This tape contains the first of three sermons in a mini-series titled, Low, He Comes, presented by the Reverend John W. Howe, Rector of Truro Episcopal Church in Fairfax, Virginia. The title of this sermon is, The Wise and the Foolish, and the scripture reference is Matthew chapter 25, verses 1 through 13. 

The Holy Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to Matthew. I'm reading from the 25th chapter beginning at the first verse. Jesus said, Then the kingdom of heaven shall be compared to ten maidens who took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom. Five of them were foolish and five were wise.

For when the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them, but the wise took flasks of oil with their lamps. As the bridegroom was delayed, they all slumbered and slept. But at midnight there was a cry, Behold the bridegroom, come out to meet him.

Then all those maidens rose 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 replied, Perhaps there will not be enough for us and for you. Go rather to the dealers and buy for yourselves.

And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the marriage feast, and the door was shut. Afterward, the other maidens came also, saying, Lord, Lord, open to us. But he replied, Truly I say to you, I do not know you.

Watch, therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour. The Gospel of the Lord. I wonder if you'd turn with me to Matthew's Gospel, chapter 24. I'm not going to read this, it's too much, but you might just sort of follow along as I refer to it. I want to come to the reading that we just heard from the 25th chapter, but I want to set that into context.

Jesus' earthly ministry was drawing toward its conclusion and his disciples asked him a question. In verse 3 of chapter 24, he's been talking about his coming again in glory, in splendor, and setting up his kingdom. And they ask him, tell us, when will this be?

What will be the sign of your coming and of the close of the age? There are lots of things that the disciples did not understand at all. Though Jesus had been speaking about them for three years, they did not understand about his death on the cross.

that this would be necessary for our salvation. They did not understand about his resurrection and ascension. They didn't understand the whole dynamic of redemption and atonement.

But one thing had registered. He said, I will be taken away from you and you will see me no more. And then after a time, you will see me again.

And so they asked him, Lord, when will that be? What will be the sign of it? And Jesus' answer is a fascinating study for us.

It's recorded in three different places. Here in Matthew 24 and 25, there are also parallels in Mark chapter 13 and in Luke chapter 21. I mention that because I would recommend it to you as a Bible study, something you might enjoy doing individually or in your family or in your home group.

It's sometimes called the little apocalypse. as Jesus talks about the end of this age and the signs of his coming again. He doesn't simply say, this will be the sign.

What he says is, there is a plethora of signs. And you need to be aware, there will be pointers of the fact that I am coming again, and you be on the alert for them. He says, for instance, there will be false prophets and false messiahs.

Verse 5. He says there will be wars and rumors of wars. Verse 6.

He says there will be famines and earthquakes. Verse 7. He says there will be tribulation, persecution, and martyrdom.

Verse 9. You might argue that all of those things have been around from the very beginning. And in one sense, you'd be absolutely right.

I think a case could be made that all of them have intensified remarkably in our own day, in this century. For instance, did you know that there have been more Christians martyred for their faith in Jesus in this century than in all the preceding 1900 years put together? Most people are not aware of that.

They think of the terrible times of persecution being back under the Roman Empire. More Christians have died for their faith in this century than in all the preceding 1900 years put together. Well, you might meditate on all that.

Jesus goes on to give four more signs that are much more specific. Matthew 24, verse 14. The gospel of the kingdom, my gospel in other words, the Christian good news, will be preached throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.

When did that happen? Well, some folks would say they went out in the first century and preached to all the world. That's a real overstatement.

They preached basically to the Mediterranean world, the known world. From one point of view, it has yet to happen. There are over 2 billion people that have never heard about Jesus.

There are over 20,000 languages and dialects into which the gospel has never yet been translated. And we need to work on that. We are working on that very, very seriously.

But I wonder if you've known this. 1956, the American Bible Society released the announcement that at long last, the gospel in whole or in part has now been translated into the official language of every nation of the world. 20,000 tongues still to go, but 1956, most of our lifetimes, into the official language of every nation of the world.

Notice Jesus does not say every person will hear. He says every nation will hear. Another sign, he says in verse 15, So when you see the desolating sacrilege spoken of by the prophet Daniel standing in the holy place, I find the next four words absolutely fascinating.

Parenthesis, let the reader understand. stop and think about it obviously Jesus did not say that he was not writing this down he was speaking to his disciples he wasn't addressing readers he was addressing hearers Matthew or Mark or somebody inserted that little parenthesis let the reader understand as if to say this particular sign will not be understood by those who hear about it in the first century this particular sign will be understood by those who read about it at some later date when it comes to pass. Desolating sacrilege, or as it's elsewhere referred to, the abomination of desolation, was something Daniel referred to back in his prophecy, and it was originally fulfilled when Antiochus Epiphanes set up a statue of himself in the Holy of Holies and commanded that the Jews sacrifice pig's blood to it.

Can you imagine that? In the Holy of Holies where nobody but the high priest went and he only once a year. And here in that holiest place where the Shekinah glory of God dwells, a man has the presumption to set up a statue of himself and demand unclean sacrifices be offered.

Jesus seems to be saying that something like that will take place again toward the end of the age. I don't know what it will be. Maybe some kind of absolutely anti-Christian figure ruling over a reunified world church.

I don't know. But I believe that if we've done our homework, if we've read the book, when it happens, we'll recognize it. Let the reader understand.

Matthew 24, verse 29, the darkening of the sun, moon, and stars. Literally a falling from heaven. All of them?

Maybe. Perhaps they're being obscured from sight by something coming in between. us and them like a cloud of pollution or nuclear waste.

The most fascinating sign of all is mentioned only in Luke chapter 21 verse 24 where Jesus says Jerusalem will be trodden down by the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled. Jerusalem, the ancient capital city of God's holy nation, will be trodden down, will be held under Gentile authority and dominion until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled when it will revert to being once again a Jewish city. Jerusalem was lost to the Babylonians in 586 B.C.

It was briefly liberated under the Maccabeans around 170 B.C. and from that time on it remained dominated by Gentile occupation until June 7, 1967. They said for 2,500 years it will never be a Jewish city again until suddenly the words of Jesus are fulfilled once again in our lifetimes 20 years ago.

1980, the Knesset declared the undivided city of Jerusalem will be forever the capital of Israel. Those are the signs. Watch them.

Meditate on them. Study those passages. I don't know how much longer it's going to be, but I think there's good reason to suppose that it's going to be soon.

He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead. and his kingdom will have no end. Jesus says in this passage, and he goes on to say, the signs will point in a direction, but not so specifically that you will be able to date to the moment my return.

In fact, I don't even know that myself. He says, of that day and hour, only the Father knows. Christians down through the ages have made the terrible mistake of ignoring that word from Jesus and they've tried to pinpoint the time and they've been wrong repeatedly.

Jesus, in essence, makes three statements. Number one, I will surely come again. Number two, you cannot possibly know the exact moment.

Number three, therefore, be ready always. You can't know when. Therefore, be ready always.

and he gives a whole series of illustrations to make the point. If the people of Noah's day had known when the flood was coming, they would have been out there building boats like Noah was. They laughed at him.

You know, it took him, what, 40 years to build the ark. And they scorned him for 40 years. There's not going to be a flood.

We're not even near water. And they carried on reveling and partying and giving in marriage and so on. And they were swept away.

if they had really believed it, they would have been ready. Forty years. It's been 2,000 years we're waiting for this.

And folks say, he isn't coming back. You're deluding yourself. If they'd known it, they'd have been ready.

If the householder had known what time the burglar was coming, he'd have been ready for him. I mean, if you knew for sure that somebody was coming to rob your home tonight at 1.30, Would you make any preparation about that? Have a few friends over maybe?

A few Doberman pinchers? A couple of friendly neighborhood policemen? Right?

If you knew for certain he was coming at 1.30 tonight, you'd be ready for him. Since you don't know when he's coming, be ready at all times. Get it?

If the servant had known when his master was returning, he wouldn't have been drunk in the kitchen. the master will surely come back and say how have you been doing taking care of my property if I'd known he was coming back I'd at least have looked like I was busy be ready at all times and finally if the bridesmaids had only known when the bridegroom was coming they would never have let their oil run out my question for you this morning is do any of you know what spiritual burnout is anybody identify with that has lots of symptoms I think burnout comes when you get so overwhelmed with the effort of keeping on keeping on that just kind of want to ignore it for a while your prayers don't seem to be getting anywhere if you even bother to pray. Bible study is a chore.

You remember what it was like when you first came to know Jesus? You couldn't get enough Scripture even though you didn't understand most of it at all? The Lord seems just terribly far away.

You haven't stopped believing in Him. It's just that somehow he's not involved in that same intense personal way. The rat race is making you run faster and faster all the time and all you're getting out of it is becoming a quicker rat.

It seems like you don't have any time for your kids or your spouse. burnout is a very good name for that. I know we've touched on that from time to time in the past, but let me put it to you this way.

When an oil lamp runs out of oil, the first thing that happens is the wick itself begins to burn. And it gets very smoky and very smelly, and then it dies. Because the oil lamp is made to burn on oil.

And when it runs out, it burns out. Automobile was made to run on gasoline, and when it runs out, it can only go downhill. And the human personality was made to run on the Holy Spirit.

And when we run out of the oil of His anointing, we get very smoky and very smelly. unless we do something about it, we die. How incredibly tragic it would be if the moment of the Lord's return coincided with the moment of our burnout.

Get the picture. Here are these bridesmaids. Now, they've been invited to the party.

They've been planning on it. They've been looking forward to it. For some reason or other, he's delayed and the party doesn't begin when they thought it was going to.

And so they get all distracted in every other kind of thing and don't attend to the one thing they were supposed to do and that's have their lamp ready. And when he comes, they've got no oil. Give me some of yours.

I'm interested. It says that the wise bridesmaids said, we can't do that, lest we don't have enough for ourselves. You can't get it from somebody else.

You get it only from the Lord Himself. And He comes. And afterward, the other maidens came also saying, Lord, open to us.

And he replied, truly I say to you, I don't know you. I don't want to hear him say that, do you? One thing matters.

One thing matters. Let's keep our relationship with him fresh. Go to Him early in the morning and get replenished in your supply of oil, Holy Spirit anointing.

One thing matters. Nothing else matters. Give me oil in my lamp.

Keep me burning. Keep me burning till the break of day. This concludes Mr. Howe's sermon.