“Behold the Bridegroom Cometh”

(Matthew 25:1-13)

The subject for our consideration is our Lord’s answer to the question “what shall be the sign of Thy coming and of the end of the world (age)?”

The main answer was given in Matthew 24.

In that chapter our Lord indicated what would be the general character of the present age until His return. Then He told His disciples that the setting up of “the abomination of desolation,” and the great tribulation which would then take place would be the definite sign of His coming. Immediately after the tribulation there would be remarkable signs in the heavens which would usher in His coming.

The Lord, however, proceeded to give further instruction to His people, and so He told them what would be the condition of the world when He came. Instead of being millennial, it would be antediluvian (Matthew 24:37-41). Further, He proceeded to teach how His coming would affect the professing Church. This is the general topic of the three parables of Matthew 25. They all refer to His coming, and they all refer to it in relation to the professing Church.

“Then shall the kingdom of heaven be likened unto ten virgins.”

Our Lord throws light on the meaning of the words “The Kingdom of Heaven” in the parable of the tares (Matthew 13). “The good seed,” He says, “are the children of the kingdom; but the tares are the children of the wicked one.” These are to continue together until the end of the age. Then “the Son of Man shall send forth His angels, and they shall gather out of His kingdom (i.e. Christendom) all things that offend, and them which do iniquity; and shall cast them into a furnace of fire.”

Manifestly “the kingdom of heaven” denotes the professing Church in its mixed condition, consisting of tares and wheat, the children of the wicked one, and the children of the kingdom. In the strictest sense the kingdom of heaven, or the kingdom of God, or the kingdom of Christ and of God, or the kingdom of the Son of His love, consists only of those who are born again, but Satan has introduced tares amongst the wheat, and hence, during this dispensation, the professing Church, or the kingdom of heaven, consists of two classes. (See Matthew 18:3; John 3:3,5; Col. 1:12, 13.)

Now let us consider what our Lord teaches us in the parable of the ten virgins about the professing Church.

The ten virgins consist of those who are wise and those who are foolish. The professing Church consists, partly, of those who have become “wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.” They have been led by the Spirit to take heed to Christ’s teachings and hence they are like a wise man who built his house upon a rock.

On the other hand, there are large numbers in the professing Church who, though they have heard Christ’s teachings, reject them. The Word of His Gospel has not taken root in their hearts. They neglect His great salvation, and in their hearts they reject the Saviour. Such are like a foolish man who built his house upon the sand.

These two classes, the wise and the foolish, the real and the nominal, the possessor and the mere professor, appear also in the parables of the tares and of the draw net, and they are present in the professing Church right on till the Lord’s return. The wise and the foolish virgins are in outward association until they are awakened by the cry, “Behold, the Bridegroom cometh.”

Both the wise and foolish virgins went forth to meet the Bridegroom. The doctrine of the Lord’s return was prominent in the teaching of the Apostles. Hence the Corinthian saints were “waiting for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Cor. 1:7). So were the Thessalonian and the Philippian saints (see 1 Thess. 1:10; Phil. 3:20). The Church at large, despite its mixed state and its departure from truth, has always professedly expected the return of the Lord Jesus Christ. Dr Tregelles, on page 79 of his book entitled “The Hope of Christ’s Second Coming: How is it taught in Scripture? and Why?,” says, “The fact has been embodied in the common expressions of Christian belief: “He shall come again with glory to judge both the quick and the dead:

Whose kingdom shall have no end” (Nicene Creed); “Thou sittest on the right hand of God, in the glory of the Father. We believe that Thou shalt come to be our Judge” (Te Deum). Such, even in the darkest ages, has been the profession of the nominal Church; such has ever been the solemn acknowledgement of true believers.”

The fourth Article of the Church of England speaks of Christ sitting on the right hand of God, “until He return to judge all men at the last day.”

Cranmer, in his book on the Lord’s Supper, refers to the same hope, and John Bradford, one of the Marian Martyrs, comforted his heart with this hope when writing his letters in prison.

In Romans 8:19,23, the whole creation, inanimate as well as animate, is represented as waiting for that great event. It is unscriptural, therefore, to teach that some believers are looking for His coming and some are not looking.

“The wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps.” The foolish “took no oil with them.”

Oil is typical of the Holy Ghost. Our Lord was anointed with the Holy Ghost and with power (Acts 10:38, Luke 4:18).

His people are also anointed and sealed with the Spirit (2 Cor. 1:21, 22). It is by the work of the Spirit that they are washed, sanctified and justified (see 1 Cor. 6:11; Titus 3:3-7). He dwells in them. The presence of oil with the wise virgins indicated that they were regenerated, sealed and indwelt by the Spirit.

The absence of oil in the case of the foolish virgins indicated that they were destitute of the Spirit, and hence, they had no life, no light, no faith, no holiness, no power, no comfort and no hope (see Rom. 8: 9).

Note that expression “while the Bridegroom tarried.” Evidently the Lord intended to tarry or delay coming for a long time. He knew this when He told the parable. He did not teach that He might come at any moment. When the predestined moment arrives for Him to come, then “He that shall come will come, and will not tarry” (Heb. 10:37).

“They all slumbered and slept.” This is prophetic of the general condition of the professing Church, especially in the closing part of this dispensation. Compare “the love of many shall wax cold” (Matthew 24:12).

Comparative deadness, inactivity, and coldness will mark the professing Church as a result of abounding lawlessness. Doubtless there will be exceptions to this general rule.

We are not told who will utter this cry. Probably those believers who have been enabled to keep awake will utter it. They will be aware that the great tribulation has terminated, and they will have seen the ‘signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars (Luke 21: 25), and they will be fully convinced that now the Bridegroom is really coming.

The real and the only nominal Christians will then fully realize that the Bridegroom is now coming, and they will feel the need of being ready for His approach. Then the mere professor will discover what he was never conscious of before. He will realize that he is not ready to meet the Bridegroom. He will discover that the wise have something which he has not. He lights his lamp but finds it is going out because there is no oil to feed the flame. In other words, he is destitute of the Spirit, and therefore destitute of life, and destitute of saving faith in the Blood and righteousness of Christ. He is therefore not ready to meet the Bridegroom.

All who had oil, all His regenerated people, will go in with Him to the marriage. Their title to be welcomed to the feast will not be dependent on their having kept awake, but upon their being marked as His redeemed people by the presence of His Spirit in their hearts. All such, unworthy though they are in themselves, will go in with Him to the marriage.

Then we read the solemn words, “The door was shut.” The foolish virgins come and say Lord, Lord, open to us,” but He will answer, “Verily, I say unto you, I know you not.” These solemn words prove beyond the shadow of a doubt that the foolish virgins represent merely nominal Christians. “The Lord knoweth them that are His,” but these He knows not. They are not members of His mystical body. They are not His sheep.

There are two sides to a door, the inside and the outside. On which side shall we be when the great Bridegroom cometh?

Providence Baptist Ministries © 2006 , PBM Desktop Publications © 2006 All rights reserved. Revised: February 14, 2005 .