Kennystix's podcast
Jesus Christ, the Bridegroom, Past and Future
tonight's passage is Matthew 25 verses 1 through 13 can be found on page 830 in the Pew Bibles Matthew 25 verses 1 through 13 Then the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom Five of them were foolish and five were wise for when the foolish took their lamps They took no oil with them, but the wise took flasks of oil with their lamps as the bridegroom was delayed They all became drowsy and slept, but at midnight. There was a cry. Here is the bridegroom come out to meet him Then all those virgins rose and trimmed their lamps And the foolish said to the wise give us some of your oil for our lamps are going out But the wise answered saying since there will not be enough for us and for you go Rather to the dealers and buy for yourselves And while they were going to buy the bridegroom came and those who were ready went in with him to the marriage feast and the door was shut Afterward the other virgins came also saying Lord Lord open to us, but he answered truly I say to you I do not know you watch therefore for you know neither the day nor the hour Let's pray together Well Lord God Your son came for a bride the first time And he bought her With his blood And now he has gone on a long journey and He is coming again For his betrothed in order to marry her and Take her into his gardens and his chambers Where we will learn? what pleasure is Father I pray that you would awaken those who only have lamps tonight and no oil Form and no power Religion and no life So God please make this service An occasion in which you arrive with Awakening life giving awakening Grand that there would be oil and Readiness life faith reality For be it that anyone would play games Because the children are cute or the music is fun. Oh God grant I pray that we would be earnest and urgent about preparing for the day when the trumpet will sound The cry of command will go forth and the archangel will call he is here Let your lamps welcome him oh Forbid that anyone in this room Would have to go in vain and desperation to get oil which will never in that day be found It's come and help me now to be faithful just to this word I pray Jesus name amen Palm Sunday is usually for the marking of the arrival of Jesus as king into Jerusalem the week of his death Let me read you the typical verse from Matthew 21 This took place To fulfill what was spoken by the prophets saying behold your king is coming to you humble and mounted on a donkey And on a cult the full of a beast of burden and the people spread their cloaks on the on the road and cut branches From the trees and spread them on the road and went before him and shouted Hosanna to the son of David blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord Hosanna in the highest There's your standard Palm Sunday text Hosanna Hebrew word for salvation The Savior is here the one who's bringing deliverance from the Romans and from Herod and Pontius Pilate The Messiah has come and he's riding Zechariah like on a donkey to fulfill the promises Made to the people of Israel. So the focus is usually on Jesus the king He's arrived the first time and he's going to arrive a second time Now what I want to do on this home Sunday is Say something a little more. I want to say that He's arriving as king and He will be a betrothed king because of his arrival a betrothed King an engaged King to a fiancé At his first coming the king is coming to get engaged Then he will go on a journey And when he comes back he is coming back to marry her That's what I want to stress today Ephesians 5 a man shall leave his father and his mother and Will cleave to his wife and the two shall become one flesh This mystery is profound and I am saying it refers to Christ and the church Every time you look at a husband and a wife Coming anywhere close to living as they ought think this is about Christ and his church that's why marriage ultimately was created So it goes on Husbands love your wives as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her This is a kind of dowry a bloody dowry That he might present the church to himself in Splendor without spot or wrinkle or any such thing King Jesus came to get a wife The dowry his life The blood cleansing her purifying her gratifying her that when they marry She will be fit for him Paul who wrote that Therefore conceived of his ministry as a kind of Cupid Go between matchmaker Listen see if you don't agree Second Corinthians 11 - I feel the design a divine jealousy for you for I betrothed you to one husband to present you as a pure virgin to Christ The elders met this morning spent four hours together Seeking to battle through issues that we might lead this church. Well, why because we Feel a divine jealousy that you do not belong to us This is not our church We are if we may borrow Paul's self concept. We are matchmakers Cultivating a relationship of love between you and Christ That we might present you more fit more beautiful more spotless because of our faithful labors You don't belong to us. This is not our church us pastors and elders you belong to Jesus He died for you. He bought you he paid a dowry that you might be engaged to him and he to you you are betrothed to him And our job is to get you ready for the marriage John the Baptist Was kind of afraid When he thought about this lest he become an inappropriate competitor for the bride Because somebody came to John one time and said don't you realize that your disciples are leaving you and going to that One across the Jordan Listen to what he said he answered I Said I am not the Christ But I have been sent before him the one who has the bride is the bridegroom The friend of the bridegroom rejoices greatly at the bridegroom's voice Therefore this joy of mine is now complete That beautiful picture of how to serve the bride she's not mine I Decrease the bridegroom increases and when that happens they leave me And if I were to stand there and Jesus were to stand here. I hope you go to the bridegroom and not to the servant of the bridegroom and the bride Jesus own words Listen to how he spoke when the disciples of John asked him Why do we and the Pharisees fast? But your disciples do not fast Jesus said to them Can the wedding guests mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them? The days will come When the bridegroom is taken away from them and then they will fast Which gives me another occasion to invite all of you to the first Tuesday fast The first Tuesday fast was designed several years ago After the series of messages on fasting One of which was fasting for the king's coming taken from that chapter Matthew 9 14 When the bridegroom is taken away Like he has been Then they will fast Do you? Why do they fast when he's taken away? Very simple they want him back Do you want him back? That's what Tuesday is about one hour no food Jesus come and do whatever you have to do in Bethlehem Among the nations to put everything in place that you might come That's what it's about 12 30 Tuesday One more text by way of introduction The second coming is all about the marriage Revelation 19 I Heard what seemed to be the voice of a great multitude like the roar of many waters and like the sound of mighty peels of thunder Crying out hallelujah for the Lord our God the almighty reigns Let us rejoice and exalt and give him glory for the marriage of the lamb has come and His bride has made herself ready It was granted her to clothe herself with fine linen bright and pure for the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints and The angel said to me write this Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the lamb You want to be there? You won't all be there Unless You're part of the bride That means part of those who believe in Jesus This is one of the great things one of the trembling things one of the awful things Husbands don't marry everybody Husbands choose Husbands discriminate Inform a covenant relation with one wife among other possibilities Not everybody will be there And he is willing and this season between the engagement and the marriage is a season of mercy and Invitation and I am speaking it on his behalf come And be a part of the bride there is no reason you would have to be excluded Except your own unwillingness to bow the knee and say that treasure that pleasure is better than any I will have that garden of Pleasures and that chamber of delights above anything on earth Anybody who comes like that He's part of the bride Now my question What does the bridegroom have to say to us now? Concerning the time in which we live and how to be ready for his coming and I have chosen Matthew 25 Verses 1 to 13 to answer that question and so I invite you to go there and we're going to walk through it Verse at a time. So here we go Matthew 25 verses 1 following verse 1 Then the kingdom of heaven Will be like 10 virgins who took their lamps and Went to meet the bridegroom now notice three things in verse 1 It's about a kingdom and a bridegroom Which is where I got the idea of putting this together with Palm Sunday, and it's king orientation The kingdom of heaven is like 10 virgins who took their lamps and went to meet a king no a bridegroom So we have kingdom Pushed together with bridegroom, which is where I got the idea the king is coming the first time to get engaged And he's coming the second time to get married Second thing to observe This is a parable about the time between the first coming and the second coming of The king the bridegroom, and you will see that more clearly as we move through the paragraph third thing to observe is the virgins represent the visible church That is they represent Professing Christians they're going out to meet the bridegroom. That's their job get ready to meet the bridegroom You got lamps. That's your job lamps are in your hands. You're not you're not this is not everybody This is the people who have picked up lamps in order to get ready to go out and make light when Jesus comes and Whether or not They are true Christians As part of the lamp carrying visible church remains to be seen Don't stumble over this fact that the bride makes no appearance in this parable Parables are like that sometimes The people of God are portrayed as the bride and sometimes they are portrayed as those preparing for the marriage If you press the details of parables everything goes haywire in the New Testament Parables are meant to communicate one main point and the main point here is a people of God are being instructed about how to get ready to meet the bridegroom the bride doesn't even show up in this in this parable But we may then collapse it into other Teachings and say okay, we treat this as the bride even though they are ten virgins leading the bridegroom into the bridal chamber So don't stumble over these details go for the main central thing verse two five of them were foolish Five were wise For when the foolish took their lamps they took no oil with them But the wise took flasks of oil with their lamps Now again, I don't think the percentages here are of any significance. I don't think this means that 50% of the church is foolish The numbers 10 and 5 I think are incidental and what the point is is how some of them were foolish Not the numbers, but how some of them were foolish all ten of them had a job to do they had lamps the lamps were supposed to be ready Ignited when he comes light prepare the way of the Lord. He's coming like your lamps leading me in the third job. This is a job This is these ten women have a job to do and they're supposed to be ready to do it. That's the situation Oil in the lamps is part of the means by which they get their job done If they don't have oil for their lamps, they are neglecting the means appointed for them to do their work They're supposed to shine with light and five of them are foolish. They are not taking seriously They're calling to give light They're neglecting the only means by which their lamps can do any good What good's a lamp in that culture with goods a lamp which got no oil to burn so it can make light Their job was provide light when he comes and they go off candles without wicks as it were Light bulbs with no electricity Lamps with no sufficient oil torches with no fire They liked their position. They could have left if they didn't like it. They liked being lamp carriers I have a lamp. I have a lamp. I have a shiny lamp With no attention to its emptiness Their foolishness was to think that mere religious form was sufficient their foolishness was to think that power for light can be borrowed in the last minute Never heard anybody talk about getting saved like that. I'll just wait. I'll just wait That's really dangerous Verse 5 as the bridegroom was delayed They all became drowsy and slept notice two things Jesus tells us ahead of time There's going to be a delay between the comings This has been a stumbling block for two thousand years, right? This has been a stumbling block for people for two thousand years. Oh, yeah, right Jesus King came right he brought the kingdom Yeah, where is he? Remember how Peter dealt with this in his second letter scoffers will come in the last days with scoffing following their own sinful desires They will say where is the promise of his coming? Forever since the fathers fell asleep all things are continuing as they were from the beginning of creation And then he responds like this, but do not overlook this one fact beloved that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years and a thousand years as one day Two days have passed and Jesus left The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness But he is patient toward you not wishing that any Should perish, but that all should come to repentance Jesus told us in advance there would be a delay verse 5 the bridegroom was delayed and the second thing to notice is this all 10 slept not just the foolish Which means that sleep in this parable is not negative Don't say who the teaching of this parable is watch Because you don't know the day or the hour. So don't sleep. Well, that's wrong the wise virgins slept Which means sleep signifies normal ordinary day in day out life of Doing what you got to do and sleeping when you get tired getting up doing what you got to do Sleeping when you get tired getting up doing what you got to do going to bed get the rest you need get up Do what you got to do this little word they all slept means What God expects of us in this period of time between the engagement in the marriage is Do your duty and get the rest you need to do it? So, I mean I remember growing up and we got all kinds of all kinds of second-coming stuff going on around us and movies and books I remember a movie when I was growing up. I forget the name of it thief in the night or something, you know, and as the movie closed there was this text read watch for you know Neither the day of the hour and a woman went over and pulled the curtain back and went like this That is absolutely wrong We'll see it even more by the end of this it's wrong because it put the interpretation Watch on looking up. This is why people have sold their goods Gone to the top of mountains and waited because they got some sun watches taken to mean be Gazing up into the clouds. You're at watch means go to bed at 10 instead of 12. That's what it means Because if you don't you will be sluggish spiritually in the morning and the devil will mail you at 10 o'clock watch means be alert be vigilant do what you got to do in your ordinary life to stay attuned to the living God and Be in the Word without falling asleep How do you do your devotions without falling asleep turn the television off and get to bed? This is a text about live sober ordinary duty performing lives So that when he comes he will find you so doing what do you want to be found doing when he comes? Staring in the sky deliver me. I want to be in a bedside Love in a sick person. I want to be in the city working for the poor I want to be in the pulpit God willing preaching a sermon. I don't want to be staring into the sky like that's some godly thing to do Oh that we might be found doing the works of Consciousness when he comes and sleeping after a nice hard day of well done work That would be a nice way to meet him verse 6 But at midnight there was a cry Here's the bridegroom come out to meet him Now relate that to first Thessalonians 4 16 For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command With the voice of an archangel and with the sound of the trumpet of God So here he says the cry goes out He's here Go meet him Let your lamps burn brightly with life joy faith hope love Expectancy praise wonder marvel This is going to happen folks. This is going to happen Jesus is going to come back someday are you ready? Do you have oil in the form of your religion? Life faith hope love reality or are you just carrying your formal little lamp around I go to church I carry a Bible I Pray before meals. I try to keep the 10 commandments your little lamp and inside nothing of spiritual affections for God Love for the bridegroom an intense Expectancy that it's going to be better when he comes than the best sex you ever had or the best food You ever had or the best success you ever had No life like that Verse 7 then all those virgins rose all ten of them rose trimmed their lamps And the foolish said to the wise Give us some of your oil for our lamps are going out But the wise answered saying Since there will not be enough for us and for you go rather to the dealers and buy for yourselves a Life of foolishness Deepens foolishness The cry went out They didn't take any oil how many days weeks months has it been? and their first response is Is to trim their lamps? That's stupid There's no oil You don't have enough oil. Why are you refining the form? Cuz all they know to do It's all they know to do they've gone to church so long They've done religious stuff for so long when somebody blows a trumpet like this sermon Perhaps your their responses got to get my act cleaned up got to get my act cleaned up got to get my act cleaned up Not I need a life Oh god come I'm empty Have no heart for you. I'm just form It's all they did Fix the wick fix the wick It's really sad a life of foolishness leads to deep deep foolishness And then they ask Can we have some of your oil? Give us your oil And the five wise virgins say no The point of that answer no is not to teach selfishness The point of that answer is the impossibility of borrowing faith The impossibility of borrowing the spirit the impossibility of borrowing life the impossibility of borrowing reality That's the point of no That kind of transaction doesn't and can't happen here What these wise virgins were saying in verse nine There won't be enough both for us go by your own oil your own your own oil is We can't have faith for you and for us Parent can't have faith for a kid Kid can't have faith for a parent brother can't have faith for a sister We can't have spiritual life for ourselves in spiritual life for you We can't give you obedience that we have been pursuing our life long and now is coming to flower in readiness We can't give you obedience That's something you needed to be cultivating along the way You needed to be praying you needed to be trusting you needed to be opening yourself You needed to be seeking and crying for love and hope and joy in reality These things are not transferable Oh How many make the mistake of thinking? instant end time faith Will be possible Don't count on it verse 10 While they were going to buy The bridegroom came and those who were ready those who were ready Those who were ready Are you Went in With him to the marriage feast and the door like the ark Was shut Very ominous ring There will be a day right now. Jesus stands at the door His arms are wide tonight But there will come a moment When the door will be shut Verse 11 afterward The other virgins came also saying lord lord open to us But he answered truly. I say to you I do not know you Those are terrifying words Those are Terrifying words for person. I've got a lamp I had a lamp all my life I'm not among those people I was There's ten of us. I've I was given the job I'm part of the group. I'm part of the church to my job I have a lamp I don't even know you I don't even know who you are You never knew me. I never knew you You never sought life for me You've never lived in me. I've never lived in you You had a form But you didn't take care for what was inside Carried the lamp shiny Others looked at you and assumed you got life. You got faith. You got in a reality. There was none All you had was an empty lamp And now you're about to face the one who sees right through the lamp And says truly I say to you. I don't know you You don't want to hear those words. You don't want to hear those words Finally verse 13 Watch therefore For you know neither the day nor the hour And you know that watch Does not mean don't go to sleep Because the wise virgins all slept What Watch means be spiritually awake Watch means be alive be alert to Jesus Watch means seek and be filled with the holy spirit Watch means use all the means available to know him love him trust him be filled with him with joy and faith and hope So in closing let this govern your life Jesus christ came to betrothe a people To himself he paid with his life. He paid with his life And he's coming again To be married In the meantime He has called his church To hold lamps Designed to give light now and bright light when he comes And he gives himself In faith and affection and hope and love and reality as oil within the form of life To be received Embraced, pursued, cherished, cultivated And Don't forget this This is the best of all When he comes He will be ushered into The presence of the bride And the bride into the presence of the bridegroom And he will take us into gardens And chambers Where we will learn That every pleasure We ever knew or dreamed of in this world Was a shadow Was cardboard Compared to what we will then saver It is a sad thing that people taste pleasures in this world Choose your pleasure, whatever your besetting idol is It is a sad thing that people have tasted pleasures in this world And settled for them instead of seeing them as tokens Little tokens of what a six-year-old can understand about mature pleasures Instead Let's not do that Let's let them springboard us Into his presence now And saver the sweetness of his fellowship And let our spiritual imaginations reach out To all the fullness of what he will be for us The one who made every nerve of your body that will be raised from the dead The one who made every capacity for pleasure Spiritually emotionally and physically and psychologically And the one who made every means by which those are satisfied And made them all in this world as little echoes and shadows of what will one day be Ever increasing Let's pray Father I asked now again as I did at the beginning That life would be granted and that oil faith hope love reality authenticity Communion with the living christ in the heart would be granted in this room This is palm sunday And the king has come to be betrothed to sinners Has paid his life as a kind of dowry that the broad might be forgiven and then made beautiful And will come again Take us into his chambers and into his gardens Where there will be pleasures at his right hand forevermore And I plead with you father that none Leave this room without a taste taste and see that the Lord is good Draw near to us now. I pray And receive our worship now and through the week through Christ. I pray. Amen
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