Quotation: Matthew, 25:1-13
| 1 | "At that time the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. |
| 2 | Five of them were foolish and five were wise. |
| 3 | The foolish ones took their lamps but did not take any oil with them. |
| 4 | The wise, however, took oil in jars along with their lamps. |
| 5 | The bridegroom was a long time in coming, and they all became drowsy and fell asleep. |
| 6 | "At midnight the cry rang out: `Here's the bridegroom! Come out to meet him!' |
| 7 | "Then all the virgins woke up and trimmed their lamps. |
| 8 | The foolish ones said to the wise, `Give us some of your oil; our lamps are going out.' |
| 9 | "`No,' they replied, `there may not be enough for both us and you. Instead, go to those who sell oil and buy some for yourselves.' |
| 10 | "But while they were on their way to buy the oil, the bridegroom arrived. The virgins who were ready went in with him to the wedding banquet. And the door was shut. |
| 11 | "Later the others also came. `Sir! Sir!' they said. `Open the door for us!' |
| 12 | "But he replied, `I tell you the truth, I don't know you.' |
| 13 | "Therefore keep watch, because you do not know the day or the hour. |
Just months ago, people were excited about the beginning of the twenty first century.
We don't know how will it be. But one thing we can say is that we are permitted to live in this new century, and to spend days with abundant hopes.
A brother said in a fellowship, "We should be joyful to finish one day by one day, because the Heaven comes near for as much as one day.
We spend days on the base of time, but the God isn't limited or controlled by time. He moves everything from eternity to eternity.
Thus we are sure that it is quite possible that we meet Him on the earth alive.
I know Christians hold this hope to meet Him soon in their hearts, because it is written in the Holy Bible in this way, ... at the end of the Book, ...
Revelation, 22:20
| 20 | He who testifies to these things says, "Yes, I am coming soon." Amen. Come, Lord Jesus. |
His promise is so perfect that we can't doubt anything about it.
Any words in this so thick Book are splendid. But if we summarize them into three points, first one is on the Verse one of the Chapter one in Genesis.
Genesis, 1:1
| 1 | In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. |
"His existence and His Mighty power of Creation" are described.
The second and core of His words is, "His redemption with love by the death of Jesus on the Cross and Resurrection." You can find this all over the Book.
At last, the hope that He comes again.
In the New Testament, we find many words related to the end of the world. It means those who believe in Him hope so earnestly His coming again.
Paul wrote in his letter to Titus,
Titus, 2:12-13
| 12 | It teaches us ... |
| 13 | ... we wait for the blessed hope--the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, |
Paul taught and recommended Titus to wait for the blessed hope that He comes again.
He promised to come back in the same way as He was raised into the Heaven.
Acts, 1:9-11
| 9 | After he said this, he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight. |
| 10 | They were looking intently up into the sky as he was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them. |
| 11 | "Men of Galilee," they said, "why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven." |
Surely He will come again. This is a promise. In the Old Testament, this hope is frequently written.
Psalms, 96:13
| 13 | they will sing before the LORD, for he comes, he comes to judge the earth. He will judge the world in righteousness and the peoples in his truth. |
Psalms, 98:9
| 9 | let them sing before the LORD, for he comes to judge the earth. He will judge the world in righteousness and the peoples with equity. |
In this quotation, the purpose of His coming again is described.
"The final judgment" ... He will come again to judge the earth, people of all nations.
He will fulfill the accomplishment of salvation and establish the perfect kingdom of the God for true Christians.
These are the major purposes.
I would like to quote some words related to these purposes.
First, "He will come again to accomplish our salvation.",
Hebrews, 9:28
| 28 | so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many people; and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him. |
We were redeemed and saved by His redemption on the Cross. We will be moved into a perfect salvation in the world of the God by His coming again.
Jesus will come again to accomplish His salvation. This is one of the purposes.
And also He will come again to give us the crown of righteousness.
2 Timothy, 4:8
| 8 | Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day--and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing. |
the day of His coming again,
2 Timothy, 4:8
| 8 | Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day--and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing. |
The destruction of the Heavens and the earth, and the final judgment are followed.
2 Peter, 3:7
| 7 | By the same word the present heavens and earth are reserved for fire, being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men. |
There will be judgments. An example is written in a parable on the Verse thirty one to forty six of the Chapter twenty five in Mathew.
Matthew, 25:31-46
| 31 | "When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory. |
| 32 | All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. |
| 33 | He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left. |
| 34 | "Then the King will say to those on his right, `Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. |
| 35 | For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, |
| 36 | I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.' |
| 37 | "Then the righteous will answer him, `Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? |
| 38 | When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? |
| 39 | When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?' |
| 40 | "The King will reply, `I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.' |
| 41 | "Then he will say to those on his left, `Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. |
| 42 | For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, |
| 43 | I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.' |
| 44 | "They also will answer, `Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?' |
| 45 | "He will reply, `I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.' |
| 46 | "Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life." |
This is the final judgment.
At the end, all the nations will be gathered, then divided into right and left, or sheep and goats.
Those who are on His right side, who hold the contract of salvation will be given the privilege to enter the kingdom of the God.
But those who are on His left, goats side, who resist the God, will be punished by being put into the eternal fire.
The criteria to judge sheep or goats is if they believe in Him and also earnestly practice their love and live according to His words.
Then the Lord will sit on the throne of glory, establish His reign of righteousness and piece.
He will come down to the earth for those purposes.
1 Corinthians, 15:23-26
| 23 | But each in his own turn: Christ, the firstfruits; then, when he comes, those who belong to him. |
| 24 | Then the end will come, when he hands over the kingdom to God the Father after he has destroyed all dominion, authority and power. |
| 25 | For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. |
| 26 | The last enemy to be destroyed is death. |
He will establish the new kingdom by reigning everything. The new Heaven and earth are like this, well know part of the Book, ...
Revelation, 21:1-4
| 1 | Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. |
| 2 | I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. |
| 3 | And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. |
| 4 | He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away." |
Revelation, 21:6-7
| 6 | He said to me: "It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To him who is thirsty I will give to drink without cost from the spring of the water of life. |
| 7 | He who overcomes will inherit all this, and I will be his God and he will be my son. |
These are new heaven and earth, the kingdom fo the Heaven. How wonderful they are!
These are words filled with REJOICE. When we think about them, we grasp His unutterable grace firmly in our hearts.
We have nothing to do but thanking Him that He will lead us there and put us on His right as sheep, if we are righteous for our faith and keep burning our fire of faith.
The present heavens and earth will be changed by His coming and we will live with Jesus eternally in His dwelling. These are wonderful promises.
But we don't know when He will come again. Only the God the Father of Jesus knows it.
Matthew, 24:36-39
| 36 | "No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. |
| 37 | As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. |
| 38 | For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark; |
| 39 | and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away. That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. |
We don't know when He will comes again. So was it in Noah's era. They were warned there would be a flood, but they didn't hear the words.
They ate and drank a lot and enjoyed their lives. But, suddenly there came the flood and everything was destroyed other than Noah's family who believed the warning and his animals on the ark.
The Book warns us just like this, the day of His coming again will suddenly come.
Matthew, 24:42
| 42 | "Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come. |
His words are truth and correct. The Book warns us many times that we should long for the day of His coming again preparing for it with open eyes.
In Taiwan there is a proverb, "Children have ears but no mouths."
It means, "Hear and do what parents say." I think it is opposite in these days, "Children have mouths but no ears."
They don't hear what parents say but say what they want.
I wonder if our faith is the same.
We should hear His words as they are and accept them honestly, don't add any comments, don't make much of our opinion.
Parent is the Lord and children are us.
Proverbs, 4:1-2
| 1 | Listen, my sons, to a father's instruction; pay attention and gain understanding. |
| 2 | I give you sound learning, so do not forsake my teaching. |
Proverbs, 4:20-23
| 20 | My son, pay attention to what I say; listen closely to my words. |
| 21 | Do not let them out of your sight, keep them within your heart; |
| 22 | for they are life to those who find them and health to a man's whole body. |
| 23 | Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life. |
The Lord always tells us, "Pay attention to what I say, listen closely to my words."
The attitude we should keep as those who long for His coming again is written on the Verse one to thirteen of the Chapter twelve in Mathew.
In this parable, the bridegroom is Jesus, and ten brides are us. Five of them were foolish and five were wise.
Foolish ones had lamps with oil, but they didn't prepare a backup. Wise ones had enough oils.
The bridegroom came unexpectedly late at night. Foolish ones went out to buy oils in a hurry, but when they came back the door was closed because it was too late. They couldn't enter the house.
(Side A -> Side B)
It is written, "they all became drowsy and fell asleep."
Thinking about our daily lives, we spend days just like running with sufferings, responding to rapidly changing society of information.
I think we have few experiences to wait slowly.
I go to my office by trains, I see a lot of people run up the steps to the platform, walk into a crossing even the signal is changing into red.
Moreover, at lunch, if the restaurant is full, we get irritated and give it up and try to find another one.
People isn't accustomed to wait these days, including me.
But a faith is totally different from daily life. Because a faith is based on His words, and within them, there are blessings and REJOICEs, hopes.
We are provided a force to overcome a patience with them.
1 Thessalonians, 2:13
| 13 | And we also thank God continually because, when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men, but as it actually is, the word of God, which is at work in you who believe. |
1 Thessalonians, 2:19-20
| 19 | For what is our hope, our joy, or the crown in which we will glory in the presence of our Lord Jesus when he comes? Is it not you? |
| 20 | Indeed, you are our glory and joy. |
When we accept His words honestly, a hope and a REJOICE will overflow within us by a work of the Holy Spirit.
Our heart is changed to long for His coming again.
1 Peter, 1:13-16
| 13 | Therefore, prepare your minds for action; be self-controlled; set your hope fully on the grace to be given you when Jesus Christ is revealed. |
| 14 | As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. |
| 15 | But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; |
| 16 | for it is written: "Be holy, because I am holy." |
Here, Peter wrote action items to those who wait for His coming.
First, prepare your minds for action, and be self-controlled. Preparing our minds for action requires an unbroken tension.
I think if we are free from despise and pursuing earnestly after a hope, the stress will be changed into relax and piece in mind. It is a great grace the Lord gave us.
Finally, these words are large hope and REJOICE we long for,
Philippians, 3:20-21
| 20 | But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, |
| 21 | who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body. |
He will come again so soon. His words are perfect.
1 Corinthians, 13:12-13
| 12 | Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known. |
| 13 | And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love. |
Thank you for listening.
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