Ready or Not the Lord is Coming – Matthew 25

In Matthew 19-23, Jesus purged the temple in Jerusalem. He healed the sick. He addressed the false teaching and malpractices of the scribes and Pharisees. In Matthew 24, while sitting on Mount Olivet outside Jerusalem, Jesus revealed signs to His disciples that will appear before He returns. Matthew 24 concludes with Jesus saying. “Who then is a faithful and a wise servant, whom his master made ruler over his household, to give them food in due season? Blessed is that servant whom his master, when he comes, will find so doing.”

In Matthew 25, Jesus provides us three parables for healthy spiritual growth. We begin with oil in our lamps. The oil represents the Holy Spirit. He is Christ in us. The Holy Spirit helps us to avoid bad investments and make good ones yielding added blessings. Finally, with multiplied blessings in hand, the Holy Spirit moves us to show compassion toward others.

In Matthew 25, the Lord describes the works of people who are led by the Holy Spirit, and the works of those who are not led by the Holy Spirit.

“Then the kingdom of heaven shall be likened to 10 virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. Now five of them were wise, and five were foolish. Those who were foolish took their lamps and took no oil with them, but the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps. But while the bridegroom was delayed, they all slumbered and slept. And at midnight a cry was heard: ‘Behold, the bridegroom is coming; go out to meet him!’ Then all those virgins arose and trimmed their lamps. And the foolish said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’ But the wise answered, saying, ‘No, lest there should not be enough for us and you; but go rather to those who sell, and buy for yourselves.’ And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the wedding; and the door was shut. Afterward the other virgins came also, saying, ‘Lord, Lord, open to us!’ But he answered and said, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, I do not know you.’ Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour in which the Son of Man is coming.” Matthew 25:1-13

In regards to oil, Jesus spoke of five virgins who are locked out of the kingdom of God because they had no oil in their lamps. They had time to get oil, but they chose to sleep instead. In the Scriptures, oil is symbolic of God’s Spirit. In other words, stay filled and led by the Holy Spirit!

In 1 Samuel 16:13, anointing with oil proceeded the coming of God’s Spirit upon David. “Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the midst of his brothers. And the Spirit of the Lord came upon David from that day forward.” The pouring out of oil on David was an outward sign of the inward work that the Holy Spirit did in David’s heart.

The Hebrew term translated, “Messiah” as well as the Greek term, “Christ,” means, “The anointed one.” The fact that the Holy Spirit is compared to anointing with oil associates Him with the Messiah.

In Acts 10:38, Peter said, “God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power.”

Power for ministry is associated with the anointing with oil. Isaiah 61:1 says, “The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners.” [1]

We must have the Holy Spirit to produce the light of Christ to others. In Romans 8:9, Paul wrote, “If anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His.”

Jesus concluded this parable by saying, “Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour in which the Son of Man is coming.”

“For the kingdom of heaven is like a man traveling to a far country, who called his own servants and delivered his goods to them. And to one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one, to each according to his own ability; and immediately he went on a journey. Then he who had received the five talents went and traded with them and made another five talents. And likewise he who had received two gained two more also. But he who had received one went and dug in the ground and hid his lord’s money. After a long time the lord of those servants came and settled accounts with them. So, he who had received five talents came and brought five other talents, saying, ‘Lord, you delivered to me five talents; look, I have gained five more talents besides them.’ His lord said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant; you were faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.’ He also who had received two talents came and said, ‘Lord, you delivered to me two talents; look, I have gained two more talents besides them.’ His lord said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant; you have been faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.’ Then he who had received the one talent came and said, ‘Lord, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you have not sown, and gathering where you have not scattered seed. And I was afraid and went and hid your talent in the ground. Look, there you have what is yours.’ But his lord answered and said to him, ‘You wicked and lazy servant, you knew that I reap where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered seed. So you ought to have deposited my money with the bankers, and at my coming I would have received back my own with interest. So take the talent from him and give it to him who has 10 talents.’ For to everyone who has, more will be given, and he will have abundance; but from him who does not have, even what he has will be taken away. And cast the unprofitable servant into the outer darkness. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” Matthew 25:14-30

A talent weighed between 57 to 80 pounds. A talent of silver was about 6,000 days’ wages of a common laborer and a talent of gold was about 180,000 day’s wages, Two of the master’s servants yielded profits back to their master, while the third servant did not. The master said to the productive servants, “Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a few things I will make you ruler over many things. Enter the joy of your Lord.” But He called the third servant wicked and lazy and had him cast into the outer darkness where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Without the Holy Spirit, people lack the unction to serve the Lord with gladness. I went to church almost every Sunday of my life but lived a very ungodly life until the Holy Spirit filled me.

One day, I was experiencing an intense internal crisis, I wanted to die. As I considered ending my life, the Lord said to me, “Don’t do that! Give your life to Me and I will use it to touch many people.” I surrendered my life to Jesus and He gave me the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit brought with Him a personal connection to God. I had a witness in my heart that when I prayed, God heard me. When I read the Bible, I enjoyed and understood it. He led me into circumstances that strengthened my faith in God. He filled me with love for God and love for people.

The Holy Spirit multiplied my ability to bear good fruit for God. He led me to enter a college where I could be discipled by people who knew the Bible well and who modeled the Christian life for me. He sent me out to share the Gospel with people. He sent me to China where I witnessed many miracles of God. Fourteen years ago, He led me to start blogging blessings that I receive from my morning Bible time. As of this moment, these blogs have been viewed 101,755 times by people from 162 countries. Glory to God! Apart from the Holy Spirit, none of this would have happened. The Holy Spirit helps me start each new day with inspiration.

When we resist the Holy Spirit, we are like the man who hid his talents. We produce nothing spiritually beneficial for God or others. In Acts 7:51, Stephen pinpointed the “WHY” religious leaders were about to stone him, he said, “You stiff necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, you do always resist the Holy Spirit: as your fathers did, so do you.”

What happened to the third wicked and lazy servant? He was cast into the outer darkness where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth. He could have been filled until overflowing with the Holy Spirit, but he resisted the Holy Spirit’s filling and leadings.

“When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory. All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats. And He will set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left. Then the King will say to those on His right hand, ‘Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me.’ Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink? When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You? Or when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’ And the King will answer and say to them, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.’ Then He will also say to those on the left hand, ‘Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels: for I was hungry and you gave Me no food; I was thirsty and you gave Me no drink; I was a stranger and you did not take Me in, naked and you did not clothe Me, sick and in prison and you did not visit Me.’ Then they also will answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to You?’ Then He will answer them, saying, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.’ And these will go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.” Matthew 25:31-46

In this parable, the Lord clarifies what kind of “talents” He wants multiplied. We must rely on the Holy Spirit to feed the hungry, quench the thirst of the thirsty, welcome foreigners, clothe the naked and visit prisoners. When we serve the least of Jesus’ brothers, we serve Him.

The currency of heaven’s economy is Christ likeness.

The goats in this parable had a similar outward appearance to sheep but they, lacking the Holy Spirit, did not produce the fruit of the Holy Spirit. Jesus said to them, “Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels.”

The world praises the GOAT (Greatest Of All Time) people. They do well for themselves, but the Lord sees nothing of Himself in them.

After Jesus returns with all His holy angels, He will sit on a throne of glory. All nations will be gathered before Him. He will separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides sheep from goats. He will say to the sheep on His right hand, “Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.”

In 2 Corinthians 6:1, the Lord urges us, “Do not receive the grace of God in vain.” God’s grace properly applied helps us to be more like Jesus!

The parables of Matthew 25 ask us, “Are you ready for the Lord’s return?” Jesus tells us what prepared and unprepared looks like. I hope and pray that we will all be ready.


[1] Blueletterbible.org