Jesus came at a set time predetermined by Almighty God. (Gal.4:4) In human
history that generation alive on earth during Jesus first coming was unique!
From Scripture we learn that for the Jews it was held more responsible than
other ones. Mt.23:36 - I assure you, all the accumulated judgment of the
centuries will break upon the heads of this very generation. This was the
message gave the Jesus rejecting religious Jews. This judgment came true
when in 70 AD Roman conquered Jerusalem and destroyed the Temple. The
Israelites were scattered through out the nations of the world.
The generation alive on earth when Jesus returns is also a unique generation.
It to will be held responsible for it's rejection of the love of God displayed
through the Lord Jesus Christ. The last generation will experience what no
other generation has or will. It will come face to face with the wrath of God.
It will suffer "the day of God's vengeance". It will happen to the final generation
of those on earth who have failed to establish a right relationship with God
through the Lord Jesus Christ.
The final generation of Christians on earth will also be unique in God's
purposes and expectations. Every generation of Believers since Jesus'
ascension to the right hand of the Father have been called to live their lives in
an attitude of anticipation regarding Jesus return. For many it never happened
BUT the point is, in their heart they had dealt with the issues of the eternal
being more important than the temporal. They lived by faith investing in
eternity. They lived as the patriarchs described in the book of Hebrews. They
were pilgrims on earth. Their citizenship was in heaven and they look forward
to their eternal home. You can be sure they will be rewarded accordingly!
What about us? What about the Christians who are alive on earth when Jesus
returns? What does God expect of us? What is unique about us?
Simply: WE MUST BE READY when Jesus returns.
All the parables of the Kingdom teach us something of great significance!
These parables where Jesus' way of relating spiritual truths! By using
common things that we readily relate to and understand He taught us about
His spiritual and eternal Kingdom.
These parables general teach us the aspect of God's Kingdom as it pertains
to it's present reality in a yet to be perfected world. The parable of the wheat
and tares (weeds) for example clearly teaches that the aspect the Kingdom
of heaven, which is here on earth, is, and will be until Jesus returns, a "mixed
bag"! Why God has chosen to allow this is beyond me! But this is His divine
and holy program. We all must learn to allow God to be who He is and learn
how we are to function with Him in His present Kingdom while still on earth.
God clearly sees the spiritual distinction between the wheat and tares as the
Apostle Paul says in 2Tim. 2:19 - But God's truth stands firm like a foundation
stone with this inscription: "The Lord knows those who are his," and "Those
who claim they belong to the Lord must turn away from all wickedness." It not
really our responsibility to point out who is and who is not really a child of
God! It is however our responsibility to be sure that we are, and continue to
be, in right relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. 2P. 1:10 - So, dear
brothers and sisters, work hard to prove that you really are among those God
has called and chosen. Doing this, you will never stumble or fall away.
For those of us who would prefer that it was not the time of the "mixed bag".
We are able to take great consolation in the fact that one day, in the not too
distant future, things are going to be different. The time is fast approaching
when that which is imperfect will give way to God's full perfection. The Apostle
Paul puts it this way in 1Cor. 13:10 - but when perfection comes, the
imperfect disappears. Until then however we must join in the "faith walk" of
those who have successfully completed their earthly pilgrimage. We "look
forward" to and live now with the eternal future in mind and at heart.
Heb.11:13-16 - All these faithful ones died without receiving what God had
promised them, but they saw it all from a distance and welcomed the
promises of God. They agreed that they were no more than foreigners and
nomads here on earth. 14 And obviously people who talk like that are looking
forward to a country they can call their own. 15 If they had meant the country
they came from, they would have found a way to go back. 16 But they were
looking for a better place, a heavenly homeland. That is why God is not
ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a heavenly city for them.
Presently there is so much about our society that is in total contradiction to
the Word of God. If that isn't enough to tear your heart out, looking at the
present spiritual state of the Canadian Church, in general, is. We are so far
from God's best for us that like the "first generation" of "Exodus Israelites" it's
hard to believe that there's so much of the "New Covenant Canaan Land" yet
to be experienced. That's another subject though! Like Lot our souls are vexed
and grieved with all the sin that is so rampant in this generation. 2P. 2: 7 - But
at the same time, God rescued Lot out of Sodom because he was a good
man who was sick of all the immorality and wickedness around him. 8 Yes,
he was a righteous man who was distressed by the wickedness he saw and
heard day after day.
One of the major challenges facing God's people today is: How do we live
today? We've been forewarned that the days just preceding Jesus' return will
be the same as they were in the days of Noah. Violence and sin will fill the
earth! (Gen.6:5) In general, people will be great lovers of pleasure rather than
lovers God! (2Tim.3:4) With spiritual confusion all around us God has clearly
instructed us how to live. Jesus' glorious appearing can't be too far off and in
this light Peter has some powerful words of direction for us in 2P.3: 11-14 -
Since everything around us is going to melt away, what holy, godly lives you
should be living! 12 You should look forward to that day and hurry it along-the
day when God will set the heavens on fire and the elements will melt away in
the flames. 13 But we are looking forward to the new heavens and new earth
he has promised, a world where everyone is right with God. 14 And so, dear
friends, while you are waiting for these things to happen, make every effort to
live a pure and blameless life. And be at peace with God. It is absolutely right
that we live looking forward to Jesus' return.
Right now, we need to be shifting our spiritual gears, as it were! We need to
be proactive in our preparations to meeting the Lord! We're clearly told that
some will scoff at this idea! (2P.3:3,4) However, like Jesus said in Mt.11:19 -
…But wisdom is proved right by her actions. (NIV) This brings us face to face
with the parable of the ten virgins in Mt.25:1-13. Jesus taught powerful
spiritual truth using illustrations from everyday life so that even the simplest
of us we would be able to clearly understand. Too often, hyper analyzing a
parable will obscure its simple meaning and as a result we lose its intended
purpose. What is Jesus purposing to teach us today through this parable?
It's very basic yet profoundly important!
Ten virgins, five wise, five foolish! The context of this parable is the "Second
Coming of Christ". The message being taught here is the need to ready to
meet the Lord when the trumpet sounds. This is clearly emphasised when
Jesus in Mt. 25:13 says -"So stay awake and be prepared, because you do
not know the day or hour of my return." Accepting this to be the message
should result in action! In Mt. 7:24-27 Jesus uses another parable to teach
us the difference between the wise and the foolish! .7:24-27 - "Anyone who
listens to my teaching and obeys me is wise, like a person who builds a
house on solid rock. 25 Though the rain comes in torrents and the floodwaters
rise and the winds beat against that house, it won't collapse, because it is
built on rock. 26 But anyone who hears my teaching and ignores it is foolish,
like a person who builds a house on sand. 27 When the rains and floods come
and the winds beat against that house, it will fall with a mighty crash."
The "wise person" listens to God's Word and obeys, while the foolish may
hear God's Word but fails to do what it says. The difference between the wise
and foolish virgins is in area of their spiritual actions. In light of Jesus' soon
return, the wise begin to spiritually prepare themselves and their families.
They prioritize and focus their energies and resources on the King and His
soon coming Kingdom. The question we need to be asking ourselves is:
Am I ready? If the trumpet call of God came today would I be ready to go at
once and meet Him or would I hesitate because of some "so called"
unfinished business, whatever that might be? In the "Ten Virgins" parable the
five foolish had not properly prepared themselves! Clearly they were not ready
when the announcement was given to come and welcome the Bridegroom!
The most important message of this parable MUST NOT be missed. The
message is; "Always be ready for Jesus sudden return".
Because of the time in which we live there is no need to apologize for
stressing and emphasizing the need and importance for being spiritually ready
for Jesus glorious appearing. I want to stir and challenge all who read this!
Whenever the Scripture puts an emphasis on something we need to pay
attention: Lk. 12:40 - You must be ready all the time, for the Son of Man
will come when east expected." You can be sure there's a good reason God
stresses "MUST BE READY"! Certainly it's both and encouragement and a
warning! We need to hear the heart of God in this! He loves His people and
always and only desires their absolute best! He would never give a warning for
the sole purposing of scaring us! He does, however purpose for us to take the
warning seriously and wisely respond in obedience.
The Apostle John was given a specific message to share with us!
1Jn. 1:5 - This is the message he has given us to announce to you: God is
light and there is no darkness in him at all. There is no darkness in God
at all! That means there's no spiritual deception! To give a warning void of
actual consequence would be deceptive. It would be a false motivator!
Whenever God gives a clear warning we can be absolutely sure that stated
consequence for failing to act in obedience will be experienced. There are a
few parables Jesus used to illustrate the Kingdom of Heaven that clearly have
extremely negative consequences for failing to be spiritually prepared for when
Jesus returns. The "Ten Virgins" is only one of them but it illustrated very
clearly that if we are not ready when the final trumpet is sounded then we are
going to be able to meet the Lord and be with Him at that time. This sounds
harsh and very rigid but it would be wrong of me to water this truth down! I
want to make it absolutely clear that there will be very negative consequences
for those who profess to be Christians and yet fail be ready when Jesus
returns. This might appear at first to be legalistic but viewed in the light that
relationship with God is based on love then it fits. If we don't love Jesus
enough to obey Him now, what makes us think we'll do it latter?
When trying to understand how God deals with people we must avoid
humanism and rely fully on the Word of God. God has not changed over the
years. He still remains the God who originally established the standards of
His eternal Kingdom. It never hurts to be reminded that God can be very
severe when it comes to unfaithfulness in the hearts of His people. The
Apostle Paul reminded the Believers in Rome of this truth when he spoke
of how God turned away from Israel and opened the salvation door to the
Gentiles.Rom.11:22 - Notice how God is both kind and severe. He is severe
to those who disobeyed, but kind to you as you continue to trust in his
kindness. But if you stop trusting, you also will be cut off. 23 And if the Jews
turn from their unbelief, God will graft them back into the tree again. He has
the power to do it. The point is very clear; If we don't love God enough to obey
Him by applying the necessary spiritual disciplines so that we're ready when
Jesus comes then we've basically chosen our own fate! It's certainly not what
God wants but he will not violate our will.
So much today goes under the guise of Christianity. The extreme of this is
that some think that because someone has been born in North America then
they're a Christian. The name "Christian" in many cases is no longer
recognizable when compared to lives of the Believers in Antioch who where
the ones to first be called Christians. As the Apostle Paul said in 2Tim. 2:19 -
But God's truth stands firm like a foundation stone with this inscription: "The
Lord knows those who are his," and "Those who claim they belong to the Lord
must turn away from all wickedness."
The message of Jesus soon return in power and great glory needs to heard in
this generation. Without question some will mock this message. If it were only
the unbelievers it would be easier to understand. Jesus return is too often
laughed at by those who profess to be Christians. It goes without saying that
these people will definitely not be prepared to meet the Lord when He
appears! 2P.3:3,4 - First, I want to remind you that in the last days there will
be scoffers who will laugh at the truth and do every evil thing they desire. 4
This will be their argument: "Jesus promised to come back, did he? Then
where is he? Why, as far back as anyone can remember, everything has
remained exactly the same since the world was first created."
For those of God's people who are sincere in their relationship with Christ
there is no fear for God has purposed that His "children of light" will not be
overcome by darkness. They will not be caught unaware of Jesus coming!
1Thes.5:1-9 - I really don't need to write to you about how and when all this
will happen, dear brothers and sisters. 2 For you know quite well that the day
of the Lord will come unexpectedly, like a thief in the night. 3 When people
are saying, "All is well; everything is peaceful and secure," then disaster will
fall upon them as suddenly as a woman's birth pains begin when her child is
about to be born. And there will be no escape. 4 But you aren't in the dark
about these things, dear brothers and sisters, and you won't be surprised
when the day of the Lord comes like a thief. 5 For you are all children of the
light and of the day; we don't belong to darkness and night. 6 ¶ So be on
your guard, not asleep like the others. Stay alert and be sober. 7 Night
is the time for sleep and the time when people get drunk. 8 But let us who live
in the light think clearly, protected by the body armor of faith and love, and
wearing as our helmet the confidence of our salvation. 9 For God decided to
save us through our Lord Jesus Christ, not to pour out his anger on us.
For the true and sincere Believer the motivation to be ready for Jesus
appearance is not fear but love. True love obeys and longs to respond
favourably to the will of God at any and all cost!
When we're spiritually prepared the truth of Jesus soon or sudden appearing
is something looked forward to with joy and excitement. This is when we'll
actually meet in person the One who died to free us from the penalty of sin.
Ph.3:20,21 - But we are citizens of heaven, where the Lord Jesus Christ lives.
And we are eagerly waiting for him to return as our Savior. 21 He will
take these weak mortal bodies of ours and change them into glorious bodies
like his own, using the same mighty power that he will use to conquer
everything, everywhere.
2Tim. 4:8 - And now the prize awaits me-the crown of righteousness that the
Lord, the righteous Judge, will give me on that great day of his return. And the
prize is not just for me but for all who eagerly look forward to his
glorious return.
Only through living in consistent intimacy with Jesus on a daily basis is one
able to honestly enjoy the thought of Jesus' sudden appearance in power and
great glory. It is through loving, caring relationship with Christ that we can
sincerely long for His soon return! I find nothing in Scripture to limit how close
any of us may to the heart of the Lord Jesus Christ. It is time to separate
ourselves from the things that would distract us from intimacy with Jesus. It is
time for full surrender, in love obedience, to God's perfect will for our lives in
this generation! Now is the time!
God bless you as you choose to seek the heart of God for spiritual
preparation to meet the Lord! It's going to be a great Meeting!
.
