From His Heart

Speaker 1

Jesus is speaking on the Mount of Olives to Peter, James, John, and Andrew. They asked him about end times.

And then in Matthew 25, he gives us three parables. The first parable is another emphasis on the fact that you don't know when he is coming.

So it's very important to be wise and not foolish.

Speaker 2

So many people don't take eternity seriously and are uncertain of their salvation. But the fact remains, eternity is coming, and the question is, are you wise or foolish when it comes to where you'll spend it?

This is From His Heart with Pastor Jeff Shreve. Thank you for joining us today as he explores Jesus' Parable of the Ten Virgins. It's found in Matthew, chapter 25, verses 1 through 13. It serves as a powerful warning concerning spiritual readiness and the importance of wisdom.

The message today is from Pastor Jeff's new nine-lesson series, When the Son of Man Comes, a study of Matthew 24 and 25. Now you can get the entire series on a USB flash drive, on CDs, or watch it on DVDs, or get an immediate MP3 digital download for a gift of any amount to From His Heart this month. Just go to fromhishheart.org to get your copies.

But before you do that, open your Bible to Matthew, chapter 25, as Pastor Jeff begins to explain the difference between the wise and the foolish.

Speaker 1

**Matthew 25:1.** Then the kingdom of heaven will be comparable to ten virgins. "Then" is important as he begins this parable. This isn't a parable that you can just use anywhere. He's talking about in relation to his coming, the king coming. Then, when the king comes, the kingdom of heaven will be comparable to ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. Five of them were foolish and five were prudent. Five were wise. For when the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them. But the prudent took oil in flasks along with their lamps.

Now, while the bridegroom was delaying, they all got drowsy and began to sleep. But at midnight, there was a shout, "Behold, the bridegroom! Come out to meet him." Then all those virgins rose and trimmed their lamps. The foolish said to the prudent, "Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out." But the prudent answered, "No, there will not be enough for us. And you too, go instead to the dealers and buy some for yourselves." And while they were going away to make the purchase, the bridegroom came. And those who were ready went in with him to the wedding feast. And the door was shut. Later, the other virgins also came, saying, "Lord, Lord, open up for us." But he answered, "Truly, I say to you, I do not know you. Be on the alert then, for you do not know the day nor the hour."

The five wise virgins and the five foolish virgins. Now I want us to think about this question: What made the foolish virgins foolish? Why do you have these virgins, and five of them are wise while five of them are foolish? What is the reason for that? Well, actually, there are three reasons that the scripture gives in this parable of Jesus.

Reason number one: they were foolish because they did not make the necessary preparations. They were going out as bridesmaids to meet the bridegroom, and they didn't make the necessary preparations. They didn't, from the parable, bring extra oil—olive oil for their lamps. It says in verse three, "For when the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them. But the prudent took oil in flasks along with their lamps."

Now, to understand this parable in full, you have to understand the context of a first-century Jewish wedding. How did that work? Our minds aren't really geared toward that, so we have to go back to history to say, "Okay, what were their weddings like?" Well, we know from studying history and also from the Gospel of Luke and how Joseph and Mary got together that they were betrothed. This would happen where families would say, "Hey, our kids need to get married." The father of the groom would get together with the father of the prospective bride. They would come together, and obviously, the kids agreed on it. It wasn't just something like, "Oh, I hate that guy." No, they would come together and say, "We're going to have Mary."

There would be an engagement, which was an official ceremony of engagement. There was no consummation of the marriage, but they were engaged. They were betrothed to one another. Mary and Joseph were betrothed. Remember it said, "And Mary was found to be with child." Joseph knew that he hadn't been with Mary in that way, and so he was wanting to put her away secretly. He was wanting to divorce her because a betrothal was different from an engagement. You couldn't just break that betrothal; you had to have a certificate of divorce. There had to be divorce proceedings because once you were betrothed, that meant you were committed, and the marriage hadn't been consummated yet, but you were committed to one another.

So you had the betrothal period, then you had the preparation period. The preparation period could last up to a year. Typically, that was the groom-to-be preparing a room in his father's house for him to live with his bride. He was working on this room while the bride was waiting for her bridegroom. She didn't know when he was coming; she just knew that he was coming. She was preparing herself—physically, emotionally, spiritually—all those things because there was coming a day when he was going to come.

Now, when the room was ready, it was the father who would say, "Son, everything is ready now; go get your bride." He would leave and come with his attendants to get his bride, take her back to the father's house to consummate the marriage, and have a big wedding feast that would last up to seven days. The wedding feast of the Lamb of God is going to last a thousand years; that's the millennial kingdom. It's the wedding celebration of the Lamb.

But that's the picture that you have. Bridesmaids were very important. They had a job. They were there to attend to the bride and to light the way, so to speak. They were waiting on the bridegroom to come. When the bridegroom came, they would be in that procession with him to get the bride and then take the bride back to the father's house for the celebration. They had one job, and that was to be ready. They had their lamps with them, and they would light their lamps because he often came at night. They would light their lamps to illuminate the way and be part of the joy and festivities of the occasion.

Their job was to be ready for the bridegroom's coming. One job. It's like if you're the wedding photographer and you don't bring any film—it's old-time, you know, it's not digital—and it's like, "Hey, I forgot that." Well, that's really important because we need to have that so you can take pictures. Their job was to be ready for the bridegroom's coming. The bridegroom's coming was certain, but it was unpredictable. That's why Jesus said over and over, "You don't know when I'm coming."

You can know the season, obviously. When we think about the two parts of the Lord's return, He comes in the clouds at the rapture, a signless event that could happen at any moment. We don't know when that's coming. But then you have the actual return of Christ when He sets His feet on the Mount of Olives and does battle with the devil and his armies at the battle of Armageddon. That comes with signs. That's what Jesus was saying in Matthew 24: "Hey, these signs are going to accompany my coming."

So you can't know the exact day or hour, but you can know the season because it's like birth pains. You don't know exactly when the baby's coming; you just know as the pains get more intense and more frequent that the baby is coming soon. And so it was certain but unpredictable. Those bridesmaids, those ten virgins, had to be ready.

Now, the prudent thing to do was to prepare for a delay because you don't know when he's coming. It says in verse five, "Now, while the bridegroom was delaying," what did they do? They went to sleep. They got the word at midnight: "Behold, the bridegroom! Come out to meet him." Well, you wouldn't think that the wedding would start at midnight because that's late. They all fell asleep because it's pretty normal at midnight to be asleep. They had to mess with their lamps, and they needed more oil.

Now, there was a little handheld lamp; this was common in homes. You had a little linen wick in there, and inside the little cup was oil—olive oil. The wick would burn, the oil would come through the linen wick, and it would burn. If you ran out of oil, then it would cease to burn. It would start to flicker and go out. So it was wise to bring extra oil just in case the bridegroom delayed his coming. They didn't make the necessary preparations. They weren't ready.

Speaker 2

You're listening to From His Heart with Pastor Jeff Shreve today, and the message is "The Wise and the Foolish." He'll have more of part one coming up in just a second.

Now, we've just begun this seventh of nine lessons from the new series "When the Son of Man," a study of Matthew 24:25. This section of Scripture is known as the Olive Discourse. It's called Olivet because Jesus gives this teaching while sitting on the Mount of Olives during the final week before his crucifixion. It delivers to us Jesus' extended teaching on the future, the coming of the Son of Man, the end of the age, and how disciples should live in light of these events.

He reveals the Lord's prophetic teaching on the signs of the times, the coming judgment, and the call to readiness. These powerful chapters reveal what to expect in the last days, how to discern truth from deception, and why living prepared is essential. There's a lot in this study.

Today's message, "The Wise and the Foolish," is from the nine-lesson series "When the Son of Man Comes," a study of Matthew 24 and 25. It's our goal gift to you to say thank you for your support this month of any amount. You can request it in the format of your choice: USB, CDs, DVDs, or MP3 download—you pick. To get yours, call 866-40-BIBLE (866-40-BIBLE) or go to fromhisheart.org.

Jesus makes it clear that his return will be sudden, unrelated, unmistakable, and glorious. So get this nine-lesson series "When the Son of Man Comes" and prepare your heart and your family today.

Now, let's get back to the message "The Wise and the Foolish."

Speaker 1

When Debbie and I had our third child, Sarah, Jill was 4, and Amy was not yet 2. Sarah came early, and so we went to visit Debbie in the hospital. I wanted the girls to see their baby sister and their mom, so I took them there without preparing. Jill was old enough, but Amy was still in diapers. When we arrived at the hospital, I was just excited to be there with the girls. I said, "Hey, you're gonna meet your little sister!" I didn’t think about needing a diaper bag because something could happen. And something did.

Debbie asked, "Where's the diaper bag?" I replied, "I didn’t bring a diaper bag." She pointed out that Amy had a diaper on but needed to be changed. I thought that surely the hospital would have something for us. However, the hospital we stayed at was like "no ticky, no laundry." They said, "We have diapers for babies, but you have a two-year-old." So, we had to clean her up without wet wipes or anything. I did my best to clean her up, but then I had to get home, and there was no diaper. I wrapped some kind of towel around her and said, "Listen, hold onto this." That was the situation because I wasn’t prepared.

Debbie looked at me like, "How can you not know that anytime you go with a baby, you have to bring a diaper bag?" I responded, "How do I not know that? I go with you, and you always take care of those things. I wasn’t built to do this by myself. I wasn’t prepared."

The foolish virgins in the parable should have taken oil. That would have been the wise and prudent thing to do, but they didn’t. They weren’t prepared. They thought, "Well, he’s going to come in the early evening hours. Surely he’ll come by 10; I have enough oil for that." But he delayed his coming, and they weren’t prepared.

The second reason why the foolish virgins were foolish is that they thought they could piggyback off the wise. They thought, "If I didn’t bring enough, I can just borrow from the wise ones." Just like I thought I could rely on the hospital, they assumed they could borrow oil. In verse five, it says, "While the bridegroom was delaying, they all got drowsy and began to sleep." That’s not necessarily a bad thing; it makes sense that if you’re going to delay, people will start nodding off—those who are prepared and those who are not.

But at midnight, there came a shout: "Behold!" This means, "Hey, hold on to your hat! Here it is!" It was a big announcement: "Behold, the bridegroom! Come out to meet him!" All the virgins rose and trimmed their lamps. Trimming their lamps means cutting off the carbonized black stuff from the wick so it burns fresh and replenishing the oil. They all did this, but the five foolish virgins didn’t have any oil to add. So, they trimmed their lamps, but their lamps kept flickering because they didn’t have any oil.

The foolish virgins said to the prudent, "Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out." But the prudent answered, "No, there will not be enough for us. You too, go instead to the dealers and buy some for yourselves." They thought they could borrow from a friend, thinking, "I don’t have to be a wise bridesmaid because we have some wise bridesmaids who brought enough."

This parable is about being ready and true salvation. Salvation is not something you can borrow from another person. You can’t piggyback on someone else’s faith. Sin is personal, and so is salvation. You have to be personally saved. Just because your dad is a Christian, your mom is a Christian, or your grandfather is a Christian doesn’t mean anything for you in terms of your relationship with God.

I remember talking to a guy years ago when I was at Champion Forest. He wanted to join the church, so I asked him about his relationship with Jesus. He said, "Well, my brother's a priest." I replied, "Good for your brother! Tell me about you." He seemed to think that his brother’s status counted for something, but the wheels were turning, and the hamster was dead.

Speaker 2

Wait a minute.

Speaker 1

What do you mean, isn't that good enough? I mean, it's kind of in the bloodline. It's in the family. No, that's not good enough.

And I ended up meeting with that guy individually a week later. And he prayed to receive Christ. He didn't understand what salvation was all about. It's not something that you can borrow.

Now, I like to play golf. Not good at golf. I don't have. I heard one guy say this one time, he said, I don't have the golf gene, but I have the golf bug. I like to play golf.

Speaker 2

Golf.

Speaker 1

But I'm not a good player. And that's kind of how I am, you know? It's amazing how I tell Debbie sometimes I come home, I was like, I don't know how I can play this game for so many years and still be terrible. But that's the case. So the world's greatest golfer right now, if you know anything about professional golf, is Scotty Scheffler. Scotty Scheffler, an unashamed believer in Jesus. And God has blessed this guy. He's an amazing, amazing player.

Now, suppose Scotty Scheffler called me up one day and said, "Jeff, I want to play golf with you." I'd be like, "I don't think you do." Yeah, you haven't seen. You know, when I swing, hide the kids, hide the wife. You know, cover your eyes because you don't want to see me. It's like a horror movie. But, so I'm playing with Scotty Scheffler. I say, "Yes, let's play." You know, I can. His equipment is so much better than mine. He's the number one golfer in the world, and I can play with him. I could borrow his clubs, but I can't borrow his swing. That's unique to him. I can use his putter, I can use his driver. I can use all kinds of clubs that he has. But then I still have my crummy swing.

Listen, salvation is a personal thing. It's like a golf swing. You can't borrow that. That has to be yours. Yours alone. They thought they could borrow. They could piggyback off the wise. They couldn't do it. Now, the wise weren't being mean here. No, we're not going to lend you any of our oil. It was just emphasizing the point. There's not enough for you and me, too. You should have brought your own oil. Go to the dealers and buy.

Now we know also, as we think about this parable, olive oil in the Bible is a symbol of the Holy Spirit. When David was anointed by Samuel the prophet, they would anoint with oil—olive oil. And when David was anointed with olive oil in the presence of his father and his brothers, the spirit of the Lord came upon him mightily from that day forward. Now, the oil is connected to the Holy Spirit. It's a symbol of the Holy Spirit.

Zechariah, chapter four, has a vision of a lampstand. And there are two olive trees that are feeding with olive oil, feeding the lampstand. So it burns and burns and burns and burns. And the Lord says, "You see that? It's not by might nor by power, but by my spirit," says the Lord. Zechariah, chapter 4, verse 6. Oil is a picture and a symbol of the Holy Spirit.

Why can't you borrow somebody else's relationship with God? Because the Holy Spirit of God lives in their hearts. They made a personal decision, and you have to make a personal decision, too. And what does it mean to be saved? Sometimes we get the idea we kind of lump a lot of things with salvation. Say, well, to be saved, salvation, that means you get your sins forgiven, kind of. That really just prepares you for salvation. That's the prerequisite for salvation. You get all your sins forgiven.

Some say, well, salvation—that's going to heaven when you die, kind of. That's kind of the byproduct of salvation. That's what you get as a result of salvation. You get your ticket punched to heaven. Your name is written in the Lamb's book of life. So you say, well, if you get real, real technical, what is salvation? New Testament salvation? It's getting God to live inside of you.

Speaker 2

Well, we're going to pause right there in our lesson today. It's called the Wise and the Foolish. It's from Pastor Jeff Shreve's new nine-message series, "When the Son of Man Comes." And it's our gift this month to you to say thanks for your support of any amount. To get your copy, go to fromhisheart.org and get it in the format of your choice there, too. You can listen to any of these broadcasts and download a free MP3 of the edited broadcast. You can also download free sermon notes and outlines from Pastor Jeff and share these with your friends and family. Just go to fromhisheart.org now.

We'll have part two of this lesson on Wednesday, so be sure to return tomorrow. After a brief review, Pastor Jeff will continue right there with the message, the Wise and the Foolish.

Hey, when you're online, we hope you'll visit our prayer link where you can leave a prayer request, and people from around the world will be able to see it and pray for you. They'll click a button that says they did that, and you'll get notified. It's completely anonymous. However, you'll be blessed to know that people are standing with you in your cries to our Lord. That's the prayer link on our homepage at fromhisheart.org.

Well, I'm Larry Nobles. Thank you for being with us. We so much appreciate it, and we trust that you'll be back again next time for part two of the Wise and the Foolish. Here's part of what's to come.

Speaker 1

Remember this, being religious is not the same thing as knowing Christ in a real and personal way. These five foolish virgins were religious, but they were lost.

Speaker 2

That's on Wednesday, when Pastor Jeff Shreve will speak the truth in love to a lost and hurting world, offering real truth, real love, and real hope from God's heart here on from his heart.