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Amen. Right, so we're up to Matthew chapter 25. Not got much left of Matthew to do here. This is quite a big chapter of the Bible here. A lot of probably different interpretations of the parables here and the teachings in this chapter, so I'm going to try and explain what I believe some of this means here and hopefully you'll be agreeing with me by the end of this sermon. Last week we went through the second half of Matthew 24 from verse 32 to 51 where Jesus teaches that we're to look for the signs and why? What's the difference? Why are we looking for the signs? Well we want to get people saved don't we? Show the signs to others, we want to preach them the gospel and obviously as well we're looking out, you know, at least those who aren't saved, you know, these signs can obviously help with with them receiving the gospel. An interesting point on that and just while I'm thinking about it, I was out today and we had a pretty unreceptive sort of time and we went through a road, you know, my family, we kind of went in kind of two groups and we did this whole road, barely got any verse out then, we were walking back and crossed a guy who, you know, kind of asked him a couple of questions, gave me a quick couple of answers and suddenly he said, he said, what do you think of the end times? And I said, well we believe, you know, it's a post-tribulation pre-wrath rapture, we are gonna have to go through some stuff, you can see, you know, the signs of times and suddenly he was interested, he was like, yeah someone's speaking some sense here and then he wants to hear and then he's listening to a few more verses, he said, I'm definitely gonna look into you guys, I'm definitely gonna look, I said, look at what we've just been preaching the last couple of Wednesdays and point being, the signs of the time should be helping people get saved, shouldn't they? That was for him, that was a way actually, yeah, these guys are talking some truth here and now had I stood there and gone, nothing to see, nothing to see here, it would probably vanish, you know, no signs, wouldn't it just vanish? Guy probably would have gone, yeah whatever, I walked away and that would have been that, so point being that, look, part of it is when we're watching as well, it should be something that should spur on and the word and the truth of the word sometimes can be a way that people then want to hear the gospel and, you know, that's just a little anecdotal story there but he said that, he said in Matthew 24 and part 2, we looked like I said from verse 32, he said that these things must be fulfilled, okay, so there's no avoiding it and also there's no avoiding that his words are still with us as well, okay, he made that clear, heaven and earth shall pass away but my word shall not pass away, so there's no avoiding that either and how whatever you want to try and believe and get conned by these people that want to make it up as they go along, ultimately they just want to be the word themselves, they want to kind of tell you what you need to believe rather than trust in the Word of God. Now, no one knows the day and hour but we're given a load of science to look out for to know around about the time when the day and the hour are going to be coming, yeah, and obviously that's not a secret rapture at any minute, the majority of the world it seems will be getting on with things like in the days of Noah when he does eventually return and we compared with Matthew 10, didn't we, and saw the point of fleeing the Great Tribulation is that there will be place of refuge for a time at least, now it might be that place of refuge doesn't last for two and a half months, that place of refuge might kind of last for a little while, it might even be in the build-up to that Great Tribulation period that maybe there'll be somewhere which the place of refuge and then maybe you'll have to move on from there but it seems that there will be place of refuge, Matthew 10 23 said but when they persecute you in this city, flee you into another, for verily I say unto you, ye shall not have gone over the cities of Israel till the Son of Man be come, that's pretty clear isn't it, and he told us to watch him, we saw the difference between two men in history that give us pictures of the rapture Noah a lot and the effect on their families, we saw the difference between those that are watching and those that are paying attention to the Word of God and those that aren't, and then there's this final analogy of two servants which for me is a saved and unsaved but I think it's even more extreme being the end times, the saved that's endured to the end and the unsaved who's you know is likely taken a mark as a reprobate but also I think here you can also see the picture of it being unbelieving Israel versus those that get saved as well and we're going to see that continuing in Matthew 25 but it says in verse 45 of Matthew 24, who then is a faithful and wise servant whom his Lord hath made ruler over his household to give them meat in due season, blessed is that servant whom his Lord when he cometh shall find so doing, verily I sound to you that he shall make him ruler over all his goods, so that's the extra rewards for a believer that's done the business, right, verse 48, but and if that evil servant shall say in his heart my Lord the laeth is coming and shall begin to smite his fellow servants and to eat and drink with the drunken and and these are the wicked I believe who have rejected probably whatever amount of that which may be known of God being manifest in them for God has showed it unto them, yeah, from Romans 1 there, that they are people that I think have ultimately rejected to the point of reprobation, it says the Lord of that servant shall come in a day when he looketh not for him and in an hour when he is not aware of, and shall cut him asunder and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites, there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth, we looked at that last week and that then leads on to this first parable in Matthew 25 which starts with in verse 1, then shall the kingdom of heaven be likened unto ten virgins which took their lamps and went forth to meet the bigram, I'd like to pray before we continue, Father thank you for this well great chapter the Bible, a chapter the Bible which has probably given a lot of people a lot of confusion and difficulty in interpreting parts of this, help me Lord just to preach this accurately now, preach this clearly, preach this boldly, preach this fully as spirit Lord, help me to just make it clear what what you're what you're trying to teach us today Lord, help it not to just be of private interpretation help everyone here to just pay attention to really follow along and really just just you know be able to just have no distractions and stay focused on what your word saying and in Jesus' name for all this, amen. Okay so he said in verse 1 then shall the kingdom of heaven be likened unto ten virgins which took their lamps and went forth to meet the bridegroom, with this parable that the virgins represent you could say mankind you know you could look at it both ways but but really for me you know it's kind of unbelieving and believing at this point sort of Israel you know or what what was Israel at least previously and and they're basically representing the potential bride okay so that's what the virgins are the potential bride with believers being the eventual bride yeah and and turn to Ephesians 5 where we're gonna see one of many places where we see these pictures of believers as a bride being prepared for a husband and while you turn now I'm just gonna mention as well that remember they took their lamps and the lamp is the Word of God isn't it you know you don't have to turn there Psalm 119 1 0 5 says thy word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path so you got that they're all taking the lamps they've all got the Word of God and we're gonna see the difference between them in a minute Ephesians 5 and verse 22 gives the picture of the individual church being like a bride and that we're gonna get through you know try and go through these verses quickly Ephesians 5 22 says wives submit yourselves unto your own husbands as unto the Lord for the husband is ahead of the wife even as this is a comparison Christ is ahead of the church and here's the Savior of the body therefore as the church is subject unto Christ so let the wives be their own husbands and everything husbands love your wives even as Christ also loved the church and gave himself for it that he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word that he might present it to himself this is talking about the church here a glorious church not having spot or wrinkle or anything any such thing sorry but that it should be holy and without blemish so meant to love their wives as their own bodies he that loveth his wife loveth himself for no man ever yet hates his own flesh but nourishes and cherishes it even as the Lord the church for we are members of his body of his flesh and of his bones for this cause shall a man leave his father and mother shall be joined unto his wife and they shall they too shall be one flesh look at verse 32 this is a great mystery but I speak concerning Christ and the church nevertheless let every one of you in particular so I love his wife even as himself and the wife see that she reverence her husband so for me look believers we see this constantly in the Bible being pictures of bride and turn to Matthew 9 because the bridegroom is the Lord Jesus Christ who's called the bridegroom by John the Baptist in John chapter 3 and then he refers to himself as a bridegroom in Matthew chapter 9 and verse 15 Matthew 9 15 where it says in Jesus said unto them can the children of the bride chamber mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them referring to himself but the days will come when the bridegroom shall be taken from them and then shall they fast okay talking about his disciples there and and you've got so you've got the potential bride okay and there's a difference between them back in our back in Matthew 25 so you've got the potential bride okay these are virgins it says here they're not the bride they're going to meet the bridegroom who is the Lord Jesus Christ it says in verse 2 of five of them were wise and five were foolish they that were foolish took their lamps and took no oil with them but the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps what's the oil of vessels about well here it's going to meet the bridegroom at night okay that's the story isn't it that's what the parable is lamps need oil to burn so they're able to see the bridegroom but turn to 2nd Corinthians 1 so we're going to do quite a bit of turning today this is a Bible study after all we often see oil to anoint God's chosen in the Old Testament okay particularly Kings Revelation 1 6 says this so and have made us kings and priests unto God and his father to him be glory and dominion forever and ever amen so we as believers are now the anointed ones aren't we in it and it could also be seems a picture of being anointed with the Holy Ghost as well 2nd Corinthians 1 and verse 20 says for all the promises of God in him are ye and in him are men unto the glory of God by us now he which establishes us with you in Christ and have anointed us is God who has also sealed us and given us the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts so in verse 21 now he's combining the Corinthian Church with himself and Timothy they're all anointed in verse 22 and they're all sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise okay and there's a picture there I think with the oil of that so go back to Matthew 25 with that in mind where it said in verse 4 but the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps so this is a picture of the saved the wise with oil in their vessels and what a body is often described as in the Bible vessels as opposed to the foolish who are the unsaved yeah and I'm going to show you a bit more just to make that really clear in a minute now while the bridegroom tarry they all slumbered and slept now are they all watching no and I think it could be a picture of not making it through the tribulation maybe the unbelieving the unbelieving five from verse three slumbering okay not getting saved the unbelieving five and then they're believing five from verse four and it is in the same order sleeping which you could argue is dying in Christ might be wrong now I'm not sure but they all slumbered and slept that could be that sleeping that dying Christ often in the Bible when you die in Christ it's being referred to as being asleep verse six then says and at midnight there was a cry made behold the bridegroom cometh go ye out to meet him then all those virgins arose and trim their lamps so they're getting the lamps ready to go out to meet him verse 8 says and the foolish said unto the wise give us of your oil for our lamps have gone out but the wise answer is saying not so lest there be not enough for us and you but go ye rather to them that sell and buy for yourselves so for me these virgins who slumbered and slept picture the the sort of you know at least these you know that the first ones are kind of they could be the non soul-winning non soul-winning non watching believer maybe I don't know just bear in mind that at the rapture at the coming of Christ the dead in Christ will rise as well yeah and we'll meet them and join together in the air so all that die in Christ will be raptured together but let's let's keep going though verse 10 says and while they went to buy the bridegroom came and they that were ready went in with him to the marriage and the door was shut after it came also the other virgin saying Lord Lord open to us but he answered said verily I sound to you I know you not watch therefore for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of Man cometh and look at those first five virgins been watching maybe they could have prepared the other five I don't know yeah but just to make it clear in case people are wondering well you know why is the door shut well just just first off before we get into what I think is a is a is a picture thereof those that don't take the mark of the beast but don't get saved before the rapture okay if they're saved after then they still have to live through God's wrath on earth don't know so if you if there because there will be people out there okay otherwise who's in the millennial reign because if you take the mark of the beast you reprobate okay so there will be those that don't take the mark yeah and they were and those people who didn't get saved didn't get raptured look firstly they're gonna have to live through what's going to be a horrendous absolutely terrible time on earth for three and a half years of God's wrath hail fire sea and rivers turning to blood darkness over the world locusts from hell I mean we won't even go into all that I mean that's another sermon 25 kilogram hell stones raining down on people can you imagine that yeah yeah your house isn't going to be very safe is it unless you've got a bunker somewhere okay so look this is going to be a pretty scary time but but for so many by then it would be too late anyway wouldn't it let's be honest okay and not only are so many people going to die in that time maybe a third or third of the world that's left already after a quarter of the world dying in the in the tribulation but revelation 1411 says this and the smoke of their torment ascendeth up forever and ever and they have no rest day nor night who worship the beast in his image and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name look for many and many many will take the mark if they're unsaved what's going to stop them taking the mark yeah there's going to be something it's going to be few and far between but notice how they were told to go buy the oil from them that sell okay and did that get them in no and it kind of makes me wonder you know is that kind of a picture like they're going off with Bart like maybe it's a picture of trading and things like that maybe these are people that did get them up by the way turn to Matthew 7 because for me there's so many interesting similarities between this parable parable and Jesus description of the false prophets in Matthew 7 so Matthew 7 says this and keep your fit be ready to flick back to Matthew 25 because I just want to show you a few of these Matthew 7 he's talking about false prophets here okay he's just been talking about false prophets now look just just before I carry on many will go to this passage to show someone that's trusting in their works ultimately yeah these people are trusting in their works in Matthew 7 here we're gonna look for verse 21 in a minute but really ultimately it's talking about false prophets okay it's talking about workers of iniquity it's talking about people that not only are trusting but have been given over that the kind of preaching that to some degree or or you know whatever kind of issue it is with them but their works of iniquity they're trusting the work it's an interesting point isn't it that these false prophets they're calling Jesus Lord at the end and going but what about the works I've done and it's something I've been kind of talking about a bit something I've been musing about as well because it's kind of interested me over what we've dealt with in the church so far is that these people are so heady and high-minded that they actually believe that they're still going to heaven even though but they believe in a work salvation and these are like wicked people they're full of all sorts of weakness but they're so full of themselves and that's kind of how it works of pride so up here their headiness a high-mindedness all this stuff's up here then they think somehow that they're God's people and when they're just trying to wreck churches preaching false gospel this weird stuff they actually believe they're doing some good they actually believe they cause it's crazy isn't it when you think about it and when you think about some of the people that all of us have already dealt with before how wicked they really are yet they tell themselves that somehow they're earning their way into heaven and look what it says here verse in Matthew 7 and verse 21 not everyone that saith unto me Lord Lord shall enter into the kingdom of heaven but he that doeth the will of my father which is in heaven now Matthew 25 verse 11 it says after it came also the other virgins saying Lord Lord open to us bit of a similarity there isn't it let's keep going verse 22 back in in Matthew 7 many will say to me in that day Lord Lord that's that Lord Lord again have we not prophesied in thy name and in thy name of cast out devils and in thy name have done many wonderful works they're trusting in their works these people and then will I profess unto them I never knew you depart for me ye that work in equity of course he didn't say I used to know you well what does verse 12 say of where we are Matthew 25 but he answers said verily I sound to you I know you not same thing yeah doesn't know her yeah and if he knows them that means he never did know them by the way okay verse 24 back where we are in in in Matthew 7 therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine and doeth them I will liken him unto a wise man which built his house upon a rock verse 2 where we were in Matthew 25 and five of them were wise and five were foolish in verse 25 back where we are in Matthew 7 and the rain descended and the floods came the winds blew and beat upon that house and it fell not for it was found upon a rock and everyone that heareth these sayings of mine doeth them not shall be likened unto a foolish man which built his house upon the sand that's the shifting sands and works salvation and the rain descended and the were floods came and the winds blew and beat upon that house and it fell and great was a fool of it so for me I believe that these five virgins picture ultimately Christ rejecting false Christians and that's what they are now you could say as well they picture the Christ rejecting Jews okay nothing wrong with that I think you can you could apply it to both yeah they picture reprobates reprobates that have the what they've got a lamp they have access to the word they've had the word they've you know they've rejected whatever it is that they've had of it okay but they don't have the oil in the lamp they don't have the Holy Spirit they're not saved okay that's that's that's parable number one now let's go back to Matthew and chapter 25 where it then says this now notice the four here because we're on the same topic and I think we're on the same topic throughout this throughout this chapter really and I know obviously the chapter divisions weren't there but we've got from Matthew chapter 24 talk about the end times talk about the end times then we got that last bit of the end of chapter 24 where he's basically talking about that wicked servant and a good servant and you could say really talk about Israel and believing Israel versus ultimately rejected unbelieving Israel then we get on to these three parables which for me all are saying the same thing and I'm going to show you that verse 14 says for the kingdom of heaven is as a man traveling into a far country who called his own servants and delivered unto them his goods right so second parable okay following on the man represents the Lord the servants for me can apply to the Jews as a whole but again you can apply it to mankind anyway okay it doesn't really matter verse 15 and unto one he gave five talents to another two and to another one to every man according to his several ability and straight way took his journey now talent is a unit of weight and it is debatable it seems exactly what it was but basically he's giving them wealth verse 18 calls it money okay it calls it money so he's giving them wealth in the parable yeah and and it's a based upon his several or particular ability so he's giving him wealth based upon his particular ability and the picture for me is the Lord giving us now you could either say resources or you could say really what if you think that the basically his word his commandments his statutes are up here they're treasure like up here you could even say it's the word of God okay and giving us certain amounts depending on our resources our ability our ability to receive it maybe okay so but you could argue maybe spiritual gifts whatever you want to call it okay the baseline the one talent for me being salvation okay that's the minimum okay everyone is given the the the the ability to get saved at the beginning okay and if you if you call the riches the word of God well that one talent is enough to get saved okay verse 16 says then he that had received the five talents went and traded with the same and made other four and made them other five talents and like what he that had received two he also gained other two but he that received one went and digged in the earth and hid his Lord's money so the one talent guy did nothing with it okay rejected it he made no use of it I believe for me this is rejecting the gospel verse 19 says after a long time the Lord of those servants cometh and reckoneth with them and by the way in case you go servants they must all be saved doesn't mean that okay in the Bible firstly you could just talk about Israel as a nation that was meant to be his servants and there was believing but but as well we see him call for example Nebuchadnezzar his servant long before there's any possibility of him being saved look it's people that are doing some sort of you could even say something some purpose yeah and it doesn't mean salvation okay however sometimes sometimes we can apply to that but it's not here so he's rejected so it says after a long time the Lord of those servants cometh and reckoneth with them and so he that had received five talents in verse 20 here came and bought other five talents saying Lord thou deliverance behold have gained beside them five talents more his Lord said unto him well done thou good and faithful servant thou has been faithful over a few things I'll make thee rule over many things enter thou into the joy of thy Lord he also there have received two talents came and said Lord thou deliver on to me two talents behold I've gained two other talents beside them his Lord said unto him well done good and faithful servant thou has been faithful over a few things I'll make thee rule over many things things, enter into the joy of thy Lord. Now, first truth to point out here, was the reward more for the guy that had received and made five talents more? Did he get any greater reward? No, it's exactly the same. Now remember that verse 15 said that he gave to every man according to his several ability, to his particular ability. So you could have someone that's given some great spiritual opportunities and gifts, maybe, I don't know, maybe they're able to memorise scripture, maybe they're a great soul winner, maybe they just have an ability, maybe they understand scripture well, maybe they have more of an ability to study, maybe it's not those things, maybe they have a way of talking to people, maybe they're just like a people person, whatever it is, many people have different gifts, different abilities, different sorts of things in life, and then you can have someone who's naturally shy maybe, maybe it's a struggle learning their Bible, maybe it's someone who just, things just don't go in, they don't like, they just can't retain information, some people are like that. Maybe they're stuck in an unreceptive place in life for whatever reason, maybe look, it's not like, oh I could just get up and move, you know, I could just go to here or go, maybe they're just somewhere where maybe they can't do as much for God as someone else, yeah, there's many different situations in life, but they're a good and faithful servant with what God's given them, yeah, they're good and faithful, so regardless of the differences, someone, you could look at someone up here, you could look at some pastor somewhere in a receptive place and they're getting all these salvations, and he's like, he seems to just like have a gift for preaching, he has a gift for Bible memorization, he has a gift for like Bible knowledge, he has all these things, and he's serving God, yeah, great, amen, yeah, and then you have someone else who's maybe somewhere where they don't have those opportunities, they don't have those skills, they don't have those abilities, but they still do their utmost to serve God, same rewards, same rewards, same rewards in heaven, look, it says here, he said, in both of them, he said, well done now good and faithful servant, verse 21 we're looking here, thou has been faithful over a few things, I'll make thee rule over many things, enter thou into the joy of thy Lord, look at verse 23, this is a two-talent guy, well done good and faithful servant, thou has been faithful over a few things, I'll make thee ruler over many things, enter thou into the joy of thy Lord, and you'll go, what's this rule, well that's the millennial reign to come, yeah, that's a thousand years ruling and reigning with Christ, and there's different positions, there's going to be different positions and roles depending on what you did in this life, look, there's some rewards to come, okay, and look, that's something that we're fighting for, that's something we're trying to get, yeah, we're trying to earn those rewards, and if you're going, yeah, but what rewards am I getting, I hardly even get anyone to say, yeah, but are you going out every week, are you still going out and still trying to preach the gospel, oh, but I just, I just don't, you know, I find it really hard to attain the knowledge, are you still with your Bible, are you still trying to be a faithful servant, well, I'm just, you know, I don't really have much to give at the church, but are you still turning up to church, are you still here going, here am I, use me, and if you are, and if you could be that person, and that other person who's been given all this stuff, all these things, all this ability, maybe they have turned up at a good church, and they've torn it up, and they've been so winning five times a week, and they've been doing this, and that, and this, and that, and then they peter out, do you know who's gonna have more rewards, that good and faithful servant, who's been faithful over what they've been given by God in life, yeah, for unto whomsoever much is given of him so much be required, don't forget that, yeah, some people who kind of look around, and look at different, look at that Christian, they, you know, they speak X amount of languages, they've got the ability to go out here, they don't, they're not tied down to this job, or maybe this family life, or something, yeah, and they're out in some place where they're getting ten salvations a day, well I tell you what, I bet, I hope they better carry on getting those ten salvations a day, and keep going out, and keep serving, and keep doing things for God, because of whom much is given, much will be required, now, like I said, you might sit there thinking that, yeah, thinking well, yeah, but I haven't been given much, but are you faithful, are you faithful over what you've been given, because if you are, I see you getting same rewards, yeah, and are you trying to multiply at least through soul winning, are you trying to multiply those couple of talents, are you going, look, I'm going to multiply, I'm going to get the Word of God out, I'm going to multiply the Word of God through what I, through what I have been given, and look, if you can't do anything else in life, and I said this the other day, if you can't do anything else, if you're like, look, I, you know, I find it hard to memorise, look, I find it hard to do this, I find it hard to, whatever it is, I find it hard to resist this in life, and do that, you know what is really easy, is just to tell someone how you got saved, it is easy, now, and I've said this before, because I think people get daunted by, well, you know, we, you know, the set, well, where do I go from this verse, and to that verse, and, oh, well, I can never remember how to bridge that gap from this one, and, you know, and, look, look, yeah, you know, that's a great way of solving it, if you can do it methodically, that's great, yeah, however, until you can do that, and look, you can learn to do that, you can take years, like I said, go out as a silent partner, and I bet you can still tell someone how to get saved, and there is no set way, Jesus Christ didn't say you have to use the Romans, right, we think it's very effective, I think it's very effective, I think add some other verse in, it's a great way of getting people saved, yeah, however, you can explain John 3.16 to someone, and you could still get them saved, it's the word of God that saves, it's not only certain verses that save, right, okay, and, look, you can still do that stuff, now, then we've got here, so we've got, we've got those five and two talent guys, and there's some great lessons in there, but then we've got the guy that rejected what God gave him, verse 24, then he which had received the one talent came and said, Lord, I knew thee that thou art an hard man, reaping when thou has not sown, and gathering where thou has not strawed, now, for me this sounds like someone who's a bit of a hater here, doesn't he, doesn't it sound like someone who's too fond of God, and I was afraid, obviously the picture being God, and I was afraid and went and hid thy talent in the earth, lo, there thou has at his line, now that's a rejection, isn't it, that's a rejection of what he's been given, that's a rejection of the word of God, that's what I see there, he's that's a rejection of the true riches, that's a rejection of the word of God, he buries it, his Lord answered and said unto him, thou wicked and slothful servant, thou knewest that I reap where I sow not, and gather where I have not strawed, thou ought to, therefore, to have put my money to the exchanges, and then at my coming I should have received mine own with usury. Now, just to remind you, this is a parable, okay, this isn't God encouraging usury, okay, this didn't really happen in terms of this, this story is just a parable, it's just something to give them an idea and to give a kind of simile to what, to what it's like, and he's saying you could have at least done something with what little you were given, that's the point, you could have at least done something with it, you could have at least got saved, even if you have no ability, no extra opportunity, you could have at least got saved, yeah, you could have at least just used what you were given, that word of God, and put your faith in Jesus Christ. He then says in verse 28, take therefore the talent from him and give it unto him which had ten talents, for unto everyone that hath shall be given, and he shall have abundance, but from him that hath not shall be taken away even that which he hath. Now, turn to Matthew 13, where Jesus has just told them the parable of the sower, and he makes his statement about the rejecting Jews there, it says here, remember the rejecting Jews, you're turning to, sorry, Matthew 13, it says here in verse 10, and the disciples came, Matthew 13, 10, and said unto him, why speak his sower unto them in parables? He answered, said unto them, because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given, for whosoever hath to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance, but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that he hath. Therefore speak I to them in parables, because they seeing see not, and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand. Now what's being taken away? Ultimately the ability to get saved, that's what is taken away from that guy with one talent, is that ability to have got saved, and in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah, which saith, by hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand, and seeing ye shall see, and shall not perceive, for this people's heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed, lest at any time they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be conversed, and I should hear them. So these Jews reject him, and the result was that they couldn't understand, they could no longer understand, they were given over, what what what they were given was taken away, okay, they were unable to get saved. That's a picture back in Matthew 25, Matthew 25 and verse 29, for where he says is, for unto everyone that hath shall be given, and he shall have abundance, but from him that hath not shall be taken away even that which he hath. And look, obviously this applies massively to all of those rejecting Jews there at the time, okay, that's the the time when, you know, at the time, that's what it's applying to at that time, but it applies to everyone that hates the Lord, doesn't it? It applies to everyone that hates the Lord, changes the truth of God into a life, for me this is again a picture of a reprobate. Again, we've got that picture of someone who's basically rejected what they've been given, they've buried it under the ground in the parable, they're then even going, thou art an hard man, and everything else, and I know, you know, you can compare, there's a Luke account of a similar story, but for me you don't even need to, this for me is quite clear here, it's a rejection, especially when you, when you compare here to Matthew 13 with this as well, the same sort of terminology, for whosoever hath to him shall be given, he shall have more abundance, but whosoever have not, from him shall be taken away, even that he have, okay? Now, verse 30 then says, and cast ye the unprofitable servant into outer darkness, there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Now, at what point did he say about casting him into darkness? When he's just returned, yeah? So the Lord's returned and reckoned with them, okay? Now, you could argue, and just to make it clear in case you're getting worried, wait a second, is this some new doctrine, this is not what I'm saying yet, but you could argue this is at the rapture. Now, I'm not saying they're getting cast into the lake of fire then, but it's basically, that's where they're going to end up, okay? So this is going to happen, these people, he's come and reckoned with them, okay, and now you've got, he's basically said, look, these ones good and faithful servant, others, you're going to be getting cast into the lake of fire, okay? And that's what I want you to bear in mind, and what is all this right now? We've looked at Matthew 24, okay? We've looked at what's going to happen in the end times. Is there, has there been any description of the wrath yet at this point of God? No. First parable, I don't see any, I don't see we're getting to the wrath at this point. Second parable, nothing about the wrath at this point, and I don't think that we're now jumping forward with this third part of the, this last part of the chapter, okay? So now I'm going to, we're going to read it through first, and then I'm going to try and explain it. Now I'd like to say, you know, these parables, and before I do this, these parables in this passage of scripture, I mean, you'll probably find this explained a hundred different ways, okay? And I actually, I try, I was like, you know, I know a lot, I've kind of got an idea of what I believe here, and I've found it hard to find people that have even tackled it, and for whatever reason, you know, I think it's a hard passage of scripture, so I'm going to tell you what I believe, I'll be interested in your views afterwards, okay? And ultimately, look, you know, we want the Word of God to teach us, with parables sometimes, it's not for us to know absolutely everything, this is what I believe with this. Let's look at it first, verse 31, and this now is, isn't, it's not a parable, but there is a kind of picture here as well, he says here, verse 31, As a shepherd divideth 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 sound to them on his right hand, Come ye blessed of my father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was at hungered, and you gave me meat, I was thirsty, and you gave me drink, I was a stranger, and you took me in. Naked, and you clothed me, I was sick, and you visited me, I was in prison, and you came unto me. Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee, and hungered, and fed thee, or thirsty, and gave thee drink, when saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in, or naked, and clothed thee, or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee. And the king shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me. Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me ye cursed into everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was at hungered, and ye gave me no meat, I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink. I was a stranger, and ye took me not in. Naked, and ye clothed me not, sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not. Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee, and hungered, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee. Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these ye did it not to me, and these shall go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into life eternal. Now, at first glance you can read this passage and think, hold on, is this a new doctrine that you need to feed, water, home, clothe, and visit sick and in prison believers to go to heaven? Wait a second, where was that in the rest of the Bible? You know, it's suddenly something you, and look, believe me, I'm sure there have been false prophets that have jumped on this and gone, this is what you've got to do to go to heaven. And like I've said many times, the Bible gives you enough rope, or gives, sorry, the false prophet, the work, salvation, enough rope to hang himself on. Yeah, because the Bible could have said, you know, in brackets, by the way, this isn't what you need to do to go to heaven, couldn't it? But that's not how it works with the Word of God. You either are humble enough, you know, to put your faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, or you can find anything you like in there, and kind of God almost gives, because he lets you choose life or choose death, doesn't he? Yeah? Now, but with study, and with knowing what other passages say, and when it comes to salvation, there are clear passages on salvation. When someone asks, sirs, what must I do to be saved? The answer wasn't, feed, clothe, visit the believers, do it section over, the answer was, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, that thou shalt be saved, and thy house, yeah? When Jesus Christ is talking to Nicodemus about, you know, about being born again, yeah, about how to avoid perishing and going to heaven, he said, for God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever feed, clothe, and water, and everything, believers know that whosoever believeth in him should not perish for everlasting life. Jesus Christ said verily, verily, I say unto you, he that believeth in me hath everlasting life. We see it time and time again. Paul, you know, makes it clear throughout the New Testament writings, it's faith alone, faith alone, faith alone, for by grace ye say through faith, and that not of yourselves it's a gift of God, and not of works any man should buy. Okay, time and time and time again, okay, but to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness. Romans 4-5. Time and time again, okay, so we know that, we know that, so when we see this passage here, we're not going, oh man, I've got to like feed and clothe people to go to heaven, you know, and if I don't, I'm going to hell. Okay, so that's obviously not what it's saying, so then we need to understand what it's saying. What's going on here? Well, first of all, you have to remember the context, okay, these parables are on the back of a description of the end times, and ultimately they've been talking about really the rapture, they've been talking about the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and those that are rejected and those that are accepted, yeah, okay, and what have we seen really is a talking of those who have been given over, and rejected and reprobated basically, okay, and that's what we've seen really with three, with the end of Matthew 24, then the beginning of Matthew 25, then the second parable in Matthew 25, as far as I'm concerned. So it was the back of a description of the end times which spoke of enduring to the end, didn't it? Preaching the gospel to the end, okay, in case anyone kind of gets confused about this, enduring to the end actually said in Matthew 24 and verse 13, you can look there quickly if you want, Matthew 24, 13 said, but he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved. But what's it talking about? It's talking about physically getting to the end, and this gospel of the kingdom, because we're talking about the Great Tribulation coming in, and this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations, and then shall the end come. It's about getting the gospel out up and to that point, and then it's time to flee, yeah, okay, there are people enduring to the end, because those that don't, the believers that don't, and the believers that are just like a quick hideout, and okay, they ain't going to last, okay, those are enduring to the end, those that keep doing the things of God, that keep serving, keep preaching the gospel, they're the ones then, and they're also watching and everything else, and seeing all the times, and they're ready to flee, and go into wherever they can for refuge in that last sort of, you know, two and a half month period. So we saw the need to watch, didn't we, to be good servants, preaching the gospel, ready to flee at the end. Then in chapter 25, we've just, like I said, had two parables talking of the saved and the reprobates, yeah, and I would say you could add to that the end of chapter 24. Okay, the second one was talking about rewards for getting busy for God with what you're given in life, yeah, it's all in the context of the rapture and persevering to the end, isn't it? Okay, that's the context for me, and that's who the sheep are here, this is what I believe here, I believe it's those that have persevered to the end of the great tribulation. Now hear me out here, because I think what many people do is just go, okay, yeah, this is talking about, you know, great white throne of judgment, this is talking about the end, and this is just talking about, you know, you know, finally at the end, casting some to hell and some to heaven. Well, I don't think we've suddenly jumped forward a thousand years now, okay, so this is what I believe, he says in verse 31, when the Son of Man shall come in his glory, now watch this verse, when the Son of Man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory. Now, I believe, and I'm going to show you why, that this is right at the point of the rapture, when the Son of Man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him. Turn to Revelation 6, because I think he sits on the throne pretty much as soon as he comes. Matthew 24 says that they shall see the Son of Man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory, yeah. Matthew 24, 31 says, and he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect for the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other. So who's gathering the elect? The angels, because I think some people have a picture of Jesus Christ kind of flying around on clouds, gathering people up and stuff, that's not what I believe is really going to be happening. Revelation 6, 12 says, and I beheld, when he had opened the sixth seal, and lo there was a great earthquake, and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood. And the stars of heaven fell into the earth, even as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs, when she was shaken of a mighty wind. And the heaven departed as a scroll, when it is rolled together. What's this talking about, the sky? And every mountain and island were moved out of their places, and the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captors, and the mighty men, and every bobman, and every free man hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks and mountains, and said to the mountains and rocks, fallen us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb, for the great day of his wrath is come, and who shall be able to stand? Now is that the father of the Lamb on the throne? Because jump forward to chapter 7, where the 144,000 witnesses are sealed, and then we see the result of the rapture, okay? There before the Lamb, it says this, it says, after this I beheld a great multitude, so this is clearly now kind of the rapture's just happened, which no man could number of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues stood before the throne, and before the Lamb clothed with white robes and palms in their hands, and cried with a loud voice saying, salvation to our God, which sitteth upon the throne and unto the Lamb. And all the angels stood round about the throne, and about the elders, and the four beasts, and fell upon the throne on their faces, and worshiped God, saying, Amen, blessing, and glory, and wisdom, and thanksgiving, and honor, and power might be unto our God, for ever and ever are men. And one of the elders answered saying unto me, what are these which are arrayed in white robes, and whence came they? And I said unto him, these talk about those that have just been raptured, and I said unto him, Sir, thou knowest, and he said to me, these are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Okay, they've come out of great tribulation, they've gone through, these are the raptured, yeah. Therefore, as they, sorry, therefore are they before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple, and he that sitteth on the throne shall dwell among them. They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more, neither shall the sunlight on them, nor any heat, for the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne, for the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne, shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains and waters, and God shall wipe away altars from the eyes. It's the Lamb, it's Jesus Christ, God the Son on the throne, because he's God, isn't he? Yeah, it's God on the throne here. Now, we can't see heaven, right? Yeah, anyone can see heaven. Anyone see heaven here? If you say you have seen heaven, I'm gonna get you escorted out. No, I'm kidding, okay. We are all any of those crazy folk in here. Okay, no one's seen heaven, have they? So, something changes when the sun becomes black, and the stars fall from the earth, because Revelation 6 14, where he just just saw a word said, And the heaven departed as a scroll, when it is rolled together, and every mountain island were moved out of their place. Right, that's the sky. Now, look at what they're all saying in verse 16, and said to the mountains and rocks, Fallen us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb. So, it's as if they could see heaven clearly now. They can see his face, can't they? These are people on earth going, hide us, hide us from him, okay. That's not happening at this point right now, okay. Now, don't get me wrong, he can see you. Oh, the eyes of the Lord are everywhere, beholding the evil and the good. We can't see him. However, something happens at the second coming, where the sky goes back like a scroll, and suddenly everyone can see it. Yeah, kind of like lightning from the east to the west, right? Perhaps. Now, like I said, I don't think, I think this image of him surfing clouds. Now, don't get me wrong, and you could turn if you want to Acts 1, it's up to you, yeah. Some of you will know this verse. Acts 1 11, when he says, which, which also said, Ye men of Galilee, these the angels speak, and they say, Why stand ye gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven. So, I think people look at, look at that and think, oh yeah, now he's going to like, kind of, the clouds are going to part and he's going to come down. But then, how's everyone seeing, like, from lightning from the east to the west? This is the Son of Man, this is the Lord Jesus Christ, right? So, how does everyone see him if he just kind of comes down like these guys? Well, but maybe is Christ coming in heaven? Maybe that's the point. They said, they said, this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven. Now, maybe it's lightning for these of us because it's the Lord in heaven. Maybe. I might be wrong here, yeah, but Matthew 24 30 says, Then shall appear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven. Then shall appear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven, and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn. They shall see the Son of Man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. Is that the Lord Jesus Christ, when the sky is rolled back like a scroll, coming in the clouds of heaven rather than coming in clouds on his eyes? Do you see what I mean? Maybe people have just seen, basically, heaven straight above and there's a highness from the face and everything else. I might be wrong here. I'd be interested what you think afterwards. Then verse 31, back to Matthew 25 with that in mind. Therefore, this is how we could apply this, if that's the case. Matthew 25 verse 31 says, When the Son of Man shall come in his glory and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory. So this could be at the point of the rapture then. And before him shall be gathered all nations and he shall separate them one from another as a shepherd derided his sheep from the goat. So perhaps the rapture is opposed to the post-millennial reign because we would have otherwise just jumped massively forward here. It then says, And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left. Then shall the king sound to them on his right hand, Come ye blessed and my Father inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. So could these be those that the angels are gathering? This is the separation. Of course there's a kind of picture here, they're not sheep and goats, right? But it's a separation, it's those being gathered and those not being gathered. And what do goats look like? They kind of look a bit like sheep. Maybe there are those that, these are like the false ones, these are like the fakes, these are the frauds, these are those that have been around. Or maybe these are those that have already been reprobated, we've taken them out, I don't know, maybe there's going to be this false religion as well going on obviously as well. For I was hungered and you gave me meat, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you took me in naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came unto me. How do you survive to the rapture? By enduring to the end. Living for Christ, right? Then look at verse 37 Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee and hungered and fed thee, or thirsty and gave thee drink? When saw we thee, a stranger, took thee in, or naked and clothed thee? Or when saw we thee, sick or in prison, and came unto thee? And the King shall answer, say unto them, verily I say unto you, inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me. Now notice how he didn't say the least of the other sheep, there's like a third group it seems. Who's the third group? Maybe those already in heaven? The least of these my brethren? Maybe the others in heaven? They fed them the word? Didn't they? If they've endured to the end? They gave them the living water? Because they're enduring. What was enduring to the end? Still preaching the gospel, still doing the things of God. They brought them into the kingdom, didn't they? They housed them, they gave them, they brought them in, they took in strangers, they clothed them in white robes. They came to them when they needed healing and when they were in the bondage of sin. Yeah? Maybe that's what it's a picture of. It's what we're seeing here is those that have endured to the end. This is talking about the rapture. Then verse 41, eventually say also unto them on the left hand, depart from me ye cursed, into everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels. Now the reason I brought that up earlier is because that wasn't the point of the great white throne of judgment earlier on either and I don't think here it's like this is just going to come is it? Apart from me ye cursed. There's only one place to go but it's not saying that's right now at this point. And considering like I said that this is pre-wrath if I'm right and there are still the 144,000 witnesses and two witnesses to come, the goats being similar to sheep like I said could be the fake believers, the tares described in Matthew 13 or it's a generalization towards those that are unsaved and what is to come for them. Yeah? Either way. Now I might I might be wrong there but that's how I see that. Otherwise I can't you can't I can't marry it up otherwise. Otherwise it doesn't make sense, does it? But if anyone has another interpretation of it by all means share it with me. He said in verse 42, for I was an hungered and you gave me no meat. I was thirsty and you gave me no drink. I was a stranger and you took me not in. Naked and you clothed me not. Sick and in prison and you visited me not. Then shall they also answer him saying Lord when saw we thee and hungered or a thirst or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison and did not minister unto thee. Then shall he answer them saying verily I sent you and as much as you did it not to one of the least of these, he did it not to me. So whether it's the tares, wolves in sheep's clothing like it probably something like that, the unsaved multitude, none of them did a thing for the Lord because they rejected salvation but more so they could never have got anyone saved. They could never have done the things like we just said. They could never have clothed them in white raiment. They could never have fed them the waters of everlasting life. They could never have given them the Word of God properly. They could never have done any of those things because all of their righteousness is, well they never did anything worthy because all their righteousness is filthy rags and they could never save them because one they were unsaved and two for me the goats picture here that the reprobates. That's what I think and then he says and these shall go away into everlasting punishment but the righteous into life eternal. They're done aren't they? They're already done. There's no chance for them and that's the difference between the sheep and the goats and that's what's to come basically for all of these false Christians isn't it? So aside from that that's what's coming. These work salvationists, these reprobates at the end. Look, they reject the Lord Jesus Christ. There's only one place to go. Everlasting hell and it is everlasting. The guy went to everlasting punishment. I had a guy today try and say to me that he said well it's just separation from God. No it's everlasting punishment in the presence of the Lamb. Yeah, it's everlasting punishment. They're the stakes. That's how high it is and look there are so many people that are trusting their works and I would implore anyone here to implore anyone I know we have a quieter day today anyone watching online. Look, you want to make sure that you're trusting the Lord Jesus Christ. Not your own works, not your own goodness, not your own whatever you think you've done in life. It's got nothing to do with salvation. The only way you're going to heaven is if you have faith alone in Christ alone. Okay and look if you're rejecting that and you're rejecting it and you're in a church like this I would say especially and you'll reject that rejecting that for me you're on a fast track to reprobation. A fast track to being given over and that's it and that's what I think we see a picture of here. We're seeing a picture of those that have endured to the end in the tribulation. It's all in concert. That's what it is each time rather than suddenly jumping forward over a thousand years later. So that's what I believe with that that part there but what so what do we take from all of that so so you know there's some for me some good doctrine in there obviously for me there's just a good reminder of the difference between those that have the light in the first parable they've got the light yeah they've got the lamp the you know which is a picture of the Word of God but they don't have they don't have salvation and there are many people out there that have the Word of God there are people that could tell you about the end times now come across these people there they could they know a lot of the Bible you can know a lot of the Bible you could because sometimes I think you think oh well they were how would they be able to I remember like before thinking oh Alexander Scurby must have been saved he does such a good Bible reading and then you find out he was no one is he rejected a long time ago and never got saved yeah look being able to understand the context and reading and learning and knowing all this doesn't mean you're saved and we see that with the first picture and ultimately they've rejected okay and these people are trying to buy it and they're trying and it's too late you never knew them you know depart for me basically you know ye that were connected as the doors done for these people and and you know and then we see that second power and we see obviously the lesson to be learnt from what you can you can do great things forgotten and enduring to the end if we live for it you want to enjoy just keep going don't matter what you have I haven't been you get he got how'd you do that how'd you endure to the end by preaching the gospel the gospel has to go out and that has to be our goal look it would be great you know we could sit here and go oh man if only I was you know better at this if only I kind of just had a bit more of this spiritual gift or this ability oh if only I could learn five languages if only I could do it whatever it is that doesn't matter what you've been given use it and the first way you use any of it is by preaching the gospel and some people it could be look some people find like look man I'm hardly opening my Bible yeah for whatever reason I don't I don't get to preach it I don't get to do it much but but you know what if you're going out you're still serving God with what you've got and if you're one of the people in our church it maybe doesn't get a salvation of for a long time for the ladies it's not so often for whatever reason maybe just because maybe a lot of people out there they don't want to listen to a lady preaching the gospel but there will always be someone that does and you might have to knock 500 doors to get to that woman that says yeah I've get that man or to get to that teenager who's maybe they're gonna be that little bit more comfortable with a female there than some you know guy bearing down on them yeah and you just keep doing it you keep plugging away you keep serving God and look you we saw that picture there those that will be rewarded just like the person that was given the five talents and went on to trade for five more talents and and then ultimately we see at the end we see again someone that's rejected and then finally for me we see that picture of those sheep and those goats those that have persevered to the end in the tribulation okay so they're already saved but they've persevered and they've adjudicated and those that haven't have been rejected and and and we need to understand last point on this we need to understand that people that people reject the Word of God and it can be confusing sometimes can't it and there are a lot of these wicked people out there and you know we don't want to just always dwell on that sort of thing but it's something that we need to understand as well because sometimes it can be confusing and here we see three pictures for me of that that was Matthew chapter 25 that's my interpretation of that like I said you know you study it yourself you decide what you think on that I'd love to hear some different views on that that that's what I got from last night and this morning but yeah on that we're going to finish up in a word of prayer father thank you thank you for well you know just just how rich the Word of God is how deep some of it is how you know you just kind of sometimes you feel like you're really just just staring at verse and trying to trying to make sense of them and trying to understand them but ultimately we study we can with so much of the Word of God that no one understands the whole thing but there's there's so much you know there's so much there to study and that we'll never get bored we'll never get tired of reading and studying the Word of God we thank you that it's unlike anything else out there and just just how amazingly it fits in and works out together and help us to just just always want to just have a heart for studying your word to to really get into the bottom of it but ultimately to so that we can become stronger so that we can come become you know more knowledgeable and wiser not for ourselves not to puff ourselves up but so that we can then do more for you and ultimately the result is going out and getting more people safe Lord help us to do that as this as a church here help us to just be a church that will always have a heart for preaching the gospel well maybe those are you know kind of maybe a bit apprehensive about these sort of things to just give them the courage and the you know strength to maybe want to try try whether it's coming out as a silent partner or whether it's silent partners to get the courage to start speaking to preach help the children here as well not to be forced but to just want to you know want to start to learn to do the same we you know the future of this church is important as well Lord help us help us to always just have a heart for it help us to as we see the these end times coming just help us to get out more and more and just understand that need to get more more people say Lord and help us all to get home safely and to return back us on Saturday for the soul-winning marathon or if not on Sunday another day in your house in Jesus name for all of this amen