HopeLives365

Mark Finley: There's going to come a time in the history of this world when the door of human probation is shut. Everybody has already made their final irrevocable decision. Behold, I come quickly, and My reward is with Me.

Guest (Female): This is HopeLives365 with Pastor Mark Finley. Today's message: Ready for His Return. Enjoy and remember you can always catch up with past messages and stay up to date with HopeLives365 and Pastor Mark by going to HopeLives365.com. And now, Pastor Mark Finley.

Mark Finley: It was a new day. For once I arrived at London's Heathrow Airport early. It was a Wednesday, August 1, 1990. My wife and I had just completed five years of service in Europe. We lived in St. Albans, England, where I was ministerial director for about 17 different countries. These were wonderful years.

Three of our countries were Poland, Hungary, and Yugoslavia. During those years, 1985 to 1990, I had the opportunity of traveling back and forth to these communist countries and working with various officials and holding meetings there and holding evangelistic meetings. It was just an exciting time.

But we were anxious to get home. We had served a term of five years, and we were really looking forward to coming back to the United States. We got to the airport early. But then when I got there, to my absolute surprise, we learned that although our flight was scheduled to leave at 6:30 p.m. and we had arrived at the airport at 3:45, there were no lines. Everything seemed to be going great.

We got through passport control quickly. But then to my great dismay, I learned that our plane was three hours late. Have you ever been in the airport and you had to wait some six hours? I thought I got there early, but yet the plane was going to be three hours late. A whopping six-hour wait at the airport. We checked our bags and we waited and waited and waited some more.

We ate and talked and read and we ate again. Finally, we walked down to the gate only to learn that there would still be another delay. By now, we were super anxious to get home. Ours was the only flight left on the board. All the others had left. It got later moment by moment.

It was approaching midnight. The airport was closing down. All the passengers were drowsy. Then an announcement was made: "Flight 701 for New York City's LaGuardia Airport is now ready for boarding." Half asleep, we jumped up. My wife spoke first. "Let's go. We're going home." People began to stir. They began gathering their belongings.

Yet one lone traveler attracted our attention. She was evidently going to New York, but the young woman in her 20s was sound asleep. She was oblivious to what was going on. The lounge was emptying fast. The announcements were over. She was sleeping through it all. She was going to miss her flight. Somebody needed to awake her.

We went over and shook her a little bit. "Are you headed to New York City?" "Yes." "The flight's boarding. It's time to go. Let's go." "Oh, thank you for waking me up. I would have missed it." It's one thing to miss your flight for home to New York City. It's another thing to miss the coming of Jesus and eternity.

The Bible tells us quite a remarkable story. It's really a parable that Jesus tells us in Matthew chapter 25. And it's that parable about sleeping on the verge of the kingdom of God that we would want to study. Matthew chapter 25, verse 1: "Then the kingdom of heaven shall be likened unto ten virgins, which took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom."

Now, five of them were wise, and five were foolish. Those who were foolish took their lamps and took no oil with them, but the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps. But while the bridegroom was delayed, they all slumbered and slept. And at midnight a cry was heard: "Behold, the bridegroom is coming; go out to meet him!"

Then all the 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."

And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the wedding; and the door was shut. Now, let's look at this verse by verse carefully. It says "the kingdom of heaven." The kingdom of heaven parables are not necessarily for the world in the Bible; they're for the church.

So here it's talking about the church. Another indication of this is that it says the kingdom of heaven be likened to ten virgins. The number ten is very significant here because it would take ten Jewish men to build a synagogue. In other words, God is signaling here that this is a parable about the church.

The number ten signifies a church number. Ten virgins. The virgins represent the church—pure, true, chaste, totally loyal to Jesus Christ. So here is a parable about God's people who are called virgins. They're not apostatizing out into the world. They're not running around shooting drugs in their veins, and they're not partying and living an immoral life.

These are virgins, it says. It says they took their lamps. Now in the Bible, what does a lamp represent? Psalm 119, verse 105: "Thy word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path." So here is a parable for the church, a parable of people that are to be loyal to Him. And it says these people have the Bible in their hands.

They go out to meet the bridegroom. Who's the bridegroom? That's Jesus. And what's this all about? His soon return. Therefore, these people are waiting for the advent. They're waiting for the second coming of Christ. It says five of them were wise and five of them were foolish.

Why are the wise wise? Why are the foolish foolish? What distinguishes the wise from the wise and the foolish from the foolish? Those who were foolish took their lamps and took no oil with them. Now, oil is a representation in the Bible of the Holy Spirit. When the ancient priests were dedicated for the temple service in the Old Testament, they were anointed with oil, set apart.

So God's people are set apart by the Holy Spirit through the anointing oil of the Spirit. Oil in the Bible is also a symbol of healing. You remember when the story of the Good Samaritan, he meets the man on the side of the road who's broken and bruised and bloodied, and he puts in oil and wine. Wine as an antiseptic to kill the disease and oil as a healing balm. So oil represents healing.

Oil also represents witness because you remember in Zechariah 4, it talks about the fact that the oil from the olive trees illuminates the lamp. So when you think of oil, you think of the Holy Spirit setting a people aside, the Holy Spirit bringing healing balm and healing grace.

You think about the Holy Spirit enabling us to powerful witness of God's healing grace and love. You think about a personal relationship with Jesus Christ where the life is filled with the Spirit. So here you have in the wise, Spirit-filled believers who are filled with the word of God. Their minds are saturated with the word.

These are anointed; they're set aside for Christ. These Spirit-filled believers are powerful witnesses of God's healing grace and love. Then it says, "the wise took oil in their vessels but while the bridegroom was delayed, they all slumbered and slept." Now, the wise are not wise because they're awake, and the foolish are not foolish because they simply sleep.

Because the Bible says they all did what? They all slumbered and slept. So they're all sleeping. Christ comes at a time that they don't expect it. He comes with rapidity, fast, and they're not expecting it. Look in Matthew chapter 24, the Bible says in verse 42 and 43 in Jesus' great sermon on end-time events.

"Watch therefore, for you do not know what hour your Lord is coming. But know this, that if the master of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched and not allowed his house to be broken up. Therefore, you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect Him."

Look, when a thief comes, does the thief announce his coming? "Get ready. I'm going to come tonight to rob your house." Is that what the thief says? Not at all. In the Bible, Christ is coming as a thief, not because He comes secretly, but because He comes unexpectedly.

The Bible says in Revelation 1:7, "Behold, He comes with clouds and every eye will see Him." It's a visible coming. In Psalm 50, verse 3, it says, "Our God shall come and not keep silence." It's an audible coming. In Acts chapter 1, verse 9 to 11, it says, "This same Jesus..."

The angels are speaking to the disciples, "...that you saw ascend into heaven, He shall come in like manner as you've seen Him go up." He literally went up; He's literally coming down. According to the Bible, He comes with ten thousand times ten thousand angels. Matthew 16:27-29. Then in Matthew 17.

He also, when Jesus comes, comes to raise the dead. 1 Thessalonians chapter 4, verse 16 and 17: "The Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout." With a what? A shout. It's audible; it's not secret. "With the voice of the archangel, with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ shall rise first."

"And we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them to meet the Lord in the air." So the dead who are righteous are resurrected. They come out of their graves with glorious new immortal bodies. No sickness, suffering, heartache, death. The righteous who are living are changed in an instant. 1 Corinthians chapter 15, verse 51 to 55.

They're changed in an instant. So here when Jesus comes, He doesn't come as a thief secretly. He comes as the thief unexpectedly. And that's why the Bible says in Matthew 24:42 that we just read, "Watch therefore, for you do not know what hour your Lord is coming. But know this, that if the master of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched."

So the thief comes quickly, rapidly, unexpectedly at a time when people are not expecting it.

Guest (Female): We'll be right back with Pastor Mark Finley. We thank you for listening and hope you're enjoying today's message. Our mission is to attractively present the Christ-centered biblical truths of scripture in a practical, relevant way to people around the world so that they may experience the abundant life that Christ offers and effectively share with confidence His life-changing truths with others. You can support this ministry and help us reach even more by going to HopeLives365.com/donate. And now, back to Pastor Mark Finley.

Mark Finley: So that's why the Bible says they all slumbered and slept. Christ's delay has been now for centuries. When you think about it, Jesus did say to His disciples in John 14, "Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father's house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go to prepare a place for you, I will come again."

So Jesus promised in John 14 that He would return. And 2,000 years have gone by, and Christ has not come. And so it's easy for the church to slumber. It's easy for the church to sleep, to be in this state of sleepiness. At midnight a cry was heard. At midnight a cry was heard. What does it mean at midnight? At the darkest hour.

Crime is rampant in our streets. War and conflict is all around. Disease, disaster, and death on every hand. Instability among nations. An economy that hangs on a slender thread. At midnight, the darkest time of Earth's history, there was a cry made: "Behold, the bridegroom is coming!" If there was ever a time to herald this message, it's today.

Behold, the bridegroom is coming. Behold, the bridegroom is coming. Go out to meet Him. Then all those virgins arose, trimmed their lamps, and the foolish said to the wise, "Give us 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."

Look, why would the wise say to the foolish, "Go buy for yourselves"? What is this oil that cannot be transferable? It is the Holy Spirit that works deeply within the heart that every human being must receive for themselves. What does Jesus say in Luke chapter 11 here in verse 13 about the Holy Spirit?

The Holy Spirit is life-transformational. When the Holy Spirit enters your life, the Holy Spirit changes your life. Jesus says, "If you then, being evil," Luke 11, verse 13, "know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him?"

Are you asking God every day to give you the Holy Spirit? To give you the Holy Spirit so you'll have wisdom to go through that day? To give you the Holy Spirit so that you'll be able to cope with temptations that day? To give you the Holy Spirit so that you can face whatever the devil throws at you that day?

The Bible says that we are renewed by the Spirit. Do you remember the story in the book of Ezekiel chapter 36? And here in Ezekiel chapter 36, we read again about the Holy Spirit and the Holy Spirit filling our lives. Ezekiel chapter 36, and you're looking there in the Bible, God's talking to Israel and He says, "I want to renew you. I want to change you."

And He says, "I'll give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you. I'll take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will put My spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgments and do them." God says, "I will put My spirit within you."

As we come and ask God for His Spirit, the power of that Spirit changes our lives. What is this oil? It is the power of the Holy Spirit that produces within us the fruits of the Spirit of love, joy, peace, long-suffering, meekness, patience, and self-control. It is the Holy Spirit which produces a new character within us.

He takes away the old heart of flesh and puts a new heart within us. And look, character cannot be transferred. That's why the wise say to the foolish, "We can't give you of our oil because we can't give you of our character. We can't make a change in your life." But notice what happens. While they went to buy, the bridegroom came.

And those who were ready went in with Him to the wedding, and the door was shut. The door was shut. Afterward, the other virgins came, saying, "Lord, Lord, open to us!" There's going to come a time in the history of this world when the door of human probation is shut. Everybody has already made their final irrevocable decision.

Revelation chapter 22, verse 11 and 12 says, "He that is righteous, let him be righteous still. And he that is holy, let him be holy still. And he that is unrighteous, let him be unrighteous still. And he that is unholy, let him be unholy still. Behold, I come quickly, and My reward is with Me."

So before Jesus comes to give out the rewards, every human being will make their final irrevocable decision for or against Christ. Human probation does not close because God's mercy has run out. Not at all. But if God kept the door of mercy open for another 100 years, nobody would make their decision again because their characters are fixed.

They have made that eternal decision already. And so scripture says, those who were ready went in with Him to the wedding, and the door was shut. Afterward, the other virgins came also, saying, "Lord, Lord, open to us!" But he answered, "Assuredly, I say to you, I do not know you. Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour in which the Son of Man comes."

Jesus says, "I don't know you." What was the issue? The wise virgins opened their hearts daily to the Spirit of God. And they were drawn moment by moment, day by day, closer to Jesus. The foolish virgins lived their own selfish, self-centered, independent lives.

For the foolish virgins, they had a facade of religion. They had a form of godliness. The foolish virgins had no heart commitment to Jesus. They had no heart transformation by Jesus. They had a name that lives, but was dead. You remember what the Bible says about that first church in Ephesus?

John writes in the book of Revelation chapter 2 about this type of Christianity. There was once when the New Testament Christian church was on fire for God, and it moved the world for God. But then there came a time when there was a drift. There came a time when there was a departure.

Revelation chapter 2, John says, verse 2, "I know your works, your labor, your patience." They labor to the point of exhaustion. "That you cannot bear those that are evil. They even defend true doctrine. You've tested those who say they're apostles and are not and have found them liars."

So here they labor for Christ. They stand for true doctrine. "And you've persevered and have patience and have labored for My name. Nevertheless, I have somewhat against you because you've left your first love." So here they substitute duty for devotion. They substitute the outer for the inner.

They substitute a smattering of Christianity for the true heart Christianity where hearts are broken over sin, where men and women are led to Jesus Christ, where they know Him. And Jesus says in John 17, verse 3, He puts it this way: the same John that wrote the book of Revelation wrote the gospel of John.

Jesus puts it this way: "This is life eternal, that you might know Me, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom He has sent." This is life eternal. Life eternal is knowing Christ, knowing Him personally, knowing Him intimately. What a friend we have in Jesus, all our sins and griefs to bear. What a privilege to carry everything to God in prayer.

They lost their first love. The foolish virgins once knew Christ, but they lost their first love. They once walked with Christ, but they lost their first love. What do you do when you lose your first love? How do you get it back? Revelation 2, verse 5 tells us, "Remember therefore where you've fallen."

You remember the days where you used to love to pray, the days you used to love to study God's word, the days where you felt strangely close to Jesus. You remember that. Remember therefore when you've fallen. Repent. You repent that you have a form of godliness. You repent that you have a form of religion.

You repent of the fact that you don't know Christ and do the first works. What do you do? Three things: you remember, you repent, and you return. You return to the God who made you. You return to the God that created you. You return with all your heart.

I was preaching on the parable of the ten virgins one night not far from a Christian college. And at the end of the sermon, a young girl came up to me and she said, "Pastor Mark, Pastor Mark, can we talk?" I said, "Sure." She said, "Pastor Mark, I used to be a wise virgin, but I'm a foolish virgin."

"I'm in college and taking a nursing course, 18 hours a semester. And I just don't have time to study the Bible. I don't have time to read the word of God. I barely pray. I've become a foolish virgin. Can you help me?" And I began to share with her the word of God.

I shared with her chapters in the Bible on the crucifixion of Christ. Help her to begin reading like Isaiah 53 and passages in the New Testament. She wrote them down in her Bible. I told her how He wanted to save her more than she wanted to save herself.

We kept in touch some, and she told me, "Pastor Mark, that was the most wonderful meeting in my life. It was a life-changing meeting." About six months later, I was speaking at a large meeting up in Massachusetts, and a girl walked up the aisle. She said to me, "Pastor Mark, do you recognize who I might be?" I said, "No, I don't."

She said, "Look, I'm the sister of a girl that you helped to know Christ. You helped her to have a meaningful experience with Christ. She was home with my father for Thanksgiving. And she had this knife-like stabbing pain in her heart when they were shopping. She had had a heart murmur when she was a child."

"And she had a massive heart attack when they were doing Christmas shopping and fell over dead in the store in my father's arms." She said it was terrible, heartbroken, family devastated. "But," she said, "you know when we came to get her things out of her room, we noticed her Bible by her bed."

"And," she said, "I took that Bible up and I looked in the flyleaf, and she wrote the date of your meeting. And Pastor Mark," she said, "in there, I once was a foolish virgin, but now I'm a wise virgin." And she wrote down the texts that you gave her. "Thank you, Pastor Mark. Thank you, Pastor Mark."

Guest (Female): You've been listening to HopeLives365 with Pastor Mark Finley. We hope you've enjoyed today's message and remind you that you can find more in our many ministry resources at HopeLives365.com. And you can support this ministry by going to HopeLives365.com/donate. And now, a final thought from Pastor Mark.

Mark Finley: Would you like to open your heart to Christ just now as we pray? Jesus, thank You that the door is still open. Thank You that foolish virgins can become wise virgins. Thank You that we can know You and live for You and serve You forever. We pray it in Jesus' name as we come. Amen.