are you ready? Is your heart ready to meet the Lord Jesus Christ?

And we're not done. As I said, there are two more parables of readiness that we'll cover before we complete our working through chapter 25. So, So this parable of the ten virgins features a really remarkable illustration. Single girls and their readiness. And their readiness in the face of the delay.

Life goes on and there's a delay in the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. And what do these single girls do with that delay? And of course the backdrop of this whole event is a wedding feast. That's what really stands in the background. Heaven, feasting, heavenly glory, all your tears being wiped away, all that sitting in the background, preparing to meet your master, having all of your cares wash away when you enter into that new world.

All of the problems of your body, all of the problems of your mind, your thinking, your weaknesses, your shortfalls, all of your sins wiped away. That's standing at the backdrop of this whole story. Here you have this bridegroom and you have these single girls, but the most important thing really in the story is what stands behind the curtain, and that is heaven itself. Now this parable pictures the visible and the invisible church, and it speaks very clearly that Not everyone who goes to church, feasts with the church, has friends in the church, with the church, involvements in the church. Not all of those will be part of the church for all eternity.

And there will be people who will attend. And they will look the same, talk the same, act the same, have the same friends, but they are not true saints. And so they will face these words, the worst words that a human being can ever hear, found in verse 12, the second time the Lord Jesus Christ uses these words, is surely I say to you, I do not know you. It reminds you of the Sermon on the Mount where the Lord Jesus says, I never knew you, I never knew you. These are the words you don't want to hear.

You don't want to hear the words I never knew you when you stand before God at the judgment. And So how important it is, how everyday this is, to be ready, to prepare ourselves, to be ready for our master. And so this main message is found in verse 13. It's a very simple passage of scripture. There are not a lot of problems in this passage of scripture to figure out verse 13 makes it absolutely clear What this is all about what the central message is the heart of the text is verse 13 Watch therefore for you know neither the day nor the hour in which the Son of Man is coming." Now that's the heart of the matter right there.

So let's begin to work our way through the text. Look at verse 1. Here you find a picture of the kingdom of heaven. Then the kingdom of heaven shall be likened to ten virgins who took their lamps and went out To meet the bridegroom now one of the most remarkable things about this to me is the Lord takes one of the most exciting moments in all of life and he uses it to demonstrate what his kingdom is like. It's a bridegroom and a wedding.

He uses those images to picture his kingdom. If you ever wondered what kind of kingdom this is, It's that kind of kingdom. It is the most exciting, it's the most anticipated, it's the most wonderful kind of place you can imagine, where there is a gathering, it's a joyful gathering, it's full of people who are happy, and they're getting ready to enter into the happiest occasion that that the happy couple can has ever Imagined I don't know if you can take yourself back to the time that you were married I'll just have to tell you my wedding day I think it was the happiest day of my life outside of the relief that I received from The forgiveness of my sins when I knew that Jesus Christ had saved me. It was Absolutely the happiest earthly day of my life. I'll never forget it.

I smiled all day long I thought my face was gonna crack and So here the Lord uses this imagery of a wedding to explain what his kingdom is about Here's what you have to know about his kingdom. It's that kind of a kingdom Don't lose that kind of a kingdom. Don't trade your little kingdom for something less than this kingdom that he has here for his people. Now you see also in verse one, not only this imagery that is so compelling of a wedding, but you also have a time marker in verse 1. Notice in verse 1 there's a time marker in the text.

Then, it's the word then. And then means that it's a particular kind of time. And it refers to chapter 24, verse 36. In that day and that hour, then. In that day and that hour, then.

In other, you know, chapter 24 and 25 were not disconnected at all. It's a linear discussion that the Lord Jesus Christ is having with his disciples. So in that day and that hour, when he comes, and then he speaks of the characters, and he speaks first of the virgins, and the emphasis here is that they are not married they are from the ages of 12 to 18 and so the Lord is using this this imagery of an unmarried girl at a wedding banquet looking on to wait for the bridegroom and it's amazing that he would use this illustration. Now remember what Jesus has done. He talks about a woman working to prepare food, a man in the field, a man who owns a house.

There are all these different illustrations. A man who's getting ready to give his daughter to be married, or a son or a daughter being married. There are all these different illustrations. The Lord is trying to tell us that in every in every single thing in life we ought to be ready no matter what it is. Whether we are marrying, whether we're giving in marriage, don't get distracted.

There's one thing that's most important in all of life And that and that is to prepare to meet your God to prepare your heart to prepare your ways To prepare everything in your life to meet your God. That's the most important thing I don't know what you're all preparing for right now. I'm sure there's some big projects in motion right now among the men and the women in this congregation today. But make sure in all of your preparations, in all of your grinding of the wheat, in all of your working in the field, Whatever you're doing, prepare to meet your God. Don't say, tomorrow I'll prepare.

That's the disaster that's pictured here of the person that's thinking, no, I have too many things to do right now. I don't have time to prepare to meet my God. I don't have time to go to the secret place. I don't have time to saturate my heart with the Word of God. I don't have time to meet with the people of God and worship with them.

I don't have time to meet with the people of God when they pray. I don't have time. I'm doing other things. I have more important things to do. And so the exposure of this tragedy of missing what's most important in life is right before us here.

And it's cast in this illustration of young daughters. Now young girls have things on their minds. They have things that they're interested in. My view is that the Lord Jesus Christ is using this illustration so that for year after year after year when this was preached, there would be young daughters who would hear it. And their hearts would be impressed that they would see the kindness of the Lord, that they would hear his voice calling to them, that they would say, yes, I want to be your daughter, I want to prepare my heart.

Oh Lord, make me your daughter, make me to be this ready daughter of yours when I meet you face to face. So I do believe that while this is just it's just a parable, the characters in the parable have have some meaning and I think I would just I would just like to say that what young women do with their hearts, what they do with their affections in their single years is so pivotal. These are young women. Are you a young woman? Are you one of these young women?

I asked this question when we were in chapter 24. Are you a working man? What are you doing? Are you mindful? Are you preparing yourself in the midst of your work, being mindful of His coming while you work, so that your work is bathed and saturated from heaven?

Well, the same thing should be asked here in this parable here. Are you a young woman? Are you in this range? And what are you doing with your heart? And of course there are ten, there are ten young girls and there are, and they fall into two different categories.

And while these young girls are focused on something, and that is the meeting of the bridegroom. Now, there are sort of five pivotal focal points in this parable. There's the bridegroom, that's Christ. There are the virgins, that's the church. There's the delay And this is how we see the future tenses in the parable that underline the tension that's created When the Lord Jesus Christ delays one day leads to another and we don't know when that that final great day will be We don't know So we live each day in the presence of God, waiting for that wedding.

Fourthly, there's the lamps and the oil, which speak of the preparedness theme that's in here. It speaks really of the idea that everything that makes for salvation, everything that makes someone excited to the point of being driven to be ready is at the bottom of this. They long for the moment and they made themselves ready. And then, and then fifthly, there's the acceptance of some and the rejection of others. So these are the five elements of this parable.

Now you can identify some others. Now there are two ways to interpret this parable. One is really not a parable at all, but as an allegory, where every single detail has meaning. And that's not the approach that we'll be using here this morning. I believe it's a parable where you have a main meaning and you have various features that support that main meaning, which is in verse 13 in the parable.

And so I don't believe that it's an allegory in every facet of the story, that every single facet has some mystical meaning. I won't be interpreting it that way this morning. I mean, this parable has been used a number of ways. The Roman Catholics used this parable to extol the importance of perpetual virginity and which it expresses itself in the nunnery. And so that these ten virgins, especially these wise ones, they're wise because they're virgins and they're wise because they're not married, and they're going to stay that way.

Well, there's some real problems with that in the interpretation, but we're not going to take an allegorical interpretation of the parable. Then in verses two through four, you see the wise and the foolish are identified. Now five of them were wise and five were foolish. So there's a breakdown. There are two different kinds.

This is consistent with the Lord Jesus There's the light in the darkness the sheep and the goats now you have the two kinds of virgin the wise and the foolish Verse 3 those who were foolish took their lamps and took no oil with them but the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps." So you have these two objects. You have lamps and oil, and we'll see what kind of lamps and oil this is as we proceed here, but this is the juxtaposition. You have these two things that the single girls have. They either have wisdom or foolishness, and They have a lamp and oil or not. And the big issue is wisdom.

There are two types of people. There are the wise and there are the foolish. And of course this is an extension of what came before in Chapter 24 where we had the faithful and the wise slaves. And this is just the truth of the whole world and the way that it's wired. There are only two kinds of people.

They're the sheep and they're the goats. They're the fools and there are the wise. There are the diligent and the lazy and they're the fruitful. And there's a great difference between the two. They may look outwardly the same, but there's a great difference between the two.

And it's found in these two terms, wisdom and foolishness. The Lord Jesus uses a word for wisdom, which has really to do with practical wisdom. It doesn't have to do with innate intelligence. But it's rather the kind of wisdom that can take what is true and do something about it. It's practical wisdom.

It's not intellectual knowledge. It is knowledge that works its way out in practical application. And that's this kind of careful and ready person who's applying what God has said. And you find this same juxtaposition of wisdom and foolishness in other places in Matthew. You find it in the Sermon on the Mount where you have these two houses, these two builders.

One builds on the rock and the other one builds on the sand. And so It's that same kind of wisdom and foolishness set aside one another. And then you have these characteristics of these ready girls. These girls, they have discernment, they have thoughtfulness, they have excitement, they have application, they have action. That's the that's the wisdom that they have.

That every decision was made in light of the coming of Christ. Everything about them was driven by that and they wanted to make sure that they were ready for it. And so they made themselves ready. But then there are the characteristics of the foolish girls And the term that the Lord Jesus Christ uses actually is not all that a complimentary term at all. He uses the word moros, which is the Greek word from which we get our term moron.

So he's not actually complimenting. There are girls that live like morons. They're girls that think like stupid girls. They are silly girls. And their lives are all wrapped around silly things.

And the Lord Jesus says they're like morons. A silly girl is a moronic girl. And every girl should ask herself that question. Which category do I fit in? Are my affections on silly things, or are they on significant things?

Am I a silly girl? Am I a moronic girl in that sense? And so the Lord Jesus is using this term that they are dull, they are sluggish, and they are fixed on silly things. I rather liken this to the fact that A silly girl is a girl who does nothing with what she hears from the Lord. And it's like in Matthew chapter 7, beginning in verse 26, but everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like the foolish man who built his house upon the sand." Well, it's not just girls that can be foolish.

Men can be that way too. They can set their affections on silly things as well, on moronic things. And their whole lives are wrapped up in the moronic things of this world. It's the only thing they really care about. So there are the wise and the foolish that are there.

And the Lord Jesus also uses this example of wise and fools in chapter 23 of Matthew where he speaks about the foolishness of the Pharisees. But there are, here we find that those who were foolish took their lamps and took no oil with them. They had no oil. Got that? They have a lamp, but they have no oil.

They only have part of what's necessary to have illumination. And the term that the Lord Jesus uses is the word lathos. We get our word, our English word lamp from it, and it's primarily used of torches, sometimes of other kinds of lamps. But I don't believe this is the same kind of lamp that's in a house, you know, the picturing of a small kind of a household tabletop lamp. But the exact same word is used in John chapter 18 when the soldiers were there to come and arrest him and they came with their torches.

So they came with their torches and it fits the context as well because the wedding is at night, it's outdoor, and it's that kind of lamp that's necessary. So when you think about what kind of lamp, don't think about a lamp that has its own well of oil. I don't believe it was that kind of lamp at all. It was a torch that was necessary and some kind of a vessel to carry the oil. There were two things that were necessary.

And if we would go off in allegorical interpretation. Like we might say, it's like faith in works, or something like that. But whatever it was, it was a torch, and it was oil itself. And so it was their duty not just to carry a torch, but also to have their oil with them. But they did not have the oil.

It'd be like going camping and getting in the tent. And then you turn on your flashlight, and you realize there are no batteries. You have to have both. The flashlight itself is not enough. You have to have also the batteries.

And so it was the same kind of kind of setup. And what happened with these these women is that they did not, the five women who were unfaithful, did not have any oil at all. And so the difference, the difference in these two girls is really focused in on this matter of having and not having oil and My view of this whole parable is that is that is that some of the girls had a form of godliness, but they did not have its power. It symbolizes only a kind of faith, a kind of outward expression. One of the interesting things that I encountered when I was reading other authors on this parable was Thomas Manton.

He says this, the parable is not spoken of the corrupted members of degenerate churches. What he's talking about is that this is not a picture of a corrupt church full of corrupt people or half of the people corrupt and the others not. It's a church where there has been an awareness of the pollutions of the world. And there's been an attempt to be separate and set apart for Christ. So it's not a worldly looking kind of place.

And so the parable isn't really about the super corrupt and the not corrupt at all. They are people that look very similar in the way that they're operating, like a church where there has been an awareness of the pollutions of the world, and where the people have not partaken of those pollutions, and they're dressed properly as they should. And quite likely, as Thomas Matten points out, it's a picture of Hebrews chapter 6, verses 4 through 6. Please open your Bibles to Hebrews chapter 6 and look at verse 4. For it is impossible for those who are once enlightened and have tasted the heavenly gift and have become partakers of the Holy Spirit and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come if they fall away to renew them again to repentance since they crucify again for themselves the Son of God and put him to an open shame." So what what he what he's saying is that there is a there are certain kinds of people who fall away and what what were they like?

Well they had tasted of the good word of God and of the powers of the age to come. And they had tasted the heavenly gift. And the way that I understand Hebrews chapter 6 verses 4 through 6, is that these are people who come into the church of the Lord Jesus Christ, and they do receive the blessing of the Word of God. They are benefited by the work of the Holy Spirit in that church. The kindnesses that are there, the wisdom that's there, the examples, the way of living.

There is a way of living that's wise and it's a blessing. And these people come and they're affected by that. And they're so affected by it that they're actually tasting of the Spirit of the Word of God. And they even see sort of an edge of the power of God. But it's not saving power.

That's the kind of person, I believe, that is spoken of here. And so it was among these young girls, it was a partial reformation. It was an outward reformation. There were changes that took place, but not to the depths of the soul. Like the parable of the soils in Matthew chapter 13, the person who hears the word of God and they receive it with joy but it only lasts for a while.

The parable of the soils is a perfect picture of this. I think the Lord Jesus is just explaining another facet of what this looks like in the church and particularly in the life of a young girl. So it was a temporary faith, like the faith that is explained in the parable of the soils in Matthew chapter 13. Thomas Manton, a different Puritan writer, suggests that they had three things. First, that they had a historical faith.

They believed in the message. Second, they had a hope. They were waiting for the bridegroom. And then thirdly, they had a kind of love. They wanted to meet the bridegroom, but at the same time, as he says, they loved happiness more than holiness.

Now, this should be a caution for all of us here in this room. I don't think anybody would argue with the point that at least in our preaching and in our hopes we have desired to be a people set apart for God. That we've not desired to continue to have the world be our pattern, but to have heaven as our pattern. To listen to the word of God and if that makes us look different, act different, walk different, work different, whatever, Talk different, dress different, it doesn't matter. That's what we want to do.

But this parable should be a caution for us all and take thought of your condition lest you be deceived. Be cautious. Be cautious. Don't comfort yourself in any outward appearances Don't comfort yourself because you're a part of a group that might seem to be different than other churches Take no comfort in any of that. You may have a show of godliness.

You may have the beginnings where you were happy and some things changed. You may have an intellectual belief in the Bible. You may have a kind of hope. You may have a kind of love. But the truth is you don't have the oil, the oil of salvation.

Because it is possible to be in a place and identify with it, but not actually. In heart, be consistent. And so the foolish here represent people who do not think deeper than the surface level. And so this parable stands in front of us today every one of us myself included Make your calling and election sure cry out to God Take note of your life Take note of the condition of your heart. Are you ready?

Do you have oil or not? And then thirdly we see that they slept confidently in verse 5. But while the bridegroom was delayed they all slumbered and slept. So nobody knew when he would arrive, but he was actually delayed. And so what should we think about this sleep?

Was it sinful for them to go to sleep? Now My understanding of the way that the Lord Jesus speaks of this sleeping is that both the wise and the foolish slept. So if we say that it was sinful to sleep, then we have a whole other problem to deal with. So was it slothfulness that caused them to sleep? And I would say no, it was not, because both the wise and the foolish slept, and there was nothing wrong with their sleeping and the Lord Jesus does not chastise them.

And I think this is consistent with all the rest of the parables because be ready whether you're working, Whether you're preparing food, whether you're marrying, whether you're giving in marriage, whether you're protecting your house, whether you're sleeping, whether you're awake, at any time, be ready to go in your sleep. Some were ready to go in their sleep. Wouldn't you want to be that kind of person who would be ready to go in their sleep? There is a percentage of people who die in their sleep. They just, they go to bed and they don't wake up the next morning.

It's a remarkable thing when that happens. I did a funeral one time where in the middle of the night a husband died sleeping next to his wife that he'd been married to for decades. She didn't have the heart to call the funeral director until the morning, and she just laid there all night long for several hours with her husband. She knew he was dead. But she just laid there with him.

And in the morning, called him up, and I got a phone call. Our church was just a door away from their house. But he died right there in his sleep. Are you ready? Are you ready to die in your sleep?

Ready to die when you wake? Ready to die when you're cooking your breakfast, ready to die when you go to work, when you're driving to work, when you're looking into your computer, are you ready to die? Are you ready? This is the matter that's really before us here. It's not for you to know times or seasons.

You don't know the time that you'll be taken or the time that he will come. And he may take you even while you are sleeping. And I think the message here for us is, whether you're sleeping, whether you're working, be ready, be ready for Him. But what's so amazing about this parable is just how outwardly similar All of these looked. They looked the same, they dressed the same, they talked the same, they used the same lamps.

They had the same friends, and they got tired just the same. But there was one difference. And the difference was readiness. The difference was the the wise made themselves ready. They were so excited about the bridegroom that they could not help to make preparations.

They loved his appearing and so they were thinking ahead. They were thinking ahead of what it might be like. And so they made themselves ready. It's almost like when you get up in the morning and you make yourself ready for the day, Do you think of the work of the kingdom of heaven in that day? When you get up in the morning, do you think of that person you're going to meet and you cry out to God that He would pour out His Spirit upon both of you?

Or that task that He would fill that task with everything according to his word and according to his kingdom. This is a kind of readiness. Do you go to the secret place and pray as you're preparing? You see everything in light of your coming husband, the Lord Jesus Christ. And you have to try to somehow be clear about what this oil is.

What is it? And I believe that it's just everything that goes into salvation. The faith, the works, the excitement, the joy, the love, everything. That's what the oil is. It's true Christianity.

So the normal Christian life, it's lived in eating and drinking and marrying and giving and marriage and preparing food. But in the midst of that, here's what the Lord Jesus Christ desires for his children, that their eyes would be lifted to heaven, that they would think of their master, that in every conversation their master would be in the backdrop, that what's behind the curtain would be in their thinking. That kingdom, that place that is so good, that relationship, that mercy, that unity, that bond of love that exists between God and the true believer. And then in we also in verses 6 through 9 we see the chaos as the bridegroom approaches. 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 saying, no, lest there should not be enough for us and you. But go rather to those who sell and buy for yourselves. First of all, we notice that the cry came at midnight.

It was in the middle of the night, and the bridegroom is arriving at a completely unexpected time. At midnight, you're most focused on your rest. Lots of things happen at midnight in the Bible, by the way. The firstborn of Egypt were destroyed at midnight. In Luke chapter 12, 20, the rich man who built all these barns, his soul was required of him that night.

And so there are remarkable, pivotal things that happen at night. Here, this picture is a nighttime picture, at the time when you least expect it. And then there's the meeting, the bridegroom, behold the bridegroom is coming, go out to meet him, and then the women lit their lamps. They were actually trimming their lamps and this was a lamp on a stick. A stick would be wrapped with cloths and carried as a stick in the same way that the the soldiers you know were lighting their pathway when they came to come and get the Lord Jesus Christ.

And so the trimming was, you know, trimming off the ragged edges so that it would burn more substantially. And trimmed means adorned or beautified. It's interesting that the Apostle Paul uses the same word in 1st Timothy 2.9, in like manner that the women adorn themselves in modest apparel. And this is speaking of being adorned with good works, and the hidden person of the heart, as Peter says. Now, this is a kind of adornment.

And but there's this chaos going on, and they're trimming their lamps. And so what this means is that at the end of the age, there will be a time of panic. There'll be chaos. And there will be people who will be realizing that Their lamps cannot light. And what is happening here is that these young girls are trying to light their lamps, but there's no oil, because they have no flask of oil.

The oil was used to saturate the cloths. And so they were not able to saturate their cloths, so when they lit them, they just went out like that. There just wasn't anything there to keep them burning. And on that time of chaos, Then they will know that they've not examined themselves, that they've not purified their hearts, that they've not sought first the Kingdom of Heaven, that they've not loved His appearing, that they've not longed for His coming, that they've not had a heart and thought that anticipated Him, that they've not sought to bring every thought captive, that they've not sought to bring every single part of their life under the submission of Jesus Christ, He hasn't mattered that much to them. So that they would make preparations of everything, that absolutely everything prepared.

Not just their clothing, not just their friends, not just their equipment, not just their words, but everything would be ready. Absolutely everything. That's the heart of a true Christian that so desires to see his or her master that They take pains to set everything in order, absolutely everything, to be ready. Every corner of your life, from the thoughts of your mind to the meditations of your heart to every part about the way that you live, everything that you do is you live and eat and move and have your being, how you speak, how you dress, how you work, how you do everything. This was the difference.

The wise virgins, they cared about everything. And the unwise only cared about the things that they preferred and that was the great difference. They were also puffed up, They thought they were rich. They said, no, give us. Give us your oil.

Very much like those in the Sermon on the Mount where they say, Lord, have we not prophesied in your name? Cast out demons in your name? Done many... Look at us! We're ready, we're dressed, we've been doing the stuff!

These are proud. These are not the poor in spirit. These are those who exalt their works, who think somehow their obedience makes them ready for heaven. And it doesn't at all. You know, They're like all the wicked before God on that day.

They'll be amazed that they're lost, and how they are lost, and especially that God put a value on what He did. At the same time, the Christians, they'll wonder why they should be saved. They wonder why they're even there because of their filthiness, because they see their sin. They see that God is holy. They see their longing.

They see that they fall short. And they say, Lord, have mercy on me, a sinner. They don't say, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name? They're just exalting works on the one hand while the true believer says Lord. I have nothing Nothing in my hands.

I bring simply to the cross I cling That's the difference between a Christian and a non-christian One thinks so highly of his works and the other thinks nothing of his works. And it's a day of surprise. And the wicked will say that he did the best he could. And the righteous will say, Oh Lord, help me. I believe, help me in my unbelief.

And the unbelievers here they're like those clouds without water They're those that have have faith without works. They have a profession without obedience. So the miracle workers yet they don't have their minds fixed on heaven and they say, Lord, Lord, these girls say the exact same thing as those men who are doing miracles. See, there's no difference. There's no difference between the great man who does miracles and speaks well and the little girl.

There's no difference before God. The oil is everything that makes up true conversion, the belief, the repentance, the faith, the fruit bearing, the joy, the desire, the watchful hearts that move the minds, the hands, the feet, the feet that make preparations, who are excited for the marriage to see your spouse. You know, Think about it this way. Think about it just in an earthly way. When you knew you were gonna be married, how excited were you?

Like pretty excited. For most people, most people. Some people are not excited, they're terrified. Something is amiss. But when you knew you were gonna be married, you were so excited.

How much did you long for it? How much did you think of it? How much did you prepare for it? Did you lay on your bed? Thinking that you just couldn't wait another minute?

Did your heart so desire to be in your beloved's arms? Yes, it did. You couldn't wait for that moment where it would all be right and love was kindled and there's nothing that you could do to stop it. It's like what it's like what I read in Song of Solomon just this week. Chapter 8 verses 6 and 7, For love is as strong as death.

Jealousy is as cruel as the grave. Its flames are the flames of fire. The most vehement flame. Many waters cannot quench love, nor can the floods drown it. If a Man would give for love all the wealth of his house.

He would be utterly despised. This is the kind of love. It's the love that truly longs from the heart. You have to ask yourself today, has God given me a longing for Him? And if He has, say, Lord, increase my longing.

And if he hasn't, cry out and say, oh Lord save me. Fill me with longing. Fill me with the oil of salvation. Oh Lord help me. Help me in my unbelief and save my soul." And so here what we find is, you know, this message in this part of the Gospel of Matthew is the message that we've read about all through the Gospel of Matthew.

Readiness has been spoken of since the very beginning. From the very beginning, John came to make a people ready for the Lord, ready, anticipating, Watchful for a better resurrection, hoping for a better country, better promises, a better dwelling place. That's the readiness that the Lord Jesus Christ is bringing. Thomas Shepard said it like this, Oh, it must be a dear love, a spring of running love without measure. For this is the difference between the affections of saints and hypocrites to Christ.

The one arises like a morning dew which is soon licked up by the sun, Hosea 6.4. The heat of affections after the other things licks it up. But the love of saints to Christ is like a spring which rises to everlasting life. A spring is but little, but yet the further it goes the wider it is till at last swallowed up in the sea and there is no measure of water. So saints have but a little love, but the longer they live, the more enlarged for Christ.

And there is no measure, but all is too little. They can never ever have enough or do enough for love." So the difference is true love. And then these terrifying words, assuredly I say to you I do not know you. They wanted to get in and the Lord says, or the bridegroom says, I do not know you. Now he knew them, he knew their names, they were his friends, they wouldn't have been there if he didn't know their names.

It's not that kind of knowing as you would know a name or a face. It's the knowing of the heart. Second Timothy 2.19 says, the Lord knows those who are his. The Lord knows who are his. He knew Abraham, Genesis 18-19.

He knew Moses, Exodus 33-12. He knows those who take refuge in him, Nahum 1-7. He knows. There was this distance between the unfaithful and here the Lord Jesus Christ is presenting Himself as the mediator, the one who brings the two parties together, and He says to them, watch, watch. Don't stay in that state of poverty any longer.

Watch and become one of those faithful virgins. Close the distance through the mediator who is Jesus Christ. There's so much to say about entering into the kingdom of heaven, because they are entering into the kingdom of heaven, or not entering into the kingdom of heaven. And the Lord Jesus uses this over and over and over in the Gospel of Matthew. He says, enter by the narrow gate, for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction.

And there are many who go in by it. There's this entry, entry into the kingdom of heaven. That's what's on the table here. In Matthew 18 verse three, Jesus says, assuredly I say to you, unless you are converted and become like little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven. In Matthew he says, if your hand or foot causes you to sin, cut it off and cast it from you.

It is better for you to enter life, maimed, lame or maimed, rather than having two hands or feet, and be cast into everlasting fire. There's this entry point, either into everlasting life, the kingdom of heaven, or everlasting fire, the kingdom of darkness. He says, if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and cast it from you. It is better for you to enter into life with one eye than having two eyes to be cast into hellfire. In Matthew 19, 17, Jesus said, why do you call me good?

No one is good but one. That is God. But if you want to enter into life, keep the commandments. In Matthew 19, 23, the Lord Jesus said, surely I say to you, it's hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. And then he said in the next verse, it's easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.

In Matthew chapter 21 he said, I surely I say to you that tax collectors and harlots enter the kingdom of God before you. There's this point of entry Who is going to enter? The harlots, the tax collectors? Yes, they can. We're headed to the next parable in verse 21 of chapter 25 where the Lord says, 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. So there's this whole matter of entry into the kingdom of heaven that the Lord Jesus is exposing here. And that, there is an entry point into two different kingdoms that he's speaking of.

And then finally we get to the moral of the story in verse 13. This is the interpretive key to it all. Watch therefore, for you neither, you know neither the day nor the hour in which the Son of Man is coming. Now, this is the fifth time that the Lord Jesus Christ has issued this exact warning that no one knows the day or the hour. He did it in verse 36 of the last chapter, verse 42, verse 44, and verse 50.

And now in chapter, in verse 13 of this chapter, he's saying the exact same thing again. He's repeating himself so that we would hear it over and over again. And there's a long span that's implied here from his first coming to his second coming. And no one knows that day or the hour. My prayer for us as a congregation is that we would somehow be so affected by this that our minds would be more heavenly minded, we would be more consciously waiting for Him to come, and that everything in our lives would be ordered for that day.

That we wouldn't be ordering our lives for our day, but for His day. That we would be pleasing him for his day, not to please ourselves for our own day, but that our minds, our hearts, our affections, our planning, everything, Everything we say, everything we do, everything we plan, all of our work, our words, our dress, everything would be to prepare ourselves to stand before the Lord. Everything. I want to give you some applications here before we conclude. Number one, girls, pay attention.

Girls, please pay attention. Now this does certainly apply to both male and female of all ages. That's absolutely true. This is not just a text for young girls. But it is a text for young girls.

It's explicitly about young girls and a particular moment in their lives that they should use to help them recognize whether they're ready or not. This whole matter of a wedding. I don't know of a girl who hasn't think about her wedding someday. Even if you're six or eight or 10 or 12, you're wondering about that wedding. When you think about your wedding, make that the impulse to think of heaven, to prepare yourself for your husband.

What is going on in the hearts of the young girls in our church? That's the question. What's going on in your heart, young girl? I pray that God so tenderizes and blesses your heart with the oil of salvation that you would be the happiest girls on the planet, that you would know the comfort of Jesus, that you would know His presence, that you would know His love, that you would feel His love in your heart, that you would know it with all of your heart, and that you would know that you love Him, that you love His appearing, that you would know in your heart that your heart is tuned to sing His praise. Your heart is tuned for heaven, because that's where you will spend your eternity, either there or in hell.

And so all week I've had prayers, great prayers for the young girls in our church, that they would see this, that God is speaking to them directly. He loves you, He cares about you, He wants to work in your heart, and He has these words before you now for a purpose, because he loves you. And then a second application is this. Not only girls pay attention, but here's a second. Spiritual wakefulness is not something that other people can do for you.

You know how the Five of the virgins said, hey, give us your oil. That just doesn't work. It won't work for you just to be hanging around. It must be in your heart. Others can't do this for you.

It is revealed to you by the Lord. You know, Isaiah said in Isaiah 53, Who has believed our report? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? This is something that is revealed from heaven. This is something that God does in the heart of a person.

He gives them spiritual wakefulness. He gives them a heart to repent and to walk with him. And so, you know, the spiritual wakefulness is not something others can do for you. Here's another application, number three. How do you know?

How do you know? Here's one way to at least help you consider this. And ask yourself what do you appreciate? What do you spend your time doing? Because you plan for what you love.

That's just what we do. We plan for what we love. We anticipate what we appreciate. We are generous in preparation for the things that we love. We'll spend all the time in the world doing what we love.

That's what we do every day. We do the things that we love to do pretty much. Elaborate preparations betray elaborate love. Physical, emotional engagement in the things of God indicate a wide and a deep, and a mental and an emotional and a physical attraction and desire. Every part of you is wrapped up in the object of your love.

You arrange your schedule around the things surrounding His coming. You've arranged your whole life around His coming like those virgins did. Everything. You might say, well, I don't do that enough. Well, then praise God God's shown you that.

Then do it more. Seek him more deeply, more broadly, more comprehensively. Be more wakeful than you ever were before. Or make that fact that you don't care tell you that you're lost and repent and believe in the gospel. One of those two things.

Third, fourthly, church, don't be deceived by outward appearances. There are temptations In purified churches, if you want to call them that. Outwardly purified churches would be a better way to say it. They're temptations in polluted churches, but don't be deceived. Don't be deceived and think that you're not in danger in a church that seems, that just seems on the outside to be unspotted from the world.

Number five, there are no second chances. Be ready, be watchful, There are no second chances. Number six, today. Today is the day. God designates a certain day called today.

That's what Hebrews 4.7 says. Again He designates a certain day saying to David, today after such a long time, today if you will hear his voice, do not harden your hearts. Today is a day designated by God. Isn't that amazing? God designates a certain day of the year for you to consider your salvation and repent.

There's a certain day upon which you can do that. And he says, it's today. That's the day. Take advantage of that day that you have. You cannot obey yesterday.

God only gives you today. You can't repent yesterday. You only have today. You know, in this parable, 50% of the visible church goes to hell. That should take our breath away.

Are you ready? Are you a fool? Are you trusting something other than the grace of God? What are you gaining in this life pretending that you have oil when you don't have any? What do you gain from that?

Nothing, absolutely nothing. But God has given you a day today. And here today, God has sent you someone to help you stay awake. It's me. To help you stay awake.

To help you consider these matters. We can help one another to be awake. So here before us is a story of a wise and silly girls as a parable for us to help us to know the condition of our hearts so that we would search our hearts that we examine ourselves and in just a few minutes we're going to examine ourselves before we take the Lord's Supper. And it's appropriate that we would do that. And that's what this passage really leads us to.

I'd just like to close with the words of a young man who wrestled with readiness and wakefulness. His name is Jonathan Edwards, who was in his teens when he wrote this, resolved that I will do whatever I think to be most to God's glory and to my own good, profit, and pleasure in the whole of my duration without any consideration of the time, whether now or never, so many myriads of ages hence. Resolution number five, resolve never to lose one moment of time but to improve it to the most profitable way I possibly can. Resolved to live with all my might while I do live. Let's be that kind of a church, those kind of people, from the littlest girl to the oldest man in the church, to be watchful, to be ready, To hear the words of our master Saying enter into the joy of your master Would you pray with me?

Oh? Lord Lord your words are perfect your words are so good help us Lord father to to heed the words of your Son, to know them in our hearts, to carefully take them in, to let them be like life in our souls, enlivening every part of our lives, not leaving any part untouched. Amen.