Life of Christ Lesson 139: Olivet Discourse - Part IX {Parable of Ten Virgins} - How Jewish Wedding Customs Support a Pre-Tribulation Rapture

I want you to open up today to Mark. We're going to start out in the Gospel of

Mark. We are on part nine of our study on the Olivet Discourse and this is a

ten-part study so we'll conclude it Lord willing next week. Today's lesson is

subtitled a parable of the ten virgins and we have been discussing as you

know before our resurrection break for some eight weeks the greatest

prophetic sermon ever given in the scripture and it was of course given by

the greatest prophet who ever lived the Lord Jesus Christ and that is the

Olivet Discourse which was spoken on what day of the Passion Week? Tuesday

thank you Terry. Tuesday of the Passion Week it was actually late Tuesday

afternoon as the Lord sat down to take a rest on the Mount of Olives east of

Jerusalem and he answered the Matthew 24-3 questions that were posed to him by

Peter Andrew James and John on behalf of all the disciples and it was in

response to their second question in Matthew 24-3 which is or was what

shall be the sign of thy coming and of the end of the age that he then presented

a panoramic account of a the seven-year period of tribulation that will

immediately precede his second coming and we took our time as we studied his

answer as he gave that panoramic account of the tribulation we took our time in

five lessons which were lessons number one thirty three to one thirty seven then

in our previous study before our break what did we look at we discussed the

parable of the fig tree and now my fig trees are starting to have little

leaves on them and I think about this parable every time I see those leaves we

discuss the parable of the fig tree in which the Lord used a very simple

illustration from nature to communicate to the generation that will be living

when the tribulation labor pain signs take place that they will be the

generation to experience his return and then the Lord concluded the out of

a discourse with a series of admonishments or warnings or appeals and that

was in part D if you're looking at your outline they're on little page seven the

beginning of your books he gave a series of admonishments and we looked at the

flooded monishment the thief admonishment and the evil servant admonishment

where in a nutshell we could say he was saying in all of those

admonishments and even the the other two that will look at this morning

basically what he is saying is be ready be ready be prepared I have given you

many signs that will indicate to you when my coming is very near so don't get

caught unprepared like the people of Noah's Day who were so preoccupied with

what with just the cares and concerns of their daily life you know eating and

drinking and marrying and giving and marriage that they ignored the many divine

signs and warnings that had been given to them he says basically here I don't

want to catch you as a thief in the night who comes unexpectedly and robs you of

everything that you possess don't be as the evil servant who didn't seriously

contemplate his master's return you know I well he'll return one day off in the

future and you know I really didn't even look look for it his coming and what

happened he was caught red handed in the midst of unfaithful service and sinful

living instead Jesus is saying you know through these admonishments he's saying be

ready for me and what does he mean by being ready right it's speaking of

salvation readiness he says be ready be saved and be watching so you won't be

caught off guard and thereby spend eternity apart from me endless torment and

of course specifically he's speaking to the tribulation people the people will

be living during the tribulation but we can take this also and learn from it

because we should also be ready shouldn't we so that we won't be number one we

need to be salvation ready and number two we need to be practically ready we

need to be living holy separated lives so that we won't be caught ashamed at

the Lord's coming for us in the rapture well now in the first part of our

lesson for today we need to complete our look at the preparation admonishments

there is as I said a total of five of them and we've only looked at the first

three all of which the first three were found over in Matthew 24 but the

remaining two are not found in Matthew's gospel which is unusual because

Matthew gives us our most complete look at the olive at discourse but for the

remaining two we need to turn over to Mark first of all and then Luke Mark gives

us the sleeping porter admonishment and Luke gives the Lord's daily care

admonishment so at this time I told you earlier are you open up to Mark Mark

13 we're gonna look first of all at the sleeping porter admonishment and this

is found in Mark 13 verses 33 to 37 and just look with me as I read the Lord's

words Mark 13 33 take ye heed he says watch and pray for you know not when the

time is for the son of man is as a man taking a far journey who left his house

and gave authority to his servants and to every man his work and commanded the

porter to watch watch ye therefore notice how many times he says watch watch

ye therefore for you know not when the master of the house comeeth at even or at

midnight or at the cock crowing or in the morning less coming suddenly he find

you sleeping and what I say unto you I say unto all watch so what he's saying

specifically to Israel in tribulation say he's saying to all really you and I

too what are we to be doing watching and waiting and being prepared and praying

well the first thing I want to point out in this particular admonishment which

is called the sleeping porter parable or the sleeping porter admonishment

warning is that for the third time in the Olivet discourse the Lord used the

words which are actually a command take heed third time he says take heed to

those who will be living during the tribulation Jesus said first of all this

was back in verse five if you want I have to turn a page to look at verse five in

my Bible mark 13 5 he said take heed less any man deceive you then in verse nine

he said to those Jews and tribulation believers who would be persecuted

unprecedented persecution by the unholy trinity of the Antichrist you know in

the false prophet and Satan he says take heed to yourselves why because they'll

be persecuted so badly they'll just need to take heed hide and try to survive

take heed to yourselves and now in verse 33 he gives a third command warning to

believers of the yet future tribulation period he says take heed watch and pray

for you know not what the time is remember if you just look at the verse

preceding that one verse 32 the Lord had just said that no man nor holy angel

and not even he himself not even the son of man at least at that time all he

was still in his humanity in his incarnation no one knew except the father the

day or the hour of his return and of course there he's speaking of the second

coming so in these three scattered take heed warnings we find that the main

emphasis of the Olivet discourse is as I said earlier in the introduction to be

on guard take heed be on guard the generation that will experience the signs and

the events of the tribulation days which we've talked about for many weeks

will need to be on their guard against false teachers false teachers that's why

he said take heed that no man deceive you because false teachers and false

false Christ will be prolific they will be everywhere they also need to take

heed against fierce tormentors take heed to yourselves because you'll be

persecuted so false teachers fierce tormentors and also they'll need need

to take heed regarding the father's timetable knows I had all F's and T's false

teachers fierce tormentors and father's timetable because no man knows the

day or the hour so take heed to the father's timetable and watch and pray for

you know not when the time is so that be alert message is also presented as

we saw in the blood thief and evil servant

admonishments it's also found here now in the sleeping porter admonishment in

verse 34 what does the Lord compare himself to of course he's the son of man he

compares himself to a householder who went off on a fire journey didn't we

haven't we found that a lot of his parables talk about a king or a householder

or a master going off somewhere on a fire journey because he knew he was about to

do that he was about to go off on a fire journey and as he left he gave

administration of his household affairs into the hands and the authority of his

servants very simple parable and he gave each one of his servants a task to

perform in his absence and he assigned the the porter or the doorkeeper we could

say he assigned the doorkeeper to keep watch over the gate to his house you

know they'd have an outer courtyard and he was to beat the watchman over the gate

to the home the owner of course rightly expected that the responsibilities he

had committed to each of his servants was to be faithfully performed in his

absence while he was gone even though they would no longer be under his direct

eye to eye observation and supervision so if a servant's job was to guard the

gate then he was to perform that duty faithfully until when until his

master came back until his master's return that was his duty he shouldn't neglect

his duty because the owner might return it any time he didn't know when the

owner was coming back his owner could return at any time of day or night and if

the doorkeeper should happen to think to himself that his master might not

return at any one moment what might he do get a little bit lax in his duty wander

off a little bit go shopping to Walmart you know or take a little nap and that

might well be precisely when the homeowner could come home and find his

servant gone or sleeping it says here doesn't it didn't it say sleeping or am I

yeah verse 36 less coming suddenly he find you sleeping now I don't really need to

spend a whole lot of time on this particular parable because again the message is so simple

the warning is extremely simple Jesus was saying to those who will be living in the last days

of the tribulation to be continuously watching and praying because he will come

and they will need to be ready for him and they'll even have it better than we do because we

don't know at any one second do we the rapture is imminent could happen right now

but they'll be able to at least calculate they might not know the day or the hour but don't

you think they'll get within a week or so since they know it's going to be 1260 days from the

time of the abomination of desolation so so you know if the warning to them is to watch and pray

even more so is it amplified for you and I and and he says you don't want it the warning is

be be unguarded because you don't want to be caught sleeping and what is sleeping speak of

symbolically you don't want to be caught in a state of spiritual neglect sleeping talks about

spiritual neglect I'm having a hard time talking because I have two call sores on the inside of my

lip so in case you notice my lips doing funny things that's why and I'm very painful

well let's also look very quickly at the next be ready in monishment for this I need you to turn

over to Luke let's look at Luke Luke 21 look at verses 34 to 36 and this is called the daily

care admonishment 34 to 36 he's not real exciting passages of scripture but and again the messages

the same so I'm not going to spend a lot of time on this but let's look at what he has to say

verse 34 to 36 and take heed to yourselves there he says that again last at any time your hearts

be overcharged with surfacing and drunkenness and cares of this life and so that that day the

day of his return come upon you unawares for as a snare shall it come on all them that dwell on

the face of the whole earth as talking about earth dwellers those are unsaved people his coming

will be as a snare to them watch ye therefore and pray always that ye may be accounted worthy to

escape all these things that shall come to pass and to stand before the son of man here the Lord

in his continual grace and mercy throughout which we've seen throughout this great prophetic

discourse has been doing the Lord has been doing everything he can to warn the generation

alive during the seven year tribulation to turn to him in saving faith before it's too late

he presented all kinds of signs so that they could know you know that disciples had just said

what shall be the sign of I coming and he he went overboard didn't he gave them all kinds of

signs not only you know wars and rumors of wars and pestilences and famines and what else earthquakes

haven't we seen an increase in earthquakes it seems like all of a sudden earthquakes and then he

gave them the sign of the abomination of desolation and then the signs that would proceed his coming

when the sun would grow dark and the moon would turn like blood and then there will be the sign

of the son of man he gave them more than just one sign so he's giving ample warning here

to that generation to turn to him before it's too late he gave them all these signs so that when

they witnessed them or when they read about them or see them on TV they will know who he is because

he had you know they'll know hopefully that he is omniscient God because he predicted all those

things thousands of years ahead of time he foretold the future so people watching the news during

the tribulation and reading the Olivet discourse or reading the book of Revelation and say wow he

really knew what he was talking about he knew that he knew the end from the beginning he must be who

he claimed to be he must be omniscient God and and so therefore they you know he's hoping they'll

get saved he also gave them warning after warning to be ready for his return so that they would not be

like the people of Sodom and Gomorrah who were caught unprepared when judgment came and so they

won't be like the people of Noah's day had already mentioned this who were so consumed with the

daily cares of life that they paid no attention to Noah no attention to the animals marching into

the ark two by two no attention to when Methuselah died and all the preaching of Enoch and Noah and of

course it was too late for them when the door to the ark shut the judgment overtook them his

words of warning which of course are spoken primarily for believers during the dark days of the

yet future tribulation obviously also have application for you and I today it is all too easy and

I stand before you guilty of this today is all too easy for even Christians to get way down by the

cares and concerns of this world you know when you're cleaning out your house to make it like an

accordion so you can fit your family stuff back in you know thought we got rid of all that stuff

we gave them the sofas we gave them all this stuff and I our house has finally got some breathing

room and guess what it all came back in and I spent two weeks cleaning out closets so there

would be room for them but you know it is hard as a mother I can really I'm empathizing with

you young girls again all over again it's all coming back to me how difficult it is you know

to have time for the Lord when you're so overwhelmed with with little ones and dogs and just

cooking and etc but it's easy it is easy to get way down by the cares because there's a life

there are far too many distractions that can so swiftly cause us to get our eyes and our minds

and our hearts off of eternal things it's far too common to fall into the trap of indulging the

appetites of our bodies not and I'm not talking to mothers now but I'm just talking to the

world in general and even Christians and to allow the gratification of our senses to take top

priority so many people and I'd say the vast majority of people find it much simpler much easier

to succumb to the stress and anxieties of this life and avoid reality with escape tools escape

mechanisms such as alcohol pills drugs the relentless pursuit of pleasure endless television

or anything else that helps to numb the mind from facing life and the reality of sin and death

a lot of people are out there just doing everything they can to distract their minds

from thinking I had a brother-in-law like this he just stayed constantly busy with entertainment

and the pursuit of pleasures just so he would never have time it even when he went to bed at night

he had the TV on all night long because he didn't want to stop and think about death and reality

and life and sin and the eternity but people will do that they'll numb their brains or they'll

just keep so busy that they don't have time to think because they don't want to get depressed

it is it is far more difficult and the more I've been a Christian which is coming up on

close to 40 years I can't believe it but I have I have decided it is immensely more difficult

to live to live disciplined discipline those calls for disciplined lives for Jesus Christ

would you agree I mean you think it would get easier as you grow in your spiritual maturity but

it's tough it's constantly a battle to live a disciplined life for the Lord Jesus Christ

because there's just so much out there to distract us and a lot of it is good things you know

family is not like it's a big negative but it will it can be used as a snare to get our focus off

what is really important it is not easy at all to give diligent attention to our duties as his

servants and to be continually taking heed that our hearts are not overcharged with the concerns

and with the cares of this life and over emphasis with the daily concerns of life can eventually

make us dull and lifeless in our Christian service and that's the trap I've been falling into because

I feel like I'm neglecting some of my duties here at this church you know just so distracted but

I guess the Lord is understanding especially don't you think with mothers and grandmothers all of you

say yes thank you and um even seemingly benign things as I said they can become a snare

we need to take heed to ourselves that's the bottom line we need need to take heed to ourselves

that we don't fall into the numerous traps of the world and of our flesh you know traps that slowly

inch by inch coax us away from the attention that we should be spending on our relationship with

the Lord Jesus Christ because he always should get the preeminent shouldn't he deserves it he comes

before anyone he you know before husbands before children before grandchildren he should be our

number one concern and priority because we're no good to anybody else unless we're keeping our

relationship right with him and and we need to take heed to our spiritual growth and our readiness

to meet him because he could come at any one time and we don't want to be caught ashamed

as a period do we I don't if the people living in the tribulation period are warned to be continually

ready and you know pret watching and praying then how much more as I said before should you and I

be in living in a continually ready state for his return in the rapture remember we don't sit

around waiting for labor pain signs do we I mean it's interesting to see the the foreshadows of

those signs and to to hear about earthquakes all the time and um but we're not looking for labor

pain signs we're not looking for anti-Christ signing peace document signs we're not looking for

abomination of desolation signs we don't look for signs the church isn't all about signs the

church doesn't ask for signs what does the church where we we're not looking for a sign we're

listening for a a sound right the late Vance Havner said that he said I'm not I'm not looking for

a sign I'm listening for a sound that shout of the you know the archangel and the blast of the

trumpet with half of the world's population having died during the inconceivable destruction and

persecution of the tribulation days half of the world's population will die during the tribulation

and right now it's getting close to seven billion people that be three and a half billion people

well I guess you you know you remove how many Christians there are whatever that figure will be

I have no no idea do you I hope it's millions and millions I would hope it's even a billion but

I have no idea only that the Lord knows the number but it'll be a lot of people will die

so with that many people dying all around them those who are yet alive will be doing one of two

things either they will be coming to Christ in faith or they will be turning themselves

totally over to their depraved nature as they'll be turning themselves totally over to sin and

to corruption in such a time of unprecedented trouble and turmoil it is not going to be easy

for young believers to keep themselves focused on Christ's return with everything going on in

the world you know they'll be talk about distractions today can you imagine the distractions they'll

be encountering with everything going on at once wars and famines and you know starving to death

not knowing where you're going to get your next meal and especially if they're believers not being

able to buy yourself they'll be so preoccupied you'd think which is the next day's daily bread

that it will be hard to concentrate on Christ's return and their godly walk with him don't forget

that every single tribulation Christian will be less than seven years old in their spiritual lives

so we could say that the majority of them will be spiritual babes now i know you can grow a lot

you know if you're in the word constantly but that was to be so busy trying to hide and run out and

get some food and just to stay alive but i don't know how much time they'll be able to spend in the

word i hope they'll you know have have one of my bibles and one of your bibles and they'll be

studying like crazy and you can grow in a hurry i know my husband and i did well we are starving

to death when we got saved in our thirties we couldn't get enough and you can grow in a hurry

but i'd say the majority of them will be spiritual babes making it difficult for them not to be

distracted by the harsh daily concerns of their lives they'll be struggling as i said just to

survive the persecution of the anti-Christ and his wicked forces if so if anyone will need to be

in a state of continual prayer it will be the tribulation saints they will need to be living

on guard like men living in an enemy camp because they will be like people living in an enemy camp

a worldwide enemy camp keeping continual watch over their hearts and keeping constant alert

against the ensnaring world around them their own weak flesh and a clever very very busy angry

devil the saints of the tribulation will need to continually be praying for grace to lay aside

every sin that does so or every weight and sin that does so easily be set them and for the ability

they'll need to pray for the ability to keep focused on Christ who is the author and finisher

of their faith and isn't that what you and i should be praying for too same thing that we can

lay aside every weight and the sin that does so easily be set us and be keep ourselves focused on

Jesus they will need to pray for his strength every minute of every day just to endure their crosses

and to keep their hearts fixed on the joy set before them when he does return and they'll be

assured if they're alive ushered into the millennial kingdom if they die for their faith that's

probably even better because they'll receive a martyr's crown a glorified body and they'll

also be able to live in the millennial state in their glorified bodies to keep their focus on

the joy set before them and isn't that what again what you and i should be praying for and thinking

about keeping our focus you know we have to bear across now need to die to self need to even

understand about the fellowship of his sufferings because we are persecuted and it's gonna get

worse for our faith and there are little ways that were persecuted you know we're not accepted

by the world out there but we haven't seen anything yet with the Lord Terry's but and also we

need to to to constantly keep the joy that is set before us in mind and pray for that you know

we're just here temporarily and a far better life it lays before us we have to keep our focus

they'll need to pray that nothing will interfere with their readiness to meet him so that they

will not be ashamed at his appearing or as they stand before him at the beam of seat the judgment

seat to be rewarded for their works remember that continually keep that in your mind one day you're

gonna stand alone before Jesus you know you're not gonna be able to blame your husband or anyone

else in your life for why you didn't do service for the Lord is just gonna be you and him well

you know what you do for me is it all gonna be burned up as wood hay and stubble sometimes I

wonder if I'll have anything left you know I have to get after I get my flesh out of the way

that'll be burned up I don't know but one day it's gonna be you and him stand yeah you're not

gonna be judged for your salvation so I hope everybody in here is saved or you won't stand before

him at the beam of seat but one day we'll also be judged for our works and anyway all of this

watching and praying that they will need to be doing is true for you and I as we await his return

for us well let's turn back now to Matthew's gospel that's where we left off and believe it or not

we're finally gonna get into Matthew 25 the second chapter of the Olivet Discourse you know the

Olivet Discourse is primarily found in Matthew 24 and 25 and all these time we've only been in

Matthew 24 so finally we turn to the 25th chapter now following along with the chronology of events

in the first half of the tribulation remember that we saw that in verse 8 all these are the

beginning of sorrows Jesus first of all talked about the first half of the tribulation the beginning

of sorrows and then he started to talk about the second half of the tribulation which is called

the great tribulation and then he kind of backed up in verse 15 and talked about the main event that

will occur in the middle of the tribulation which will be the abomination of desolation and then

when it was finished we're talking about the beginning of sorrows and the great tribulation he talked

about his second coming at the end of the tribulation and the signs that will proceed his second coming

and then he talked about the regathering of Israel so everything has been chronological so

you know so far in the Olivet Discourse and then what what he did was he sort of had this big giant

parenthesis after he finished going through the whole tribulation he had a big

parenthetical section that consisted of prophetic warnings warnings admonishments and those

admonishments included the parable of the fig tree and the five admonishment parables that we

just finished discussing you know the the thief the flood the sleeping porter I can't remember all

that was a giant parenthesis and basically what he was saying in that giant parenthesis was what

everybody said together be ready I'm coming back at the end be ready be ready be ready be ready be ready

basically six times he said it including that parable of the fig tree and now in verse in chapter 25

he again picks up with his chronology as he concludes his discourse with three more parables

Matthew 25 consists of simply three parables as with the whole chapter is three parables

and once again it is important for you and I to remember that these parables are to be interpreted

like everything else in scripture in their context and what is their context the Olivet

discourse remember the Olivet discourse was not spoken to the church was it it was not for the

church it's not about the church it was spoken primarily to Israel during the final days

preceding the Lord's second coming secondarily the Lord spoke the Olivet discourse or tribulation

believers who will one day be reading this discourse and learning from it thirdly he spoke this

discourse really for anyone in the tribulation saved or not saved who would be willing to pick it

up and read it and listen to his words fourthly all scripture is given by inspiration of God in

his profitable for all of us right so it's profitable for you and I to be studying as well

because a lot of it even though it wasn't spoken primarily for us is applicable to us as we await

the Lord's return in the rapture but primarily he's speaking here to Israel the people of Israel

center of prophecy in the old the Olivet discourse the whole discourse is reals at the center

and this continues to be the case in Matthew 25 as well where Jesus is still now in the process of

answering his disciples question about the sign of his coming and the completion of the age of

anticipating the Messiah and then the subsequent beginning of the earthly messianic kingdom now I

said all that to say this when we now begin our study of these last three parables of the Olivet

discourse which will be the parable of the ten virgins the parable of the talents and the parable

of the sheep and goats we need to remember we need to keep in mind that these parables are not

spoken to the church they're not about the church and therefore neither are they about the rapture

of the church now that made a difference when we looked at the parable of the fig tree didn't it

a lot of us have heard the parable of the fig tree taught or not the fig tree so much as the

about two men in the field and one is taken that's where a lot of us have heard it talked about the

you know preached as regarding the rapture but it wasn't it's about the second coming and that's

going to be true as well especially in the parable we're going to look at this morning the parable

of the ten virgins a lot of you have probably heard the parable of the ten virgins you know five

wise and five foolish taught with regard to the rapture I'm sure you have because I have but that's

not what it's about it's about the second coming now this is interesting too the first two parables the

parable of the ten virgins and the parable of the talents have to do with the Lord's judgment

I told you he's picking up on the chronology he's already talked about the beginning of the tribulation

the middle of the tribulation the end of the tribulation and his return right so what comes next

judgment so the parable of the ten virgins and the parable of the talents in Matthew 25 speak

about his judgment upon living Israel in other words he's going to judge all the Jews alive in

the world some Jews will be saved some won't be saved and so that's what and and the parable of

the ten virgins in that parable he emphasizes the need for inward salvation while the talents

parable we won't get to that until next week but he emphasizes in that parable the need for outward

service so if you just read the talents parable it almost sounds like works a works salvation but

you have to put the two together the virgin parable and the talent parable go together one talks about

inner salvation which is evidenced by outward service and then in the third parable which is the

parable of the sheep and goats he's going to talk about another judgment which will take place

after his return he'll already have judged all the Jews who will he judge next the Gentiles

and that's what the parable of the sheep and goats is all about the sheep are the saved Gentiles

who will go into the millennial kingdom the goats are the unsafe Gentiles who will be sent into the

lake of fire so that makes sense doesn't it and that's where he ends the olive discourse so he's

given us a chronology of the entire time from the the signing of that peace treaty which begins the

whole thing until he is finished judging everyone and the millennial kingdom begins so let's begin

now all we have time for the rest of this morning is to look at the parable of the ten virgins so if

you look with me I'm going to read Matthew 25 verses 1 to 13 he says then shall the kingdom of heaven

be likened unto ten virgins which took their lamps and went forth to meet the bridegroom and five of

them were wise and five were foolish they that were foolish took their lamps and took no oil with them

but the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps notice they're carrying two things there

they're carrying lamps and they're carrying vessels want to make sure you notice that

while the bridegroom carried they all slumbered and slept and at midnight there was a cry made

behold the bridegroom cometh go ye out to meet him and this is where you've all been taught I'm

sure somewhere along the way that this is about the rapture of the church it isn't verse 7 then all

those virgins arose and trimmed their lamps and the foolish said unto the wise give us of your oil

for our lamps are gone out but the wise answered saying not so lest there be not enough for us and you

but go ye rather to them that sell and buy for yourselves and while they went to buy the bridegroom

came and they that were ready that would be the wise virgins went in with him to the marriage

and the door was shut sounds like Noah's ark doesn't it afterward came also the other virgins saying

Lord Lord open to us but he answered and said barely I say into you I know you not and here's that

word again watch therefore or ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the son of man cometh

since the the Lord Jesus here was using the illustration of the Jewish or or Eastern Oriental wedding

customs back in his day in order to relay his message here his his spiritual lesson it is important

for you and I to to know those ancient customs because they're quite different from our

mayor you know engagement wedding customs today especially here in the United States and I know

we've talked about this before with some of you this is review but in in Jewish customs back in the

Lord's day the joining together of a man and a woman began with the initial engagement which was

generally arranged by the fathers of both the bride and the groom see engagement was was contracted

then the betrothal period began and it began with a small ceremony you know just with immediate

family there in the home after the contract was made between the two fathers there would be a little

ceremony in which both the bride and the groom exchanged their wedding vows and they were officially

considered married this was just their engagement their betrothal but they didn't they didn't

live together they were considered officially married they didn't live together and their marriage

was not consummated in physical union and but still they were legally considered married and their

marriage could only be broken by a divorce a document of divorcement or death and in the case of

death if one of the the two died the other one was considered a widow or a widower in the betrothal

period generally lasted a long time it lasted usually about 12 months which may or may not be considered

a long time I don't know nowadays I guess they're a little bit shorter than that and during the time

of separation the bridegroom was busy doing what building a dwelling place remember the Lord and

John 14 said you know I go to prepare a place for you and my father's house and many mansion what

they usually would do is the the the the bridegroom would go back to his father's house and build on

to to his father's house a place for he and his wife as well in my in my father's house there's

many mansions you know just keep adding on to the father's house that's what we're doing with

our family right now we're adding on and you know they say that's the trend did you read did you

hear about that on the news because of the economy a lot of families are living together which

makes sense you know you share the gas bill the electric bill the water bill and everything and

so family they're like making houses with two kitchens and two separate wine no one getting

off them but I think that's kind of cozy it would be it would be easier if there were two kitchens

a little bit better anyway that seems to be the modern trend so while they were betrothed they

were separated and the bridegroom was busy preparing a place for he and his bride while she continued

to live with her parents waiting anxiously for the return of her betrothed to her and she didn't

know when he would return you know it generally it was about 12 months which he didn't know the day

or the hour did she and when the bridegroom had completed the home for his bride and his father gave

his approval that it was time to depart for his bride the groom gathered together his friends

you know his groomsman and came in surprise to her home to take her with him you know that's

she always had to be ready didn't she she couldn't have a mud mask on her

her Clara cell or whatever she had to always be ready because she didn't know when he would come

and right before they would get to her house guess what they would do shout there'd be a shot this

is all a picture of the rapture the rapture of the church he would shout he and his groomsman as

they approach the bride's home and this second phase you know the first phase was the was the

engagement with the fathers and they'd say their little wedding vows and this is the second phase

when the bridegroom would go to the bride's home and surprise or that's the second phase and that

is definitely a picture in type of the rapture of the church now the third phase of the traditional

eastern wedding was the marriage feast guests had been invited to the wedding much earlier actually

the all the guests were invited to attend the the wedding celebration and remember they've already

had the wedding ceremony after the two the two fathers made the agreement the the two people said

their vows so they had that ceremony at the beginning of their engagement period but now what

they're waiting for is of course the consummation of the wedding and then the feast that takes place

afterwards but the guests the guests had all been invited like a year earlier at the at the time

of the betrothal so they had a whole year to prepare and to plan and to go out and get the wedding

guests and so but then they were sent a second invitation right as the wedding feast was ready

you know to tell all the previously previously invited guests that the marriage banquet was now

ready come on you know it's come time to come and enjoy all the delicacies that the bridegroom's

father and mother had prepared for them and remember we took a look at this two-step process of

the invitation when we discussed the wedding banquet that the king had for his son back in lesson

number 125 if you weren't here you can go back and read that but we discussed all about that the

presentation of the bride to the groom was made as soon as the couple not see he he comes to her

house with his groom's men and other people who gather together to surprise her they come to her

house with you know a shout she she gets herself ready in a hurry she comes out and then they all

there's this big processional they go to the father's house and they enter into the father's house

and at the time at the time they do this the bride is then presented to the groom by the friend of

the bridegroom now remember who was the friend of the bridegroom in the lords who was he

John the Baptist what the friend of the bridegroom would take the bride's hand and he would

place it into the hand of the groom and see basically that's what John the Baptist did he

introduced the church to her bridegroom the lord Jesus Christ when he said behold the lamb of god

which comes to take away the sin of the world he he's the one who introduced Jesus to us to the

church and then the couple would go into a private chamber which is called the hupa

which I may be pronouncing wrong but that's the way I pronounce it is H-u-p-p-a-h how would you

pronounce that hupa they go into the hupa and that that's where they would be left alone can you

imagine while everybody's outside they're left alone in the hupa to consummate their marriage

and the groom would only emerge to announce to everyone that the marriage had indeed been consummated

or about embarrassing and then he would remain with his bride in the hupa the bridal chamber for a

period of seven days that's a lot of hupa surely you like that the reason I mentioned that

because if this is a picture as it would seem to be of the church hidden with Christ in heaven

heaven is the hupa for a period of seven years before she returns with the bride groom to earth

for the great marriage supper of the lamb then it is one more support strong support for a tree

privulation rapture do you get me I mean before before he would come out with his bride

to enjoy the marriage supper of the the marriage supper with all the invited guests they would

do the two of them would remain hidden for seven days okay so if this is a picture of the rapture

which Jesus tells us basically in John 14 1 to 3 that it is then that means that the church would

have to be raptured at the beginning of the tribulation in order to remain hidden you know with with

her bride groom in heaven for seven years before then the two of them come back and present themselves

to all the invited guests and go into the millennial kingdom where they enjoy the marriage supper

are you following me is everybody following okay so that's another I've given you quite a few

supports for a pre tribulation rapture but that's just one more it really fits the picture

while the bridal couple remained in the bridal chamber the guests the guests all eagerly anticipated

the returned appearance of the bride groom with his bride coming out from their private chamber to

join the guests in celebration and this is the symbolically pictured phase of the wedding ceremony

or the wedding feast I should say that will occur at the Lord's second coming and I believe you

know the wedding ceremony or the feast would last depending on how wealthy the father of the bride

groom was you know the wealthy her he was the longer the marriage supper would continue and the

father of the bride groom in this case is God so I think the marriage supper of the lamb will

continue throughout the whole thousand years of the millennial kingdom because you know he owns

the cattle on a thousand hills the marriage supper of the lamb will be here I believe it won't be

in heaven I believe it will be here on this earth and will be settled will be the bride you and I

will be will be the bride well back to the ten virgins parable the ten virgins in this parable

symbolize living Israel living Israel all that the Jews who are still alive at the end of the

tribulation who eagerly await the arrival of the bride groom her Messiah and this group would

include the 144,000 divinely sealed Jews who are coincidentally also referred to as virgins

in Revelation 144 you know the 144,000 Jewish evangelists there said to be virgins you can debate

on whether they're physically virgins or it just means that they kept themselves defiled

undefiled from from the world and the antichrist and all that you can debate all that but maybe they're

both but they're also called virgins they'd be part of the wise virgins here in this parable

in contrary to what we have all probably been taught the ten virgins of this parable do not

represent the church they don't represent the church because the church is the bride who returns

with the bridegroom the church isn't waiting for the bridegroom at this point she is with the bride

groom in the hoopa the virgins represent Israel awaiting the arrival of both the bridegroom and his

bride you notice if you read this parable again you'll notice that there is absolutely no mention

whatsoever of the bride in this parable she's she's not mentioned she's not even seen with the ten

virgins because she has already been taken by the bridegroom you know when he came to her house and

got her which symbolizes the rapture that little shountain and he took her to the father's house

the hoopa so the parable like everything else that we've been discussing in the out of a discourse

is not about the church thus the ten virgins are not symbolic of those of in the church age

who are anxiously awaiting the rapture the ten virgins symbolize the bride's attendance

who are awaiting the return of the bridegroom with his bride out of the hoopa you see the attendance her

attendance didn't go with her into the hoopa they're waiting for her to come out with her bride groom

and to then celebrate with them the wedding supper in the millennial kingdom they symbolize say

this over and over again so you get it and then it's in your notes and you can reread it but they

symbolize living Israel which has indeed been extended an invitation to this kingdom

celebration hasn't she I mean the whole Old Testament is an invitation to Israel to the kingdom

so then the bridegroom represents who who is a bridegroom right Jesus Jesus Christ is a bridegroom

the unmentioned bride of this parable represents the church the ten virgins represent

living Israel at the time of the Lord's return and there's yet another main character

symbolized in this story and he is the Holy Spirit and he is represented by the oil

five of the waiting virgins were wise and five were what foolish five were wise five were

foods the difference between the two groups is that the five foolish virgins carried lamps

but they had no oil in their vessels they had a lamp in one hand and a vessel that was supposed

to have oil in it in the other hand they had lamps that had wicks in them and they had vessels

but what was not in their vessel oil no oil in their vessels whereas the five wise virgins had

lamps with wicks vessels with oil they had both it says at the end of verse four in their vessels

with their lamps they had oil in their vessels with their lamps there was a fatally

serious neglect on the part of the foolish virgins considering concerning the oil outwardly

outwardly as is initially true concerning wheat and tears you know we have both wheat and tears

in every church and you outwardly look at them and they're all smiling and they're all in

their suits with their neck ties and they all look alike well not nowadays I can't even say that

nowadays but they you can't tell them apart outwardly the wheat and the tears and same thing

is true with the ten virgins outwardly all ten virgins looked alike they were all virgins number

one they all carried lamps they all awaited the bridegroom and they all even eagerly went out to

meet him outwardly speaking there was nothing to tell them apart there was only one difference

between the two groups and that difference centered on what oil oil in the vessel the oil

is all significant is what made the difference between being wise and foolish now the lamps the lamps

nope sorry wrong hand that's the vessel lamps the lamps carried by the virgins represent the

word of God represent the word of God God's word is a lamp unto our feet and a light unto our

paths we live in a world of dark sin and the only guide in this darkness is the holy scripture

it's our lamp only sure hope and genuine comfort for anyone in the evil darkness of this world

is the light from God's world word which points the way through and out of the prevailing night

and don't you find it to be true if you've had a calamity in your life or if you've had a trial

or a tribulation and if you haven't there's one up the road I promise you this you know it doesn't

matter sometimes what people say and how they put their arm around you and cry with you et cetera

it's a nothing really gives you comfort apart from this word and it's amazing how the comfort will

come from just reading the pages of scripture and I have found it to be true over and over and over

again so if you're going to comfort somebody use a verse of scripture that's where the comfort comes

so the lamp represents the word of God during the spiritual darkness

and the various times of even physical darkness of the great tribulation days that's the last

three and a half years there is going to be deep deep need for the light of God's word and notice

each of the ten virgins had a lamp they all had God's word they had a copy of scripture that's

why you know we need to leave them behind for them and they all understood that it was necessary

to use that lamp for guidance through the darkness to the returning bridegroom however in order to

give light a lamp in those days had to have what and had to have oil pastor John Butler writes this

in his commentaries is quote there is a great contrast in the diligence of the two groups one group

took adequate oil with them in their vessel but the other group did not the lamps which these

virgins took with them to meet the bridegrooms party were lamps that only a small that had only

a small oil reserve in them and thus needed to be replenished periodically with oil therefore it

was necessary to carry with them some extra oil in a vessel so that when their lamp ran out of oil

it could be replenished you know and keep going today it would be like carrying extra batteries

for a flashlight so when the batteries wore out they could be replaced and the light of the

flashlight could continue to shine that puts it in perspective nowadays doesn't it end of quote oil

I'm sure you know is one of eight symbols for the Holy Spirit in scripture we know from scripture

that oil is definitely a symbol for the for the Holy Spirit like a dove is a symbol so is oil

only five of the virgins at oil in their vessels you know pretend like I'm holding a little clay pot

and in it I have oil only five had oil in their vessels which they could then use to fill their lamps

the vessels and we've talked about the fact that the lamp symbolizes what the word of God the

vessel symbolizes their own lives their own lives we are remember how David cried out in Psalm 31

12 I am like a broken vessel Peter refers to wives as the weaker vessel that speaking of our

physical strength Paul writing with regard to God's work in believers lives says this we have this

treasure in earthen vessels so while all of the virgins had the word of God only five of them had

oil in their vessels in other words only five of ten had genuine saving faith in Christ although

similar to the others in outward appearance the five virgins without oil were not born again

by the Holy Spirit true redemption true salvation is more than just a mere confession of faith

you know these virgins were looking for the return of their Messiah just like the other five

but salvation is more than just confession of faith it demands true renewal by way of the spirit the

Holy Spirit unfortunately for them it was not until the bridegroom's sudden appearance that they made

the tragic discovery that they were not ready for him they had not properly prepared for his return

because they had no oil in their vessels to fill their lamps as did the five wise virgins when the

five foolish virgins got up and trimmed their lamps if you had a kerosene lamp you know what

it's got a wick in it and you need to trim it they got up and they trimmed their lamps the wicks

their lamps quickly went out there might have been a little bit of oil on that wick but it didn't

last you just went out and when they went over to their vessels to fill their lamps with oil

you know they didn't have any okay the whole the bridegroom comets go ye out to meet him the cry

and the crisis occurred at what hour midnight right midnight that's what we're told here but

remember now this is a parable and this does not necessarily tell us the hour of Christ's second

coming because what had he already said no man know with the day or the hour so to say that the

Lord's second coming will be at 12 o'clock midnight wouldn't be consistent with what I mean

it couldn't be but we can't say dogmatically that this is going to be the case number one this

is a parable number two the midnight here is speaking of the darkest hour and we know that at

Lord's coming second coming it will indeed be the darkest hour this world has ever seen will be

at the end of the great tribulation when you know the seven vile judgments are being poured out and

the and the sun literally it will be the darkest hour because we're also told that the sun will

be dark and the moon will not give her light and as far as spiritual darkness is concerned remember

when the Lord asked this question in Luke 188 when the son of man cometh shall he find faith

on earth you know there will be a lot of people saved during the tribulation but most of them will

be martyred so he says you know when I come back will there be any there will be but you're

saying there won't be many there won't be much faith so at midnight meaning the darkest time

this earth is ever seen spiritually and physically a cry will go forth behold the bridegroom

cometh and all ten of the virgins we are told they were sleeping and slumbering but they woke up

in a hurry the second coming of the Lord Jesus Christ will not be a quiet and private event

there will be nothing boring about it nothing dull at all no one will keep on sleeping that was

sleeping it will be startling it will be surprising and it will be shocking which is the

whole point of this parable christ is warning his future listeners to not let his appearance be

unnegatively surprising and shocking event for them you know find out too late that they weren't

ready the five foolish virgins while waiting for the appearance of the bridegroom would have made

many claims to be excited about the coming event but their actions spoke louder than their words

you know it's easy to say it's easy to talk the talk isn't it but what speaks louder

the walk of the talk they would say with the other five versions the virgins they would say oh yes

we can't wait you know we're counting off the days we can't wait till all this is over with

and he comes back but they weren't prepared their actions spoke louder than their words they might

have said they longed for his return but they did not bother enough to be properly prepared for it

and when the midnight cry pierced the quiet of the night the foolish virgins

frantically tried to get the wise virgins to share their oil with them but the wise virgins answered

and said look at verse nine not so less there be not enough for us and you but go ye rather to

them that sell and buy for yourselves now the refusal that sounds kind of selfish when you first

read it doesn't it but the refusal on the part of these wise virgins could not be a matter of

selfishness it couldn't be otherwise Jesus would not have referred to them as wise we know that

if the wise virgins gave the foolish virgins some of their oil it would mean that none of the

ten lamps that they carried would last sufficiently long enough to get them through the festivities

of the rest of the night it wouldn't get them you know to travel to wherever the brideroom was at

his father's house if they because the vessels didn't carry a whole lot of oil just enough to

pour in the lamp you know and fill it up but if they shared what they had with the foolish virgins

nobody would have enough oil to get to the father to the bridegroom do you understand me

they couldn't share it because then they don't they'd be foolish too their refusal was a matter of

their wisdom and plus it was a matter of their more pressing desire to meet the bridegroom

they knew the oil was essential for them to go out to meet the bridegroom and to see him and to

be accepted by him the wise would have been foolish themselves if they had taken oil out of their

vessels to share with the foolish virgins for then none of them would have had sufficient enough

oil to get them through the festivities of the rest of the night furthermore some things just

simply cannot be shared now I wish they could be in this case I wish I could share my faith

with someone else don't you I wish I could just say here have some have some holy spirit

but we can't a believer can share his testimony with others and we can share our lamp we can

should that's what we're doing today can share the word of God with others but we cannot share

the Holy Spirit in other words we cannot none of us can give the Holy Spirit to another person

to enlighten him no one can be saved on the strength of another person's faith and readiness to

meet Christ salvation is a very personal thing and God alone can and does impart it that's why

for someone to say well I'm a Christian because my mom and dad were Christians and I was raised

a Christian uh uh uh you're not a Christian because your parents were Christians it's an individual

thing you yourself need to be born again you yourself need to have a personal relationship with

the Lord Jesus Christ and ask them to come and save you and receive the Holy Spirit it's an

individual thing entirely even you can't say I would I grew up in the church so I'm a Christian

doesn't make you a Christian you have to be born again the wise virgins with their lit lamps I'm

almost done went out to meet the bridegroom and they went in with him to the marriage feast and then

what happened bam just like Noah's Ark bam the door was shut verse 10 the unprepared foolish

virgins had no choice but to wait until morning you know they didn't have oil in their lamp so they

couldn't go at midnight they couldn't see their way to the store of course I don't know who they'd

buy from because if they were if they were virgins that means they didn't take the mark of the

beast but then I have to remember I was thinking all this how could they go and buy you couldn't

have you couldn't buy without the mark of the beast but this is a parable so I can't stretch it too far

but they'd have to wait till morning and uh whether they bought we're able to buy any oil this the

parable doesn't tell us what it does tell us is that when they arrived at where the banquet feast

was at the father's house they were too late because the door had already been shut and they

cried outside the door just like all the people in Noah's day I'm sure were as the waters rose

and rose and they can't you just imagine them pounding on the door to the ark these virgins were

begging and crying for admittance Lord Lord open to us sounds like familiar words didn't we read

these words back in Matthew chapter 7 but the bridegroom's tragic response was what I know you not

no oil in your vessel I don't have a personal relationship with you I don't know you

and that's a very similar one to the words that of Christ will speak at the great white throne judgment

in Matthew 7 verses 21 to 23 when he says I never knew you what depart from me

and then back in Matthew 7 after he said those words he goes on interestingly and that's the

sermon on the mount he goes on to compare or describe those who hear and act upon his words

as wise men who build their houses upon a rock a solid rock he described those who do not hear

and act upon his words as being like a foolish man who doesn't build his house on a rock but builds

it on sand and when the rains descend and the floods come and the winds blow the house built

on the rock foundation will stand while the house built on sand will fall and great Jesus said

will be the fall of it the Greek word used not only of the foolish man who built his house upon sand

but the Greek word that is used for the five foolish virgins is not a very complimentary word

you all know it it's the word moron in other words stupid they were stupid that sounds

pretty bad pretty negative doesn't it Jesus is calling them stupid one who is really stupid

in this world a one who is really a moron is the one who does not prepare ahead of time

to face eternity and to meet his maker that is the stupid person in the world

the fool has said in his heart the moron has said in his heart there is no God they don't

know they just go on living and don't even think about the future and Jesus calls it like it is

well the wise man of Matthew 7 24 25 is like the wise virgins because he did prepare ahead of time

for the time of testing and ultimate judgment whereas the foolish man and the foolish virgins did

not plan ahead what made the difference well the wise man and the wise virgins had ears to

hear the words words words of warning and they acted upon those words we're not to be

here is only but doers need to act upon what we hear it is impossible to be wise if you are not

in the word of God wisdom doesn't come from this world wisdom comes from this book you cannot

be wise in God's eyes if you're not in the word of God you have to have your lamp

is only there that you can hear the Lord speak to you we cannot possibly act upon something

if we don't know what it is we are being told to act upon right

make sense the Jewish people of the tribulation will have plenty of opportunities to hear the gospel

message they will have the 144,000 Jewish evangelists they will have at least for the first

or in half years the two mighty witnesses will be broadcast you know their message really broadcast

to the whole world they will have all the saved tribulation saints they will have all our left

behind scriptures and biblical materials and they will have the worldwide preaching of the angel

of revelations 146 so there will be no excuse for those Jews who will be unprepared for Christ's

return his sudden appearance they're prepared those who are prepared with oil in their vessels will

be received joyfully into the kingdom and the unprepared will be excluded how long eternally

so question are you wise or are you foolish you have the lamp in one hand I know you do because

it's probably all in your laps right but do you have the oil in your vessel I hope so if not

make sure today that you have been born again by the Holy Spirit of God let's pray

Father may we each continually be watching and praying with all our full spiritual armor in place

remembering that we are indeed in the enemy's camp and he will do everything in his power to keep

us from being effective witnesses for you Lord and to keep us from the Word of God which illuminates

the path before us and also is our one and only weapon of warfare the sword of the word

Father may each and every one of us hear your words of warning and may we then rightly act upon

them to ensure that we are indeed properly prepared with the oil with the Holy Spirit in our vessels

in our lives our hearts so that not one of us here will ever ever have to experience hearing

those most horrible words from Christ's lips depart from me I never knew you Lord I pray that

that will not ever ever be the case with anyone who is here this morning if there's any doubt I

pray she will seek her leader or me or Terry and take care of that matter this very day Lord we

love you and we thank you and praise your name for this beautiful spring day that you have

given to us may each of us enjoy it and may we be salt and light for you until we come back again

next week we pray in your name Jesus