Get Ready

Rev Gideon Lee

Matthew 25:1-13

The Parable of the Ten Virgins

​1 “At that time the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. 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, 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.

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.’

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. ‘Sir! Sir!’ they said. ‘Open the door for us!’

12 “But he replied, ‘I tell you the truth, I don’t know you.’

13 “Therefore keep watch, because you do not know the day or the hour.

I want to start by telling you a true story. About the sinking of the titanic. There was a lady on board the ship that went in the life boat as it was sinking. Just before they cast the life boat down, she remembered she needs something from her room. The guard told her the ship is sinking and there's no time left. What's so important that she had to go back to her room? She pleaded so the officer told her she has three minutes. After that they will not wait for her. She got off the lifeboat and ran to her room. As she passed the gambling hall she saw all the money left in the room but she passed it and went to her room. She has a lot of money and jewellery in her room but instead of taking them, she found the three oranges that she was looking for. And she made it in time back to the lifeboat.

There are things in our life that will change our perspective in life. No longer was her money important or her jewellery. She knew the three oranges were food she will need.

The same is with the coming back of Jesus. Even though it's been 2,000 years since he came we may have lost our perspective. I want to sound the alarm and how we live our life should be like that.

The story of the ten virgins says that. The Jewish wedding has three stages. Stage one is the engagement. The father of the bride and groom will agree to a certain amount of dowry and put in trust for the couple. The second stage is the betrothal. That's the wedding ceremony on paper. No physical contact yet. After that is the wedding celebration. That's where there's the wedding dinner and the groom will bring the bride home and their first night together where the consummation of the marriage takes place.

How many of you remember the day you got married? I remember the day when I got married. I could not sleep the whole night because I was so nervous. And I was up early to put on my suit and to go and fetch Serena from her house. All the groomsmen or all my guys were there early with me. And when we reached there, they had games where I have to win her over. As we reach, we blast our horns. She knows we are coming but she does not know the exact time I will arrive. I'm pretty sure she too cannot sleep that night and she was up early and waiting for me. We made a lot of noise so that she knows when the groom will arrive.

So as I arrived, the younger brother opens the door and I had to give what? Ang Pows (laughs). And I had to do some stuff. To sing a song of ten reasons why I loved her. And it had to be animals cause she knows I loved animals. Like you're as lovely as a peacock. Then the bridesmaids were all there stopping me. The ten virgins. So I gave Ang Pows again and then I saw her in all her beauty and splendour. So I asked myself what did I do to deserve her (wahs).

It is at this stage that Jesus talked about the ten virgins. They knew the groom was coming but they did not know the exact time. The ten virgins had to be ready. The groom had to travel great distance and it was at night. Maybe it's cooler. The groom will often delay and try to be late, like a game. He may delay but he is definitely coming back for his bride, the church. So he will send a messenger to announce his coming late at night.

The bible says one group was wise while the other was foolish. They were foolish because they had not prepared enough oil. The wise group brought extra oil. And as it happened, the groom came late and the five foolish virgins asked for oil from the wise virgins. But they cannot give their oil, so they asked why don't they go out to buy oil. So the five foolish virgins went out to buy oil, that's when the groom arrives.

And the groom sees his bride for the first time. And he took the bride home and closed the doors for the celebration. The foolish virgins finally arrived and asked to go in and the groom said I don't know you. Jesus said this to the foolish virgins.

Here are some things we can learn.

1. Some things in life cannot be borrowed.

We say sharing is caring but there are just some things in life that we hold dear and can't share. What are some of those things? Like your spouse. We talked about the Ten Commandments and one of it is that he is a jealous God. He does not want to share you. He is a jealous God. Another is our faith. You cannot use other people's faith to get to heaven. So if your father is a missionary, you cannot "tumpang" (ride on) on his faith to get to heaven. Just because your father is a Christian does not make you a Christian. You have to believe and have your own faith. You have to know God personally. You can't share.

Just like the five wise virgins. They can't share their oil with the foolish virgins.

2. There are some things that cannot be put off until the last minute.

Our church has fire insurance. Let's say we don't have it and as a fire breaks out we want to buy the insurance. Just like the virgins who needed to buy the oil last minute late in the night. Like studying for your exams last minute. The mommies know their children's time table better than them. They will wait till the last minute before they cramp everything in. How many of you like to do things last minute? That's why we must have deadlines. In a company there's always a person called Mr. Last Minute. These foolish virgins needed oil last minute. You cannot make withdrawals without deposits.

There was this parent who thought the pastor could change the mind of their daughter. After some time, the pastor said he cannot change the mind of their daughter. The parents were disappointed and asked the pastor why he can't change her mind? The pastor said "with due respect, how can I accomplish something in 30 minutes what you couldn't do in 30 years". Some things take time and we have to invest time into it. Some say pastor, let me make money first and then when I'm old I'll serve God.

I'm encouraging the young to rise up and serve. Don't wait till you are old. The standing board member list is up there and you see all their handsome faces. I'm glad there are new young faces. I'm not despising the old, except B.A. (laughs).

Also we cannot put off accepting the Lord as our saviour. We cannot say wait until the last minute.

3. If we are not prepared we can miss our great opportunity

The five foolish ones were not prepared and they miss the grand wedding celebration. Everybody was involved and sometimes it lasts for weeks. If we are not ready we may miss out on some great opportunities God has in store for us.

God has put in my heart our best season for this church is going to be evangelism. I'm going to lead all ministries towards reaching out. I believe this is what God wants for our church. And I want everybody involved. If we're not ready we are going to miss out on the opportunity. And I want the church to move with me. How many of us have shared Jesus with anyone this year? Like the Mike Constantine and Juwita Suwito concert, I was a little disappointed. I mean the programme went well but 99% of the people were all Christians. We should be encouraging others to make a decision for Christ but we have to tell them about Christ. The bible says he who wins soul is wise.

Evangelism fails because we are not willing to go out. We know what to do but we are not willing to go out. It takes time and effort so we think it's inconvenient. Think about how you know about Christ. Did someone took the time, effort and money to share with you? Let's do it for others.

We should not be like the five foolish virgins, we should be ready. The Royal Rangers has a mentoring programme that uses camping and other tools to disciple. But the motto is ready. Ready to serve God , ready to praise him and ready to be anything he wants us to be.

Church what is our motto? Arise Shine is our theme and our tagline is blessed to be a blessing. Can we have a motto "ready"? Let's get ready. I'll drill this in us knowing that Jesus is coming back soon.

No one know the exact time, not even the Angels but looking at the seasons we can tell but exactly when we don't know. Looking at the season we know it is soon. And we need to be ready.

Not only we need to be ready but we need to get others ready. Wouldn't it be a shame when we get to heaven and we see our best friend and relatives in hell. We need to be ready and get others ready.

I want to end with this quote. The best way to be ready for tomorrow is to be ready today. The best way to be ready for Jesus is to be ready now.