them verily I say unto you as much as ye have done it unto one one of the least
of these my brethren you have done it unto me then shall he say also unto them
to on the left hand depart from me he cursed it into everlasting fire prepared
for the devil and his angels for I was in hungered and he gave me no meat I was
thirsty and he gave me no drink I was a stranger and he took me not in naked and
he clothed me not sick and in prison and he visited me not then shall they also
answer him saying Lord when saw we thee in hungered or thirst or stranger or
naked or sick or in prison and did not minister it unto thee then shall he
answer them saying verily I say unto you and as much as he did it not to one of
the least of these he did it not to me and these shall go away into everlasting
punishment but the righteous into eternal life let's pray thank you
Heavenly Father for King James Bible dear God we thank you for our church we
thank you for our pastor dear Lord and we ask that you please bless him tonight
as he preaches your word in Jesus name we pray amen amen okay we're in Matthew
chapter 25 tonight and tonight we actually conclude the parables against
the Jews by Jesus Christ here and here in chapter 25 and I want to say there's
three parables here but obviously one of them isn't explicitly stated that it's a
parable it's a story at the very end illustrating the sheep and the goats
there but the first two are definitely parables but what's important about this
chapter is what is being taught here what is the biblical truth the the truth
that God's trying to get across here and the reason it's important to understand
these particular parables is because this chapter is often used by false
prophets to teach a workspace salvation and one of the reasons why is because of
the fact that chapter 25 is kind of a dark saying this the parables and
illustrations that are being used here are kind of hard to understand and at a
glance it may even confuse some Christians and so I want to give clarity
to these parables and what they mean now here in chapter 25 first and foremost
we're going to look at the the parable of the ten virgins and look at verse
number one it says then shall the kingdom of heaven be likened unto ten
virgins which took their lamps and went forth to meet the bridegroom now right
off the bat because we just finished chapter 24 we know that we're still in
context of the rapture chapter 24 dealing with the tribulation of course
the rapture thereafter and the admonitions that he gives at the end of
chapter 24 with the importance of being ready and watching and so this parable
is essentially piggybacking off of those off of that thought that we see at the
latter end of chapter 24 and so he gives this parable of these ten virgins and he
says in verse number two and five of them were wise and five are foolish they
that were foolish took their lamps and took no oil with them but the wise took
oil on their vessels with their lamps while the bridegroom tarried they all
slumbered and slept and at midnight there was a cry made behold the bridegroom
cometh go ye out to meet him now what is this referring to well we can obviously
see that there's a distinction being made here between saved and unsaved but
because we're dealing with the Jews as well in these parables it's obviously
also referring to the Jews and those who are believers now let me give you a
couple clues in this particular verse or explain some of the clues that are given
to us to prove that okay number one is the fact that he addresses this parable
regarding ten virgins now why is that significant well we know that they're
split five and five and if you think about it you know the children of Israel
in the Old Testament could be likened unto a virgin why is that well because
of the fact that when you read the Old Testament you'll see that often there's
certain wording in the Old Testament that describes the children of Israel as
though they are espoused unto the Lord right in fact there's multiple times
instances for example in Jeremiah chapter 31 where God says I was a
husband unto them and we also see that when the children of Israel would
forsake the God of the Bible and start worshipping false gods God equated it
with what adultery he would say that they're going a whoring after other
gods so on and so forth and so I think the reason he's referring to the Old
Testament Saints here as virgins it's because they're special they are chosen
unto him they are special unto him and that's exactly what the children of
Israel were in the Old Testament they were the chosen people of God now
obviously in the New Testament because of that transition with a physical
nation no longer being the children the people of God now it's all believers
right they collectively make up God's chosen people we can see how believers
can also be described as being a virgin right you say why is that well you know
we're the chosen people of God but also the Apostle Paul states he says that he
was jealous over the believers at Corinth with a godly jealousy for I have
espoused you unto one husband and he talks about how they're just like a
chaste virgin unto one husband referring to Jesus Christ the Bible says that
husbands love your wives as Christ also loved the church and gave himself for it
and then he says you know that he may present it to himself as a glorious
church not having spot or wrinkles you can see how believers are also
essentially compared to a virgin now look at the next clue that we get here
is the fact that it states that these ten virgins take their lamps so all ten
of these are virgins and all ten of these have a lamp well what is a lamp
significant of what does it symbolize in the Bible the Word of God and in the Old
Testament we know that the children of Israel had the Word of God and in fact
the oracles of God were committed unto them they had the Word of God that were
used to pen down the scriptures no prophecy of the scripture is of any
private interpretation for the scripture came not in old time by the will of man
but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost this is
obviously referring to the Old Testament prophets and scribes who were used by
God to pen down the Word of God they had that lamp and of course the book of
Psalms talks about that the Word of God is a lamp into our feet and a light unto
our path but you know also we have the scriptures in the New Testament as well
and in fact the Bible says that we have a more short word of prophecy because
now we have the entire canonized Bible we have all 66 books here that we read
on a daily basis we read on a weekly basis in church and so we both can be
likened unto virgins likened unto those who are carrying lamps and then he says
in verse number two and five of them are wise and five were foolish and he goes
on explain regarding the oil but let me spend a little bit of time talking about
why they're wise and why they're foolish well the wise ones are obviously those
who are saved okay and when I think of this particular phrase here I think of
what he says in Matthew chapter 7 where Jesus says whosoever heareth the sayings
of mine and doeth them I will liken him unto a wise man which built his house
upon a rock right and he talks about how you know the rain descended and the
floods came and the winds blew and beat upon that house and it fell not for it
was founded upon a rock and what he's commending those people for is not
necessarily what they're building but what they're building upon right he's
commending them for the foundation that they have and of course the rock is not
referring to Dwayne Johnson amen it's referring to Jesus Christ he is that
rock and in fact you know in 1st Corinthians chapter 3 for example it
states no other foundation no foundation can excuse me no other foundation can no
man lay than that which is laid which is Jesus Christ referring to the fact that
the most important thing for a person to do is have the right foundation and of
course even if you have the right foundation at that point you can build
upon it gold silver precious stones sometimes Christians build up wood, hay,
and stubble but even those who build up wood, hay, and stubble still have the
right foundation and they shall be saved yet so as by fire right and so the right
foundation God says if you have them then you're wise why because you
believed on the Lord Jesus Christ you have salvation and so I believe this is
referring to that and in fact in that same passage in Matthew chapter 7 he's
says but whosoever heareth these sayings of mine and doeth them not I will
liken him unto a foolish man which built his house upon the sand okay and of
course we see that the rains descended the floods came the winds blew and it
beat upon that house and it fell and great was the fall of it and so the fool
is a person who does not have Jesus Christ as the cornerstone he's the
person who builds his house upon the shifting sands of false doctrine of the
wrong salvation the wrong Bible the wrong religion he builds it not upon
Jesus Christ but upon everything else and so we know that we have to build our
foundation upon Jesus Christ who is the chief cornerstone the Bible talks about
that we have our foundation that was created by the apostles and prophets
Jesus Christ himself being the chief cornerstone Ephesians chapter 2 so we
see here that he says there's five that were wise and five that were foolish we
can liken that unto those who are saved and those who are not saved look at
verse number three they that were foolish took their lamps and took no oil
with them but the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps so what's
another thing that we see here well now he begins to describe the oil okay and
the five who were wise had oil in their vessels the fools did not now what is
oil symbolic of the Holy Spirit right and so obviously this is referring to
the fact that they're saved as well because of the fact that they have the
the indwelling of the Holy Spirit in their vessels whereas the foolish do not
have the indwelling of the Holy Spirit in their vessels and if we were to
compare this to the literal interpretation which is referring to
Jews and saved Gentiles saved Gentiles have the indwelling of the Holy Spirit
because they're part of that New Covenant whereby when you believe on
Jesus Christ you're sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise which is the
earnest of our inheritance whereas unsaved Jews don't have the Holy Spirit
they don't have the Holy Spirit they don't have that oil okay and so here's
another indicator that it's not only referring to believer and unbeliever but
also Jew and believing Gentiles talks about the oil and he says in verse number
five while the bridegroom tarried they all slumbered and slept oh here's
nothing I want to mention you know the fact that he says that there's oil in
the lamps of those who are wise it's essentially showing us that the only
people we can learn the Bible from are those who have the Holy Spirit he talks
about the lamps being the Word of God but the oil that lights the lamp and the
way we learn the truth of God's Word is through the Holy Spirit and this is why
no Christian should ever go to some unsafe Christ rejecting Jew Jewish
Encyclopedia to learn the Word of God because they don't know the Bible they
don't have oil in their vessels you say yeah but they have the lamp though yeah
but they're blind though they don't have the Word of God I mean they have the
Word of God but you know what they don't they can't understand it and in fact
2nd Corinthians chapter 3 talks about the fact that they have a veil over
their heart you know and it talks about how they their minds are blinded that
even in the reading of the Old Testament they're still blinded until they turn to
Christ and then the veil is taken away so aside from the fact that they're not
saved and they can't understand the Word of God Jews in general just have a veil
over their eyes you know and thereby that's why they can't see the biblical
scriptural truths and of course that's a call back to when Moses went to Mount
Sinai he saw the the back parts of God and he his face was so glorious with the
glory of God that he had to cover his face with the veil right and when the
Israelites will look upon him they couldn't see him because of that veil
when like manner you know Moses is that picture of Jesus Christ and Israelites
cannot see Jesus Christ because there's a veil there and so they can't behold
the glory of God through Jesus Christ because there is a veil there they
cannot see it you say well you know we should still go to Jews for a cultural
context though you know maybe not be able to teach us spiritual truths but
maybe they can give us a cultural context of Israel well I don't even
think they can do that and let me explain to you why because who is a
liar but he that denied that Jesus is the Christ he is Antichrist that denied
the father and the son and so you know if the Bible saying that they're liars
because they're essentially lying about the testimony of the witness of God of
his son Jesus Christ what other things are they gonna lie about I mean they're
gonna lie about a lot of other things and so obviously they're gonna give you
a slanted narrative of the Jewish culture to favor their religion so I'm
not gonna go to unsaved Jews for cultural context and here's the thing
you don't even need a cultural context to understand the Bible and whatever
cultural context God wants you to know is already in the Bible you know beware
of the cultural context interpretation of the Bible when it's just like you you
tell them about Leviticus 20 13 it's like oh you need to learn the culture
though of that day is that well the culture of that day is that there's fags
there and so that was that was so it's the same thing here okay and somehow
through cultural context they supplant the Word of God and want to get you to
kind of ignore what the Bible clearly says because oh you got to understand
what the Jews say about cultural context no they have a veil over their
eyes they can't see they have no oil in their lamps and their vessels to put in
put in the lamps and so you know throw away the Jewish encyclopedias and all
these Jewish writers there's no credibility there my friends you know
the Bible says I have not seen nor ear of heard neither have entered into the
heart of man the things which God had prepared for them that love him but God
hath revealed them unto us by his spirit the Bible says for the Spirit searcheth
all things yea the deep things of God so if you want to learn deep things you
don't go to the Jews you go to the Word of God through the ministry of the Holy
Spirit okay you don't need to go to some commentary why don't you go to the
greatest commentator of the Bible which is the Holy Spirit the one who penned
down the Word of God using holy men of God right and the Bible also says that
the natural man referring to the unsaved man receiveth not the things of the
Spirit of God for they are foolishness unto him and he cannot know them for
they're spiritually discerned but he that is spiritual judges all things yet
he himself has judged no man so again it's just kind of reinforcing the fact
that in order for us to understand the Word of God we need to pray for
understanding open down mine eyes that I may behold wondrous things out of thy
law okay not you know Oh rabbi show me the cultural context so I could
understand the Bible that you don't believe because they don't even believe
the Bible why would you go to someone who believes in evolution to understand
the Bible you know and so and you're like yeah but you know they believe the
first five books they don't even believe Moses I mean Jesus said that himself you
would have believed Moses you would have believed me for he wrote of me okay so
they may pay lip service to claiming to believe in Moses but they don't because
they rejected Jesus Christ and Moses wrote of Jesus Christ because he
believed in Jesus Christ you say Oh Moses didn't even know about Jesus
according to Hebrews he did he chose to suffer the afflictions with the people
of God than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season esteem in the reproach
of Christ's greater riches than the riches of Egypt so obviously he did
believe in him he was a saved man etc so we see here that they're like it unto
ten virgins I believe this is referring to both the physical nation of Israel
who were once the chosen people of God and obviously we're in a transitional
period even here in this particular chapter and then of course the chosen
people of God in the New Covenant they both have labs because we both have the
Word of God but one is wise and one is foolish because one is saved and one is
not not only that but one has oil on their lab meaning they have the Holy
Spirit and one doesn't because they're not saved because in order to get the
Holy Spirit's indwelling you have to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ now
what is the main purpose of this particular parable well again it's it's
kind of a it's a thought that's being carried over from chapter 24 and the
purpose of it is to convey the importance of being ready for the coming
of Christ okay because he says there in verse 5 while the bridegroom tarried they
all slumbered and slept and at midnight there was a cry made behold the bridegroom
cometh go ye out to meet him then all those virgins arose and trimmed their
lamps and the foolish said unto the wise give us of your oil for our lamps
are gone out but the wise answered saying not so lest there be not enough
for us and for you go you rather to them that sell and buy for yourselves and it
says in verse number 10 and while they went to buy the bridegroom came and they
there were ready went in with him to the marriage and the door was shut so what
type of readiness was required here to be saved because if you look at it says
they all slumbered and slept referring to both the five foolish virgins and the
five wise the difference is is that when the bridegroom came even those who fell
asleep and were you know not necessarily ready they were still saved and you know
what I would almost liken this to like the pre troopers because of the fact
that many of them like for example fundamental Baptist they are asleep
right they're not really aware but they will be made aware one day though so
even though they live the rest of their lives here just believing in a preacher
of rapture if the second covenant of Christ is in our lifetime they will be
made aware at one point you said when when the bridegroom comes okay whether
it's like they're aware when the Antichrist shows up that's probably the
only time they're avoiding us the entire time because they think we're gonna tell
I told you so but I want you to notice that they all slumbered and slept but
even though they slumbered and slept they were still ready because of the
fact that they were saved so the most important thing you can do a person can
do to prepare for the rapture is that you're saved you understand so that you
can be raptured you know a lot of people want to talk about the second coming of
Christ and all the events that surround the end times but they often miss the
most important thing and that is that they need to be saved because they want
to talk about end times prophecy and the four whores and the mark of the beast
and the Antichrist and what's going on in Israel but they literally neglect the
most important aspect which is they need to be saved first they need to have oil
in their lamps because once that takes place they're gonna be coming to the
other Christian saying oh give us of your oil and we're already we're like
too late bud you know we're out of here and so this is what it's conveying is
the importance of being ready and how can you get ready making sure you have
oil in your lamp meaning you have to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ this is
not saying that you got to keep sin out of your life you have to live a perfect
life before the second coming of Christ it's just saying you have to have oil on
the lamp and the oil is significant referring to the Holy Spirit in fact the
Bible refers to him as the unction of the Holy One it refers to him as the
anointing which teaches you all things and that you need not that any man teach
you okay and so that's important there he says in verse number 11 afterward
came also the other virgin saying Lord Lord open to us but he answered and said
verily I say unto you I know you not watch therefore for you know neither the
day nor the hour wherein the Son of Man cometh and then verse 14 we get into the
parable of talents now let me explain something real quick before I get into
these this next parable I've always taught this next parable regarding the
talents basically the way probably every pastor has taught it and that is giving
the secondary application there's a great parable here great chapter dealing
with talents and how to get God distribute certain talents to people to
Christians and how some people have more talents than others and I think that's a
fantastic application and that I preach sermons like that in times past and it's
definitely applicable right because if you think about it people have various
gifts and abilities some more than others some people are a five talented
Christian other people are too talented Christian another one has one we all
have at least one though you know and God expects for you to be a good steward
of that talent that he gives you in other words if you have a God-given
ability whether it's you're just a natural or God gave you the ability to
learn that specific skill that specific talent that you should use it for the
kingdom of God amen use it for the things of God and sometimes you know
Christians can have this attitude of like well you know this person has five
talents and I only have one and but here's the thing the Bible says that if
there be first a willing mind it is according to that a man hath and not
according to that he hath not he just wants you to do what you can with what
you have so even if you have just one talent use that one talent can you play
the piano play the piano can you play an instrument play an instrument can you
play you know the jug don't play the jug because we don't want that here but
good for you that you can play the jug amen what talent do you have can you
sing are you a good orator what skill do you have that you can use for the kingdom
of God to propagate the Word of God to benefit other Christians use it no
matter what it is right be a good steward of that talent that God has
given to you and so that is a great application and I don't think there's
anything wrong preaching that but I'm gonna give you what the main
interpretation is of this particular parable in context of what we've been
looking at over the last five six weeks regarding these parables because what we
have here is a man going into a far country and he leaves five talents with
one of his servants he leaves two talents with the other and then he
leaves one talent with the third servant right and he comes back to reckon with
them and the man who has the servant who has the five talents doubles it by
trading he actually is a good steward he's investing in it he is doubling
those talents and so he has ten talents now and of course the the master honors
him and he blesses him answered down to the joy of the Lord I mean he gets
honored greatly by his master the second one the same thing he invests in it he
actually does something with it and he doubles it as well the last one does not
he has one talent and he hides it under the earth you know nice and clean he
just keeps it right there and so when the master comes back he just kind of
gives it to him and expecting for the master to be happy with the fact that he
hid it under the earth but actually the master is very much upset and he ends up
taking that talent and giving it to the first guy and then towards the end he's
just like you're going to hell you know it's just like wow that that took a turn
for the worse there because at the end he tells them you know verse 30 cast he
the unprofitable servant to outer darkness there shall be weeping and
gnashing of teeth so you know we apply this regarding talents and abilities but
obviously there's something else being stated here you know I mean because this
guy is just like you didn't use your talent very well so now you're going to
hell buddy you know it's just like maybe we should dig into what that really
means you know there's obviously something else that we're missing here
and so I'm gonna explain to you what this parable is referring to and how it
just fits perfectly with what we've been studying the last five or six weeks
regarding the parables because when Jesus Christ is putting forth these
parables he's constantly talking about the kingdom of God so what is that what
is the talent represents it represents the kingdom of God that's what it is
it's representing the kingdom of God the knowledge of the kingdom of God you say
well how does that happen though because one's getting five one is it gaining
five kingdoms of God and one's getting two one getting one how does that even
fit well think about it this way if you're to quantify this with believers
or people who have had the Word of God throughout the Bible up until now
we can say that the person who has one talent representing the kingdom of God
could essentially symbolize the Israelis of the Old Testament okay so why is that
well because of the fact you know they saw through a glass darkly they didn't
have the entire canonized Bible they didn't have a whole lot to work with but
they had a talent because of the fact that unto them were committed to the
oracles of God they had knowledge of the Bible they had the Old Testament prophets
giving them the Word of God telling them of things to come so they had something
to work with it's not like they didn't have anything right if you were to look
at the guy with the servant with two talents that can kind of represent like
the the Christians of the first century AD because of the fact that they had
more than the first guys of the Old Testament but you know they didn't they
still didn't have the entire canonized scripture so they had enough to work
with to know what to do to preach the Word of God hey but the servant with
five talents can represent us today why because we have an overabundance of
knowledge of the kingdom of God and in fact I would even go on to say that we
have more knowledge of the Bible than pretty much all the believers of the Old
Testament so how can you say that because we have the entire Bible hey put
it this way we probably know more of the Bible than Daniel who wrote it so he
wrote the Word of God but even it even says in Daniel chapter 12 God commands
Daniel to seal up these things into the end because you know his cogitations
were like trouble you know he's like I don't even know what this means what are
these pictures I'm getting out all these dreams and everything well we can
interpret it for Daniel what those mean because we actually have five talents we
have more to work with in the New Testament today in 2023 than the guy who
had two talents then even the guy especially the guy who has one you
understand so what's being stated here is the stewardship of the knowledge of
the kingdom of God that was given to all these people throughout these eras
understand the one being the guy in the Old Testament the two being the guy
transitioning into the New Testament and the guy with five can be referring to us
because we have an overabundance of knowledge we understand the Word of God
and we have the canonized Bible because even the guy with two talents he didn't
have it yet he was still in that period where the New Testament events were
taking place whereas we actually know what took place we know what's happening
we have the book of Revelation we can compare these things so we have a lot to
work with you understand and so that's what I believe this is referring to the
talents are referring to the kingdom of God distributed the knowledge of the
kingdom of God being distributed to these servants representing different
types of people throughout the eras now you say well but you know the guy with
the first talent though you know he went to hell so are you saying that you know
you have to be a good steward of the kingdom of God in order to go to heaven
well think about this you know and to be a good steward of the knowledge of the
Bible the first thing you have to do is believe it but to be a good steward of
the gospel means you have to believe the gospel first and so the Jews didn't
do that so how do you know because he hid it under the earth and the Bible
says if our gospel be hid it just hits in them that are lost you know you know
and it talks about whom the God of this world that blind of the minds of them
which believe not lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ was the image
of God should shine unto them and it says that we have this treasure in
earthen vessels and you know the fact that we have the Word of God now and
we're to propagate it and preach it but the Old Testament in general Israel in
general can be likened unto that servant who hid the talent under the earth and
in fact think about this you know the Bible says Jesus when he's rebuking the
lawyers says woe unto you lawyers for ye have taken away the key of knowledge ye
enter not in yourselves and then that were entering in you hindered what is he
saying you're a bad steward of the knowledge of the kingdom of God because
you're taking away the key of knowledge you're not even saved yourself and you
trying to stop people from getting saved so they're in opposition to the knowledge
of the kingdom of God they're not saved themselves they're hiding it in the
earth and this is essentially the stigma that Israel has that they wanted to keep
the glory for themselves and not propagate it to all the Gentiles not be
a light unto the Gentiles but rather hide it under a bushel hide it under the
earth so it doesn't go out to anybody else and think about this my friends
when we when dealing with these talents here is that he rebukes this guy harshly
right he's calling him a lazy person a wicked and slothful servant and he's
he's just giving him a strong rebuke okay and so aside from the fact that
he's going to hell because obviously he's just a really bad steward of the
kingdom of God he doesn't even believe it he takes the talent and what does he
do he gives it to the guy who has five now why does he give it to the guy who
has five well because the guy who has five actually produce some fruit with it
you know just kind of how he says that the kingdom of God shall be taken from
you and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof that's what it
pictures he's taking the talent from the Jew who hid it under the earth he's like
give it to the guy who's producing five because he's actually bringing fruit
he's getting people saved he's promoting the kingdom of God and so he's gonna get
more he's gonna get paid more than this guy this guy doesn't even believe it so
he's gonna go to hell okay and so when we look at this particular parable we
see obviously there's a great secondary application but the main interpretation
is the most important one because what it's doing is it's highlighting the
stewardship of the kingdom of God throughout biblical history up until
today it's representing the Jews who rejected that talent hid it under the
earth it represents the person who has two talents who you know essentially it
also doubles it but then it also shows us that we have five and we shouldn't
gloat and say oh man yeah we got more knowledge than anybody else that makes
us more important actually to whomsoever much is given of him shall be
much required so we're held essentially to a higher standard because we have
more knowledge of the Bible and so it's important for us to understand that we
can't be flippant about this you know obviously the guy who had two talents
you know he had to go to the temple or to the synagogue and pull out the scroll
and open it up and read it there we can just pull out our phones and read the
Bible right I mean some of us have more Bibles than we know what to do with some
of you guys just forget your Bibles here because you have so many Bibles you go
home and find all kinds of Bibles all over the church and you're just like oh
forgot my Bible good thing I have my phone or I got my house Bible I got my
church Bible you know I got my toilet Bible I got my car Bible you know you
got Bibles everywhere what does that call it five talents got it got it all
over the place whereas the Christians of the first century AD they didn't have
access to the Word of God that readily I mean someone all across across the
world still has access to the Bible because they have the internet like what
if they don't have internet everyone has it the dude in the jungle in the Congo
that everyone wants to talk about that dude has Wi-Fi for sure because every
nation will go without anything except for Wi-Fi okay and so Southeast Asia the
huts were you know dirt roads and eating dogs and all they got Wi-Fi there I
guarantee you because that's the day and age in which we live so they can
literally just pull up the Bible on their phone and they have access to it
what I'm saying is that we have five talents in the sense that God has given
us more you understand and so therefore it's important for us to do more than
that person who had two talents or one because now we have airplanes we have
social media we have all these avenues by which we can propagate and promote
the Word of God we should do it amen you can post a Bible verse on your story
you can get on your story and preach the gospel if you wanted to and yeah you may
not go mega viral but who knows like a hundred people might watch it a thousand
people might watch it that's a lot of people in a matter of a couple minutes
or even a day whereas prophets of the Old Testament have to travel far and
wide to even preach the gospel to a few people we have access to crowds and
multitudes of people and we don't even have to leave the comfort of our house
to be able to reach them right and so I'm looking forward to getting that one
talent from that Jew they've taken so much from this from us it's time to get
something back amen and so the first parable is dealing with the second
coming of Christ and the importance of being ready what does it mean to be
ready obviously there's other instances where being ready means to just watch
be walking the Spirit and make making sure you're paying attention as in
reading the Word of God praying and and doing that but here in particular it
actually means like make sure you're saved okay that's the best way to be
ready and so even our preacher buddies if they're saved you know they're gonna
go to heaven still and you know it might be a little embarrassed but at least
they're going to heaven so let's get into the parable I call it a parable he
doesn't call it a parable but just I call it that because a parable really at
the end of the day is like a dark scene right and so this is somewhat of a dark
scene and sometimes Christians have a hard time interpreting this particular
passage here it says in verse 31 when the Son of Man shall come in his glory
and all the holy angels with him then shall you sit upon the throne of his
glory and before him shall be gathered all nations and he shall separate them
one from another as a shepherd divided his sheep from the goats and he shall
set the sheep on his right hand but the goats on the left then shall the King
say unto them on the right hand come ye blessed of my father inherit the kingdom
prepared for you from the foundation of the world for I was in hunger and he
gave me meat I was thirsty he gave me drink I was a stranger you took me in
naked and he clothed me I was sick and he visited me I was in prison he came
unto me then shall the righteous answer him saying Lord when saw we thee
hungered or fed thee or thirsty and gave these to drink when saw we the
stranger took the end or naked and clothed thee or when saw we the sick or
in prison and came unto thee verse 40 and the King shall answer and say unto
them verily I say unto you in as much as ye have done it unto one of the least of
these my brethren ye have done it unto me so what is this talking about well at
face value you can become confused and say man so is this implying that we have
to do good works in order to inherit the kingdom of God and I've heard people try
to use this to say see this is why you have to visit the sick and this is why
you have to have works with your faith in order to inherit the kingdom of God
it says it right here and they often use this passage of scripture to try to back
that up but the first thing I want to point out before I show you how
ridiculous that is is the fact that in verse 34 he says come ye blessed of
my father inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world
so how is it that he's preparing for them for the foundation of the world
even though they haven't done the works yet because verses 35 through verse 38
are all the works but he says that the kingdom of God was prepared for them
before the foundation of the world well the only way that's possible is if you
believe on the Lord Jesus Christ because of the fact that every person in this
world in the beginning starts off in the book of life every man woman boy and
girl from right start they start off in the book of life right and essentially
it can be said that the kingdom of God was prepared for everyone and in fact
heaven is made to inhabit the souls of the redeemed God is not willing to
ensure parish but all should come to repentance when it comes to the book of
life everyone starts off in the book of life the Bible only records people being
blotted out which is when they die or become reprobate etc so that's the
first thing I want to point out the second thing is this people spend so
much time focusing on the works that they're doing but not enough time on
who's actually doing them which is actually the most important part of this
passage because it's not the works that's qualifying them to get into the
kingdom of God who are the ones doing it it's the sheep because in the beginning
he divides the sheep from the goats who are sheep believers who are goats
unsaved people they're divided as sheep and goats and then later on they're
rewarded for their works so the sheep are those who inherit the kingdom of God
because God refers to his people as sheep my sheep know my name and hear my
voice and they follow me the Bible says that he's known of his sheep etc whereas
the goats that we see here it's the exact opposite right it's like you
didn't do these things and when you think about it as a safe person when
you're a sheep when you believe on Jesus Christ and you're a sheep you could
pretty much get rewarded for anything because listen to me both of these are
getting rewarded for their works the difference is one is saved and is
actually benefiting them the other is not safe because they're a goat and is
detrimental for them or the lack of works that they're doing and so the
redeemed here who are the sheep are getting rewarded even for handing us a
glass of cold water whatever may be and this is to show us that when it comes to
the Christian life you get rewarded for anything you do for the Lord you
understand so it's not just service that you do here at your church
sowing things of that nature everything you do in a 24-hour period whether here
at home at your job with your spouse with your boss with your coworker with
the complete stranger no matter what you do if you do it as unto the Lord you get
rewarded if you use your talents for the Lord you get rewarded if you do anything
as unto the Lord you get rewarded for it this is a great reward program that God
has here because it's not just you know soul winning it's not just reading your
Bible it's every interaction that you have if you do it as unto the Lord if
you love your neighbor as yourself guess what you get rewarded for that now the
goat on the other hand they get rewarded but it's not a good reward they get
punished for it and in fact you know God keeps a line item of everything that
they do okay and even if they do good it's still seen as a bad work because
think about it the Bible says in Matthew 7 that many will say unto me in that day
Lord Lord have we not prophesied in thy name and in thy name have cast out
devils and in thy name have done many wonderful works he didn't say have we not
you know drunk alcohol and all you know fornicated and murdered no he's talked
about all these good things and what does God tell me says depart for me ye
that work iniquity so God equates the work of the unsafe person as a work of
iniquity so even the good that they do still works against them why because
they're not saved so they get punished even for the good things that they do
because they're not even saved whereas us even the little good thing that we do
we still get rewarded for that you say how little you know Maury he made he
will make sure that I have a cold cut it's not a glass cup so I don't know how
the rewards gonna work out but he gives me a cold cup of water with ice in it I
promise you Maury will receive and we joke about it but I promise you he is
gonna get a reward for that I'm sure he's doing it because he wants me to
make sure I have water but in his mind he's just like cha-ching-ching every
service and it's no joke he will be rewarded for that because the Bible even
the Bible says that if you give a cold cup of water in my name you shall in no
wise lose your reward so even the smallest of actions that you do for the
Lord and Maury you better make sure you're doing for the Lord amen you get
rewarded for it according to the Bible but if you're to do the flip side of
that if you're not saved even the smallest sin that you do still is is a
major punishment for you because whosoever keepeth the whole law yet
offended one point he is guilty of all yeah you never murdered anybody but if
you told a lie you're screwed you're done for I mean your your hell just is
still hot okay and if you think about in Revelation chapter excuse me Revelation
chapter 20 when the dead are being judged it says that he opens the books
and the book of life and that they're judged out of the things that are
written in the book according to their works so God keeps a line item of
everything that they do and didn't do and just judges them based off of that
so even things that they probably forgot about I mean the Bible says that the
thought of foolishness is in so even the thoughts that they think are gonna work
against them okay and so what do we see here we see that what's being talked
about here is the fact that both sheep and goat are gonna be rewarded the
difference is the fact that the sheep are obviously saved so they're gonna be
rewarded with you know they're gonna be rewarded at the judgment seat of Christ
and and given authority and the goats are gonna be rewarded with eternal
damnation so don't focus too much when you when you read this on the works that
they're doing but who are the ones that are doing the works it's the sheep and
the goats these are the two that are being separated okay pretty interesting
now here's the last thing I want to say and that is that chapter 25 is still
carrying over from chapter 24 especially in regards to the biblical timeline of
end times prophecy because if you think about it Matthew 24 of course is the
tribulation going into the rapture chapter 25 with the parable of the ten
virgins continues that thought of the rapture and then the parable of the
talents is the judgment seat of Christ where he distributes the rewards and the
separation of the sheep and the goats is actually the great white throne judgment
because that's actually when he separates the sheep from the goats is at
the white throne judgment okay because of the fact that after the millennial
reign you have people getting saved throughout the millennial reign and then
at the end of that there is a great separation and you say where do the
sheep go well the sheep are part of that second resurrection okay that isn't
explicitly talked about in Revelation chapter 20 but we know it does exist
because of the fact that the Bible talks about blessed are they who who are part
of the first resurrection implying that there is a second and obviously there's
a second because people are getting saved throughout the wrath of God
throughout the millennial reign there's gonna be a second resurrection and this
is when the separation of the sheep and the goats take place now chapter 25 is
also important because of the fact that this is the nail in the coffin for Jesus
Christ and the Jews and this is when they're they're gonna decide we're gonna
kill him okay and so you know people today who advocate for Israel and the
Jews and they can't seem to see all the things that Jesus said against the Jews
you know they're pretty blind or either that they're just ignorant or they're
being stubborn because even the Jews of this day knew that he was preaching
against them as proven by the fact that they wanted to kill him and did kill him
because of it these last five chapters have been about parables against the
Jews and chapter 25 was essentially the straw that broke the camel's back
where the Jews are like we've had enough we're gonna crucify Jesus so even
they knew that Jesus was preaching against them yet people Christians of
today these stubborn prideful just dumb Christians you know very arrogant and
prideful just subverting the Word of God not willing to listen because they want
to just keep worshipping the Jews and Israel they they probably skip over
these parables or they only give the secondary third fourth application to it
they don't want to delve into the primary interpretation because it's very
offensive because the Jews are the foolish five
virgins the Jews are the guys with the one talent who's being cast down to
outer darkness and the Jews are the goats so how do you know because in John
chapter 10 when Jesus is preaching to the Jews they're like we don't we don't
know what he's saying he's like my sheep hear my voice and they're like who is he
talking what is he talking about it's like the fine irony you know it's just
like he's talking about the fact that only his sheep will hear his voice and
the Jews are there and just like we don't know what you're saying it's like
well you're proving the point okay and so that's pretty much it let's pray
father we thank you so much for your word and thank you for these parables
Lord so much deep meaning behind them I pray that you'd help us to take to heart
the principles that we can learn as Christians which is to watch it's also
to be a good steward of the knowledge that we have of the kingdom of God and
then lastly of course to make sure that especially now that we're sheep or saved
that we recognize that every little thing we do we can be rewarded for and
so it's all always important to make sure that we don't compartmentalize
Christianity our salvation our God and our service to you we need to recognize
that everything that we do whatsoever do whatever you do whether you eat or drink
do all to the glory of God because you view our life as a service not just what
we do at church not just what we do out sowning every aspect of our lives counts
and so help us to give heed to that and may it help us to change whatever it is
that we need to change and help us to be more eternally minded Lord we love
you we thank you we pray these things in Jesus name Amen
and song number 187