Telling the Truth for Women

Jill Briscoe: I would like you to turn to the parable that we'll be addressing, and we're going to read it, although I will not talk about it until right at the end of the talk. I want to talk about a lot of other things before we get there. But if you turn to Matthew's gospel and chapter 25, I've already taught on a couple of things from this chapter: the talents, gifts and talents, and touched on the sheep and the goats.

But I want to go back to the parable of the ten virgins, because the context of this parable is the second coming, the Parousia, the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ. "At that time the kingdom of heaven," says Jesus, reading from 25:1 of Matthew, "At that time the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. Five of them were foolish and five were wise.

The foolish ones took their lamps but didn't take any oil with them. The wise, however, took oil in jars along with their lamps. The bridegroom was a long time in coming, and they all became drowsy and fell asleep. At midnight the cry rang out: 'Here's the bridegroom! Come out to meet him!' Then all the virgins woke up and trimmed their lamps. The foolish ones said to the wise, 'Give us some of your oil; our lamps are going out.'

'No,' they replied, 'there may not be enough for both of us. Instead, go to those who sell oil and buy some for yourselves.' But while they were on their way to buy the oil, the bridegroom arrived. The virgins who were ready went in with him to the wedding banquet. And the door was shut. Later the others also came. 'Sir! Sir!' they said. 'Open the door for us!' But he replied, 'I tell you the truth, I don't know you.' Therefore keep watch, because you do not know the day or the hour."

Now, it was in 1954, I was 18 years of age, up at university, very excited to be at that marvelous place in Cambridge, in England. And in the spring semester, the big event of the year happened. It was what we called the May Balls. And to be invited by a gentleman to a May Ball was a real feather in your hat or prestigious. And of course all of us little freshmen wondered if anybody would ask us to a May Ball, or if we'd have to wait till our senior year to have that privilege.

Well, I had been converted the first semester up at Cambridge, and so I was a very, very young Christian. And I got invited by a boy called Peter. I didn't know him very well; he was a nice young man. But I didn't care who he was. I got invited to a May Ball! I was so excited. And you were allowed to stay out all night. It was in the prehistoric days when young ladies at my ladies' college at Cambridge, there were gentlemen's colleges and there were ladies' colleges, and my college had exit visas you could be out till 11 o'clock just three times a month.

But we were allowed to be out the whole night at this May Ball. And then in the morning, you would punt down the river. Punting is something that you might have seen on films about England, but you get in these sort of flat boats and the punter stands on the front and the puntee sits in the boat and is punted. And the idea is that you go down the Cam, the river Cam, and it is absolutely hilarious anytime if you watch punting at Cambridge on the Cam because there are people on the end of poles suspended there without the benefit of their boat under them. It's quite hard because the thing gets stuck in the mud and then you get stuck on the pole and, it's great fun.

Anyway, you eventually get down in the middle of the night to Grantchester, which is this absolutely picturesque little village with little thatched roofs just like you see in pictures if you've never been to the south of England. And you have breakfast. You have the May Ball breakfast in the whole of Grantchester, and then you go back to your college. And then you walk into hall, and hall is where you all have this incredibly formal breakfast, lunch, tea, and you're served by servers with white gloves and all of this. This is old-fashioned Cambridge, of course. And you walk right down the aisle between all those poor girls that never got asked to the May Ball in your dress and you greet the principal and then you go to your place and sit there and just are full of pride and all of this about this wonderful event.

Well, Peter and I got to this particular ball. Each college has its own ball and then they use these beautiful grassy slopes that go down to the river Cam. And you can dance outside. And each college has its own band and he was from Queen's College, and so we were at Queen's College and we were dancing around the floor. We'd done two dances and then he shyly said to me, "Jill, I've got something to tell you. I've become a Christian."

Well, we stopped still in the middle of this dance floor and I said, "Well, I have too! Just happened to me last term." And he said, "It just happened to me two or three weeks ago. Isn't it wonderful?" And everybody was saying, "Go on, go on," because we were holding everybody up, stuck in the middle of the dance hall. And he said, "I heard the most incredible thing tonight." And I said, "What?" He said, "The young man whose Bible study I'm in told me that Jesus is coming back."

And I said, "Where?" And he said, "Here." I said, "To Cambridge?" He said, "No, no, he's coming back to earth." I said, "Like a baby again?" He said, "No." I said, "How's he? Where? What?" He said, "I don't know." I said, "Is it in the Bible?" He said, "Yes." I said, "Oh Peter, do you have a Bible in your room?" He said, "Yes." I said, "Could we go and look?" He said, "Let's."

So we ran up to his room in Queens and we sat there for two and a half hours with his reference Bible following the references through to the second coming references of Jesus. We got so excited. Well, after this two and a half hours, he said to me, "Do you want to go and dance again?" And I said, "Not really, do you?" And he said, "No." He said, "I've got an idea." I said, "What?" He said, "Do you realize nobody knows about this?" I said, "Yes, I realize that."

He said, "Let's go down to the Cam and get a punt." And he says, "We'll take turns." And he says, "When all these loving couples come out and want to punt, we'll put the loving couple in our punt. I'll punt and you witness. And we'll get them out in the middle of the Cam so they can't get out and we'll tell them about Jesus coming again." I said, "Great!"

So all night Peter and I punted up and down the river Cam. And these people thought, well, if they're stupid enough to want to punt us, we'll just sit and hug and kiss. Little did they know, of course, as soon as they got in the boat, one of us would attack them with this news. That was the night I remember a girl called Wendy from my college came to Christ in the middle of the river Cam as she heard about the second coming of Jesus. I didn't know. I'd never heard. Isn't that incredible?

I think of the Creed because I'd said the Creed in my formal prayers in my school. And there is something in there about him coming in judgment: "from thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead." But when you think of that language, it made no sense to me. I didn't understand from thence, where was he, and where was he coming to, and who were the quick and the dead? We always say the people in London are the quick and the dead if you try and cross a road. And that was to me absolutely other language from another planet. So I had absolutely no idea about what it was.

The night Peter and I sat down and did our Bible study on the second coming, we found out three things. Very basic. Number one, he's coming. Number two, he's coming soon. And number three, you better be ready. Number one, he's coming. Number two, he's coming soon. And number three, you better be ready. And that was discovered, and I haven't changed my mind about it. Those are the three most important things about the second coming of Jesus. He's coming, no doubt about it. He's coming soon, no doubt about it. And you better be ready, no doubt about that.

Now, the first verse was in John 14:1-3: "Do not let your heart be troubled. Trust in God, trust also in me. In my Father's house are many rooms." Now in the old King James that we read, "In my Father's house are many mansions." But in most of the translations you will probably have that you're reading from at the moment, you'll have "In my Father's house are many rooms." The word is abode, abiding place, literally. "In my Father's house there are many abiding places or abodes. If it were not so, I would have told you. I'm going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place, I will come back and take you to be with me, that you also may be where I am."

I love the New Living Translation: "When everything is ready, I'll come and get you." I love that! "When everything is ready," says Jesus, "I'll come and get you." And I love The Message, Eugene Peterson's The Message: "I am coming again to welcome you into my own home. I am coming again to welcome you into my own home." The Message says this: "There is plenty of room for you in my Father's home. If that weren't so, would I have told you that I'm on my way to get a room ready for you? And if I'm on my way to get your room ready, I'll come back and get you so you can live where I live."

So you can live where I live. Now, that's the first thing that we excitedly discovered. He is coming! He's coming back to our earth in a different form, in a different way than he came when he came as a baby, but he is coming. There's going to be a moving day, folks, from my house to his house. He's going to come and help me move. He's going to come and get me. "I'll come back, I'm coming again," he says.

I love this idea of many rooms in this big house. "In my Father's house there are many rooms." I love that picture. And I'm going to prepare a very special room for you. I had the privilege of going to speak at a Governor's prayer breakfast in one of the states in the South. And so I got the privilege because I was the Governor's wife's guest of staying in the Governor's mansion.

I get to this incredible place and they put me in a very special room. And every Governor's mansion apparently has one of these rooms where somebody famous, something famous has happened and there's a little plaque over the bed. So-and-so slept here, or this is so-and-so's bed. And so it was in this place. And I had a fascinating hour reading all about what had happened in this particular place in this particular time.

And you know, when I think about that particular beautiful room, I sort of was so privileged to be there, I felt almost an intruder. In fact, I did feel like an intruder. It wasn't my room. It was this famous person's room. They had the right to have that room. But when you and I get to our room in his house, he will show you the room he's got ready for you. Nobody will ever have slept there. And your name will be there. This is your room. This is your room. This is my room. What grace! He's coming. He's coming to get us. In my Father's house are many rooms, and I'm going to come and get you so you can live where I am. This big house. Heaven is like a big, big house and in it many abiding places.

So, he's coming. When is he coming? Well, the Bible says in Mark 13:32 he's coming soon, but nobody knows how soon is soon. All we know is we're on the way to soon. Okay? We're on the way to soon. Nobody knows when soon will arrive. Maybe today, maybe tonight, maybe before I finish this talk. Wouldn't that be fun? But we are on the way to soon.

"No one knows," Mark 13:32-37, "about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son," says Jesus. "I don't know when I'm coming back. One of the Father's secrets, and he's not telling anyone. Be on your guard! Be alert! You do not know when that time will come. Keep watch. You do not know when the owner of the house who's left the servants in control will come back, whether in the evening or at midnight or when the rooster crows or at dawn. If he comes suddenly, do not let him find you sleeping. What I say to you, I say to everyone: 'Watch.'" Eugene Peterson: "You don't want him showing up unannounced with you asleep on the job."

You don't want him showing up unannounced with you asleep on the job. He is coming soon. Only the Father knows, so don't try to unscrew the un-scrutable, like most people are doing at the moment. Just watch! Be alert! Be on guard! If you think you figured it out, you haven't. Because the Bible says at such an hour as you think not. So if you think you know, then he's not coming then, because in such an hour as you think not, he's going to come.

So he's coming, he's coming soon, and we had better be ready. 1 Thessalonians 1:1-10, Paul is commending the Thessalonians for their faithful work, loving deeds, and their endurance inspired by hope. Often the second coming is called our blessed hope. Now hope means a continual anticipation of the return of our Lord Jesus Christ. Hope usually, confidence, this huge confidence, this word hope is used most times in the Bible when it talks about the return of Jesus. The return of Jesus.

Now when Stuart and I worked in a youth center in Britain, a bishop of the Church of England, a wonderful man of God, was to visit us. And a German girl on staff who had worked hard to prepare for this event and whose English was very minimal, was to greet him at the front door and alert us as to when he came.

Well, the time came and she invited him in, but then totally overwhelmed, he was there with his beautiful robes and all in his regalia, and in total confusion and joy, she ran ahead of him up and down all the corridors in that beautiful castle that was our youth center to all of us who were putting the last touches to the meal table, shouting, "My Lord is come! My Lord is come!" I can still hear her. And she burst into the room with a rather startled bishop in her train.

And I remember her eyes were bright and her feet were dancing and she was just so excited. And I remember thinking at the time, that should be my attitude. I'd watch that girl get ready and keep looking out the- looking out the window: is he coming? Is the Lord Bishop coming? Is the Lord Bishop coming? And when that man arrived, there was none more excited than her. Well, if for a bishop, what about for Jesus Christ himself when he comes?

Now in Matthew 25, if you'll turn to Matthew 25, the context of this parable is interesting. Let me just tell you what's been happening in the Olivet Discourse. Jesus has been teaching in the temple. He'd been defending himself against hostile attacks by the chief priests and elders of the people. He's taught through the parables as was his habit. He's taught about taxes to Caesar, whether there will be marriage after the resurrection. He's fended off verbal traps set by the Sadducees and the lawyers.

And for a whole chapter, chapter 23, he lambasts the Pharisees, calling them blind leaders of the blind, snakes and a brood of vipers, and he's asked them in verse 33 of 23, "How will you escape being condemned to hell?" So there are no punches being withheld here. He ends up his great discourse with verses 37 to 39: "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you weren't willing. Look, your house is left to you desolate. For I tell you, you will not see me again until you say, 'Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.'"

He leaves the temple area, verse 1 of 24, was walking away from this when his disciples came to him to call his attention to the buildings. And he said, "You see all these things? I tell you the truth, not one stone here will be left on another. Every one will be thrown down." As he was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately. "Tell us," they said, "when will this happen, and what will be the sign of your coming and the end of the age?"

And the rest of the chapter deals with two events. One event, the end of the age and the culmination of everything and the judgment, and the other, the destruction of Jerusalem, which also prefigures the huge crisis that will happen just before he comes again. Now as we look at Matthew, and I want to look at this for a minute as a backdrop to this parable, when we read words like "the end of the age," used six times in Matthew, it's always used in connection with the final judgment and the consummation of all things. This is a coming crisis that the whole world faces.

There is no doubt about it: the coming crisis is the final judgment and the consummation of all things. And Jesus uses in this chapter a picture of birth. He says when a woman goes into labor pains, you know there's a baby going to be born. You also know there's two stages of labor. And Jesus begins to talk about the labor pains that will begin as soon as the destruction of Jerusalem happens, which happened in the lifetime of some of the apostles.

As soon as the destruction of Jerusalem finished, from then till now, or till the end of the age, there will be birth pains. And most biblical scholars believe we are in the second stage of labor. Now where we are, you know how long it can take to have a baby. Where we are, we do not know. But most people believe the first stage is over and the birth of the kingdom of heaven is on its way. That's what most people believe. The labor pains will indicate the baby's on its way.

And Jesus begins to talk about some of those birth signs, the clues. They said, "Give us a clue, give us a sign." Now I want to run through these, just stick with me and I'll point them out to you. Number one: would-be deliverers will come along. Look in verse 5: "Many will come in my name, claiming 'I am the Christ' and will deceive many." We've seen that in our time anyway, haven't we? Many people saying literally, "I am the deliverer, I am the Christ."

Two: wars and rumors of wars. "You will hear of wars and rumors of wars." And then he adds, "But see to it that you're not alarmed." Remember who he's talking to. He's talking to the disciples and the apostles before the destruction of Jerusalem. So the birth pains, first stage labor, have begun even before in a sense Christ is crucified. It is all beginning to happen. So he says to them, "But don't be alarmed; it's not going to happen yet. This is the beginning of things."

Famines, number three, and earthquakes. "There will be famines and earthquakes in various places." And then in verse 8, "This is only the beginning. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come," verse 6. Now then, the Romans destroyed Jerusalem and more of the same of the things that he'd been talking about are going to start to happen from then till now.

For example, number four, persecution. Persecution started in the first century after the destruction of Jerusalem in big time. It will continue and get worse till the second coming. Look at verse 10: "Many therefore will turn away from the faith; they will betray and hate each other," verse 10. That's a clue.

Number five: many false prophets, cults, religious orders, old and new. "Many false prophets will appear and deceive many people." Next one: the gospel will be preached around the world. "The gospel of this kingdom will be preached in the whole world," verse 14, "to all nations and then the end will come. Then the end will come."

And of course most people that try to figure out how far through labor we are, has said for my lifetime, well, the gospel hasn't been preached to every tribe and tongue and nation. But what does that mean? Did it mean to when Jesus said it, to every nation as they knew it? Well, that's happened. Or did he mean to every nation as we know them? How many more nations are there now than there were when Jesus was there?

What does that mean? Take it at its face value, what he said: "The gospel," actually what he said, "the gospel of this kingdom will be preached in the whole world; then will the end come." The next portion, 13 to 23, deals with the fall of Jerusalem, okay? But it does prefigure the extra crisis that will happen just before Jesus comes again. "For the sake of the elect these days will be shortened," says Jesus, now looking forward to the end of all things.

And then he gives three certainties about the second coming. When it comes, it will be number one: unmistakable, verse 27. "For as lightning that comes from the east is visible even in the west, so will the coming of the Son of Man be." You start and see lightning and where's it started and it goes buzz. And he's trying to give a picture of everybody seeing the same lightning almost instantaneously. There will be celestial signs: the sun, the moon, the stars. "The sun will fade out, the moon will cloud over, the stars will fall out of the sky, the cosmic powers will tremble." Eugene Peterson's rendering of verse 29.

There will be unmistakable celestial signs. There will be unmistakable celestial sounds: the loud trumpet, whatever that is, verse 31. There will be unmistakable celestial beings: angels, verse 31. Angels were very obvious and busy and visible at the first coming of Christ; they will be very obvious and busy and visible at the second coming of Christ. And then the standard of the Son of Man will unfurl in the sky as he himself returns in splendor and power and glory.

And of course over and over again it says he will come with clouds. That's the Shekinah glory. Whenever the immediate presence of God appeared, like the cloud in the desert if you remember in the Old Testament, it was called the Shekinah glory. It accompanied the immediate presence of God. It was a visible manifestation of the invisible God. And that Shekinah glory, of course, will accompany God, second person of the Trinity, Jesus, when he returns.

So it will be unmistakable. Secondly, it will be universal. It will be in the sky and it says all the nations of the earth will mourn. They will despair as they see judgment coming. Now again, Peterson's modern translation: "Unready people, unready people all over the world, outsiders to the splendor and power will raise a huge lament as they watch the Son of Man blazing out of heaven." Wow. What a verse. What a verse.

So it will be unmistakable, it will be universal, universally witnessed, and it will be unexpected, verse 36 to 42. And Jesus uses two little illustrations. Noah: people were marrying, having a good time, eating, drinking till the day he shut in the family and the rains came and the floods took them all away. And he said that's very sad.

And then he goes on and says two people will be in the field, one will be taken, the other left. Two people will be grinding at the mill, one woman will be taken, the other left. And so then he says, he ends it up: "At such an hour as you think not, this is going to happen. It's going to be like a thief in the night," verses 40 to 43. "Therefore be faithful and wise servants." We are to be busy telling people about this. We are to be concerned that once he comes, there is no second chance.

Revelation 1:7: "Look, he's coming with the clouds, and every eye shall see him, even those that pierced him, and all the peoples of the earth will mourn because of him. I am Alpha and Omega," says the Lord God, "who is, was, and is to come." And again, I love the poetry of Peterson: "Glory and strength to Christ who loves us, whose blood washed our sins from our lives, who made us a kingdom, priests for his Father forever. And yes, he's on his way! Riding the clouds, he'll be seen by every eye. Those who mocked and killed him will see him. People from all nations and all times will tear their clothes in lament. Oh yes. The Master declares, 'I'm A to Z! I'm the God who is, the God who was, and the God about to arrive. I'm the sovereign strong.'"

"I'm the God about to arrive." Over and over again Jesus talked about the judge standing at the door. Not the Savior. Now is the time of salvation. Now the Savior stands at the door of men's hearts. He says the judge is standing at the door. And once the judge comes, no more Savior.

When the great plants of our cities have turned out their last finished work, when the merchants have sold their last yard of silk and dismissed the last tired clerk, when the banks have raked in their last shilling and paid their last dividend, when the judge of the earth says close for the night and asks for a balance, what then? When the actor has played his last drama and the mimic has made his last fun, when the movie has flashed its last picture and the billboard displayed its last run, when the crowd seeking pleasure have vanished and gone into the darkness again, and the world that rejected its Savior is asked for an answer, what then?

When the bugle call sinks into silence and the long marching column stands still, when the captain has given his last orders and they've captured the last fort and hill, when the flag has been hauled from the masthead and the wounded afield checked in, and the trumpet of ages is sounded and you stand before him, what then? When the people have heard their last sermon and the preacher has prayed his last prayer, when the choir has sung its last anthem and the sound has died out on the air, when the Bible lies closed on the altar and the pews are all empty of men, and each one stands facing his record and the great book is opened, what then?

When life's thread has run to a finish, when the last thing you can do is done, when your life here on earth is ended and eternity's issues begun. As you think of how long Christ has pleaded, of how he bore your sins on the tree, and your soul stands there naked before him and the Father denies you, what then? What happens when he says, "I never knew you. Who are you? What then?"

That's why it's so important that we not only occupy till he come, have our lamps burning, our cloak girded around us, but we are sure we are like the five sensible virgins and we have oil in our lamps. Oil speaking of the Holy Spirit, our passport into that wedding feast of Christ and the bride. All those girls looked alike. They all had lamps, but some had oil and some didn't. And not till the end days did they find out. Make sure you're full of oil, make sure you're trimming your wick, make sure that you have your torch held high because there are many people that you love and I love, and one of us will be taken and they will be left.

And that's why I suppose Peter and I spent our May Ball night telling everybody with great urgency that it was time they thought about this. What Jesus said to his disciples, he says to us: "Watch. Watch." You know, there's a little story about one of the Shepherds' homes that has the severely handicapped, disabled children and adults, looks after them. And those Shepherds' homes are all over the United States. They're Christian places.

And a friend of ours who was with a Christian orchestra went to play in one of the Shepherds' homes in Seattle. They didn't want to go. They were all students, music students at Bible school. And they said, "Why- why are we going to go and play our beautiful music? They won't understand it and they won't appreciate it." Anyway, they went and they went with a very bad attitude.

And when they got there, the kids sat and listened, or those that could did, and then little Butch got up to the microphone and he began to sing. "It will be worth it all when we see Jesus. Life's trials will seem so small when we see Christ. One glimpse of his dear face all sorrow will erase. So let us run the race till we see Christ."

And this pastor now, actually professor now, telling this story of when he was a student, said, "I don't know what key he sang it in; I think it changed several times. But from a musical standpoint, there were a lot of misplaced notes. But what was missing when we the musicians played for them was present when little Butch sang that song to us. With tears running down all of our faces, we all went up and hugged him."

And he said, "Oh, I want to show you our home!" So they gave us this tour of the Shepherd's home and they showed us all these rooms. And one of the things that overwhelmed us was every single room was so clean and spotless and everything in place, and we were all amazed.

And the last place they took us was the playroom. Very large room, picture windows all along one side. We went into the room and we noticed the children were having fun playing, but the thing that struck us as so funny about this room where we were standing and really puzzled us was the windows.

And the director came up and said, "Oh, I'm sorry. I know what you're thinking. That in a place like this with all these wonderful children, why in the world we don't clean the windows?" Because they were absolutely filthy: smudge marks, drool marks, everything. "Well, actually, we clean them several times a day," he said. "The problem is that once the children are done with their chores and they get their free time, they come here. And the first thing they do is they go up to the big picture window and they press their faces against it and they look to see if Jesus is coming again for them." Are we so occupied? It is looking and anticipating eagerly, loving that time to anticipate being with the one that we love more than anyone else. Jesus said he's coming again. What a story! I tell you, if they can anticipate and watch for him, what's wrong with us? Watch! Watch! In an hour that you think not, the Son of Man will come.