... ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ Dr. Michael Youssef:
Whenever there is something of global nature,
events that grasp the news, you find that a lot
speculation starts. But those of us who have
their faith anchored firmly in the Lord Jesus Christ know
for certain several things. Here are several things that
we know for absolute certainty. Number one, that this world
as we know it one day is going to come to an end. Secondly, we know that our
ultimate home is not here. That we are placed here at this
time to serve, and to minister, and to bring as many people
to salvation as the Lord will allow us. The third thing is we know that
one day, the Lord Jesus Christ will come back to take us home. Fourthly, we know
that the Lord himself gave us certain indications, certain signs,
particularly in Matthew 24, where you hear him in details
give us details about the signs of the nearness of his coming. Not the time, but the nearness
of his coming, the nearness. And five, that every true
believer in the Lord Jesus, everyone who loves the Lord
Jesus Christ longs for that day to come, longs for his return. And number six is we know
that the day of his return should be our motivation
in this life to live for him, and to give to him, and to serve him
with all of our hearts. And that is why perhaps, or at least from
my biblical worldview, there is no greater test for
a person genuineness of faith in the Lord Jesus Christ
and confidence in him than the preparedness
for the return of Christ. That preparedness is
manifested in our daily living. Not in the talk and not
in the passing of emails of speculation of who, what,
where, and all that stuff. No, whether we place him
first and foremost in our lives, regardless whether we go
to see him first or he comes to take us
home first. When you have your spiritual
bags packed, you are going to
be busy serving, and giving, and doing,
and making a difference in the lives of those whom
the Lord brings your way. The preparedness of the Second
Coming of the Lord Jesus Christ is the clearest indication of
the genuineness of your faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Listen to me,
I did not say that. I did not say that,
Jesus said that. The Lord Jesus said that,
not Michael. And so, I want you to turn
with me please to Matthew 25, the first 13 verses. Here, Jesus tells a profound,
brilliant story to illustrate this test. In schools, all of the students
have a lot in common. They're in the same grade,
they have the same teacher, they're about the same age,
they have the same school, they have the same curriculum. They have all of that in
common except one thing. Those who are prepared
for the test and those who are not, right? In many ways, the story
that the Lord tells here is the tragedy of those
who look like Christians, lookalike Christians. The tragedy of those who are
merely professing Christians. It's the tragedy of those
who confess one thing with their lips, but then they live
a different life. More than 64% of the confessing
Christians, I'm talking about
the Christians, say there are other ways
to God other than Jesus Christ, which is contradict
everything Jesus said. Forty-four percent of professing
Christians said Jesus sinned, that he committed sin,
which is a total contradiction of the plan of salvation. How can a sinner save sinners? The reason he's sinless,
because he can save sinners, and that's the only reason
he can save us. Which makes me personally
wonder if we are not living in that period of time
that our Lord Jesus Christ talks about in details
in Matthew 24. And immediately before
the return of Christ, there's going to be a great
falling away from the faith. The falling away from the faith
will take place immediately before the return of Christ,
particularly chapter 24, verses 10 and 11,
the Lord makes it very clear. And then the Apostle Paul
picks it up and expounds on it in 2 Thessalonians chapter 2. And that is why today,
I will be challenging you like I have never challenged
you before. Everyone at the sound
of my voice, wherever you are,
whatever country you're in, and for those of us here
in this sanctuary, I'll challenge you like
I've never challenged you before to be prepared
to pass the test. So, what is the question,
what is that test? Here it comes. Am I prepared? Am I prepared today to meet
the Lord if he comes or not? That's really the question. Am I living and giving
and serving in such a way that I will not be ashamed
on that great day? Or, "Oh, I wish I've done
this, or I wish I've done that. If I knew it was going
to be so soon, I would've done
something else." No, no, now I come
to this amazing story that our Lord Jesus gives
in Matthew 25. Here Jesus, hear me out please,
this is important, he makes it very clear
that no way whatsoever--let me repeat this. No way whatsoever somebody
else can take that test for you. The test is so individualized,
every single person, no one, no one, no one can take
the place of another. We will see that very clearly
in a moment, I'm going to show it to you. The story of the ten virgins
is so realistic in its details, it is so poignant
in its application, it is so profound
in its teaching. And I pray Holy Spirit,
please open our minds. Father, I pray in the name of
Jesus that you would not allow any distraction to take place. Help us to focus to the point of
coming to that test and taking the test in Jesus's name. Ten young women
who were invited to participate in a wedding party. Five of the ten were wise,
five were foolish. Now, there's a reason
for that description. This is not characterizing them,
but there's a reason for it. The wise, the five wise,
revealed their wisdom in living of their lives
as if the bridegroom is coming today or tomorrow. They were totally prepared. They were ready
in a moment's notice. They had oil in their lamps. But the foolish ones,
on the other hand, they were totally unprepared. They got so distracted
by other things in life, they neglected the most
important thing in life, which is working while waiting
for the bridegroom to come. Both the wise and the foolish,
physically they went to sleep. We all sleep at night,
everybody sleeps at night. And suddenly, the cry goes out,
"The bridegroom is coming, the bridegroom is here." And the wise women got up,
put the oil in their lamp, and they were prepared,
and they were ready. The foolish ones said, "Oops,
ha ha, we don't have oil, we don't have oil. We have lamps, but not oil. We have religion, but no power. We have tradition,
but not a new life. We have church membership,
but not salvation." So, they asked the wise women,
"Give us your oil. Give us some of your oil." The wise women said, "No, I'm
sorry, we can't give it to you." Beloved, listen to me, salvation
is a personal experience. You cannot inherit it. You cannot buy it. You cannot earn it. You cannot give it to another. You can tell others about it, but you cannot give it
to others. Each individuals has enough
oil just for themselves. And the foolish ones thought
they could buy oil anytime. They could get it
in the last minute. Well, they will just pray before
they die and they'll make it. Oh, at this point,
they come to realize there is such a thing
as it is too late. It is too late. It's in the middle of the night,
stores are closed. It's illustrating that
the time has passed. And so, they cry to the
bridegroom, "Open the door." "I don't know you." Oh my goodness. Jesus said, "Keep watch
because you don't know the day or the hour what moment
I'm going to come back." Please put yourself in the place
of the original hearers, the people who are hearing
those words from the lips of Jesus at that time. And now, here we are
2,000 years later reading it, but put yourself in their place
and what they were thinking. Because in Israel at that time,
in the Jewish tradition, a marriage has three stages,
three stages. The first stage is when
the parents of the groom and the parents of the bride
get together, make an agreement. That's how it was back then. In fact, that's how it is
in some cultures even today. The second stage
is the betrothal. The betrothal is more than just
an engagement, it's binding. It's binding in every way. The only thing
does not take place until you get to the third stage is the consummation
of the marriage, when you have the festival,
you have the feast. But it was binding. You remember Mary and Joseph? Mary was betrothed to Joseph,
it was binding in every way except there was no
consummation of the marriage. What happens between the time
the groom betrothed his bride and the time he comes to get her
to attend the wedding feast, the festival, the celebration,
is that he goes home and he builds an addition
in his father's house. 'Cause that's how it was, you
bring your bride to your father. But you don't take her into your
father's and parents' house, you build a special addition
that is specially built for your bride. So, he's building an addition
for his bride. And that is why Jesus said,
"I go to the Father and I prepare a place for you." He's building that addition
for every one of his children. You see, when that addition
is ready, the groom will march
toward the bride's house. And in that street in this
celebration as the parade takes place from the groom's father's
house to the bride's house, and the dancing
and music and shouting. The groom is coming,
the groom is coming. And everybody in town will get
up and they look out the windows and out of the balconies
because this parade, a celebration of the groom
going to fetch his bride to come and join him in the festival,
in the celebration. In fact, the shouting,
"The groom is coming," gets louder in volume
and intensity as the groom gets closer
to the bride's house. And when he fetches his bride,
the same parade takes place even with more intensity, music,
and dancing, and celebration. And he takes her and process
all the way to his--the groom's father's house. Now beloved, Jesus is telling us
in this story, he's letting us
know that in his first coming, he invited whomsoever to come
and be part of his bride. In his first coming,
he betrothed all those who have truly accepted
his invitation. In his first coming,
he issued the invitation, but only betrothed those
who come to love him with all of their heart and
put their whole faith in him. And he betroths them. He betroths all of those
who are in love with Jesus. But then there are other group
of people who might like the bridegroom, who may admire the bridegroom, but never surrender
to the bridegroom. Those who have joined
a local church, but never joined the church
of Jesus Christ. Those who might be
wearing clerical vestments and clerical garb, but they do not have the
robe of righteousness that's absolutely necessary
for you to go to heaven. Those who have attended church
on occasions and never been born again. Those who have warm
and fuzzy feeling toward Jesus around the time
of Christmas, but Jesus was never born
inside of them. Those who go through
the motion of Christianity, but they live the lives
for themselves. Those who have not lived
for that great day in mind, these are the foolish ones. Listen to me, these foolish ones
are not the atheists, they're not the agnostics,
they're not the anti-Christians. They are not the pagans. No, no, no, no, no, no, no,
no, these were in the church. If you look closely,
look closely, now I hope you go
and spend a little time with that story
when you go home. If you look closely at it,
you're going to discover there are seven things in common
between the wise and the foolish, seven things. I'll give them
to you very quickly. Both groups were invited,
both heard the invitation. Both responded probably
positive to the invitation. Both groups were part
of the visible church. Both had affection
toward the bridegroom. Both groups confessed
Jesus with their lips. Both groups believed
in his coming. Both groups physically
had fallen asleep. Seven things, but as soon as the bridegroom shows up, the similarity ended. Both groups went to church. Both groups claimed
to be Christians. Both groups claimed to believe. Both groups all said
the right things. Both had warm feelings
toward Jesus. But they were not born again. The oil here is the symbol
of the inner change that has taken place in the life
of a true believer. The oil is a symbol
of the inner transformation that takes place in the life
of the true believers. The oil is the symbol
of being sold out to Jesus. Listen to me, we're having
preachers running around today and saying Jesus is nuts about
you, Jesus is in love with you, Jesus is crazy about you. If Jesus has a fridge,
he'll have your pictures on it. Huh? We know Jesus loved us,
he died on the cross, but the question is,
are you in love with Jesus? Are you nuts about Jesus? Do I live my Christian life
working, serving, giving, doing with the expectation
of that great day? Listen to me please, it doesn't
matter what you call yourself. It doesn't matter whether
you say, "I have my faith." The question is,
do you anticipate with joy that great day of the return
of the Lord Jesus Christ? Do you long for that day? Do you give and serve in
anticipation of that day? I'm not asking you if you
have a religious experience. I'm not ask about religion. I'm not asking if you belong
to a denomination or a certain church. No, no, no, no, no, the question
is, are you born again? The question is,
is your life lived in Christ? The question is,
do you love to see Jesus? The question is,
do your non-Christian friends think that you are
nuts about Jesus? That's really what matters. Somebody may ask,
"Well, Michael, how can I be sure that I'm not
like these foolish women at the coming
of the bridegroom?" I'm glad you asked. Jesus has the answer,
and he gives us a self-administered test. And nobody can give it to you. The pastor cannot give it to
you, Sunday school teacher cannot give it to you, your
family cannot give it to you. It's a self-administered test. And here's the
self-administered test. Do I serve out of sense of duty,
or out of sense of my love for Jesus? Do I long for his appearing,
or that thought troubles me a little bit? Do I give of myself because
it is expected of me, or do I sacrificially
and joyfully and hilariously give out of
gratitude for my salvation? Do I have a desire to tell
others about him so they too can escape
that great day? Do I tell them
about the invitation that he's offering them
and the gift of eternal life and the forgiveness of sins? Do I use my Christianity for
self-serving or for self-giving? Just like a torch without
the fuel is worthless, so is the professing Christian
without the transformation in his or her heart. In the case of the wise
young women, their outward profession
was substantiated by their inward possession. On another occasion, Jesus told
a story about a wedding crasher. He crashed a wedding. He did not wear the wedding
gown that was handed to all the invitees so they know
they were invited to that wedding. He decided to go
in his civilian clothes, he's going to make it
in his own strength. He's going to make it there
because he thinks he's good. He's going to make it because
he gave a few dollars here and there. He's going to make it
on his own steam, not on the blood
of Jesus Christ. Jesus said that person was
thrown into the outer darkness, and that's exactly what was
said of these foolish women. Now, think about this. In reality, Jesus is telling us
that salvation cannot be borrowed,
salvation cannot be shared, salvation cannot be inherited,
salvation cannot be given. You can invite person to it,
but you cannot give it to somebody else. Your father and mother
cannot give it to you. Your son and daughter
cannot give it to you. Your Christian friends
cannot give it to you. Nobody can give it to you. You have to individually
receive it as you respond to his invitation. Accepting that invitation
by coming in humility and brokenness, thanking him
for paying the prices and the wages of your sin
on that cross. Secondly, Jesus is
teaching us that it is a lie. Listen to me please, listen,
I'm going to close today, this is important. It is an absolute lie
that is repeated in the media every couple
of minutes. It is a lie to think
that in the last day, God is going
to let everybody in. No, a million no's. Jesus's hearers are saying here
there is such thing as too late, too late. It's not too late now, it's
not--as long as you have breath, it's not too late. But when that time comes,
it's too late. A student might get away
with cramming for exam, but it is an absolute gamble
with your eternity to wait, to wait. Because when the door is shut,
these foolish ones tried to borrow salvation,
couldn't. Tried to buy salvation,
they couldn't. And that's why the Bible says
the time is now, the hour is now. Don't put it off. Now, my beloved friends,
I don't know about you, I think you can tell
from my reaction that I grieve for anybody
who's putting it off. The worst thing
you can do is say, "There is time,
there is time." That's what Satan wants
you to believe, there's time. Now, in case you're thinking that I'm suggesting
that the believers ought to put on white robes
and head for the mountains, wait for Jesus, that
is the most unbiblical thing you can do. That's not what
I'm saying at all. In fact, those who are waiting
for Jesus, they work the hardest for Jesus. When Jesus said,
"Occupy till I come," he said, "Work hard
until I come," not head for the mountains. When people asked
C.S. Lewis about people who were so heavenly minded,
they are of no earthly good, he said,
"Let me tell you something. History will prove again and
again that only those who made the difference on earth are the
ones who are heavenly minded." And I'm reminded of a man by
the name of Lord Shaftesbury. Lord Shaftesbury established
many reforms. In fact, more reforms
than Wilberforce, who freed the slaves. He helped so many. He lifted so many poor out of
poverty, thousands of people. He supported many
missionary endeavors. His life was a life of giving,
and serving, and doing. Lord Shaftesbury said the
following, listen carefully, I'm about to close. He said, "I don't think that
in the last 40 years, I've ever lived
one conscious hour that was not influenced by the thought of the return
of Christ." That is the mindset of the
wise people, the wise person. Will you be wise? Will you be wise? Will you be wise? ♪♪♪ announcer: If you've just
made a decision to accept Jesus into your life, or if you would
like to speak with someone about making this decision,
please visit ltw.org/Jesus. Dr. Youssef would love
to hear from you. announcer: "For God who said, 'Let light shine
out of darkness,' made his light shine in our
hearts to give us the light of the knowledge
of God's glory displayed in the face
of Christ." "When Jesus spoke again
to the people, he said, 'I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never
walk in darkness, but will have
the light of life.'" Would you join with Dr. Youssef
and "Leading the Way" to make the most of these
dark days by shining the light of Christ and calling souls
to repentance? Through the power of media,
"Leading the Way" is reaching more homes than ever before
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proclaiming uncompromising truth, "Leading the Way"
with Dr. Michael Youssef thanks you for your
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