This is the second sermon in a 4-week sermon series titled: The Final Hour: Living with Hope in a Chaotic World where we dive deep into what the Bible actually says about the end of the age. We aren't here to speculate, and we certainly aren't here to panic. We are here to listen to the voice of Jesus.
When people start thinking about the "Last Days," their natural instinct is to try to predict a timeline. They want to know the year, the month,and the day. We look for hidden codes and countdowns.
But whenever Jesus talked about His return, He consistently directed His followers away from calculations and toward preparation.
There is a massive difference between being interested in the end times and being ready for them. Being ready for the Last Days isn't about knowing when Christ will return, but ensuring we have the spiritual depth to endure the wait.
Scripture
Matthew 25:1-13 NKJV “Then the kingdom of heaven shall be likened to ten 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.
Text:
Matthew 25:3-4 NKJV Those who were foolish took their lamps and took no oil with them, but the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps.
Introduction
This is week two of our series, The Final Hour: Living with Hope in a Chaotic World. Last week, we opened the Scriptures to Jesus’ Olivet Discourse in Matthew 24. We talked about tuning out the frantic, apocalyptic noise of the culture and learning to view global chaos not as a sign that God has lost control, but as the "birth pains" of a new kingdom coming to life. We established that the ultimate sign of the end isn't a geopolitical disaster—it’s the global proclamation of the gospel.
But today, we have to pivot from the global to the personal.
When people start thinking about the "Last Days," their natural instinct is to try to predict a timeline. They want to know the year, the month,and the day. We look for hidden codes and countdowns.
But whenever Jesus talked about His return, He consistently directed His followers away from calculations and toward preparation.
There is a massive difference between being interested in the end times and being ready for them. Being ready for the Last Days isn't about knowing when Christ will return, but ensuring we have the spiritual depth to endure the wait.
To illustrate this, Jesus told a very significant, slightly unsettling story. It's found in Matthew chapter 25. James read it earlier. In the parable, the story, Jesus uses a first-century wedding to show us what genuine readiness looks like when the night gets long and the wait gets heavy.
1. The Danger of a Superficial Faith
Let’s look at Matthew 25, verses 1 through 4:
"Then the kingdom of heaven shall be likened to ten 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."
To understand this parable, we have to understand ancient Jewish wedding customs. A wedding was the biggest event in a village. The celebration happened at night. The bridesmaids—or attendants—were responsible for waiting at a designated place to welcome the bridegroom. When the groom finally arrived, these attendants would light up the night with torches or oil lamps, guiding him and his party through the dark streets to the wedding feast.
Now, look closely at the ten individuals in Jesus' story. On the surface, they look exactly the same.
All ten are chosen to be part of the bridal party.
All ten are wearing the right wedding garments.
All ten are holding lamps.
All ten are waiting for the exact same Bridegroom.
If you walked past them on the street, you couldn't tell the difference between the "wise" and the "foolish." And this is the great warning Jesus is giving us: It is dangerously easy to look like a Christian without actually possessing the spiritual substance required to endure.
The five foolish attendants had lamps, but they had no extra oil reservoir. In the Scriptures, oil is consistently used as a symbol of the Holy Spirit, of inner spiritual life, and of a genuine, functional relationship with God.
The foolish attendants represent a superficial faith. It’s a faith that is built for display. It looks good in a well-lit church building on a Sunday morning. It has the right words, the right outward appearance, and the right relationships. But it lacks an internal reservoir. When the cultural pressure mounts, or when life gets incredibly dark, a superficial faith burns through its initial resources quickly and leaves you empty.
2. You Can't Borrow Someone Else's Faith
Let’s move on and read verses 5 through 9:
"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 (prepared 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.’"
(To "trim" the lamp meant using a small tool or tweezers to cut or scrape away the charred, burnt part of the wick and pull a fresh, clean segment through the nozzle. If a lamp had plenty of oil, trimming the wick instantly made the flame burn brightly, cleanly, and without smoke.)Trimming only works if there is oil in the vessel. Ancient oil lamps were small clay or metal vessels filled with olive oil, using a flax or cotton wick to draw up the fuel. As the lamp burned, two things would happen:
The wick would char: The burnt, blackened end of the wick would choke the flame, causing it to sputter, smoke, and give off less light.
The oil would deplete: The reservoir would run dry, causing the flame to burn the wick itself rather than the oil. You can't just light a lamp and forget about it.
Notice two things here. First, the bridegroom was delayed. The wait was longer than anyone anticipated. So long, in fact, that all of them fell asleep. Jesus is preparing His disciples for the reality that the Last Days require endurance.
Second, the crisis happens at midnight. Midnight is the darkest, coldest, most inconvenient hour of the night. It’s the moment when reality hits. The shout rings out: "He's here!" Suddenly, the foolish attendants realize their lamps are flickering and dying. In a panic, they turn to the wise and say, "Give us some of your oil."
The wise give an answer that sounds cold at first glance: "No... go and buy for yourselves."
Why did they say no? Was it because they were selfish? No, not necessarily but it shows a fundamental spiritual reality: You cannot borrow someone else’s oil. You cannot live off of someone else's relationship with Jesus.
When the midnight hours of history come—when chaos hits the culture, when persecution arises, or when you face your own personal crisis—you cannot survive on someone else’s faith. You cannot survive on your parents' faith. You cannot sustain yourself on the spiritual energy of your favorite pastor, podcaster, or church community.
When the Bridegroom returns, or when the darkness settles in, the question won’t be, "Do you know people who love Jesus?" The question will be, "Do you have oil in your own vessel? Do you have an authentic, daily, personal connection to the Holy Spirit?" Spiritual depth cannot be outsourced. You have to buy the oil for yourself through personal surrender, secret prayer, and private devotion.
3. The Tragedy of Lost Opportunity
Let’s look at the sobering conclusion in verses 10 through 13:
"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."
This is one of the heaviest phrases in the entire New Testament: "...and the door was shut."
The foolish attendants didn't hate the bridegroom. They weren't trying to sabotage the wedding. They were just too casual. They assumed they had more time. They thought they could scramble and fix their spiritual emptiness at the very last minute. But when the definitive moment arrived, their opportunity evaporated. It was gone.
They knock on the door, crying, "Lord, Lord, open to us!" But the response from inside isn't, "You're late." The response is actually devastating: "I do not know you." Jesus is showing us that readiness isn't a state of mind you quickly whip up when things get scary. Readiness is a daily lifestyle of intimacy with Him. The tragedy of the Last Days is not just that people will openly reject God; it’s that many will assume they are fine simply because they are standing near the door, only to realize too late that they never truly knew the King.
In the parable, all ten bridesmaids looked exactly the same on the outside. They all had lamps, wore the proper wedding garments, waited in the same holy location, and physically stood "near the door". A works-based mindset assumes salvation is secure because of religious routines, physical church attendance, or a respectable moral checklist.
What the foolish bridesmaids lacked was the internal oil—representing a genuine, active relationship with the Holy Spirit and a personal faith in Jesus Christ. Faith-based salvation recognizes that keeping the lamp lit does not depend on standing in the right spot or looking religious; it depends on an internal, spiritual reservoir of grace that only comes from a personal relationship with the King.
At its core, a works-based salvation treats God like an employer or a judge whose approval must be purchased through human labor. A faith-based salvation, however, is deeply relational.
The foolish bridesmaids assumed that just having a lamp (religious duty) was enough to secure their entrance. They treated the wedding like an event they were entitled to attend based on their participation.
When the door was shut, the bridegroom did not say, "Your moral performance was slightly too low." Instead, he said, "I do not know you". Salvation is not a reward for standing near the door; it is an intimate relationship with the One inside. Those relying on works will realize too late that they spent their lives serving a system rather than knowing a Savior.
A works-based framework often encourages people to piggyback off the spirituality of their environment—assuming they are saved because they belong to a Christian family, a healthy church, or a moral community.
When the midnight cry went out, the foolish bridesmaids realized they could not borrow oil from the wise.
Works can be mimicked and external religious environments can be shared, but saving faith is entirely personal and non-transferable. You cannot slip through the door on someone else’s account or because of your close proximity to faithful people.
Conclusion & Call to Action
The instability in our world today is not a signal to panic, buy survival supplies, or map out end-times timelines. It is actually a merciful invitation from God to pause, look inward, and check the condition of our faith.
Do you have a secret prayer life, or do you only pray when someone leads you Hello, what do you need?\n Happy.\n Okay.? Do you have a genuine hunger for God's Word, or do you just consume Christian media? Is the Holy Spirit a living, breathing reality inside of you, or are you just carrying an empty lamp because it's what your social circle expects?
Don't wait for the world to get darker to finally take your faith seriously. Turn from a superficial, casual Christianity today. Reach out to the Lord in the quiet of your heart, repent of going through the motions, and ask the Holy Spirit to fill your reservoir fresh today.
Prayer
Heavenly Father, Your Word is a lamp to our feet and a light to our path. We confess that it is easy to get caught up in the appearance of godliness while denying its power. Forgive us for the times we have tried to coast on the faith of those around us, or when we have assumed that simply showing up is the same as being ready.
Holy Spirit, we invite You to inspect our hearts right now. Where we have empty lamps, fill us. Where our faith has been superficial, ground us deep in Your truth. Give us the endurance to wait well, the wisdom to live holy lives, and an authentic relationship with You that no crisis can shake. We want to be found ready, with our lights burning bright, when You return. In Jesus' mighty name, Amen.
