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As Jesus sat on the slopes of the Mount of Olives, teaching His disciples, He began this particular discourse with the admonition, “be on the alert,” and concluded with the exact same words. In reading His words in the Gospel of Matthew,(1) we see that He directed this message to four distinct “audiences.”
First, He addressed His disciples' specific questions. Second, since Jesus’ earthly ministry focused primarily on the Jewish people, this message was also directed to them. Third, He spoke to His church—those who would follow after Him, including us today, who will be with Him in heaven before the Tribulation. (By the way, as a side note—as His people we will escape the Tribulation, but He never promised that we will escape tribulation.) Fourth, He was speaking to His followers who would come to faith in Him during the Tribulation (after the rapture, but before His second coming).
For those of us in that third group—believers following Him today—we live in a place between the “already” and the “not yet.” We look back to the cross, where Jesus bore our sins, and forward to His second coming. We live in the last days, though not yet in the final last days. We hold both the assurance of what is already true and the anticipation of what is yet to come. Our lives are filled with the joy and expectancy of looking for the return of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Peter expressed it this way: “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to obtain an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, who are protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.”(2) We live in that “not yet” place of living hope! We are clothed in His righteousness, though not yet like Him in every way, and our hearts are filled with anticipation to see Him. Those who are not His followers, however, should look to that day with great fear and trembling. Paul wrote, “Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord, we persuade men….”(3) The thought of our Master’s return either inspires us with hope and joy, or with fear and dread of His eternal judgment. So, we look to His return—with a living hope for those who know the Savior, and with fear for those who do not.
For us, “being on the alert” means carrying our cross with the awareness that we will one day stand in His presence and give an account. We do not know the day or the hour; as He said, He will come “when you do not think He will.”(4) We must live ready.
Blessed is the follower (or servant) who is walking in the ready and about His Master’s business. Every person—believer and non-believer alike—has been given gifts for carrying out God’s purpose. Each of us has received life, breath, and privileges, which God has entrusted to us as a stewardship. Hell will be populated not only by Satan and his angels but also by those who, with unrepentant hearts, squandered their privilege and misused the gifts God intended for His purpose. Our task as servants is to serve the Master and those He has placed in our lives. The day of accountability is coming soon!
Lastly, Jesus shared the parable of the ten virgins to illustrate the suddenness and unexpectedness of His return. It should call us to readiness, preparedness and alertness so that we are not caught in an unexpected moment unprepared for His coming. Let’s be mindful that the first time Jesus came, the world was not ready. They should have been. The prophets had marked out very clearly the signs for which the world should be watching. They said there would be a forerunner. There was. They identified him as a voice crying in the wilderness. That’s exactly who John the Baptist was. They said the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem, He was, born of a virgin, He was, and born of the line of David, He was. They said He would come to Galilee, He did. They said He would have great power, He did. But the world still was not prepared and not ready. John wrote, “He came into the very world He created, but the world didn’t recognize Him. He came to His own people, and even they rejected Him.”(5)
The lesson of the ten virgins is simple: Jesus is coming to judge sinners and reward the righteous. He will return suddenly, and everyone must be ready. Afterward, there will be no second chances. The door will be shut, and the time of opportunity will have passed.
The church has known for over 2,000 years that Christ is returning for His bride, and yet, many of us have become lethargic and neglectful of our responsibility. Among too many of us, there is no longer an excited anticipation for the soon-return of our Lord and Savior. As a result, there is little effective witness being given that the Lord is returning.
The Master has called us to “be on the alert.” We do not know how much time remains before we are with Him in heaven or before He returns. Let us live out loud in this place between the “already” and the “not yet,” carrying the cross He has given us in a way that honors Him, brings glory to His name, and furthers His mission!
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You can read about this teaching of Jesus in the twenty-fourth and twenty-fifth chapters of the Gospel According to Matthew.
Portions of this post are adapted from chapter 22 of my book, Taking Up The Cross. For more information about the book, click here.
(1) Matthew 24:42 – 25:13 (NLT)
“Therefore, be on the alert, for you do not know which day your Lord is coming. But be sure of this, that if the head of the house had known at what time of the night the thief was coming, he would have been on the alert and would not have allowed his house to be broken into. For this reason, you also must be ready; for the Son of Man is coming at an hour when you do not think He will. Who then is the faithful and sensible slave whom his master put in charge of his household to give them their food at the proper time? Blessed is that slave whom his master finds so doing when he comes. Truly I say to you that he will put him in charge of all his possessions. But if that evil slave says in his heart, ‘My master is not coming for a long time,’ and begins to beat his fellow slaves and eat and drink with drunkards; themaster of that slave will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour which he does not know, and will cut him in pieces and assign him a place with the hypocrites; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
Then the kingdom of heaven will be comparable to ten virgins, who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. Five of them were foolish, and five were prudent. For when the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them, but the prudent took oil in flasks along with their lamps. Now while the bridegroom was delaying, they all got drowsy and began to sleep. But at midnight there was a shout, ‘Behold, the bridegroom! Come out to meet him.’ Then all those virgins rose and trimmed their lamps. The foolish said to the prudent, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’ But the prudent answered, ‘No, there will not be enough for us and you too; go instead to the dealers and buy some for yourselves.’ And while they were going away to make the purchase, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the wedding feast; and the door was shut. Later the other virgins also came, saying, ‘Lord, lord, open up for us.’ But he answered, ‘Truly I say to you, I do not know you.’ Be on the alert then, for you do not know the day nor the hour.”
(2) 1 Peter 1:3-5 (NASB)
(3) 2 Corinthians 5:11 (NLT)
(4) Matthew 24:44 (NLT)
(5) John 1:10-11 (NLT)
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