Stay Prepared and Ready • Matthew 25:1-13
By Lee Faler
Perhaps you’ve seen the hit TV show, Doomsday Preppers. The premise of the show is quite simple, as it records the lives and efforts of several individuals who are preparing for the end of the world as we know it.
Some people on the show are preparing for a nuclear attack, while others are preparing for an economic collapse. Whatever their belief, the one thing all participants have in common is the belief that they must be prepared. They must be ready.
As followers of Christ, we need to stay prepared and ready for the day our faith becomes sight and we see Jesus face to face. Why is this so important?
We must stay prepared and ready because the need for enduring faith will be great. Jesus tells a parable concerning ten bridesmaids who were awaiting the groom’s arrival for a wedding. While we may not know all the customs concerning these times, it is evident from our passage that five of the bridesmaids were foolish because they took no oil for their lamps (v.3), and five were wise because they brought extra oil for their lamps (v.4).
The point is simple: five of the bridesmaids understood that the groom could arrive at any moment and they were prepared for his arrival, while the other five did not bring extra oil. Five were prepared to endure as they waited for the groom. The other five, instead of watching and waiting, became drowsy and slept.
Imagine their shock when the groom showed up! Friends, our groom is coming and my prayer is that when He returns He will find a Church that is enduring, not slumbering! May He find us faithfully sharing the Gospel and doing as Charles Spurgeon said, “imploring, and urging people to not go to hell, making them jump over our bodies with our arms wrapped around their knees begging them not to go.”
May He find us patiently enduring persecution and suffering, knowing that our suffering isn’t for nothing but is being used by Him to spread the Gospel to the ends of the earth. May He find us repenting of sin and clinging to Him in holiness, so that upon His return He finds a “church in splendor, without spot or wrinkle” (Ephesians 5:27).
We must stay prepared and ready because all of mankind is accountable to God. Everyone must personally make the decision to follow Christ. We can urge them to be ready and pray for them with all of our might, but at the end of the day we cannot make that crucial decision for them.
Notice that when the groom appeared at the midnight cry, the five foolish bridesmaids begged the wise ones for oil for their lamps, and they were denied. They had to personally go to town and get their own oil. When they returned, they discovered that time had run out and the door to the marriage feast had closed. No one would open the door for them, no matter how hard they knocked.
If you are reading this today and have not trusted in Christ to save you from your sins, then you need to know that one day the time for salvation will run out. It will be too late for your sins to be forgiven. The door to heaven will be closed to you, and there will be no escape from the horrors of hell.
Praise God that day is not today. Let His mercy and grace drive you to personally call on the name of Jesus to save you, forgive you, redeem you, and give you a home in heaven when you die.
Our text closes with a chilling reminder to, “Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour” (v. 13). This is the third time Jesus has reminded His disciples to “watch” or “be ready,” and we cannot afford to miss the gravity of these words.
As followers of Christ, we must live in a state of preparation and readiness to receive our Lord Jesus. The best way to get ready and be prepared is to STAY ready and STAY prepared. May the Lord give us grace to do exactly that.
Faler is senior pastor of First Church, Terry.
