Main Thing Podcast
This podcast encourages others to love God and people by leading them to know and follow Jesus’ truth.
Main Thing Podcast
Are You Prepared for Christ's Return?
The parable of the Ten Virgins serves as a powerful reminder of the importance of genuine spiritual readiness for Christ's return, distinguishing between those who are merely religious and those who are truly transformed.
• True salvation produces evident fruit in a believer's life
• Many churchgoers may embrace religion without true transformation
• Many love the concept of Christianity without embracing its cost
• Authentic faith requires total commitment rather than partial religious observance
Thank you.
Speaker 2:All right. Well, welcome back to the Main Thing Podcast with Pastor Steve. I'm Brent and we are looking at the Ten Virgins today. I know that means a lot of different things to a lot of people, but we're going from the biblicalgins today. I know that means a lot of different things to a lot of people, but we're going from the biblical perspective today Spiritual readiness in an uncertain world. So, pastor Steve, welcome Thanks for joining me.
Speaker 3:Good to be here.
Speaker 2:I want to start out with a question. See how good your memory is. When you were a teenager, back in the 70s, there was a song by a guy named Larry Norman. It started I wish we had all been what Ready. Wish we'd all been ready. I remember the chorus so clearly. Of course I was in the 90s, so I was familiar with the DC Talk version. It said there's no time to change your mind. The sun has come and you've been left behind. And that's really what we're talking about today. Is what does it mean to be spiritually prepared for Christ's coming? So, if you will, we're going to be in Matthew 25, 1 through 13 today. Would you just kind of give us a rundown of this parable? This was a parable Jesus gave us about being spiritually ready in this world.
Speaker 3:Yeah, you got to understand the elements of the parable. You know, the bridegroom is a representation of Christ and the virgins represent us as individuals on planet Earth. The wedding feast is the time when Christ will return and call his church home those who are in his family, and call his church home those who are in his family. The oil represents, I believe, the work of the Holy Spirit in us that gives us the ability to have faith and to believe in our Savior, and so it is a parable-like picture to help us see the greater truth that Christ is coming back, and we need to be prepared for that.
Speaker 3:In the Jewish world, a young man that was engaged to a young woman would not marry her right away. He would prepare for her arrival, and so he would traditionally build a home, or build on to his parents' home where he and her would live, and whenever he was finished with the construction, he had his house in order, he would go to get her. Now, jesus has told us that he went to prepare a place for us, that, where he is, we can be also. So, theoretically, what we understand with that is is that Christ is in heaven and, whatever that means, he's preparing for our arrival and when we least expect it, he's going to come and call us to himself. So that's the overall picture.
Speaker 2:So there's 10 versions. Five of them have oil in their lamps and are ready to go. Five of them do not have oil on their lamps. So obviously the ones with oil in their lamps are prepared. They are ready for the coming of the bridegroom. So, in this day and age, what does it look like to be spiritually prepared for Christ's coming?
Speaker 3:Well, I think we got to be careful, especially in our theology. Historically, you know this once saved, always saved teaching that we have is that you prayed a little prayer at the front of church one Sunday and now you're saved and sealed for all eternity. And it doesn't matter how you live or what you do, you're saved. And I certainly believe in God's ability, when he saves someone, to save someone. But Scripture is very clear that not everybody who claims to be saved will be saved and that there is evidence in a saved person's life. That's very obvious. They produce fruit, they, and so the five virgins with the oil in their lamps are those whom I believe have genuinely been saved by Christ. They've counted the cost and they're living their lives in such a way that they're anticipating his coming back.
Speaker 3:Average Christian ought not have a death wish, but there ought to be a little bit of a desire inside of them to be called home, to be with Jesus. That's what Paul said, you know. He said if they kill me, I get to go live with Jesus, and I think we all ought to have that mentality as we live our life. So if the Holy Spirit is represented in the oil, which I believe it is, then those five virgins show a lack of the Holy Spirit in their life, which means they most likely were not believers in the Lord Jesus Christ, they were not his children, and so the powerful thing of this parable is, when they get there, the five with the oil in their lamps are invited in, and then the door is shut. It's too late for oil in your lamps.
Speaker 3:Another powerful truth in this parable is that the five without the oil wanted to get oil from the five who had it, and we often say God has no grandchildren, only children, and so you cannot give another person your salvation experience. You cannot give another person the presence of the Holy Spirit. This comes only from God himself, and if you don't have it, when the time comes, the bridegroom Jesus returns for his church. It's too late.
Speaker 2:I'm going to read you a couple of verses. I just want you to comment on them. 1 John, 2.28. It says so that we may have confidence and not be ashamed at his coming. And then Philippians 2.12, where Paul ends that verse by saying work out your salvation with fear and trembling.
Speaker 3:Yes.
Speaker 2:How does working out your salvation help with that confidence? Because John 2.28 seems to say that we can have oil but not be really ready in the way we need to be.
Speaker 3:Well, that's possible too. I think we have a lot of and I use this word carefully. I think we have a lot of Christians who live a mediocre existence in their walk with Christ. They're not necessarily lost, but you couldn't say they have a sweet presence of Jesus living in them or that they're even continuing to grow. They're probably stagnant in their walk. But I think Scripture just has too many teachings. We talked about it recently in church. You know where Jesus says not everyone that says to me Lord, lord will enter my kingdom To work out your salvation. What that verse means is that once you're saved, you're now living for Christ and it's a daily walk, it's a daily journey, it's a daily experience and in that experience you're being tested, you're being tempted by Satan. You're growing stronger at times in your faith walk. You're struggling some days. So working out your salvation is the process of growing out. Your salvation is the process of growing. It doesn't mean that you're earning your salvation by any means. It means that you're in the process of growing in your walk with Jesus.
Speaker 2:So, and you'll probably remember this at some point, you know, somebody asked Billy Graham years and years ago what did he think was the percentage of people in church who are actually Christians? And I've heard different numbers over the years, but it generally seems he said something around 20%, maybe you know. So for those people, those 80% of people sitting in the church thinking man, I'm good to go, how can they know they're not?
Speaker 3:Yeah. Well.
Speaker 3:Billy Graham was also asked if he could only preach one sermon, what would he preach and where would he preach it? And he said I'd preach the gospel of salvation in church, because he believed most people in church were actually lost. And that conversation was based around the fact that so many Christians have no fruit in their lives. You know, we know Jesus walked up on a fig tree and it had no figs and he cursed it. He killed it, right. And yet we have this mentality that we got saved at age eight and it doesn't matter. God's obligated to take me to heaven and I don't see that in Scripture. We have to be fruit-bearing to show evidence of that relationship with Christ and I think this is what Billy Graham was seeing is that we have so many people that have bought the lie of religion. They go to church, they check the box, they feel like they've done a good thing, you know, and like I said in the last broadcast, they don't drink, cuss, chew or run with girls that do, they don't kick their dog. Surely, they're going to heaven.
Speaker 3:The problem is, when you read your Bible, that's not what going to heaven is based on. It's based on a radical change in one's life done in the power of Christ, when one submits their life to Christ. Now I lead people in the sinner's prayer all the time and there's a lot of criticism about it, but I see it only as an avenue to help a person make a commitment, and then I explain to them now, what you're doing in this moment is you're committing your life to Christ. You're all in with him. He's your boss, man, from this day forward. Do you understand? That's what you're doing? But I think for a long time in this country, all we did and we meant well was lead people in the sinner's prayer and now you in and we failed to teach them what it meant to be in I pray. I'm never guilty of helping them understand, of not helping them understand what it means when you pray that prayer or you make that commitment to Christ.
Speaker 2:Yeah, you know, I think, when I think back to when we all those years ago we started talking about a covenant class, a membership class, I think that was one of the reasons is that we want to make sure everybody who joins with covenant understands what salvation is. Yes, absolutely.
Speaker 3:How can you serve and worship holy God if you've not experienced holy God and worship holy God? If you've not experienced holy God, if you've not made a commitment to him? We don't desire anybody come be a part of our fellowship who just wants to be a part of a church.
Speaker 3:That's not going to do them any good and it's not accomplishing the goal that Christ gave us, which is to reach them for the kingdom. And so you know, I'm afraid in America today, if we're not careful, we've designed church where we're the cool church we got the most to offer. We can do this for you, we can do that for you, we can do this for you, we can do that for you. Really, all we can do for anybody is share the gospel with them. That's all we really can do.
Speaker 2:Anything else is just accommodation. So my next question I would have for you then can we in fact be a follower of Christ but be complacent? Where does spiritual complacency come?
Speaker 3:from. Yes, I think every human being, with the exception of maybe a rare one here and there, has times of complacency. You know, as a pastor, I'd be the first to admit and this will shock some people you know I go out there week after week to preach and I'll be honest with you, there's some weeks maybe it's been a difficult week, maybe I've dealt with some difficult people, maybe old Satan's wailing on me. I just don't feel like I'm prepared to climb into that pulpit and preach the Word of God today because I don't feel like I'm spiritually where I ought to be. But you know, in the American mindset they're paying you to do that, so you got to do your job. It would be so refreshing if I could call one of you guys on Wednesday and say man, I'm not where I need to be this Sunday, can you preach? You know I'm not where I need to be this Sunday, can you preach?
Speaker 3:I think we'd be better off as a church if we had that kind of freedom, but unfortunately we don't. So I think any Christian we're naive to believe that we're not all attacked by Satan, we don't all struggle, that life doesn't wail on us and we just get tired and beat down. I think we all go through those moments and I am not insinuating in any way. That means you're lost, but it means that your relationship is not where it needs to be. A marriage is a great example. There are times with your spouse where you feel very close and there's a sweetness there and you know, my wife tells me I love you, I always love you. There's some days I don't like you and I get it.
Speaker 3:I get it because I know me right and I think maybe that's God's relationship with us. I think he loves us every day that we're taken in air. But there's some days he looks down at us and we probably grieve him because as we work out our salvation, we're just not in a good place. That day we're struggling, you know. Yeah, I don't think that means you're lost by any means. Uh, because to be complacent insinuates to me at least.
Speaker 2:It's not a place where you stay, it's more of a season that we go through sometimes so how do we know the difference between we're in this season and we come out, or we never had any spirituality of Christ to be complacent about?
Speaker 3:Yeah, boy, that's a good question. I think if you're genuinely a child of God, you're not likely to stay in a complacent state long term. And look, that's a relative statement. If we're just dealing with a person who's going through, say, depression. They've lost a loved one, they've lost a job, they're in a season of life where life has beat them down and they just don't feel close to God, they don't feel spiritual, they don't feel the connection. They have to be reminded. It's more than a feeling, it's a promise and we all tend to react from feelings. Feelings are legitimate, but you got to be careful letting them control your thinking. So I think a person who has a genuine relationship with Christ, so I think a person who has a genuine relationship with Christ, will come out of that at some point.
Speaker 3:I don't believe they'll stay there.
Speaker 2:You know we're recording this on Thursday mornings. We had Wednesday night Bible study last night and I remember talking with my class. One of the things we talked about was the idea of something versus actually doing it. And I use the example. I love the idea of reading classic books. I think that's neat and I'd love to be that guy who says why. Last night I read War and Peace. It was quite good. I like the idea of reading those way more than I actually do. Why do you think we have so many people who like the idea of church and they like the idea of Christianity but they don't really want to do it? In other words, why do we like the appearance and not the nitty-gritty?
Speaker 3:Well, in its simplest form, the idea of Jesus, this amazing moral person who came to planet Earth and lived this incredible life, is a lofty goal to live like him. Furthermore, the idea, the concept that I can have eternal life okay, and the Christian life, at least in our culture, historically in America, is a commendable life, a respectable life. You know, charles Darwin's mother insisted he be a minister because during the time he lived, to be a minister was the loftiest job you could have. So he actually went off and studied for the ministry for two years before leaving. I think it was Oxford in England where he was sent to study for the ministry. And so we still have a little of that, this being in love with the idea of Jesus, the idea of Christianity. It's positive, it's lofty, it sounds good and maybe in our simplest way of thinking, we feel like it makes us better in some way. But I think Scripture's clear being in love with the idea of Jesus is going to leave you short.
Speaker 2:So however many percentage you know, as somebody who works here at Covenant, I'd love to say our percentage of people in the pews that know Christ is way more than 20%. I think sometimes it's very hard to know that percentage. But what do we say to somebody who doesn't have the oil on their lamps? How would you say this is how you get the oil on your lamp this is how you get the oil in your lamp.
Speaker 3:Oh well, I think the gospel, the presentation of Christ, that he gave his life for you, he shed his blood for you. You were a sinner in your sin nature, separated from a relationship with holy God and God, as Romans 5.8 says, before you even realized you had a problem, fixed your problem for you and he presents the solution to you, and that is accept Christ as your Savior, as your King, as your Lord, and commit yourself to him. And Scripture's clear without regret, without remorse, without looking back on the old life, and march forward. That's what it means to be a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ. In my own life. And look, I've had a wonderful life serving my Savior, life serving my Savior. But like anybody else, I've had a lot of times in my life that if I were not committed, just like serving anything else, and when you serve Christ, if you're not careful, you tend to start thinking that you shouldn't have to be challenged, you shouldn't struggle, you shouldn't have to deal with hard things because you're a Christian after all, right? Well, scripture never teaches us that. In fact, jesus says they persecuted me, they're going to persecute you.
Speaker 3:What in the world has given us this idea that Christianity is easy. All around the world right now, and on the African continent especially. World right now, and on the African continent especially, christians are being murdered daily just for believing in Christ. Islam is trying everything they can in that part of the world to destroy the Christian church. And yet in our culture here in America, you know, we come to Christ as if he's the Godfather on a cloud handing out ice cream cones.
Speaker 3:And so we have to teach people it's only by the blood of Christ shed on the cross and that when they accept that, that it means they're willing to go and die for him, they're all in, they're giving their life to him, they're committing to him 100%. And that's where I think the difference is. I think we have a lot of people today who are committed to Christ 10%, 20%, whatever. I'll come to church, I'll give a little something once in a while. You know I'll do this if I have to. Those to me are screaming statements that they don't really understand what that commitment means. And so that is our greatest challenge not only to help people come to Christ, but to help them understand what that means. Not only to help people come to Christ but to help them understand what that means.
Speaker 2:Well, thank you, pat Steve, for talking with us today, guys, if you are listening today, I thank y'all so much for being a part of this. I pray that, as we said earlier, you can have confidence and not be ashamed at the coming of Christ. So thank you for being here with us for the Main of Christ. So thank you for being here with us for the main thing. Podcast.