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And at midnight there was a cry made, Behold, the bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet him.
Matthew 25:6
Its 2022 and thoughts of the end of the world are common and well documented both in the academy as well as in pop culture. It’s been a trend of the last several decades in countless books, Hollywood movies, and all types of shows, podcasts, and youtube channels to depict and orate on the end of the world as we imagine it. We have been left with shows depicting apocalyptic scenarios, zombie creatures, population destroying diseases, and other imaginations. As these ideas were hitting a fever pitch an actual pandemic came that killed many around the world, leading many of the survivors to embrace greater excess, anger, violence, drugs, science so called, in an effort to enjoy or extend their lives a little longer before the end.
For many cults the end of the world plays a prominent part in their history. The Jehovah’s Witnesses have been predicting dates for Christ’s return since their beginning in the late 1800s and as recently as 1975. Similarly, the World Mission Society Church of God grew in South Korea and around the world with promises of a heavenly jerusalem descending in Korea and ushering in the end of the world. This did not happen in 1988 or in 2010 as predicted but people keep following. In evangelical circles strange ideas of the end of the world are prevalent on the internet, social media, in best selling book series’s, and on the conference circuit. The 24 hour news cycle provides ample material for 24 hour newspaper exegesis wrecking havoc on many poor souls. In academia and business alike, scientists are regularly hypothesizing about when the sun will burn out and freeze the earth; when the ozone layer will disappear destroying our air, killing all life; or when an asteroid or comet will make a direct hit and wipe out humanity as we know it. All around us, the end of the world is considered, hypothesized, and modeled but few are searching for the truth where it is always found, in Scripture alone.
The end of the world, the day of judgment, and the return of Christ are all prominent themes in Scripture. Some of the longest chapters in the gospels are dedicated to Christ’s teaching concerning the end of the world. God spoke to us through the prophets in times past giving us lessons and pictures of the end of Jerusalem and the end of the world as a whole (The worldwide flood; the destruction of Jerusalem at the hand of the Babylonians; Sodom and Gomorrah; etc). Now in these last days God has spoken to us by His Son whom God has appointed heir of all things revealing to us what manner of men we must be, seeing that He is returning quickly (1). The Lord goes to great lengths preparing the world, especially His children in His kingdom, for His return and the conclusion of this present evil age.
Within the Lord’s warnings and descriptions of the end of all things, two goals rise among the rest:
1) That all men would understand the imminency of the Lord’s return and prepare for it by watching, praying, and living holy lives (24:44,46);
2) That the unbeliever would heed the warning, know the end is near, and flee from the wrath of God, to the righteous Savior of sinners Jesus Christ (Matthew 25:31-46).
Both themes run throughout the parable of the ten virgins. The certainty of the end must drive the sinner to the Savior in repentance and faith and drive the Christian to prepare and pray.
In addition to the two central themes, Christ taught on His return and the end of the world in order:
- To strengthen the believer’s faith during persecution (2);
- To give hope to believers for the future (3);
- To comfort believers at the death of a loved one (4);
- To confirm the urgency of the proclamation and call of the gospel (5);
- To call all men to attention and fear of their pending doom before the judgment seat of the just and holy God (6).
While the world is wholly and willfully foolish regarding the end of the world, the Lord our God “would not have us ignorant.”
The series of articles and devotionals that follow bring us to the Word of God concerning the return of Jesus Christ through the parable of the ten virgins from the first thirteen verses of Matthew 25.
By God’s Grace we will consider the topic of Christ’s return and the Parable of the 10 Virgins under four general parts, each of which will have several lessons attached.
- Part 1 – The Manner of Christ’s Return – Consideration of the time; tone; and effect of Christ’s return and how these things call us to understand, embrace, and believe in the Lord Jesus Christ whose return is imminent.
- Part 2 – Instructions for and descriptions of those looking for Christ’s Return (The Wise Virgins). Lessons from the examples of the wise virgins who were well prepared for Christ to return when the cry went out.
- Part 3 – Warnings for those who would pretend to look for Christ’s return (The Foolish Virgins). Warnings regarding the many deceits that lead some to be foolish in their preparation for Christ and the unbelief that causes so many to draw towards God but never to come into the Kingdom of God through faith in Jesus Christ.
- Part 4 – “Watch Therefore” – Final exhortations and comforts regarding Christ’s Return as we realize each hour that the day of Christ’s return is sooner than it ever was before.
There are many books written on the topic of Christ’s return and it is neither my goal to review each one nor to critique all those which present faulty views of Christ’s return. Rather from a Biblical/Reformed view of Scripture the purpose is to take the reader to the glory of the revelation of God concerning His Son Jesus Christ our Lord who died, rose, lives for evermore, and is coming again quickly. In coming face to face with Him by His Word may we have great urgency to be reconciled to God and joyfully labor in His Kingdom looking always for His descent from Heaven with a shout!
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(1.) Hebrews 1:1-2 God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, 2 has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds;
(2) II Thessalonians 1:3-10 We are bound to thank God always for you, brethren, as it is fitting, because your faith grows exceedingly, and the love of every one of you all abounds toward each other, 4 so that we ourselves boast of you among the churches of God for your patience and faith in all your persecutions and tribulations that you endure, 5 which is manifest evidence of the righteous judgment of God, that you may be counted worthy of the kingdom of God, for which you also suffer; 6 since it is a righteous thing with God to repay with tribulation those who trouble you, 7 and to give you who are troubled rest with us when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with His mighty angels, 8 in flaming fire taking vengeance on those who do not know God, and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 These shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power, 10 when He comes, in that Day, to be glorified in His saints and to be admired among all those who believe, because our testimony among you was believed.
(3) I Corinthians 15:20-25 But now Christ is risen from the dead, and has become the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. 21 For since by man came death, by Man also came the resurrection of the dead. 22 For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive. 23 But each one in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, afterward those who are Christ’s at His coming. 24 Then comes the end, when He delivers the kingdom to God the Father, when He puts an end to all rule and all authority and power. 25 For He must reign till He has put all enemies under His feet. 26 The last enemy that will be destroyed is death. 27 For “He has put all things under His feet.” But when He says “all things are put under Him,” it is evident that He who put all things under Him is excepted. 28 Now when all things are made subject to Him, then the Son Himself will also be subject to Him who put all things under Him, that God may be all in all.
(4) I Thessalonians 4:15-18 For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep. 16 For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord. 18 Therefore comfort one another with these words.
(5) II Corinthians 6:2 For He says:“In an acceptable time I have heard you, And in the day of salvation I have helped you.” Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.
II Peter 3:10-13 But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up. 11 Therefore, since all these things will be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, 12 looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be dissolved, being on fire, and the elements will melt with fervent heat? 13 Nevertheless we, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.
(6) Hebrews 12:25-29 See that you do not refuse Him who speaks. For if they did not escape who refused Him who spoke on earth, much more shall we not escape if we turn away from Him who speaks from heaven, 26 whose voice then shook the earth; but now He has promised, saying, “Yet once more I shake not only the earth, but also heaven.” 27 Now this, “Yet once more,” indicates the removal of those things that are being shaken, as of things that are made, that the things which cannot be shaken may remain.28 Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us have grace, by which we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear. 29 For our God is a consuming fire.
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