She Waits

Introduction

Matthew 25:1–13

1 Then shall the kingdom of heaven be likened unto ten virgins, which took their lamps, and went forth to meet the bridegroom. 2 And five of them were wise, and five were foolish. 3 They that were foolish took their lamps, and took no oil with them: 4 But the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps. 5 While the bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered and slept. 6 And at midnight there was a cry made, Behold, the bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet him. 7 Then all those virgins arose, and trimmed their lamps. 8 And the foolish said unto the wise, Give us of your oil; for our lamps are gone out. 9 But the wise answered, saying, Not so; lest there be not enough for us and you: but go ye rather to them that sell, and buy for yourselves. 10 And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came; and they that were ready went in with him to the marriage: and the door was shut. 11 Afterward came also the other virgins, saying, Lord, Lord, open to us. 12 But he answered and said, Verily I say unto you, I know you not. 13 Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh.

There is a custom in the region of Galilee in Israel, it is not a custom of Judea but one of the region in which Jesus came. 

It is a custom where the father choses for his son, a bride. 

They meet.

The son proposes to the bride and offers her a cup of wine. 

It is at this point that the bride has the opportunity to accept or reject the offer. The opportunity will change her life for ever, and the choice is perfectly hers.

She demonstrates her choice by taking the wine or refusing it. Should she refuse it, the bride groom moves on without protest; should she accept it, a token is given her as a promise, a guarantee of their espousal.

He leaves her for a time. He goes to the fathers house to prepare a place for her, the mansion in which they shall abide, is joined to the fathers house.

The time however is unspecified, it is not based solely on the completion of their dwelling place and neither he nor his bride are aware of the time of his return, only the father knows.

The father chose the bride and the father knows the time for their union and the supper that follows. The bride is merely to be ready at all times.

When the bridegroom returns, he takes his bride back to his father’s house, they enter, the door is shut, and the marriage supper, the feast, begins.

They remain separated and together for seven days, after which the groom returns with his bride and presents her to the world.

This is one of the most astonishing traditions, and it is astonishing because of how perfectly it follows the biblical account of the Church and Jesus Christ. How perfectly it re-presents the scriptures to us.

There is a curious passage in the book of Isaiah chapter 26.

Isaiah 26:19–21

19 Thy dead men shall live, together with my dead body shall they arise. Awake and sing, ye that dwell in dust: for thy dew is as the dew of herbs, and the earth shall cast out the dead. 

20 Come, my people, enter thou into thy chambers, and shut thy doors about thee: hide thyself as it were for a little moment, until the indignation be overpast. 21 For, behold, the LORD cometh out of his place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity: the earth also shall disclose her blood, and shall no more cover her slain.

Similar wording is given to us in Revelation 3 respecting the Church of Philadelphia, but with it, the indication of imminence that pertains to the returning bridegroom;

Revelation 3:10–11

10 Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth.

11 Behold, I come quickly: hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown.;

The disciples asked the Lord of the signs that will accompany his return to this world to set up his kingdom.

Jesus told him of those signs, some of which pertain to the general signs of the last days, some specific to the “hour of temptation”, that “little moment” when the “LORD cometh out of his place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity”.

Before that time, his bride shall enter her chambers and shut the doors about her, hiding herself “until the indignation be overpast”.

The closer we come to those signs, the closer we are to the return of the bridegroom for his Bride.

The window for the Lords return is the greatest comfort we have for the times in which we live.

And I want to tell you of The Bride while SHE WAITS.

The Fathers Choice

She has tears in her eyes as she waits. 

She looks up longing, her tears well up and fall down her cheeks.

She knows that this is the way it must be, for it was always this way. 

The groom comes to the bride given to him, he offers himself to her, she accepts him and he departs. For how long, she does not know, nor does he know, but he will come again to receive her to himself (Jn 14:3).

He builds a home that she shall live with him for ever (Jn 14:2). It is attached to the fathers house and when he completes the work he will come at his fathers bidding. This is just how it always was and so SHE WAITS.

Never has she expected to love him as much as she does, after all she was chosen for him . 

It’s the traditional way things go. The father has great wisdom and he choses the bride that he knows his son would love. The father is wise and yet she is often confused.

“If the father is so wise…why did he choose me?”

“I am black, but comely” “look not upon me, because I am black, because the sun hath looked upon me” (Song 1:5-6)

“I am not the fairest among women, what love is it that, inspire of so many of my faults, in spite of knowing that I am one no one else would choose, how can this father be considered wise in choosing me?”

It is a wisdom that is astonishing to see and it is one hard to understand. She was chosen and yet she also needed to accept the proposal given her. 

How could she say no? How could any bride say no to such a proposal, such an offer, such love? What kind of love is this that can love me when I am so unlovable? 

Such are her thoughts, such are the considerations of her heart and so “rivers of waters run down her eyes” as SHE WAITS. (Ps 119:136)

She is not the same person she once was. 

Clothed with rags, even filthy rags, she tried her best to earn the love of men but it was always to no avail. She believed the promises of the world and She thought she could make it easy for them, she put on her own clothes, wore her own apparel, painted her face to make it better than God had made, believing all the more she could attract the one who would love her unconditionally. To give to her what it was she thought she was looking for.

She realised that making herself appear in a way that she is not, would only make the love of her groom conditioned upon that which attracted him. How long could she maintain the facade? 

How many times ought she to paint over that which God made perfect? How often need she adorn herself which that which she thought could cover her nakedness?

How long would she remain white in her own power?

But it was all a lie, a ruse to distract her from the appeal of the bridegroom.

She is wiser now. 

Song of Solomon 1:5–6

5 I am black, but comely, O ye daughters of Jerusalem, as the tents of Kedar, as the curtains of Solomon. 6 Look not upon me, because I am black, because the sun hath looked upon me: my mother’s children were angry with me; they made me the keeper of the vineyards; but mine own vineyard have I not kept.

She wonders how it can be. 

You see, he clothed her rather than she herself. 

No matter how much she tried to make herself fair, she could not do enough for he seemed to see right through her, it was as if he knew her better than she knew herself,and he loved her the moment he saw her. 

Now she is clothed by him. She is white and SHE WAITS.

She is the father’s choice….

There is a story in the Old Testament that may have sparked the tradition of the father’s choice of a bride for his son. 

It is seen in Genesis 24.

An incredible portion of the Bible that has Abraham the father of the promised son, Isaac, sending an unnamed servant into his own country to take a wife for his son.

If you were to do a search for the word “Prosper” or Prosperity” or “Prosperous”, you would find it appear for the very first time in this passage related to the choice of a bride chosen for the fathers son.

The condition was laid in the heart of the unnamed servant. 

He knew he had no skill as to find a wife for his master and so he laid out matters that would narrow down the choice to only one person.

Genesis 24:16, this damsel was fair to look upon. She came to the well to fill her pitcher with water, the servant asked that she might give him drink;

Let us take up the text as verse 18

 Genesis 24:18–21

18 And she said, Drink, my lord: and she hasted, and let down her pitcher upon her hand, and gave him drink. 19 And when she had done giving him drink, she said, I will draw water for thy camels also, until they have done drinking. 20 And she hasted, and emptied her pitcher into the trough, and ran again unto the well to draw water, and drew for all his camels. 21 And the man wondering at her held his peace, to wit whether the LORD had made his journey prosperous or not.

Unbeknown to her, she was chosen from on high for the son of Abraham. The servant of Abraham, being in the way, found her;

Genesis 24:27

27 And he said, Blessed be the LORD God of my master Abraham, who hath not left destitute my master of his mercy and his truth: I being in the way, the LORD led me to the house of my master’s brethren.

He gave her a token of betrothal, a golden earring of half a shekel weight, and two bracelets for her hands of ten shekels weight of gold; (v22)

Never did she think that accepting his proposal would change her so much, and yet it did. She would become the mother of “thousands of millions” and her seed would “possess the gate of those which hate them” (v60).

As the virgin stood there, wearing the apparel that was given her and charged to wait for his coming, she recalled the story of Abraham and wept at being chosen herself.

She too never thought that accepting his proposal would change her so much, yet it did and so SHE WAITS.

Longing In Waiting

Matthew 25:4-5

 4 But the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps. 5 While the bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered and slept.

She so longed for his return. Not a day goes by that she is not thinking of him, not a day passes when the thought that “it could be today” does not cross her mind. 

He left to her more than a Golden earring of half a shekel weight, more than bracelets of gold ten shekels weight, more even that the attire she is clothed with, he left her his Spirit and His heart that she may learn of him.

The Spirit of Truth and the Word of Truth, that she may know him all the more and that when he calls her she would know his voice.

She reads again and again those wonderful passages that speak of him coming and each time she does she is all the more encouraged to wait eagerly for him.

He himself told us saying;

Luke 12:40

40 Be ye therefore ready also: for the Son of man cometh at an hour when ye think not.

So the desire naturally is to be ready. To have oil yet in our lamps to to be ready even while he tarries most especially if he will not necessarily come when we expect him.

Before he left he made plain his intention;

John 14:2–3

2 In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. 3 And 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.

In Revelation 3, with his Philadelphian bride was yet on the Earth, he said “Behold, I come quickly: hold fast that which thou hast, that no man take thy crown” (Rev 3:11).

Even the angels at the empty tomb, surprised the disciples as they watched the Bride Groom ascend into heaven saying;

Acts 1:11

11 … Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven.

Not a single mention of “WHEN”, only the ever present expectation of his return.

She so longs for his return, she reads again and again the wonderful encouragements that are left to her as the troubles of this world take hold.

She reads of Paul’s encouragement to a pastor in Titus 2:11-14 to maintain a faithful and zealous life while the bride waits for his appearing; turn there with me as we read;

Titus 2:11–14

11 For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, 12 Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world; 13 Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ; 14 Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.

Paul gave no indication of WHEN Christ might come. 

O how great even a little idea might have been given the Pastor, how great it would have been if it might be known that NOW is not the time to wait, but such and so must happen first and THEN we could wait.

James also, the brother of the Lord, spoke of patience in our waiting for him, but again no indication that something else had to happened first, for he was rebuking those who assumed to know by heaping “treasure together for the last days” (Ja 5:3);

James 5:7–8

7 Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord. Behold, the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience for it, until he receive the early and latter rain. 8 Be ye also patient; stablish your hearts: for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh.

Perhaps she would have preferred something more, just something to mark the time, something that might indicate “WHEN”. 

She longs for him even now and justly so, for Peter also wrote saying;

7 But the end of all things is at hand: be ye therefore sober, and watch unto prayer.1 Peter 4:7

“At hand”, “At hand” he wrote, just as that which is “at hand” is imminent, so too is the coming of the Lord, the bride groom for his bride.

Even Christ spoke of his coming for his kingdom in such a way;

Mark 13:35–37

³5 Watch ye therefore: for ye know not when the master of the house cometh, at even, or at midnight, or at the cockcrowing, or in the morning: 36 Lest coming suddenly he find you sleeping. 37 And what I say unto you I say unto all, Watch.

“Watch…Watch”

An open and closed parenthesis to the imminency of his return, spoken yet of a time in the midst of signs.

Paul affirmed the same thing yet again to the Collossian Bride;

Colossians 3:4

4 When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory.

Its as if he was supervising what he told the Corinthians Bride when he said;

1 Corinthians 15:51–52

51 Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, 52 In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.

And the Thessalonians bride when he wrote;

1 Thessalonians 4:16–18

16 For 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: 17 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. 18 Wherefore comfort one another with these words.

O what a wonderful comfort are those words, what a wonderful joy and what an inspiration it is to keep the lamp burning. If She thought for even a moment that he would not come now, she might be pleased to let the lamp go out and save her money and to purchase the oil when she knew the time was nigh.

BUT THE TIME IS ALWAYS NIGH!

And so She Waits

Trouble Waiting

Matthew 25:5

5 While the bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered and slept.

As she wipes the sleep from her eyes she notes that not all are waiting.

Their lamps have largely gone out because he has tarried long. Some have come to think that it was too long. Many reasons they have given that it must not be an any moment thing, that the bride groom did not mean to say “I come quickly”, but “I come quickly when….such and so happens”.

Her tiredness in life leaves her to think perhaps they are right.

She is coffee at greatly, the other virgins berate her and laugh her to scorn. She so loves him, she so longs for him, but he tarries so much and she longs to sleep.

She again picks up his heart and again reads to courage. She finds the place where it speaks even that this very thing shall occur and it strangely encourages her yet again;

2 Peter 3:1–4

1 This second epistle, beloved, I now write unto you; in both which I stir up your pure minds by way of remembrance: 2 That ye may be mindful of the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets, and of the commandment of us the apostles of the Lord and Saviour: 

3 Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts, 4 And saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation.

Knowing well that this passage speaks both to his coming for his Bride but ALSO to the judgment of The Day of the Lord, she sees in either case that scoffers are a sign that his coming is nearer that when we believed. 

There is a reminder in this that there is a window to how long till he must return, there is a parenthetical timeframe for his coming to receive his bride, for in seeing the scoffers come to the fore there is a knowledge the day is closer now than it has ever been.

So many are the troubles in waiting. There are times when her oil and almost run out. 

Times when she has soiled the garment that has clothed her. Speckled and mottled is her garment, her feet need continual washing as she treads the filth of this world.

She is treated with scorn and contempt and far too often has she had to defend the bridegroom.

She reads

Psalm 69:9

9 For the zeal of thine house hath eaten me up; and the reproaches of them that reproached thee are fallen upon me.

While she knows the perfect fulfilment of those words are seen in Christ, yet she can’t help feeling that those who hate her Saviour reproach her while she waits.

But as she thinks of those words she is comforted again by the words of her Lord in;

Luke 6:22–23

22 Blessed are ye, when men shall hate you, and when they shall separate you from their company, and shall reproach you, and cast out your name as evil, for the Son of man’s sake. 23 Rejoice ye in that day, and leap for joy: for, behold, your reward is great in heaven: for in the like manner did their fathers unto the prophets.

He said also in John, 

John 15:18

18 If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you.

While there is indeed trouble in the waiting, she knows that she is not a part of this world, she is set apart, she is a “peculiar people”, even if she is a “lamb led to the slaughter” while she waits, yet she awaits the husbandman in spite of the trials and pains of life, in spite of the scorning and even in spite of the troubles she gets herself into.

Indeed, it would almost seem as if the greater the troubles in the world, the nearer it must be to his coming.

Matthew 25:5

5 While the bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered and slept.

Far too many are slumbering and sleeping and that at a time when “our salvation is nearer than when we believed” (Rom 13:11).

We get it. It feels so much easier to get on with life, to ignore the signs, to eat and to drink for tomorrow we die.

Keeping the lamp burning also gives away that we belong to Christ, and so often even attracts trouble while waiting. Mockery increases, persecution rises all the more.

Our own sinfulness tires us, we look at the garment we have been given to clothe our nakedness and it seems withered and torn, it is almost as if we would have nothing to clothe ourselves with if he tarries any longer.

Perhaps sleep is the option.

Until we read

Matthew 25:5-10

 5 While the bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered and slept. 6 And at midnight there was a cry made, Behold, the bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet him. 7 Then all those virgins arose, and trimmed their lamps. 8 And the foolish said unto the wise, Give us of your oil; for our lamps are gone out. 9 But the wise answered, saying, Not so; lest there be not enough for us and you: but go ye rather to them that sell, and buy for yourselves. 10 And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came; and they that were ready went in with him to the marriage: and the door was shut.

Instead of weariness, invigoration.

Instead of distress, comfort.

Instead of anxiety, patience.

And so she reads

Hebrews 10:35–37

35 Cast not away therefore your confidence, which hath great recompence of reward. 36 For ye have need of patience, that, after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise. 37 For yet a little while, and he that shall come will come, and will not tarry.

Wait Almost Over

Matthew 25:10b

  and they that were ready went in with him to the marriage: and the door was shut.

I have given this sermon from the perspective of a bride, a bride so loved by the bridegroom that he would die for her.

While we wait for the coming of our Lord, perhaps just for a moment we might think a little of how much he longs to come for us, to take us to be with him, that where he is we also should be.

Unlike those who have seen and believed, we have not seen and yet we believed. We took him at his word and trusted him with our very soul.

In spite of the sinfulness of our hearts, he died that we might ever live with him. 

I don’t get it, I don’t understand it, the bride knows that she is dust and she also knows that there is nothing that should have endeared her to him, and yet he loves her.

The tears that flow as she waits for her Lord, knowing he will keep her from the time of trial that shall come upon the earth, this comforts her.

For he will bring his bride to the father unscathed, unharmed, white and pure. It is not she that is appointed to wrath, but the godless of the world, the origins that have not trimmed their lamps but presumed to be his, who knock but the “door was shut”.

11 Afterward came also the other virgins, saying, Lord, Lord, open to us. 12 But he answered and said, Verily I say unto you, I know you not. 13 Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh.

What we do know is that we are to be expecting the Lord to come at any moment. To deny the imminency of the Lords return is to deny the plain reading of the words of the Lord that are given to encourage his bride to keep their lamp burning.

None of the passages that speak to his imminent return for his bride give any allusion to preceding event that must occur. Your challenge is to recognise the passages that speak to his coming for his bride, not those which speak of his coming as a thief in judgment upon this earth.

One is FOR his Church, the other is FOR JUDGMENT.

A military plane was making its landing. She was told that her fiancee was coming back after some time on tour. He was gone far too long as far as she was concerned and she just waited and waited for him to come back. 

They were to be married before he was called to duty, but duty called first.

She was with friends, one was here further husbands best friend. He tried to talk to her at eh airport but she was too distracted. He just watched her wait.

She had tears in her eyes, how long she has waited for this day to come. So many were the trials that she endured without him, but if now he is home she knew he could take them in his stride.

As the door to the plane opened, she was transfixed. Nothing could take her eyes away from the door.

There he was.

She saw him. 

She saw his eyes scanning the horizon. There was ONLY ONE reason he wanted to come, it was for her, and he was looking for knowone else.

When our Lord comes for his bride, he has NO OTHER DUTY TO ATTEND TO but to take her to his fathers home, and to celebrate with her in a feast so wonderful that no man on earth could compete with.

Everything else can wait, but his bride has waited long enough!

Romans 13:11–12

11 And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed. 12 The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light.