The 10 Virgins

The Parable of the Ten Virgins

Reading Matthew 25: 1 - 13.

Jesus tells the story of the ten virgins who went out to meet the bridegroom. They all had lamps. Five of them were wise and five of them were foolish. The wise ones took oil with them. It took a long time for the bridegroom to come, so they fell asleep. At midnight they heard a loud shout, 'Here's the bridegroom, come to meet him.' The foolish virgins asked for some oil because their lamps were going out. The wise virgins said that there might not be enough oil for everybody, so they should go and buy some. While the foolish virgins were away, looking for somewhere they could buy oil, the bridegroom returned. The foolish virgins came back and were knocking on the door trying to get in. The bridegroom wouldn't let them in.

As Christians, we are meant to keep the oil in our lamps burning. We are meant to be filled with the Holy Spirit and other people should be able to see the light shining out of our lives. We should do this, knowing that Jesus could come back at any time. No one knows the hour. A thousand years are like a day to God. It might be tomorrow, it might be in another thousand years. 2 Peter 3: 8, 9. God is patient, not wanting anyone to perish. That is why he delays, so that there might be more time for people everywhere to repent. But God can't wait forever, and Jesus is going to come back one day. People need to come to Christ while there is still time.

The second coming of Christ will be a terrible time of great suffering. Think of all the trouble we've had in the last few years with the tsunami and the hurricanes in America. The events described in the Bible are far, far worse. 'Nations will be in anguish and perplexity at the roaring and tossing of the sea.' Luke 21: 25, 26. Scientists say that a big tsunami, thirty times the size of the one that happened in the Indian Ocean in 2004, could travel hundreds of miles inland and devastate whole countries. If it happened in the Atlantic Ocean, I don't think there'd be much of England, France and Spain left. Maybe a few villages on the hills here, but anything below a thousand feet would just be wiped out. 'Men will faint with fear, apprehensive of what is coming on the world, because the heavenly bodies will be shaken.' An asteroid or a comet could smash into this world and cause great damage. The book of Revelation describes two stars falling from the sky. Revelation 8. The first is like a burning mountain. It falls into the sea and a third of the sea turns to blood. A third of the creatures living in the sea die, and a third of the ships are destroyed. A wave that could travel across the sea destroying ships would be a huge tsunami. If a wave is a hundred feet high, that is enough to smash a hole in the side of a ship. If a tsunami is a hundred feet high out at sea, it will be many times higher when it reaches land, up to a thousand feet. The tsunami in 2004 was thirty feet. If that amount of damage can be done by a thirty foot tsunami imagine what a thousand foot tsunami would do. The second star is called Wormwood. It turns a third of the waters in the world bitter. An American astronomer said that this could happen if the earth collided with a comet. Wormwood is a plant that was used in ancient times to kill worms that live in people's intestines and eat all their food. The ice of a comet contains the same chemical. Other parts of Revelation chapter 8 may refer to a huge volcanic eruption. When the first angel sounds his trumpet there is hail and fire mingled with blood that falls on the earth. A third of the trees and the grass are burnt up. There is an underground volcano at Yellowstone Park in America. One day it is going to erupt, many times more powerful than a normal volcano because it is underneath thousands of feet of rock and this allows it to build up more pressure. American scientists expect the Yellowstone Park volcano to be every bit that devastating. A short time later the gases and dust created by the volcano will float into the air, darkening the light of the sun. This is described in chapter 8 of Revelation when the fourth angel sounds his trumpet. A third of the sun, a third of the moon and a third of the stars are darkened. Then an eagle flying through heaven cries out, 'Woe to the inhabitants of the earth because of the other three angels who are about to sound their trumpets.' The judgement hasn't even started yet! Jesus said it would be a terrible time of suffering, unseen since the beginning of the world and never to be seen again. 'If those days had not been cut short no one would survive, but the sake of the elect they have been shortened.' Matthew 24: 20 - 22. Christians will be taken out of the world. 'Two men will be in the field; one will be taken and the other left. Two women will be grinding with a hand mill; one will be taken and the other left.' Matthew 24: 40 - 41. If Jesus is coming back you want to be taken, you don't want to be left. Repent while there is still time. It will be too late to go back and buy any oil.

Jesus said, 'Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day.' John 6:54. Heaven is a physical place. It isn't a dream world. It isn't like a bunch of happy ghosts floating around. Heaven is as real and as physical as the place where you're sitting now. Someone asked the preacher Alec Maclennan, 'Do you believe in Heaven?' He said yes. The man said, 'Well, I wouldn't want to spend forever sitting on a cloud playing a harp.' I wouldn't want to spend forever sitting on a cloud playing a harp either. The Bible describes Heaven's city as the New Jerusalem. It has beautiful gates which are huge pearls. The streets are paved with gold. The trees bear fruit every month and their leaves take away all disease. Rev 21. That's where we're going when we die. The present Heaven and the present Earth will pass away. They will be burned up by fire. 2 Peter 3:7. Then the dead will be raised, and they will stand before God on the day of judgement. God will wipe every tear away from our eyes. There will be no more sorrow or pain.

Eternal life means living in Heaven after we die, but it starts now. It starts here on this earth. Jesus met the woman at the well and asked her for a drink. He said, 'Whoever drinks this water will thirst again, but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. The water I give him will become a spring of water welling up to eternal life.' John 4: 13, 14. We have a measure of God's grace and God's power in our lives now which is enormous, although it is limited compared to what it will be like in eternity. The power that raised Jesus from the dead will raise us from the dead, but it is living in us now by the power of the Holy Spirit. Eternity starts now. We experience the love, the joy and the peace of Jesus living in our hearts, we have fellowship with him, right here and right now. We can talk to Jesus, the maker of the universe, the king of all kings, we can talk to him now, and we don't have to wait for eternity to do that. We will see him face to face one day.