01.11. The Midnight Cry: Chill or Thrill

The Midnight Cry: Chill or Thrill

Matthew 25:1-13 I- The Wedding Culture:

    Weddings today across the world are made up of various social activities that vary from area to area. For us to understand this parable we must understand the wedding culture of the time. In the culture the New Testament is set in the marriage was a multi-part event. The bride and groom were espoused to one another. This was the first part of the marriage process. This was legally married but the marriage was not consummated. They did not live together at this time. The groom would go to prepare a place for them to live and then return to take his bride. The bride was to wait patiently for the groom to return. The return was usually sudden and could be at any time of the day even the night. When someone saw the bridegroom coming he or she would cry behold the bridegroom cometh. The bride had to be instantly ready to go with him.

II- Symbols in the Parable: The Oil gives us a picture of the Holy Spirit, which must be inside a believer for them to be genuinely saved. The Bridegroom is Christ who will be coming for His bride the church. We see in Matthew 25:13 this parable is related to the coming of the Lord Jesus for His church. The Five wise virgins give us a picture of the Church prepared for the return with oil (Holy Spirit) in their lamps. The Five foolish virgins are the lost world. Many who are very familiar with their need of receiving Christ but who have put it off to late.

III- The Questions of Wisdom:

What made them wise? The thing that made the five virgins wise was the fact that they had prepared for the coming of the bridegroom. The bride who was ready would be thrilled to hear that the bridegroom was coming.

What made them foolish? The unprepared virgin was unwise because they were not ready for the coming of the bridegroom. You will notice that they asked the others to share their oil. The answer was no. The reason being is because the Oil remember is the Holy Spirit and each person must have it. We cannot take someone else to heaven by what we have that they lack. The saddest words in the whole story are, "and the door was shut." Can you imagine the chill of not being prepared when the bridegroom comes?

IV- The Uncertain Hour: Matthew 25:13 The uncertainty of the time of the coming of Christ should motivate us in several ways. There is not doubt that no man knows the hour of the coming of Christ. We can look around and see that the season is drawing nigh but no man knows. Allow me to off the following the uncertain hour should do for us.

Moves us to Holy Living: If you do not know when Jesus is coming would you not make sure you are not in a place you should not be. By His coming being uncertain but at the same time imminent it should keep us on track.

Romans 13:11-14 "And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed. ¹² The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light. ¹³ Let us walk honestly, as in the day; not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and envying. ¹⁴ But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof."

Gives us an urgency to work. Procrastination is not a spiritual gift. It is a failure of the church sometimes. We put off what we should do until to late. Remember Jesus said, "I must work the works of him that sent me, while it is day: the night cometh, when no man can work."

Excites us with the possibility of His coming. Can you image the thrill of being alive when Jesus steps out on the clouds and we go toward heaven in the rapture. No greater thrill could be possible. We should be excited about the soon coming of our Lord Jesus for His own. We should be thrilled if we are ready, chilled if we are unprepared.