Personal Faith

Last Sunday in the Church Year 2019

“You Must Believe the Gospel for Yourself” Text: Matthew 25:1-13 NKJV

25 “Then the kingdom of heaven shall be likened to ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. ² Now five of them were wise, and five were foolish. ³ Those who were foolish took their lamps and took no oil with them, ⁴ but the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps. ⁵ But while the bridegroom was delayed, they all slumbered and slept.

⁶ “And at midnight a cry was heard: ‘Behold, the bridegroom is coming; go out to meet him!’ ⁷ Then all those virgins arose and trimmed their lamps. ⁸ And the foolish said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’ ⁹ 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.’ ¹⁰ 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.

¹¹ “Afterward the other virgins came also, saying, ‘Lord, Lord, open to us!’ ¹² But he answered and said, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, I do not know you.’

¹³ “Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour in which the Son of Man is coming.

My Christian friends: In a direct Messianic prophecy, Psalm 45:7, states, “You (God, the Son) love righteousness and hate wickedness; Therefore, God, Your God, has anointed You with the oil of gladness more than Your companions.” Jesus was anointed of the Holy Spirit without measure. But just as the Holy Spirit does not operate without means, so it is that the lamps held by the virgins in our text represent the Word of God. It is written in Psalm 119:105, “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.”

Our Lord Christ said that when the bridegroom approached the bride’s house with his friends, all would go out into the streets to meet him and greet him with merriment, song and dance. This was typical for a Jewish wedding in those days. Then the bridegroom would escort his bride to his house where the wedding festivities would last an entire week. In Jesus’ parable it is assumed that the bridegroom was delayed and still a great distance from the bride’s house. The hour, therefore, is uncertain; the bridesmaids, the virgins, were watching for his arrival. It wasn't unusual for the virgins to fall asleep.  However, five of the ten failed to keep vigilance with what they were given.

This is exactly how the Church is today; The Church isn’t listening for that “midnight cry”! It has the Scriptures; it has the preaching of the Gospel; and, it also has been given the Sacraments along with the Word of God. But it makes little use of the same except for reasons of tradition. For instance, while attending the first seminary to consolidate the LCA and the ALC church bodies, I remember the professor of a homiletics (i.e. preaching) class that although we know the truth about Adam and Eve, the Virgin birth, the resurrection and ascension of Christ, we dare not preach the truth in order to spare the older members of our congregations since they believed these things to be literally true. He said that we were to be patient and begin indoctrinating the children of our congregations.

Some people said that I was lying; and, yet I knew what I had heard to be true. This was the reason given to the students, namely, that we should not do anything to disturb the faith of the older people that they would, of course, not understand the real truth. And now it is that you see how many old people, a generation later, are holding on to their new “truths” of the Bible. In other words, the gifts of the Word of God and Sacraments given to the Church are now used only because they were traditionally expected to be done and for no other reason. In the meantime, we were to be in the process of redefining what these gifts to the Church really meant. Instead of using Matthew 25 to warn the people of the imminent physical return of the Son of Man, today’s societal church ignores the text’s real meaning in order to focus on earthly issues and those societal issues in which the churches are so engrossed.

We, friends, have a whole lot of foolish virgins in the church today. They just simply are not ready to hear that Midnight Cry telling of the Lord’s return. Foolish virgins today don't realize that the Holy Spirit speaks within the literal words of Scripture, the Living Words of the Bible, which can light their way to their heavenly homes.

You cannot believe for anyone else just as going to church and lighting a candle is adding an iota of credit to your life or gaining merit for anyone. As it is expressed in the 1943 Luther’s Small Catechism, question #104, in the Apostles’ Creed: Why do you say in each of the three articles, “I believe,” and not, “we believe”? Answer: Everyone must believe for himself or herself; no one can be saved by another’s faith. “The just shall live by his faith” Hab.2:4 and Romans 1:17).

Yes, it is that way: the foolish virgins think that they can be spared the judgment and enter the wedding feast by the faith of other people. “Give us some of YOUR oil, for OUR lamps are going out!” Therefore, keep constantly faithful and alert to the times; keep your noses in the Holy Bible, which can make you wise unto salvation. No matter what your age, all should be perpetual students in The Faith College of Bible Knowledge!

“It will be on that last and terrible day of the Lord that many will cry ‘Give us some of your oil’ but it will be too late.”

You cannot believe for anyone else and nobody can believe for you in order that you can be saved.  It is like being on a church roster as a baptized or communicant member cannot make you a citizen of heaven or bring you into Christ’s kingdom without faith. Conversely, those who lack this personal faith given by hearing the Word of God (Romans 10:17), have no other mediator for them and remain in their sins and under the wrath of God.

As Moses found out on Mt. Sinai (Exodus 32:32-33): “Yet now, if you will forgive their sin – but if not, I pray, blot me out of Your book which You have written. And the Lord said to Moses, ‘Whoever has sinned against Me, I will blot him out of My book.’” Yes, it is that way: the foolish virgins think that they can be spared the judgment and enter the wedding feast by the faith of other people. “Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out!” Don't look to me, or to other pastors or to your parents or your parents’ church to give you oil for your lamps. All that anyone can do for you is to proclaim the Gospel promises that creates this justifying faith in you. But take this warning: You must believe for yourself!

Jesus finally pronounces this conclusion to His parable: “Be watching, therefore, because you do not know the day or the hour in which the Son of Man is coming.” And because those who are faithful in their watching have the oil of the Holy Spirit, they need not worry about their own spiritual welfare. As Luther said in his explanation of the Third Article of the Creed: “The Holy Ghost has called me by the gospel, enlightened me with His gifts, sanctified and kept me in the true faith.” It sure doesn't make much sense to carry around lamps without enough oil. Therefore the wise virgins are to be watchful for this reason, namely, that they desire to be part of the jubilation when their Lord comes back for they know that they are called to be one with the wedding celebration and they would not miss it for the world.

You, Christian, need to hold to the faith that you will be with the Lord in that wedding feast. The faith that trusts alone in the Gospel promises tells you that your Lord Christ carried your sins to that old rugged cross of Calvary. When Jesus went into Galilee to begin his ministry, He preached: “Repent and believe in the Gospel!” (Mark 1:15)

When the Word of the Lord is taught in its purity and the Sacraments administered as Christ instructed, there you have the true Christian Church that is filled with wise virgins. And it is within the bosom of Christ’s true Church that you will reside in safety here on earth and in heaven above. For as our Epistle this morning reminds us, “For God did not appoint us to wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us, that whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with Him.”

“Oh, where are ye, ye virgins wise? The Bridegroom comes, awake! Your lamps with gladness take! Hallelujah!" 

Christians take their lamps, their Bibles, with gladness. They are not ashamed to be ridiculed as "Bible-thumping fanatics; neither by liberals who feign Christianity nor by any earthly government. Christians who take their Bibles as their lamps are not willing to mix anything worldly with the joy of knowing Jesus their Bridegroom and Redeemer.

Listen to how John the Baptist (in John 3:27-31) gives His testimony about Jesus: “A man can receive nothing unless it has been given to him from heaven. You yourselves bear me witness, that I said, ‘I am not the Christ,’ but, ‘I have been sent before Him.’ He who has the bride is the bridegroom; but the friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly because of the bridegroom’s voice. Therefore, this joy of mine is fulfilled. He must increase, but I must decrease. He who comes from above is above all; he who is of the earth is earthly and speaks of the earth. He who comes from heaven is above all.”

Our very own government needs to stay out of the rights of the individual to practice their first amendment right to freedom of religion, and that includes Christianity; and, conversely, the Church needs to obey the laws of the government when they are not in direct conflict with the laws of God.  St. Peter and the early church knew about this dichotomy as well as Jesus Himself who said, “Render to Caesar the things of Caesar and to God the things of God.” The civil government rules by force; whereas, the Church distributes the treasures of heaven, which is the Word of God and the Holy Sacraments. Neither Church nor State should presume to usurp the power of the other.

So just as John the Baptist professed his gladness, although he was under great persecution from his earthly government, you also should be glad to hear the voice of the Bridegroom when you read His very words written for you in your lamp, the Bible, through which the Holy Spirit effectually works faith. It will be on that last and terrible day of the Lord that many will cry “Give us some of your oil!”, but it will be too late.

R.C.H. Lenski comments that we shouldn't ask why the five foolish virgins ignored the oil until the critical time; he says, “A foolish action has no explanation.” And just how true that is: It is only those wise virgins who will have no worry about being admitted into the wedding feast, for the bridegroom knows them and has welcomed them. They will never be caught without oil for the Holy Spirit works continually through Word and Sacrament. Nevertheless, this parable was still given to us as a warning.

The German poetry of Johann Walther in 1552, has been beautifully translated for us in 1880 by Matthias Loy and presented for our edification in our Lutheran hymn, “The Bridegroom Soon Will Call Us”. Listen to and hear the exhortation in the first verse:

“The Bridegroom soon will call us; come all ye wedding guests! May not His voice appall us While slumber binds our breasts! May all our lamps be burning And oil be found in store, That we, with Him returning; May open find the door!”

Amen.

Rev. James Shrader, 

Augsburg Lutheran Church

Sioux Falls, SD