Matt. 25:1-13
It is the Lord Jesus Christ, and no other, who is referred to as the bridegroom in this parable. The virgins go out to meet Him; He is the one referred to in the midnight cry, "Behold, the bridegroom!", and those who are ready go in with Him to the marriage. But what is meant by the coming of the Bridegroom, and when does He come? Is the valley of the shadow of death referred to as the Bridegroom's coming? Is that the event pictured here under the joyous figure of a bridegroom and a marriage? No. The coming of the Bridegroom is the coming of Him who said to His sorrowing disciples, "If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto Myself; that where I am, there ye may be also." It is the fulfillment of that faithful promise.
Other scriptures abundantly confirm this. The angels witnessed to it as the astonished disciples looked steadfastly up into heaven, their eyes and hearts following their ascending Lord. "This same Jesus," they said, "which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen Him go into heaven." Acts 1:11. It was a visible and personal going away; it will be a visible and personal coming again.
The great truth of the Lord's coming in person the second time shines in the pages of inspiration like a great star in the midnight sky. How sad that it has been so forgotten! But the Lord foresaw this and foretold it. "While the bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered and slept." Not only the foolish, but also the wise ceased to watch and wait. In time the coming of the Lord ceased to be an object of joyous hope and expectation, and the promise of His coming was either spiritualized and explained away, or else it dropped out of sight altogether. In the early days of Christianity, however, it was far otherwise. The Lord's return, like a golden thread, was interwoven with all other truth, and the youngest convert was led to look at once for the Savior. As 1 Thess. 1:9, 10 states, "Ye turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God; and to wait for His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead, even Jesus, which delivered us from the wrath to come."
Some say, We have always believed the Lord Jesus would come in judgment at the end of the world-that is nothing new. We are not speaking, however, of that dread appearing. Without doubt He will come to judge, for we are told that God "hath appointed a day, in the which He will judge the world in righteousness by that Man whom He hath ordained." Acts 17:31. When He thus appears, it will be in flaming fire and with the angels of His might to take vengeance on them who know not God and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ (2 Thess. 1:7, 8). That is solemnly true, but if we were to explain our parable as if it related to Christ's appearing, we should mar its beauty and pervert its meaning, for it refers to the coming of the Bridegroom, not of the Judge. Guilty criminals may hear with alarm of the Judge's approach, knowing in themselves that the hour of punishment is at hand, but the Bridegroom's coming is waited for with earnest desire by those who are assured of His faithful love. Accordingly, at the close of the Revelation, when the Lord Jesus calls Himself the bright and morning star, the Spirit and the bride say to Him, "Come." And the last word spoken by Him from the glory is, "Surely I come quickly." To this assurance, so cheering and sustaining, there is the ready response, "Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus." Who could even imagine that such language would be used if we looked for Him as Judge?
"At midnight there was a cry made, Behold, the bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet him." From this we understand that a clear testimony was to go forth immediately before the bridegroom came. Surely that cry has been raised and, whether men will heed it or not, the fact that the Lord is coming again has been sounded out far and wide. At any moment He may come, and then it shall come to pass that "The Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord." 1 Thess. 4:16, 17. Then it will be said, The Bridegroom has come, and they that were ready have gone in with Him to the marriage.
If we believe that the midnight cry has gone forth and that the Bridegroom is at the door, how needful it is that we should see that our lamps are well trimmed, so that they may burn with a brighter, purer, steadier flame than ever. "Ye were sometime darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of light." Eph. 5:8. Again, the same Spirit by the same servant says to us, "Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness. Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober. For they that sleep in the night; and they that be drunken are drunken in the night. But let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for a helmet, the hope of salvation.
For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us, that whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with Him." 1 Thess. 5:5-10. Brethren, we shall do well to heed the Spirit's word of exhortation, calling us, as it does, to watchfulness and sobriety of mind, to the exercise of faith and love and hope in view of our Lord's return.
"A little while-He'll come again;
Let us the precious hours redeem; Our only grief to give Him pain,
Our joy to serve and follow Him. Watching and ready may we be,
As those that wait their Lord to see."
Are you ready for the Bridegroom's coming? Only those who were ready went in with Him to the marriage. "And the door was shut," adds the Lord with terrible significance. The foolish virgins-the professing but Christless multitudes -were not there. They had no oil in their vessels with their lamps, and they only discovered their deficiency when it was too late to supply it, for while they went to buy, the Bridegroom came. How foolish to forget the one thing that would make the lamp of any use at all. Is it so with you? Perhaps at this moment no one but God knows you have no oil in your vessel, that is, that the Spirit of God does not dwell in you. You have taken your place with the virgins; you carry the lamp of Christian profession, and are enrolled among the followers of Christ, but your lamp has no oil. How serious this is! You can never have oil unless you first receive forgiveness of sins through faith in Jesus, and are born of God. The Holy Spirit only indwells those who trust in Jesus. Ask yourself as under the eye of God, Have I oil in my vessel with my lamp? Is Christ mine? Does the Holy Ghost indwell me? If you cannot say "yes" to these questions, then, as a lost sinner come to Him who still says, "Come, buy... without money and without price." Do not delay for "Behold, the bridegroom cometh: go ye out to meet him."
"The heavenly Bridegroom soon will come,
To claim His bride and take her home,
To dwell with Him on high.
The Bridegroom comes, let no man doubt;
Alas! for those whose lamps are out,
They'll find no oil to buy."