Matthew 25
Ten virgins went out to meet the Bridegroom with lamps (torches). They were divided into groups: five wise and five foolish. The foolish took no oil (the Spirit indwelling) with their lamps. The wise carried vessels of oil with their lamps. Because the Bridegroom tarried, they all slept. There was a cry at midnight, "Behold, the Bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet Him."
The virgins rising, prepared their lamps by trimming them. The foolish asked for oil, but it was not the time for finding oil; it was too late. While they went to buy, the Bridegroom came and those who were ready went in to the marriage hall and the door was shut. Later came the other five virgins, saying, "Lord, Lord, open to us." He responded, "I know you not."
Then the Lord gave a warning to all: "Watch therefore; for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh." I trust that my reader is aware of the opportunity now to be "wise"; now may be the last opportunity to find the Savior. A person may be a professor, one who carries a lamp. But unless you personally receive the Lord Jesus in your heart and trust in His precious blood, you are not saved. Soon the door of salvation will be shut and you will be lost for all eternity, headed for the blackness of darkness forever. If you are really saved, you will have oil (the Holy Spirit indwelling) in your vessel (your being) and you will enter into the marriage feast at the heavenly wedding of the Lamb (Rev. 19:77Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honor to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready. (Revelation 19:7)).
The Traveling Man and His Talents:
Another Likeness of the Kingdom of Heaven A man going into a far country delivered his goods into the hands of his servants. To one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one; to each according to his own ability. Then he went into a far country. In trading, the servant with the five talents gained five, the one with the two talents gained two, and the one with the one talent hid his in the earth.
A long time passed. Then the lord returned and reckoned with his servants. The one with five talents brought them plus five other talents, saying, "Lord... behold, I have gained beside them five talents more." The one with the two gained two additional ones. To each of them the lord said, "Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord."
The commendation was for the good and faithful servant. The servant probably was telling out the goodness of his master faithfully. What a lesson for our souls. Is this true of us? Shall we really enter into the joy of our Lord? It seems that the reward is much like the service. The service was one of joy in seeking the salvation of souls. During the one thousand years of the kingdom on earth, we shall have the privilege from heaven to reign with Christ and to proclaim the gospel of the kingdom throughout the entire millennial day. This will be His joy as well.
The servant with the one talent came to his lord and said, "Lord, I knew thee that thou art a hard man, reaping where thou hast not sown, and gathering where thou hast not strewed: and I was afraid, and went and hid thy talent in the earth: lo, there thou hast that is thine."
What a confession! This servant is like one who has had the highest truths ever given to man, and yet, instead of increasing the Lord's money by being faithfully engaged with his Lord's interests in heavenly things, his talent-his whole life-was hidden in the earth. Besides this, he attacked his Lord and his Lord's motives. To him, the Lord was a hard, unrighteous man, so the Lord judges him by his words. He was cast into outer darkness to remember for eternity a wasted life without God and without Christ. Scripture says to the rich man in hell (eternal punishment), "Son, remember." There the worm (the conscience) does not die and the fire (judgment) is not quenched, forever.
The one talent was given to the one who had five talents. The one who excels in the enjoyment (joy) of heavenly things in service to his Master will be given an abundance, but the one who does not value his Master or his goods will have everything taken from him. This is a solemn warning to those in the kingdom of heaven who are not real. It is the result of the rejection of the new order of the kingdom, the order being despised by Christendom.
Judgment of the Living Nations
Next we learn what will take place on earth when the Son of man returns as King to judge the nations. There are three companies in this world: the Jew, the Gentile (nations or heathen) and the Church of God. Chapter 24 began with the judgment on Israel. Then came the judgment on Christendom. Now we come to the judgment on the living nations of the prophetic earth. God does not judge until He first gives a testimony. The Jews will have a testimony of the kingdom; the nations also will have a testimony of the kingdom.
The condemnation will be on each individual of the nations (the goats) who rejects the messengers who bring to them the good news of the coming kingdom. The Lord is spoken of as King to these Gentiles because the message to them is of a kingdom that God is setting up over the whole earth with Jesus as the King. The Lord separates each individual among the nations "as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats." The sheep are on His right hand, and the goats on His left.
The sheep are blessed of the King's Father, not their Father, and He shall say, "Inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world." They are blessed, for they had cared for His messengers, who preached the gospel of the kingdom to all nations, as though they had cared for Him.
The condemnations on the goats are immediate and final. They are sent to everlasting punishment because they not only had not cared for the Lord's messengers, but they also had refused the message of grace given to them.
In Matt. 24 in reference to the Jews, Jesus is spoken of as the Son of man. With respect to Christendom, the Lord Jesus is spoken of as Lord, while among the nations He will be known as King. Having completed the solemn pronouncement of eight woes on the leaders of Israel and the Judgments on Israel, Christendom and the nations, the Lord begins to speak to His disciples about His death.