BEHOLD, THE BRIDEGROOM COMETH
by
Pastor Hyveth Williams
Theme: Being Ready for Jesus to
Come
Call to Worship: #815, Watchfulness
Opening Song: #340, Jesus Saves
Closing Song: #604, We Know Not
the Hour
Key Text: Matthew 25:1-13
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Weddings are times of joyous
celebration, even if we’ve not been personally married. I'm sure we’ve all had
occasion to share in the flurry of activities and nervous anticipation which
lasts for at least 46 hours from the rehearsal to the reception. We're fortunate
our weddings only last about 48 hours. In the time of Jesus they lasted a whole
week during which time regular domestic duties and religious obligations were
suspended so that the wedding party and all the guests could relish the full
delight of the occasion. The
The bride would ask ten of her
friends who were chaste—un-married young ladies whom she believed were able to
endure the rigors of this tradition, to be her bridesmaid. Their special task
was to wait with her for the arrival of the bridegroom, then lead a grand
procession from her house to the marriage home. Usually, this event took place
at night, so the major responsibility of the bridesmaids was to carry bright
blazing lamps or torches before the marriage procession as they danced with
joy, singing and shouting glad tidings, leading a rejoicing wedding party to its
final destination. Now the time when the bridegroom would arrive was also
always kept a secret, even though he was required by custom and practice to
send a messenger ahead of him shouting: “behold, the
bridegroom cometh! Come out to meet him!” No one but the groom knew the exact
moment of his arrival. It was to be a surprise! It was to be an event fitted
with fun, good humor, spontaneous mirth, a happy occasion when the bridesmaids,
alert and ready, would rush into the streets making so much noise and laughter
they'd wake up the entire neighborhood! Then the neighbors would stream out of
their homes, banging pots and pans, adding to the glee, as they joined the
procession which continued to swell as it moved along until it filled the streets.
It was against this familiar background of sheer joy and outlandish excitement
that Jesus built His parable on the ten virgins with dramatic skill. (Read
Matthew 25:1-13).
The bride, as we all know,
represents the church, the second Eve. But she is not the focus of this
parable. Instead, the Bridegroom. Jesus Christ, the
second Adam, and the bridesmaids, who represent every individual member of the
living body of Christ, are under scrutiny in this
powerful parable.
Sometimes we forget that this is
a story about one of the most joyous events in the human experience; but
mostly, we neglect to notice how much all of the ten bridesmaids were alike and
fail to find and heed the warning in verse 13 which says: “Therefore keep
watch, because you do not know the day or the hour.”
All were called and chosen by
the bride, then set apart from the rest of the community to conduct the special
task of leading the grand procession! All were virgins—free from impurity,
unspoiled by the prevailing passions of the day; unspoiled by the seductive
sirens of sin. They were fresh and dean, just as God sees us when we lift up
Christ in our lives and are clothed in His righteousness! All took their lamps—the
Word of God which is a light unto our paths—and went out from the world to wait
in the sanctuary of salvation for the arrival of the bridegroom.
All had oil, the Holy Spirit, in
those lamps which burned brightly as they began to wait for that uncertain,
unknown time when the bridegroom would come.
All got drowsy and began to
sleep as none could call upon inner resources to help them stay awake to watch
and wait with the bride. It is a human condition that those who labor for the
Lord will get tired and drowsy and dose off. There's no reason to despair
because we, the
When Roger Clemens of the Boston
Red Sox winds up and lets loose a ball which strikes out the opposing team, I
don't see the fans in Fenway Park sitting looking
around at each other saying, "Nice play." They stand to their feet
and shout "Roger! Roger! Roger!" When Emmett Smith of the Dallas Cowboys
football team catches the ball and bobs and weaves his way from the 10 yard
line all the way to the goal, overcoming every obstacle the opposition can
throw his way, to score a touchdown, people in the stadium don't just yawn and
nudge each other, nodding their approval. They erupt into a round of applause
that is deafening!
Yet one
greater that Clemens and Smith, Him who is the Holy Spirit, is with us,
inspiring as He teaches us. Yet
week after week we come to worship and some of us don't even want to sing a
hymn of praise! When we get a vision of Christ it makes us want to jump and
sing and shout all at the same time) When we all get to heaven Rev 19:1-10 says
we will rejoice, and be glad, and give Him glory at the marriage feast of the lamb.
Some of us are out of practice when it comes to praise and need to begin now so
we can do it well then!
All 10 virgins were asleep as we
are now and had to be jarred awake by the
All of them rose up with glad
expectation and trimmed their lamps—meaning they began to rehearse the wonders
and grace of the groom. This was generously laced with reciting of Psalms and
Scriptures as the parable comes to a gripping conclusion.
Only one thing distinguished
some from the others—five were wise enough to take extra oil and five were
foolish enough not take extra oil with them for what they all knew could be a
long, long wait.
Imagine the frustrated frenzy
which must have followed when the bridegroom's messenger announced his coming
and the five foolish bridesmaids realized they had run out of oil and had none
in reserve. Try to capture the urgency in the bargaining and begging recorded
in verse 8: (Read). How tragic to come so close and miss out on the one thing
for which they hoped and planned for so long!
The wisdom of the wise and the
folly of the foolish virgins have three important lessons for us who are
guardians of the torches, the lamps, in these last darkening days of the long
anticipated arrival of the bridegroom.
1. There's a time and a way to prepare for the
arrival of the Bridegroom and it's not when we hear the
Today, as we wait in the long
aftermath of that great disappointment, many are no better prepared than the
members of the Millerite Movement who left, and like
the five foolish virgins were locked out.
All around us are conflicts and
confusing messages which are devoted to enticing us from our faith, or to waste
and misuse the grace-gift of holy oil which is the power and presence of the
Holy Spirit. For example, a recent Time magazine article shared
conclusions of biblical
scholars who said most of what is reported in the Gospels to have been said by
Jesus were really never said by Him, and that Jesus was a myth, and His
crucifixion a farce! Well, I can’t prove if all the words are His or not—but I
know this, when I first read Luke 18:40-43 and heard Jesus ask: "What do
you want me to do for you?" I said to be free of shame and pain and the
hazards of sin, Jesus came into my life and totally transformed me and restored
my dignity so that now I can be numbered among His saints who praise His name
day and night until He comes!
I may not be able to prove that
this living Word is all that it is reported to be to satisfy those scholars,
but I know that when we read, heard, and obeyed the instructions so generously
and clearly given, the Boston Temple, which was once a dying church of 27
members was resurrected, revitalized and five years later we have 230 members,
and more than 350 in attendance each week!
We now know that to be truly
prepared to meet the bridegroom, we must have a personal relationship with Him
before He comes again. We must become His friends and be ready to carefully and
deliberately lay down our lives for Him as we lift Him up so that He can draw
others to Him. He said, "I have called you friends." Will you, friends,
stand loyal in your bodily life?
The unprepared bridesmaids were
not His friends for they did not take the time beforehand to get to know Him
well. If they had, they would have figured that He was the type to savor the
surprise of His arrival and linger longer than expected. They banked on some
absurd idea that He would be so anxious to consummate His marriage He would not
wait too long to take His bride. If they had personal knowledge of the
Bridegroom they would have known that for the joy that was set before Him He
endured and prolonged the pleasure and anticipation of the great homecoming! If
they knew Him they would have brought extra oil with them! Do you know Him, and
are you prepared for the long wait? The oil of the Holy Spirit, the indwelling
Christ, prepares us ahead of the event for the breakthrough of our Lord in each
day's experience as well as His anticipated arrival, soon, in the clouds of
angels.
Just imagine if you will, that
we are sitting here and there's a noise, something like a dust storm and the
roof is suddenly blown off. We huddle together; then we hear crashing of
buildings, screeching of cars coming to a sudden stop, screaming people. Something
big is happening! People are running to and from and frenzied mothers try to
locate lost, screaming children. We realize it's the Second Coming. We look up
and see in the distance a dark cloud like a fist coming closer and closer. Do
you run and hide—or rush to welcome Him? Think on these things while we wait
for that grand and awesome day. The sentiments expressed in this old folk tune
should be our prayer every day as we prepare for the grand climax of our hope
in the Second Coming:
Give me oil in my lamp,
keep me burning, Hot! Hot! Hot!
Give me oil in my lamp I pray.
Give me oil in my lamp keep me
burning,
keep me burning till the break
of day.
Don’t feel bad or apologize if
your lamps are burning bright while the flames of others are flickering out. We
all, as bridesmaids of Jesus, have the opportunity to be filled with His Holy
Spirit so we can say, “Come, Hosanna—Come quickly for we are ready NOW!”
2. There's going to be a time
when Christians should, must, and will say no to other Christians who beg to
borrow from our reserves! The time is not yet, but it will come! (Read verses 8-9).
Go home and share now, freely giving what you have so freely received, knowing
that a time will come when you too will have to say no to a brother or sister
who wants to borrow oil from your sparse reserves. The response of the five
wise virgins may seem selfish, cruel, and insensitive, but in reality its an
honest statement about life's crises. For example, you study hard, attend
prayer meetings every week at sacrifice to your time, and many other wonderful
things you could do. You give up some fascinating, attractive Saturday
activities you could do with your kids in the world to spend the Sabbath with
them in church; you plan your lives and vacations around campmeetings,
and when calamity comes and it is the end of the waiting for Jesus, you will be
filled and they will be empty. Then they will say, please study with us, please
share what you have learned at campmeeting or in
worship each week! At that time, you must be wise enough to discern that if you
give some of your reserves to those foolish beggars all the lamps will go out
before the night's task is completed and you will be forced to also drop out of
the grand procession.
Study now, share now, take your
tapes, videos and books and spread them tike the leaves of autumn. Soon you will
go down from this mount of transfiguration into the valley where death and sin
casts their long shadow on all inhabitants. But remember, when the trumpet of
the Lord shall sound time will be no more, don’t take the time to share your
resources and reserves. Be like the wise virgins who said: (Read verse 9).
In the excitement of the
announcement of the bridegroom's arrival they forgot that normal life was
suspended for the wedding celebration. Every shop in the village was closed.
Even if there was a Seven-Eleven, it was
3. There's a time when it will
be too late, when the moment of opportunity will pass and never come again. (Read
vs. 10-12). There's no more pathetic, poignant picture in the Scripture than
those five foolish virgins standing at the door, banging away, shouting,
begging: "Lord, Lord, open up for us!" They learned as we must that
there will be a time when we'll ask and will not receive; when we will seek and
not find! When we will knock and the door will not be opened unto us!
Imagine how devastating it must
have been when they heard the bridegroom say: (Read verse 12). They could hear
the joy of the wedding banquet, the laughter, the music and dancing, the sounds
of celebration but the door was shut!
Tennyson caught the pathos of the closed door in his poem, Late, Late,
So Late.
Late,
late, so late! And dark the night and chill
Late, late, so late! But we can enter
still
Too late, too late! Ye cannot enter now
No
light had we: for that we do repent;
And learning this, the bridegroom will
relent.
Too late, too late! Ye cannot enter now.
No
light: so late! And dark and chill the night!
O, let us in, that we may find the light!
Too late, too late: ye cannot enter now.
Have
we not heard the bridegroom is so sweet?
O let us in, tho’
late, to kiss his feet!
No, no, too late! Ye cannot enter
now.
(From Guinevere” and based on
the parable of the Wise and Foolish Virgins. See St. Matthew 25.)
Friends there's a time when it
will be too late—not for God, but for us! The abundant life is offered to us
every living moment, new every morning, but so often we are too busy with our
own perspectives and miss the overtures of God. Remember, repeated resistance
will result in a life which ends with the rejection of God's invitation to live
forever with Him. Too often we come to that point and realize we are on the
outside of the closed door. Like the mother from
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About the Sermon Writer: Dr.
Hyveth B. Williams is the Senior Pastor at Campus
Hill Church in