In 2023 the New York post reported that Mark Zuckerberg creator of Facebook was building a 260 million dollar bunker in Hawaii.
Millions prepare in different ways for disasters. And they are watchful of the times in which we live.
They watch carefully the news coming out of Ukraine with the conflict there. They are watchful of government power, after 9/11 and the conflict in Afghanistan and more recently the COVID-19 pandemic. They watch carefully, and they prepare carefully.
We’re looking at two concepts this Sunday, watchfulness and preparing. They are concepts closely linked, so I think it’s fitting we study them together.
What does it mean to be watchful? It’s cautiously viewing ourselves, viewing God’s agenda, and the workings of the world system.
What does it mean to prepare? It means cautiously preparing for the conclusion of your life, which is the judgment seat of Christ.
Some theologians would say oh no we Christians won’t appear at that judgment we’ll be at a separate judgment of rewards. That’s incorrect.
2nd Corinthians 5:10 says, “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each of us may receive what is due us for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad.”
Whether good or bad, we will all face the judgment seat of Christ, to either be rewarded or condemned.
But we’ll get into that more later.
For these two concepts of watchfulness and preparation, we will turn to Matthew chapter 25.
We’ll be looking at both the parable of the wise and foolish virgins and the parable of the sheep and the goats.
We also will touch briefly on the parable placed between both of these, in the middle of Matthew 25, which is the parable of the talents, because I think all three are linked.
So we have a lot of ground to cover today, so I’m going to move somewhat quickly through these scriptures.
The first says this, (Matthew 25:1-13), “At that time the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom.”
Stop there. First three words, “At that time…” At what time? If you flip back to Matthew 24, you see the entire chapter Jesus is talking about the end times, when his second coming arrives.
So we’re going to see this entire chapter of Matthew 25 is going to be using three different parables to explain what it will be like when Jesus returns and we meet Him face to face.
Way back at the beginning we started with the parable of the prodigal son, which was about how to get into the kingdom of God, the doorway, how it works, mercy and grace of God. Today we’re all the way at the end, what’s it like when your life on Earth concludes and you go and meet King Jesus for judgment.
It makes sense then that Jesus gives the picture of ten virgins coming out to meet the bridegroom.
The bridegroom is Jesus. He is our husband in the body of Christ, and we are like the ten virgins, pure, holy, made new by Him, and ready for His return.
But next it says, “2 Five of them were foolish and five were wise. 3 The foolish ones took their lamps but did not take any oil with them. 4 The wise ones, however, took oil in jars along with their lamps. 5 The bridegroom was a long time in coming, and they all became drowsy and fell asleep.”
Five are wise, five are foolish. Which do we want to be like? The wise ones. It says they took extra oil in jars along with their lamps. Yet still the bridegroom was late in arriving, and they all fell asleep.
It reminds me of the night Jesus was betrayed. He told his disciples to watch and pray, but they all fell asleep. And in the end only one of the twelve stayed with him through his crucifixion.
Next, verse 6-9: 6 “At midnight the cry rang out: ‘Here’s the bridegroom! Come out to meet him!’
7 “Then all the virgins woke up and trimmed their lamps. 8 The foolish ones said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil; our lamps are going out.’
9 “‘No,’ they replied, ‘there may not be enough for both us and you. Instead, go to those who sell oil and buy some for yourselves.’
We see next that the foolish virgins were not appropriately watchful of the times they were living in. They did not store up extra oil. They were not properly prepared for the coming of the Master.
What do the lamps and the oil represent?
The lamp represents the faith of the believer, and the oil represents the power of the Holy Spirit in the believer’s life. How close are you with God in the Spirit? How much have you built your life around Jesus? Have you stored up extra oil? Or would the darkness of the end times leave your oil running out and your lamp going out?
Next in verses 10-13, “10 “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.
11 “Later the others also came. ‘Lord, Lord,’ they said, ‘open the door for us!’
12 “But he replied, ‘Truly I tell you, I don’t know you.’
13 “Therefore keep watch, because you do not know the day or the hour.”
I believe this parable is also prophetic and points to the end times. 5 were foolish, 5 were wise. I believe this parable is telling us prophetically that 50% of the body of Christ will not be ready when Jesus returns. And they will suffer loss.
Jesus says therefore keep watch, because you don’t know when…
But what does Jesus mean by watchfulness? It certainly does mean being watchful of the world around us. And it certainly does mean being watchful for the return of Jesus. Yet what is often missed in the concept of watchfulness is Jesus is calling us to be watchful of ourselves.
That is the key here for the wise and foolish virgins. Both the foolish and wise virgins fall asleep as they wait for the Master. The difference is the foolish have not stored up extra oil, and the wise have. It was not a question of watching for Jesus. It was a question of how well the virgins had been watchful of themselves.
Be watchful of yourself. Be watchful of your own walk with Jesus. Make an honest and sober evaluation of yourself: Where am I at spiritually? Am I all in for Jesus? Am I clothed and ready for service? Is my lamp burning? And have I stored up extra oil?
We’re to be watchful, prepared, ready at all times, in a soldier’s position with our armor on and ready, our weapon at our side. We should store up extra oil of the Spirit so we’re ready when the master returns.
Like the parable of the two sons, the challenge is action. You may be thinking, “OK great I need to store up extra oil. How do I do that?” I think it’s two things, one, in an honest self-evaluation, would I say that I’m “on fire for the Lord?” Or am I more lukewarm?
Secondly, if I’m indeed on fire for the Lord, is there a load of extra wood stacked up next to this internal fire? Are my spiritual practices active in a such a way that one would say I have an abundance of faith? Or am I operating at minimal levels?
I’ve got a prayer, bible, and church life, but are all three of those areas minimally functioning?
Our faith is fed by our relationship with God, and if we’re not actively engaging with God on a daily basis, the faith fire will die down.
If we’re feeding our faith with rich relationship with God, we will be like the wise virgins, who have extra oil stored up for the deep darkness before the Master returns.
As a believer, I want to challenge you to be watchful in three main ways:
1. Be watchful of yourself. The word of God tells us to judge ourselves (1 Cor 11:31). Soberly evaluate your walk with God, and how you can take it to the next level.
2. Be watchful of God’s kingdom agenda. Through prayer, prophetic ministries, study of the word, and so on, be watchful of what God is doing in the world. Where is he at work? What is on God’s heart? And then follow that.
3. Be watchful of the world system. Watch politics, conflicts, culture war, government surveillance, new technologies, medical ethics, and other areas of the world. Essentially, watch what the spirit of the air is up to. Be actively praying against Satan’s agenda, and the new world orders march forward. We have power in Christ to frustrate, slow down, stop, and even reverse the enemy’s schemes.
Briefly, take a look at the parable of the talents in v.14-30. Consider also, that if God gives us gifts, whether talents we have in our heart, or resources we have outside ourselves, we’re expected to show ourselves faithful by using those gift and talents wisely to bless others.
In verse 23 we get the famous scripture: ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’
Good, this servant is pure in Christ, living out that purity, and they have been faithful with what God gave them. That spells victory on judgment day.
Next, Matthew 25:31-46 “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne. 32 All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33 He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.”
The first parable had to do with what will happen just prior to Jesus’ return, the virgins coming out to meet him. Now this parable has to do with what happens after Jesus returns, and we stand before him at his throne.
There are two categories here, sheep and goats.
Think about what sheep and goats are like. Sheep provide a harvest of wool, and are followers of the shepherd.
I know I’m generalizing here, but goats are a bit more resistant, they don’t follow, they resist, and go their own way. And they don’t provide a harvest the same way a sheep does.
While the first parable dealt with internal watchfulness, living closely with the Holy Spirit, this parable deals with external practice of our faith. Taking practical actions to produce a harvest.
In verses 34-36: 34 “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. 35 For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36 I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’
Think back to the preppers we talked about. They do two things. They are watchful, they are constantly viewing the news, checking the stock market, and making sure they have the right knowledge for survival.
But if they only did that, they would be watchful, but not prepared. To be prepared means they buy freeze dried food supplies, have a generator, weapons, ammo, a supply of gas, water filters, and other supplies for an emergency situation.
Similarly, we as Christians can be watchful of ourselves, and the world, but if we don’t take any actions, we won’t be prepared.
How does a Christian prepare? By storing up ammo and canned food and anti-biotics and anti-radiation pills? No, we as Christians get prepared in a much different way.
We get prepared by feeding the hungry, giving someone a jacket, praying with someone who is sick, visiting someone in prison, inviting in a homeless person, and sharing the gospel with the unsaved.
In verses 37-40: “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38 When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39 When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’
40 “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’”
Every time you serve someone who can’t serve you back, you are getting ready for judgment day. Your faith is being expressed in acts of service.
But let’s see what Jesus says to those on the other side, verses 41-45:
41 “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 42 For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, 43 I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’
44 “They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’
45 “He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’”
There are two destinations here, in verse 46 it says, “Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”
Either heaven or hell. And it’s contingent on two main factors: Did we store up extra oil? And did we live out our faith in practical actions to those in need?
The goal is that when we meet Jesus face to face, he would see our faith in Him, that was tested through the fire, and see that it manifested itself in practical service. It manifested in providing food, drink, housing, clothing, and visitation to those are who in need.
The kingdom system worked! God changed us, we responded by walking boldly in that change, and the victory is completed.
The end result is Jesus rewards us.
Or the other outcome is also possible. We received the great gift, but we didn’t live it out, we grew lazy, we didn’t really serve, it was just words, it didn’t manifest in actions, and in the end, we’re condemned with the world, because we did not provide food, drink, housing, clothing, and visitation. We heard the message, but we didn’t apply it. And in the end, it brings destruction.
The choice is ours. Will we walk in the blessing? Or will we slip back into our old ways?
Watchfulness, and preparation. Observe carefully your life and who you are, and also observe what is happening out there in the world. Then, having watched, prepare your life for His return. Prepare yourself to be judged by Jesus. Make sure your sins are washed in the blood of the lamb, and your faith is being lived out in practical ways. God loves you. He wants you. So Jesus will help you every step of the way, every moment, to be who he’s called you to be. Watch and prepare. Jesus is coming soon!
Applications:
A. Pray and ask God for help to store up oil for the journey to heaven. Read Richard Foster’s ‘Celebration of Discipline.’
B. Study the work of The Salvation Army in practical ministry, along with other prominent Christian charities, and mimic their activities.
C. Consider your growth process in Christ, does your fruit match what Christ describes in this parable? Write down an action plan for the future.
Discussion Questions
1. What does it mean to be watchful today?
2. What practical ways can we store up extra oil as we await the return of Jesus?
3. Make a sober evaluation of your current walk with God. How “on fire” are you?
4. When you look at your life, do you fulfill the mandates to provide for those in need?
5. Describe what you think it will be like at the judgment seat of Christ.
