[0:00] Reading this evening is from Matthew's Gospel, Gospel chapter 24. It's a long chapter, and we're going into chapter 25 as well, but I'll be selective in what we read.
[0:20] I'm going to be thinking tonight about the coming again of Jesus at the end of time. And Jesus here, in response to a question, he gives us some hints as to how that will happen and when it will happen, what has to happen before it happens.
[0:43] And if you just look a couple of chapters ahead of this, it's quite clear that it's coming near the end of Jesus' earthly ministry. And he has Gethsemane and he has the cross ahead of him.
[0:58] He's making his way to Jerusalem. The dark clouds are beginning to form. The religious leaders are beginning to execute their desire to execute Jesus.
[1:15] And it's all falling into place. And this question he uses as an opportunity, not just to inform the disciples, but also as to what to expect and what to look forward to.
[1:33] So we'll read from the beginning of chapter 24. Jesus left the temple and was walking away when his disciples came up to him to call his attention to its buildings.
[1:45] Do you see all these? He asked. I tell you the truth. Not one stone here will be left on another. Every one will be thrown down. As Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately.
[2:03] Tell us, they said, when will this happen? And what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age? Jesus answered. Watch out that no one deceives you.
[2:15] For many will come in my name claiming I am the Christ. And will deceive many. You will hear of wars and rumours of wars.
[2:29] You see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. Nation will race against nation and kingdom against kingdom.
[2:41] There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginnings of the birth pains. And then in verse 23.
[2:53] At that time, if anyone says to you, look, here is the Christ. Or there he is. Do not believe it. For false Christs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and miracles to deceive even the elect.
[3:09] If that were possible. See, I have told you ahead of time. So if anyone tells you, there he is, out in the desert.
[3:20] Do not go out. Or here he is in the inner rooms. Do not believe. For as lightning that comes from the east is visible even in the west. So will be the coming of the son of man.
[3:33] Wherever there is a carcass, there the vultures will gather. Immediately after the distress of these days, the sun will be darkened and the moon will not give its light. The stars will fall from heaven and the heavenly bodies will be shaken.
[3:48] After that time, the sign of the son of man will appear in the sky. And all the nations of the earth will mourn. They will see the son of man coming on the clouds of the sky with power and great glory.
[3:59] And he will send his angels with a loud trumpet call. And they will gather his elect from the four winds. From one end of the heavens to the other. Now, learn this lesson from the fig tree.
[4:13] As soon as its twigs get tender and its leaves come out, you know the summer is near. Even so, when you see all these things, you will know that it is near, right at the door.
[4:25] I tell you the truth. This generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened. Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.
[4:37] No one knows about that day or hour. Not even the angels in heaven, nor the sun, but only the father. As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the son of man.
[4:51] For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage. Up to the day Noah entered the ark. And they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away.
[5:05] That is how it will be at the coming of the son of man. Two men will be in the field. One will be taken and the other left. Two women will be grinding with a hand mill.
[5:15] One will be taken and the other left. Therefore, keep watch because you do not know on what day your Lord will come. But understand this.
[5:27] If the owner of the house had known at that time of night the fief was coming, he would have kept watched and would not have let his house be broken into.
[5:38] So you also must be ready because the son of man will come at an hour when you do not expect. Who then is a faithful and wise servant whom the master has put in charge of the servants in his household to give them their food at the proper time?
[5:56] It will be good for the servant whose master finds him doing so when he returns. I tell you the truth. He will put him in charge of all his possessions. But suppose that servant is wicked and says to himself, My master is staying away a long time.
[6:13] And he then begins to beat his fellow servants and to eat and drink with drunkards. The master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him. And at an hour he is not aware of.
[6:25] He will cut him into pieces and assign him a place with the hypocrites where they will be whipping and gnashing of teeth. And then finally the parable of the ten virgins.
[6:37] 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 wise. The foolish ones took their lamps but did not take any oil with them.
[6:51] 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 a bridegroom, come out to meet him.
[7:06] 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 and you.
[7:19] 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.
[7:38] 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 hour or the day.
[7:54] Amen and may the Lord bless to us This reading from his own holy and inspired word. Before we turn to look at this passage, Let's again sing together the praise, Though the nations rage.
[8:09] Kingdoms rise and fall, There is still one king, Reading over all, So I will not fear, For this good remains, That my God is the ancient of faith.
[8:50] None above him, None above him, None before him, All of time in his hands, For his throne it shall remain, And ever stand.
[9:05] All the power, All the glory, I will trust in his name, For my God is The ancient of days.
[9:17] Though the dread of night Overwhelms my soul, He is here with me, I am not alone, For his love is sure, And he knows my name, For my God is The ancient of days.
[9:44] Though I may, None above him, None before him, All of time in his hands, For his throne it shall remain, And ever stand.
[9:59] All the power, All the glory, I will trust in his name, For my God is The ancient of days.
[10:10] Though I may not see What the future brings, I will watch and wait For the Savior came, When my joy complete, Standing face to face, In the presence of the ancient of days.
[10:37] None above him, None before him, All of time in his hands, For his throne it shall remain, And ever stand.
[10:51] All the power, All the glory, I will trust in his name, For my God is The ancient of days.
[11:03] For my God is The ancient of days. Let's pray before we turn to God's word.
[11:22] Lord of God, we thank you for your word, And we confess that at times it perplexes us, And we find it difficult to understand. And Lord, we realise there are so many things, That we do not know.
[11:37] And Lord, there are so many things, That you have not yet revealed. But Father, we want to focus on, What you have revealed to us. And what you have to say to us this evening, From your word, Concerning, What you are going to do at the end.
[11:53] So Lord, We pray that, You would give us listening ears, And hearts, To be responsive. Lord, to your name, To your name and to your word.
[12:04] In Jesus' name. Amen. Begin by saying that, What we're looking at tonight, Is a very difficult passage, Difficult subject.
[12:22] And, We, We know some, Of the truths. God has revealed some things to us. God hasn't revealed, Everything to us.
[12:34] And, Jesus, Quite often spoke about, His return. Some people call it, The second coming. But, It isn't actually the second coming, Because, Jesus has never left. Jesus is still here.
[12:46] When Jesus came the first time, He came onto earth. And when he, Decided to move to heaven, After his resurrection, He sent the Holy Spirit, To reveal himself, To us.
[12:58] And in a sense, Jesus is, Still here. He's here tonight with us. He's promised to be, With this church, And move amongst this church, And touch lives, And touch people, And reveal himself to people.
[13:10] So, He's going to come again, Though, To this world. And, That's what this passage, That's what Jesus is, Trying to teach to his disciples, Through his word, In this passage.
[13:24] And, I really, Don't want to stray, Beyond what the Bible says, Obviously. I've had, Quite a number of sermons, Certainly in the past, On this subject. And, There were all sorts of, Weird and wonderful, Kind of, Things added to it, That are not in scripture.
[13:42] So, We look at the passage, And look at what scripture is saying. And that's as far as, It takes us. But, Suffice to say, That there is enough here, In this passage, To, Give us, A clearer, Understanding, Of the end, And, Of what is to happen.
[14:03] Suppose you know, What it's like to, Engage in a project. You were involved in one, Fairly recently here, You, You bought this place. It wasn't like this, When you bought it.
[14:14] And you embarked on a project, To turn this building, Into a church. And it took, A bit of planning. It took a bit of effort. And it took a bit of time.
[14:25] And I'm quite sure, That at each stage, Of the journey, You were saying, Well that's great, That's another step. That's another step done. But of course, In your mind was, Well, It's going to be great, The day it opens.
[14:39] The day we can come in here, We can worship here. The day, That the work is complete. The project is complete. And then we can rest, And enjoy, The works, Of her handiwork.
[14:52] And in a sense, That is what, We're seeing here, With Jesus. That is, What we're looking at. We're looking at, At the end, At the completed product.
[15:04] At the end of, The great task, That was set, By God, For him. The Bible makes it clear, That salvation history, Isn't over.
[15:18] We're still living, Through salvation history. Jesus, Was born. We know that. That's happened. That's in the past. We know about, Jesus' work on the cross.
[15:30] He's saving work, On the cross. We celebrated that today. That's happened. We're reading scripture, About his glorious ascension, Up to heaven. That's happened.
[15:41] And we're reading scripture, About his exaltation, To the right hand of God. That has happened. But, His work, Will not be complete, Until the consummation, At the end of time.
[15:55] It will not be complete, Until Jesus comes, To claim his bride, The church. It will not be complete, Until Jesus judges, All that is evil, And all that is wrong.
[16:08] And it's only then, That he truly will, See of the travel, Of his soul, And be satisfied. So we're part of this, We're caught up in this.
[16:21] We're on this journey, Of salvation, That Jesus, Has orchestrated, And is bringing, To a conclusion. So Jesus is talking here, In the passage in Matthew, About that day, The day of the great, Consummation.
[16:39] The day when he will be, Eternally united, With his faithful followers, From all generations. He's united, With some of them now, But not all of them.
[16:50] We're not there. Generations to come, After us, Are not there. But one day, Jesus will be united, With his people, From all generations. And he will be, Reunited with them, Eternally.
[17:03] The day of the great, Wedding feast, Has yet to take place. And it will only take place, When the bride, Is complete. When those, Who have been elected, From every nation, Have been brought in, From all generations.
[17:17] And that's the day, That the great saints, In heaven, And the angels, Look forward to. That great day, Of the consummation. I hope you believe, That that day is coming.
[17:30] I hope you believe, That Jesus is going to come back. Well you should, Because you sing about it, Often enough, In this church. You hear it preached. When you read the Bible, You can't get away from it.
[17:43] It's a theme, That occurs again, And again. Jesus is coming back. History, Is not as someone, Once wrote, A tale, Told by an idiot, Full of sound, And fury.
[17:57] Signifying, Nothing. History, History is, His, Story. He made, The world. He got it, All going. He came, To dwell in it.
[18:08] And he will return, At the end of history, To wind it, All up. You see, History is moving, Towards that grand day. It's moving steadily, Towards that grand day.
[18:19] Irrespective of what we see, Around us happening. God is in control, God is on the throne. This world, Is not going to go on, Forever.
[18:31] We're not going to be blown, Sky high, By a nuclear holocaust. Yet, We know that the world, Is not going to continue, Forever. And Jesus will come again, This time, Not to suffer, But to reign.
[18:48] And his coming, Will settle the, Future destinies, Of all people. The Bible makes that, Clear, That there are, Two destinies. No more, No less.
[19:00] It makes clear, That there's a heaven, To be gained, And a hell to shun. It makes clear, That there's no middle road, There's no fence, To sit on. And that's the central part, Of this chapter.
[19:13] He's, Asking us to be ready. The number of times, That came up, Be ready. We don't know, Be ready. And of course, The passage raises, Lots of questions, But it also gives, Us answers to them.
[19:30] And I want us to look at, Some of these questions, Just now. And the first question is, Well, What is this day? Well, That's simple, It's the day, Of the Lord's coming.
[19:42] The day, Of the return of Jesus, At the end, Of the age. Because history, Is going somewhere, Every day, We live, Is a day nearer, The coming back of Jesus.
[19:56] As we celebrated, A communion this morning, We were commanded, To remember the Lord's death, Until he returns. It's one communion, Nearer to Jesus' return.
[20:07] The task, Is coming to its, Conclusion. You see, History, Isn't random, And it's not, Meaningless. But, Neither is it, Eternal.
[20:20] There will be, A real end to history, As there was, A beginning. Just as God said, Let there be, And he brought, Everything into being, God will also say, Let there be, No more.
[20:34] And then, At the end, We will only see Jesus. We will see, Jesus Christ. This passage, Says that it will be, A public event, In verse 27, Jesus says, As lightning comes from the east, Is visible even in the west, So will be the coming, Of the son of man.
[20:54] And what a contrast, Is going to be, From his, Coming into the world, As a babe, In Bethlehem. Coming in great, Obscurity.
[21:08] Message only told, To a few people, Shepherds, And, Wise men. People selected, And privileged, To hear, That he was on his way, That he had come.
[21:20] His first coming, Was almost kind of secretive. But not, His second coming, Not when he comes again. It will be, A public event. It will be an event, That no one, Has ever seen.
[21:33] It will also be, A coming, In a display of, Power, And glory. In verse, 30. At that time, The sign of the son of man, Will appear in the sky.
[21:45] And all the nations, Of the earth, Will mourn. You see, The world lies, In Satan's grip. And the world, Will mourn, When Jesus returns.
[21:58] They will see, The son of man, Coming, On the clouds of the sky, With power, And glory. Verse 30. Again, Contrast that, With his birth. He came as a servant, To serve.
[22:11] He came to accept, The constraints, Of humanity, When he became, One of us. He came, In poverty, He came, Ordinary, And average.
[22:23] People could pass him, In the street, And wouldn't know him, To be, The son of God. He was so ordinary, He was so average. Or they knew, Who he was, When he, Or, Some of them knew, Who he was, When he did, The great miracles.
[22:38] When he rose people, From the dead. But generally, In everyday life, He lived, In obscurity. He came, Ornery, Average.
[22:49] But all that, Will be different, When he comes, Again. We're told, He will come, In splendor, And might, And majesty. He will come, Displaying, All the, Parathenalia, Of his divinity.
[23:04] This time, His manifestation, Will leave, No one in doubt, As to who he is. And the whole, Universe. And every person, Who is alive then, Will recognise, Him to be, Jesus Christ, The son of God.
[23:21] And he, He kind of, Relates this to, The effects of lightning. And we have lightning, In harris, And we have lightning, In Scotland. And we know, What it's like, When there's really, Spectacular lightning.
[23:35] You can go, Under the duvet, If you want, But you're still, Going to see it. Just as lightning, Is seen, That's in the east, Is seen in the west.
[23:45] So it's going to be, On that day, When he comes. We can't get away from it. We can't hide from it. We will see it. We will see it. Many will rejoice.
[23:59] Those who have followed the Lord, In their lives. Those who have recognised him, Through his word. Those who have come to faith, And who have embraced him. Those who have been brought, From death to life.
[24:13] But many will hide, In his awesome presence. Those who have failed, To recognise him. Those who have failed, To bow their knee. We're told here, That they'll, Try and hide.
[24:27] We're told, That's where, That they'll ask, For the mountains, The hills, To fall down, On top of them. But as the lightning strikes, And is visible, There is no, Hiding place, Jesus says.
[24:43] I wonder if you've recognised, The Lord Jesus, In your life yet. When he comes, Are you going to rejoice? Or are you going to try to hide? Do you glory, In his presence with you, Every day now?
[25:01] Or do you want, To hide from him? Do you want to hide, From his awesome presence? Do you want, A fuller manifestation of him, In this life?
[25:15] Do you want to see his glory, Here and now? Well whether you do or not, The day will come, When he will reveal himself, In all his glory.
[25:26] No one, Will be missed out. Neither the living, Nor the dead. He will come, In power and glory. Who is it that comes?
[25:39] Well again, Verse 31 tells us, He will send his angels, With a loud trump call, And they will gather, His elect from the four winds, From one end of the heavens, To the other.
[25:51] Who is he? He is the Lord, He is the Lord, Of angels. He is the Lord, Of the elect. He will call, His angels, To go and do his bidding, And he will bring, His people, To himself.
[26:04] The elect, All those, Who have been, Responded to the gospel, Call. All those, Who have come to the cross, And found salvation, In the only one, Who is the way, The truth, And the life.
[26:18] The dead will be raised, By the voice, Of his love. God's elect, To our living, Will come, From all ages, From all generations.
[26:29] All those, Who have, Trusted in him, For salvation. On that day, God's children, Will come to Jesus.
[26:45] And what is the sign, Of the end? Well verse 30, It tells us, That the sign of the end, Will be, The son of man. No more, No less. It's to do, With the coming, Of a person.
[26:58] It's going to be Jesus, That is the sign. And we're told, That his coming, Will be terminal, And glorious. You see, History is coming, To an end.
[27:10] It'll be terminal, It's a bit like, If you go on a train, The train goes from, Glasgow central, Goes to Guirac, And it goes no further, Because otherwise, You go into the sea, It doesn't go any further, Than Guirac, That's the terminus, And when you go on that, On that journey, You know it's going to end, In Guirac, You're not going to go, Anywhere else.
[27:29] That's where the terminus is, And so the bible tells us, That this world, Is going somewhere, It's not going to, Continue forever, It's going to come, It's going to come to, It's terminus, And there, We will see Jesus, At that point, We will be coming, To the end, Of cosmic history, If you imagine, Kind of a line, His coming, Isn't going to be like, A point, On a line, Like his first coming, Or a point, In history, Like his, Death and resurrection, Time goes on, After that, But when it comes, Again, It's the end, There is nothing, After that, It is, The end, The absolute, End, No history book, Will record it, Because it will be, The end of history, We're here tonight, 22-7, In Tarbert Free Church, In Tarbert, We can't be,
[28:31] Anywhere else, And we can't go, Home and, We can tell people, We were here, And tomorrow, We can tell people, We were here, You might even, Be able to go, To YouTube, And watch the services, Of today, Watch them tomorrow, But when Jesus comes, There will be no tomorrow, There will be no, Next moment, It will not be recorded, In any history book, Because, It is the end, You see, History has to do, With time, That's why, We're here, We're here, Right now, But after the coming, Of the son of man, Time, Will give way, To eternity, That is what, The Bible, Teaches, And there will be, No second chance, For those, Who have not trusted, For those, Who have not believed, For those, Who have not, Followed, The Bible, Makes it clear, That there will be, No more, Acceptable way, Of salvation, Because, The day of grace,
[29:33] At that time, Will make way, For the day, Of judgment, That is the sign, It is, The end, Who knows, When this day, Will be, Well the simple answer is, From our passage, Only God, From what we can understand, From this passage, The father keeps that, In his own heart, Even Jesus, Doesn't know, Jesus says, In verse 36, No one knows, About that hour, Or that day, Not even the angels, In heaven, Nor the son, But only, The father, What's quite amazing though, Is that, Even although Jesus, Didn't know, When that day, Is going to be, There have been many people, In the world, Over the generations, Who claimed to know, You have the Jehovah witnesses,
[30:34] They claim, That he came, In a quiet, And an obtrusive way, In 1914, But of course, That doesn't fit in, With what Jesus, Is preaching here, About his coming, I think they've maybe, Kind of changed that now, The thought was, 1914, But when it didn't happen, After a few years, I think they kind of, Moved it to another time, Eh, But they say, He's going to come, Or he's come, And he's maybe living, Somewhere in the world, And he's a Jehovah witness, Of course, And, But no one knows, About him, And it's a very quiet affair, That doesn't fit in, With what Jesus, Is saying here, Everyone will see, His glory, It will be like, That lightning, And he says, Beware of anyone, Who claims, That Jesus has returned, Or that they know, When he's going to return, That person is a deceiver, That person is a liar, He says, When will Jesus come, Well,
[31:35] Jesus himself says, That he will return, At a time, When we think not, Verse 42, You do not know, Therefore, Verse 44, What is to be, Your attitude of mind, So you must, Be ready, Because we don't know, We must be ready, We must be ready, It could be tonight, It could be tomorrow, It could be a year's time, It could be ten years time, It could be after we die, It doesn't matter, We are to be ready, That is the instruction, God gives us, That Jesus gives us, And only those, Who are trusting, In the finished work, Of Jesus on the cross, Are ready, That's how we get ready, It's only about trusting in Jesus, Giving our lives over to Jesus, That is the only way, We can be ready, And if tonight, You haven't done that,
[32:36] You're not ready, And if you're not ready, Jesus says, Well, Watch out, And then you can say, Well, Maybe we've got plenty of time, Maybe I've got plenty of time, I can wait a wee while, Well, If you look at the context, Of this teaching, The context of the teaching, Is against, Against the background, Ground of warnings, Against wrong attitudes, Because, The version of Jesus, Spells, Judgment, When he comes, There won't be time, He says here, It'll be a time of separation, Versus 40, 41, When he comes, Some will be taken, Some will be left, He talks about two, Women working in an office, One is taken, One is left, Two men in a field,
[33:37] Maybe it's two men, On a golf course, One will be taken, One will be left, I hope I'm not the one, Who's there, And just go to holding one, And the other person, Has been taken, And not able to kind of, Tell people, How good I was, That's how it's going to be, That's why we need to be ready, Because we don't know, When we'll be taken, But on that day, We know that everything, That has been hidden, In the human heart, Over the years, Will emerge, Into the clear light of day, Everything and everyone, Will be shown, In their true colours, There's going to be no, Matters of degrees, Of goodness, We either come running, To the arms of Jesus, Or we shrink away, In fear, And hatred, I want you to notice, In closing that, This teaching of Jesus, Is set against, The context of four warnings, As I said, Of four attitudes, And it's four attitudes,
[34:38] Of unpreparedness, We're told in verse 37, That people will be found, Immersed in the world, And not in the reality, Of Jesus's coming, In verse 37 he says, As it was in the days of Noah, So it will be, At the coming of the son of man, For in the days before the flood, People were eating and drinking, Marrying and giving in marriage, Up to the day Noah entered the ark, And they knew nothing about, What would happen, Until the flood came, And took them all away, That is how, It will be, At the coming, Of the son of man, Just like in the days of Noah, People were preoccupied, With the present, Preoccupied with today, That they neglected, The reality, Of the future, The reality, Of tomorrow, Tomorrow, And I think, And I think as we look at, Humanity in our own day, Is humanity not really bound up,
[35:40] In the philosophy, Of the present, Now just look at the adverts, You see on TV, Whatever it is, You need it now, You need it right now, Go and buy it, This present time, We want everything, Now, And maybe that, Philosophy is because, So few people, Have any hope, For the future, They're living in recession, They're seeing the world, What's happening in the world, And there's a kind of, An emptiness there, And what's the point, Of tomorrow, So I live for today, Because when they look at tomorrow, They only see a future, Of the prospects, Of shattered dreams, Broken relationships, The reality, Of impending loss, And of course, Ultimately death, Is there somewhere, Along the line, So it's far easier, To live in the present, Just as they did, In the days of Manua, After having been warned,
[36:41] That the flood was coming, They continued living, In the present, Not preparing, For what was to come, And so it is to be, With the second coming, There are going to be those, Who are going to be living, In the present, Not having given, A thought, To tomorrow, Or what tomorrow, Could bring, Then there's a warning, Against sleeping, 42 to 44, Therefore keep watch, Because you do not know, On what day, Your Lord will come, But understand this, If the owner of the house, Had known, At what time, The thief, Of night, The thief was coming, He would have kept watch, And would not have let, His cells be broken into, We had a break in, In Glasgow, Quite maybe, About 10 years ago, It was, We were actually up in Harris, We had just moved, Come up to Harris, On holiday that day, I think it was Easter time, Now, If I had known, The thief was coming in, I think we left the house, About 10, The thief was in, Around kind of,
[37:42] Two to four, If I had known, He was coming, I would have hung about, And I would have stayed, And I would kind of, Go out to Harris the next day, Or get the leather flight, Or something, If I knew he was coming, I would take action, I would take decisive action, To make sure that, My house wasn't broken into, And that in a sense, Is what Jesus is saying here, Look, You know, I'm going to come back, And I'm going to come back, Like a thief, And because I'm telling you that, Then be ready, Be alert, Wake up, You see the problem is, That people have become so secure, That they've gone to sleep, They say well, He hasn't come in over 2000 years, Why should we be unduly worried, But the truth is, That we just, Don't know, And for this reason,
[38:43] We can't sleep, And Jesus uses the illustration, Of this householder, If he knew the thief was coming, He would have stayed awake, He would have been prepared, And we know, We have been forewarned, We're asked to keep awake, Because he will come like a thief, In the night, And he even tells us, He will come at an hour, When we think not, And chapter 25, Continues to set the context, Warns us against the misuse, Of the day of grace, That, He has given us, The main teaching, Of the parable of the talents, Is that God, Has given us gifts, Opportunities, Works to do, As Christians, We don't just sit back, And wait for the second coming, God has, Given us work to do, He has commanded us, To continue working, And surely we want, Him to say to us, Well done,
[39:44] Good and faithful servant, When he comes, He's given us, His Holy Spirit, He's given us salvation, He's given us Jesus, And is it not only right, That God should expect, A return on his investment, And he wants us to work, While it is day, To reach out with the gospel, To be his witnesses, To the ends of the earth, He doesn't want us to be, Like the unfaithful servant, And then finally, And very solemnly, On that day, Some will be, Unready, And to highlight this, Jesus, Tells, The parable of, Ten virgins, Ten bridesmaids, And however you read, This, Story, This passage, The main focus, Of this parable, Is that, Fifty percent of them, Were not ready, You can't read it,
[40:45] Any other way, Of the ten, Only five were ready, Five were not, And I think, The reason, That five were not, Was because, They thought, They could control, The situation, They weren't bothered, Apathy, Had set in, They thought, That when the groom, Groom came, Or when they heard, He was coming, Then they could, Sort themselves out, Then they could, Put oil in their lamps, And they just sat back, And did nothing, And I'm sure, They were told, By the other, Five bridesmaids, Well you know, He's coming soon, You better, You better be ready, You better get your oil, For your lamps, They thought, They'd be given, Plenty warning, Maybe that there's, Going to be a news broadcast, In three days, The groom is coming, Three days to get ready, Three days to get oil, For their lamps, Then they thought,
[41:48] Well maybe we could borrow, Oil from somebody else, One of the other, Bridesmaids, But of course, They couldn't, All these avenues, Were avenues of falsehood, And false thinking, The evil one had, Had eluded them, To think that they would have time, To think that they could, Control the situation, All these avenues, Were avenues, Of false hope, And when the time came, All these avenues, Were close to them, There was no time, And the sisters, Could not part, With what they had, What about you, Do you think, You can control the situation, Maybe thinking, Maybe thinking, Well, I'm too young, I'm too young, To become a Christian, I'm too young, To be ready, For Jesus coming back, Well, The next time,
[42:48] Any of us, Are at a grave side, If we look at the tombstones, There are, Some very old people there, There are some very, Middle aged people there, There are some young people there, Age, Makes no difference, Or maybe, You're thinking, Well, It doesn't matter, How could Jesus, Turn me away from heaven, Surely I'm good enough, Surely everyone's, Going to heaven, That's not what the Bible says, That's not what Jesus teaches, Or maybe people say, Well, I'll get in on somebody else's currency, My parents were Christians, Or, My wife's a Christian, Or, My husband's a Christian, Or, Or, Someone else is a Christian, I don't need to be a Christian, I'll get in on their ticket, Well that doesn't save us, Again Jesus makes that clear, Jesus says here,
[43:50] That we need oil, For our lamps, And we need it, Now, In verse 10 of chapter 25, But while they were, On their way to buy oil, Oh they had great intentions, They were a way to buy oil, They intended to get it, They intended to be ready, To be there, When Jesus came, When they went on their way, To buy oil, The bridegroom, Arrived, The virgins who were ready, Went in with him, To the wedding banquet, And the door, Was shut, Some of the most solemn, Words, In the whole of scripture, You see, Other people's oil, Is no use, For you, You must have oil, In your lamp, I must have oil, In my lamp, In the anticipation,
[44:51] Of the Lord Jesus Christ, Coming back, On that great day, Or the Lord Jesus Christ, Taking me, And calling me, Into his presence, At any time, I must be, I must be trusting, In the saving power, That he offers to me, Through his death, And through the cross, Someone else's faith, Is no use to me, There is no other oil, I must have my faith, In Jesus Christ, If I am to be ready, For him, And if I am to meet him, And if I am to be with him, In eternity, This evening, I want to challenge you, To think, That if Jesus was, To come back tonight, Which 50% are you in, Right now?
[45:46] Because they, Did get their oil, They did come back, But when they came back, The door, Was shut, And there was no way in, They were told, To depart, The reality is, That Jesus, Is coming back, How do you know, Is coming back?
[46:07] Is coming back, Because he said, He's coming back, He's made that promise, In scripture, He's made it, Abundantly clear, That he's coming back, Are we going to be ready?
[46:21] Am I going to be ready? Are you going to be ready? Amen, May the Lord bless to us, These thoughts, On his holy word, And to him be all the praise, And all the honour, And all the glory, Amen, Our closing hym, Is, Man of Sows, If you're not, Amen.
[47:26] Amen. Amen.
[48:26] Amen. Amen.
[49:08] Hallelujah. What a saviour. Hallelujah. What a saviour.
[49:20] Go in peace and may the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, rest and abide with us and with all those who we love now and forevermore.
[49:31] Amen.