WEBVTT 00:00:00.800 --> 00:00:01.840 Please be seated. 00:00:10.720 --> 00:00:11.759 Good evening, everyone. 00:00:11.839 --> 00:00:15.759 If you'd like to open your Bibles to Matthew chapter 25, we'll be there in just a few moments. 00:00:17.039 --> 00:00:20.960 I want to express my appreciation for the opportunity to be with you this weekend. 00:00:21.519 --> 00:00:31.039 In so many ways, it's been a joy and a great encouragement to me to be able to meet you and to be in your fellowship and participate with you in this men's weekend. 00:00:32.479 --> 00:00:36.799 There are a number of people I appreciate who have contributed mightily to this. 00:00:38.399 --> 00:00:41.439 I'd like to pack up AJ and take him home with us. 00:00:42.880 --> 00:00:47.359 I tell you what, that guy, he has been Johnny on the spot for me and Noah. 00:00:48.240 --> 00:00:53.600 Everything we needed every time we had a question, then he sent us an email at the end, laying the whole program out. 00:00:53.920 --> 00:00:56.079 I thought, man, thank you for that. 00:00:56.240 --> 00:01:02.799 And I know he has a team of guys that work with him, and I think the team of guys that do that too, but AJ was the front man. 00:01:03.039 --> 00:01:06.879 And so that meant if he's the front man, he also gets the blame if it didn't go well too. 00:01:07.280 --> 00:01:12.239 But uh I appreciate what AJ did and the group that works with him to provide for us. 00:01:13.920 --> 00:01:16.879 It's been special to me because I get to be with Noah. 00:01:17.519 --> 00:01:27.359 Him and Michaela were with us for a few years, and Noah was very forbearing with me working with him and preaching and trying to learn some things about that. 00:01:28.239 --> 00:01:31.760 And I enjoy working with young men, trying to help them understand something about that. 00:01:31.840 --> 00:01:34.159 But I will tell you, the student has passed the teacher. 00:01:35.200 --> 00:01:37.280 And I'm very proud of him and the work that he's doing. 00:01:37.439 --> 00:01:45.359 It's just been a joy for me to be in his presence, but to hear him teach and to see him work and see the great work that he's doing in the kingdom of God. 00:01:46.400 --> 00:01:50.879 My love is so immense for him and his family, and I'm so proud of all of them. 00:01:52.719 --> 00:01:56.959 I want to thank Jamie and Jennifer for housing us. 00:01:57.040 --> 00:02:03.439 I made a few smart remarks yesterday about the sawdust floors and the outdoor plumbing. 00:02:04.319 --> 00:02:09.680 But I'm gonna tell you, that's a five-star hotel. 00:02:11.520 --> 00:02:13.360 With our own personal chef. 00:02:14.400 --> 00:02:24.879 They have made me and Noah feel very, very welcome and appreciated, and they have been the ultimate host, and the hospitality has just been so warm and precious. 00:02:26.319 --> 00:02:31.680 Jeffrey's father and I go back a long, long way, and her granddad and my dad go back even further than that. 00:02:32.080 --> 00:02:36.560 So I'm glad to get to be in their home and get to know her and her family and be part of that. 00:02:36.639 --> 00:02:38.560 It's just been a joy to be with them. 00:02:39.039 --> 00:02:42.319 It's been great to be able to make contact with Nate. 00:02:42.400 --> 00:02:47.439 We've kind of known each other through the years, but not had much time to visit, and I've appreciated the time to be with him. 00:02:47.599 --> 00:02:51.840 And then Saturday, when I got in, I got to do the podcast with George and with Justin. 00:02:52.479 --> 00:02:55.759 I appreciate the the work that George is doing and how he's growing. 00:02:56.800 --> 00:03:02.960 Unique thing though about Justin, we realized is uh I went to college at what was East Texas State University. 00:03:03.120 --> 00:03:07.360 Now it's Texas Enemy Commerce and uh Texas AM in commerce. 00:03:07.919 --> 00:03:12.800 And uh I would work a half a day, but I'd work a half a day for his grandfather. 00:03:13.199 --> 00:03:15.199 And that was kind of a neat little thing to put together. 00:03:15.280 --> 00:03:18.560 So I knew his dad when his dad was a young boy in high school. 00:03:18.800 --> 00:03:21.520 And so as we talked, the light bulbs kept coming on. 00:03:21.759 --> 00:03:23.599 It's so it's nice to make that connection. 00:03:23.919 --> 00:03:26.400 And then uh I knew Caleb before Caleb was born. 00:03:26.960 --> 00:03:33.599 His family was with us for a number of years, and to see the young man that he was going into and have his own family and now expecting another one. 00:03:33.759 --> 00:03:35.919 So a number of things that I really appreciate. 00:03:36.080 --> 00:03:41.360 Appreciate your elders uh inviting me to be here and the work that they're doing here so much. 00:03:41.520 --> 00:03:45.759 Appreciate your work and the excitement that you have for the cause of Christ. 00:03:47.039 --> 00:03:49.599 Let's read the beginning of Matthew chapter 25 together. 00:03:49.759 --> 00:03:51.360 Matthew chapter 25. 00:03:56.639 --> 00:04:04.240 Then the kingdom of heaven shall be likened to ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. 00:04:05.439 --> 00:04:10.240 Now five of them were wise and five were foolish. 00:04:11.199 --> 00:04:21.360 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. 00:04:22.560 --> 00:04:24.879 And at midnight a cry was heard. 00:04:25.040 --> 00:04:29.600 Behold, the bridegroom is coming out to meet him. 00:04:30.000 --> 00:04:33.680 And all those virgins arose, trimmed their lamps. 00:04:33.920 --> 00:04:39.199 And the foolish said to why to the wise, Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out. 00:04:40.000 --> 00:04:44.639 But the wise answered, saying, No, lest there not be enough for us and you. 00:04:45.360 --> 00:04:49.600 Rather go to those who sell and buy for yourselves. 00:04:50.160 --> 00:04:57.600 And while they went, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the wedding, and the door was shut. 00:04:58.160 --> 00:05:03.279 And afterwards the other versions also came, saying, Lord, Lord, open to us. 00:05:04.319 --> 00:05:08.720 But he answered and said, Assuredly, I say to you, I do not know you. 00:05:09.199 --> 00:05:15.279 Watch therefore, for you know neither the hour nor the day in which the Son of Man is coming. 00:05:16.160 --> 00:05:29.120 If I set first of all the immediate context for what I think is taking place here, I think chapter 25, at least this part of chapter 25, is illustrating the point of Matthew chapter 24. 00:05:30.319 --> 00:05:34.560 And Matthew chapter 24 is talking about the destruction of Jerusalem. 00:05:35.360 --> 00:05:40.160 And at the end of Matthew chapter 24, you have that same utterance, watch and pray. 00:05:40.720 --> 00:05:45.439 Talks about how you can look at the clouds and the weather and you can see see things from there. 00:05:45.600 --> 00:05:47.680 Can you not watch for the Son of Man? 00:05:48.480 --> 00:05:55.120 And then he comes and he says, Let me illustrate that for you in a story that maybe can penetrate and that you can understand. 00:05:55.439 --> 00:06:00.240 And he closes with the same encouragement you need to watch. 00:06:00.560 --> 00:06:03.519 Because you know not the hour when the Son of Man comes. 00:06:04.000 --> 00:06:07.199 Paul, that certainly can be applicable to the second coming. 00:06:07.600 --> 00:06:09.759 Those same words can be applicable. 00:06:10.000 --> 00:06:17.839 I think primarily he's talking about the destruction of Jerusalem, and you know not when the Son of Man is going to come in judgment against you. 00:06:18.240 --> 00:06:21.279 So you need to be ready when he comes. 00:06:21.360 --> 00:06:22.800 You need to be watching. 00:06:23.680 --> 00:06:27.519 But tonight we're talking about starting ready and staying ready. 00:06:28.000 --> 00:06:42.639 And so I'd like to take, after we look at that immediate context of things, and I'd like to extrapolate, pull some things out of that that I think are very pertinent and helpful to us when we think about this idea of are you ready to start ready and to stay ready? 00:06:45.439 --> 00:06:55.519 Have you ever experienced the moment of euphoria in which everything lined up for you? 00:06:57.360 --> 00:07:01.759 Those rare moments when things just everything went together for you. 00:07:01.920 --> 00:07:08.720 I mean, it started out great, in the middle it was great, and it ended great, and you started out on fire. 00:07:10.639 --> 00:07:12.560 But how we start out is not what's important. 00:07:12.720 --> 00:07:15.839 What is important is how we stay ready. 00:07:16.079 --> 00:07:20.399 It's easy to be pumped up and to start ready. 00:07:21.519 --> 00:07:23.839 I won't ask for a show of hands. 00:07:24.959 --> 00:07:38.399 But how many of us have begun a project with a great deal of enthusiasm for that project, only to, in a short period of time, have the enthusiasm of that project to die out. 00:07:38.639 --> 00:07:43.600 Someone once said the enthusiasm with which we begin is not the enthusiasm with which we end. 00:07:44.720 --> 00:07:55.040 And we can begin with a great deal of enthusiasm in a number of different things, and we think we're ready for this, and then it just seems like we don't stay ready. 00:07:55.120 --> 00:07:58.560 It just seems like we go out. 00:08:01.439 --> 00:08:10.399 So when we think about what is said to us in this story with these ten virgins that are here for this wedding. 00:08:11.199 --> 00:08:20.879 While we would not do weddings like they do, there were some things that took place in there that I think are helpful to us to start ready and to stay ready. 00:08:22.720 --> 00:08:30.240 I think when we think about this, we need to understand we can't start at midnight to prepare for what we need at midnight. 00:08:32.320 --> 00:08:38.960 The hour had come for them to be ready, and now, just now they're going to plan to be ready. 00:08:39.279 --> 00:08:41.600 It was interesting at the house before we left. 00:08:41.840 --> 00:08:49.840 We were having some casual conversation among ourselves, and I asked the question of one of the boys that were there, are you a procrastinator? 00:08:50.399 --> 00:08:53.200 And his younger brother said, Yes, he's the king of it. 00:08:53.360 --> 00:08:56.879 And then the younger brother debated the older brother as to who the king of it was. 00:08:57.759 --> 00:09:00.080 And then Noah asked me if I was a procrastinator. 00:09:00.159 --> 00:09:02.399 I'm a lot of things, but I'm not a procrastinator. 00:09:03.519 --> 00:09:08.960 You can't provide what is necessary at midnight only at midnight. 00:09:10.000 --> 00:09:14.559 You can't wait for the crisis to come to prepare for the crisis. 00:09:15.360 --> 00:09:21.759 There has to be something that's put in place in preparation before the crisis ever comes to us. 00:09:22.159 --> 00:09:23.600 And we see that in this parable. 00:09:23.679 --> 00:09:25.279 We see this in this story. 00:09:27.519 --> 00:09:29.919 I think I've seen that in people's lives. 00:09:31.679 --> 00:09:33.039 Perhaps it's been your experience. 00:09:33.120 --> 00:09:45.200 Maybe the elders, maybe Nate, your experience that you you sat by the bedside of people who were tremendously sick, and death was just at the door for them. 00:09:48.080 --> 00:09:57.200 You know, the number of times I've sat with people like that, they've never said, you know, I sure wish I'd had the right position on marriage, divorce, and remarriage. 00:09:58.399 --> 00:10:02.159 I sure wish I'd had had the right position on the work of the church. 00:10:02.639 --> 00:10:04.000 I'm not diminishing those. 00:10:04.080 --> 00:10:05.360 Please understand that. 00:10:06.960 --> 00:10:10.879 But at that time, you don't have a deep theological debate about things. 00:10:12.080 --> 00:10:21.759 What you want to know at that time is have I been preparing myself to be ready for when the Lord comes? 00:10:23.120 --> 00:10:27.279 My dad's mother, my nanny, lived to be almost 93 years old. 00:10:28.159 --> 00:10:32.559 And I was visiting with her in the nursing home one day, and my middle name is Glenn. 00:10:32.960 --> 00:10:35.840 And the family calls me anything from Ricky Glenn to Glenn. 00:10:36.480 --> 00:10:42.320 And so as I was visiting with her, she said, Glenn, I just don't know if I've prayed enough. 00:10:43.759 --> 00:10:45.679 She wasn't worried about a theological debate. 00:10:45.759 --> 00:10:50.879 What she wanted to know was, am I ready, have I done enough to prepare to be ready? 00:10:52.159 --> 00:10:54.480 Have a real good friend who runs marathons. 00:10:54.559 --> 00:10:58.080 In fact, just recently he ran the Boston Marathon, Jacob Hudgens. 00:10:59.039 --> 00:11:02.559 And so I began to do some looking at this and I began to think about this as an illustration. 00:11:02.639 --> 00:11:05.039 So I thought I better ask a guy who does this. 00:11:05.519 --> 00:11:17.519 I've heard things about people who run marathons that there comes a place in running a marathon in which you really hit what they call the wall, which means you've exhausted every bit of resources you have, and now then it's just sheer gut and will. 00:11:18.639 --> 00:11:21.120 And so I asked Jacob, is this when this happens? 00:11:21.279 --> 00:11:27.759 He said, Yeah, somewhere around mile 20 or 22, and said, You don't have anything left, and it's just all you've got to push. 00:11:27.919 --> 00:11:34.080 But here's the thing: you don't wait till mile 20 or 22 to prepare for mile 20 or 22. 00:11:35.360 --> 00:11:37.679 You have to be ready before you reach there. 00:11:37.840 --> 00:11:44.720 There has to be a starting ready and a staying ready to finish and compete in that marathon race. 00:11:45.679 --> 00:11:50.159 You can't wait until the crisis comes to prepare for being ready. 00:11:52.399 --> 00:11:56.639 That brings to my mind a second consideration I'd like to ask and think about. 00:11:58.399 --> 00:11:59.679 Why is it? 00:12:00.399 --> 00:12:03.360 Why is it that we struggle to stay ready? 00:12:04.639 --> 00:12:10.159 See, in this story, you had five that were ready, and you had five that were not ready. 00:12:10.720 --> 00:12:13.039 That's obvious in our reading that was there. 00:12:13.360 --> 00:12:16.639 And by the way, have you noticed how much in common they do have? 00:12:18.080 --> 00:12:23.759 They're virgins, they all have lamps, they're all asleep together there. 00:12:24.000 --> 00:12:25.600 They all have oil. 00:12:26.799 --> 00:12:30.320 Now they don't all have enough oil, but they all have oil. 00:12:31.440 --> 00:12:35.679 They're all there together waiting for the anticipated arrival of the bridegroom. 00:12:35.840 --> 00:12:36.960 They're all there together. 00:12:37.120 --> 00:12:39.120 There are a number of things they have in common. 00:12:40.080 --> 00:12:48.480 And so we might think that, well, here are these five foolish ones, and really what this story is telling us is these five foolish ones, they're just sinful. 00:12:48.559 --> 00:12:50.080 They're just lazy and sinful. 00:12:51.200 --> 00:12:52.480 Well, maybe so. 00:12:52.720 --> 00:12:53.679 Maybe so. 00:12:54.159 --> 00:13:00.879 But is there another possibility beside the fact that these might have been lazy and and the sinful virgins who didn't prepare in time? 00:13:01.120 --> 00:13:02.480 Is there another option? 00:13:06.639 --> 00:13:09.200 Perhaps it was exhaustion. 00:13:12.000 --> 00:13:16.799 Just because a person is exhausted doesn't mean the person doesn't care. 00:13:18.320 --> 00:13:24.000 I've known a lot of exhausted people that care, except the fact they're just purely exhausted. 00:13:24.159 --> 00:13:30.879 And now then they've been here and they're waiting and they haven't prepared themselves, and the exhaustion has overwhelmed them in this. 00:13:31.039 --> 00:13:32.960 It's not that they're sinful and lazy. 00:13:33.120 --> 00:13:38.320 They have, they care, they're present, they are there, they want to be there, they care. 00:13:40.879 --> 00:13:42.639 Exhaustion's not a sin. 00:13:43.120 --> 00:13:52.720 This is not about a condemnation of someone, it's about the fact that here you can't wait until the 11th hour to prepare for the 12th hour, and that was their problem. 00:13:52.879 --> 00:13:56.159 And perhaps they just have become exhausted in things. 00:13:56.960 --> 00:13:58.799 Have you ever experienced that? 00:13:59.600 --> 00:14:03.759 Sometimes we we have a number of metaphors that we use, we call it burnout. 00:14:05.120 --> 00:14:06.639 Have you ever experienced that? 00:14:07.440 --> 00:14:11.440 Have you experienced just sheer exhaustion, just sheer burnout? 00:14:11.600 --> 00:14:20.399 You've pushed yourself as far as you can push, and then there's one more thing that comes up that you were not anticipating, and that one more thing just puts you over the top. 00:14:21.360 --> 00:14:22.799 Have you stopped caring? 00:14:23.120 --> 00:14:24.559 No, you still care. 00:14:25.120 --> 00:14:27.840 That's why you've pushed yourself so hard. 00:14:28.480 --> 00:14:34.639 But the problem is we haven't prepared adequately for the marathon. 00:14:36.240 --> 00:14:41.279 We haven't prepared adequately for the 20th or 22nd mile in things. 00:14:42.879 --> 00:14:52.080 I think I'd like to talk about three things that I think challenge us with what we're talking about, dealing with this aspect of being exhausted. 00:14:53.360 --> 00:14:57.360 The first thing I'd like to talk about and challenge us to think about is our intimacy. 00:14:57.519 --> 00:15:00.159 And what I mean by that is our intimacy with God. 00:15:02.399 --> 00:15:04.320 This has been a great weekend. 00:15:05.360 --> 00:15:07.120 But this is a big thing. 00:15:08.240 --> 00:15:15.200 Listen, if you can't get pumped up for this, if you can't get pumped up for the big thing, we've got a problem. 00:15:16.320 --> 00:15:17.759 But now here comes the challenge. 00:15:17.919 --> 00:15:19.519 The big thing's about to be over. 00:15:20.720 --> 00:15:25.440 And the small things are about to start. 00:15:26.559 --> 00:15:30.399 When the alarm goes off in the morning, it's not going to be man's weekend. 00:15:31.600 --> 00:15:34.639 You're not going to have two guest speakers that are going to be here. 00:15:34.720 --> 00:15:40.320 It's going to be the alarm goes off and life begins again. 00:15:42.720 --> 00:15:47.200 How about how we handle our intimacy with God in the small things? 00:15:49.759 --> 00:15:53.759 For years I struggled with some of these Bible reading programs that people put out. 00:15:54.720 --> 00:16:00.639 I've done Mark Roberts' Bible reading program for years, and finally I figured out I get so far behind, I just give up. 00:16:03.120 --> 00:16:05.200 But on my phone, I've got a Bible app. 00:16:06.720 --> 00:16:09.440 And that Bible app has a verse of the day. 00:16:10.639 --> 00:16:16.799 And I can pull that verse of the day up and I can read that verse of the day, and that just simply gets me started. 00:16:18.080 --> 00:16:23.279 Have a few things I read from Gary Henry, who does a great job writing readable blogs. 00:16:23.519 --> 00:16:26.080 It's not an article this long where you have to think through it. 00:16:26.240 --> 00:16:35.600 It's nice little devotional things, but they are moments, small moments, small intimate moments that help you in that moment connect with God. 00:16:35.759 --> 00:16:42.159 So when I talk about intimacy with God, I'm not talking about the big things. 00:16:42.559 --> 00:16:44.720 I'm talking about the day-to-day things. 00:16:44.960 --> 00:16:54.480 How we prepare for the day-to-day things that help us then when the big things that challenge us in life come. 00:16:59.200 --> 00:17:04.160 The second thing I'd like to suggest to think about is the idea of community. 00:17:06.240 --> 00:17:07.839 This is a community. 00:17:08.480 --> 00:17:10.720 People in a local fellowship with each other. 00:17:10.880 --> 00:17:12.400 That word fellowship is an interesting word. 00:17:12.480 --> 00:17:15.440 And by the way, the term fellowship and community are cousins. 00:17:15.920 --> 00:17:20.640 They talk about a partnership, they talk about a mutual involvement in something. 00:17:22.480 --> 00:17:28.160 I'm talking about a community in which we begin to involve ourselves. 00:17:28.400 --> 00:17:32.400 And we know people and we touch people and we're involved with people. 00:17:33.039 --> 00:17:36.480 And when people see us, they can look at us and see there's something wrong. 00:17:36.559 --> 00:17:37.279 There's something happening. 00:17:37.359 --> 00:17:38.240 There's something going on. 00:17:38.400 --> 00:17:40.960 I need help from someone, and they sense that. 00:17:41.599 --> 00:17:44.640 Shepherds develop that sixth sense about them when they look at the flock. 00:17:44.799 --> 00:17:47.359 There's some there's something going on with that, with that lamb there. 00:17:47.440 --> 00:17:48.960 I've got to go talk to that lamb. 00:17:49.119 --> 00:17:50.319 The sheep are herding here. 00:17:50.400 --> 00:17:54.000 And I've staying connected with that community. 00:17:54.880 --> 00:17:55.920 It's so easy. 00:17:56.079 --> 00:18:00.640 It's so easy to separate ourselves from the intimacy with God and community. 00:18:01.519 --> 00:18:05.039 And as a result of that, we wind up like the five foolish. 00:18:05.200 --> 00:18:06.240 We still care. 00:18:07.440 --> 00:18:14.400 But we've allowed the static and the things of life just simply pull us away and distract us. 00:18:14.559 --> 00:18:21.279 And we get to the point where we need the oil, and we don't have the oil, we don't have the energy to complete it. 00:18:25.759 --> 00:18:38.160 And the third seems double to the first, and that is spending our time, not just intimacy with God in prayer, but intimacy with God in his word daily. 00:18:40.480 --> 00:18:52.400 If we're not communicating with God and He's not communicating with us, then we're not going to have that close relationship with God that is going to help us stay connected to Him. 00:18:53.759 --> 00:18:59.759 Here you have these five wise ones that have brought plenty of oil. 00:19:01.119 --> 00:19:07.519 And there's something deeper that happens now because now the five foolish say, Please give us some of yours. 00:19:09.279 --> 00:19:12.799 And it looks like they're really being ungenerous. 00:19:12.960 --> 00:19:14.799 If that wasn't a word, it is now. 00:19:16.400 --> 00:19:21.759 It looks like they're not being very generous because, hey, what's it a little bit to share with someone else? 00:19:21.920 --> 00:19:23.279 You take a drop, I'll take a drop. 00:19:23.359 --> 00:19:24.079 Everybody takes a drop. 00:19:24.160 --> 00:19:25.680 Now we got a bunch of drops. 00:19:26.000 --> 00:19:27.359 And they said, no. 00:19:28.000 --> 00:19:30.319 You go and you buy and you sell. 00:19:30.400 --> 00:19:33.920 And what that means is I can't borrow your intimacy. 00:19:34.160 --> 00:19:35.440 I can't bar your community. 00:19:35.519 --> 00:19:37.920 I can't bar your time in the word of God. 00:19:38.400 --> 00:19:40.720 But listen, they're all available. 00:19:41.279 --> 00:19:42.480 The oil's available. 00:19:42.640 --> 00:19:44.480 We don't have to be without the oil. 00:19:44.640 --> 00:19:45.680 The oil is available. 00:19:45.839 --> 00:19:47.039 The oil is there. 00:19:47.119 --> 00:19:49.920 And here's the thing: we don't have to go buy it. 00:19:52.000 --> 00:19:54.559 It is as near to us as the word of God. 00:19:54.720 --> 00:19:56.400 And that's what Paul says in Romans. 00:19:56.480 --> 00:19:57.599 He said, God is near to us. 00:19:57.680 --> 00:19:59.759 I don't have to ascend to the heights or descend to the abyss. 00:19:59.920 --> 00:20:01.440 He is right near us. 00:20:02.799 --> 00:20:05.759 And so when you think about this, we can't borrow that from somebody. 00:20:05.839 --> 00:20:07.759 I can't borrow those things from you. 00:20:08.000 --> 00:20:10.160 They couldn't borrow the oil from one another. 00:20:10.240 --> 00:20:12.720 They had to go buy that for themselves. 00:20:14.559 --> 00:20:18.640 If I'm going to start ready and stay ready, I can't borrow your ready. 00:20:19.359 --> 00:20:26.160 I have to be ready for myself and I have to prepare that not just when the crisis comes, but before the crisis comes. 00:20:27.839 --> 00:20:28.480 Listen. 00:20:29.200 --> 00:20:38.319 If the oil of intimacy and the oil of community and the oil of communication is running out of marriage, we can't wait till the divorce papers are filed before we start doing something about it. 00:20:40.799 --> 00:20:43.839 We're not going to navigate the storm, the crisis of the storm. 00:20:44.000 --> 00:20:48.880 When the storm comes, we have to be able to prepare for the time when the crisis comes. 00:20:48.960 --> 00:20:51.039 And that comes before the crisis comes. 00:20:51.200 --> 00:20:54.400 And that was the problem with these five foolish women. 00:20:54.559 --> 00:20:59.519 They did not prepare for when the time comes and they needed to extend themselves. 00:20:59.759 --> 00:21:05.200 They had all these things in common except for the fact they did not prepare for the delay. 00:21:09.680 --> 00:21:11.599 Wouldn't it be nice tonight? 00:21:15.440 --> 00:21:22.319 When the last amen is led, that that instant, that moment, the Lord would come. 00:21:27.599 --> 00:21:30.559 But how prepared are we going to be if he delays? 00:21:32.559 --> 00:21:34.319 That's the real question. 00:21:36.880 --> 00:21:42.960 So the point of this lesson about starting ready and staying ready is we had to prepare to be ready. 00:21:43.359 --> 00:21:47.440 And we can't wait for the need to be ready before we prepare to be ready. 00:21:49.920 --> 00:21:54.319 I realize 2009 seems like years ago because it is. 00:21:56.640 --> 00:21:59.759 But January 15, 2009, there was something significant that happened. 00:22:00.240 --> 00:22:00.559 That day. 00:22:03.039 --> 00:22:12.400 There was a fellow who was just a common pilot who became an immediate famous pilot named Sully Sullenberger. 00:22:14.960 --> 00:22:21.759 His plane was having problems as he came over to New York and 3,000 feet above the Hudson Bay. 00:22:22.240 --> 00:22:29.039 He knew he did not have enough power to turn around and make any of the airports in the region itself. 00:22:29.599 --> 00:22:33.519 For 42 years, Sully Sullenberger had been flying planes. 00:22:34.640 --> 00:22:37.440 And for 42 years, he's been going to the simulator. 00:22:37.680 --> 00:22:39.519 For 42 years, he's been trimming things. 00:22:39.680 --> 00:22:44.240 For 42 years, he's been looking at all the manuals that are there to check before you ever take off on a flight. 00:22:44.400 --> 00:22:47.039 He's been looking at his planes, he's been examining his planes. 00:22:47.119 --> 00:22:53.519 He's done all the things that are necessary for the plane to fly and for the pilot to be prepared for the plane to fly and to handle the plane. 00:22:53.599 --> 00:22:56.240 He's been doing that for 42 years. 00:23:00.559 --> 00:23:26.160 And when the one time came where the preparation was necessary, it was the accumulation of 42 years of preparation and training that enabled him to land that plane in the bay and not a single life be lost. 00:23:27.839 --> 00:23:30.559 That's an illustration of what I'm talking about. 00:23:32.799 --> 00:23:38.480 You have these five, these ten verses, they all started out ready. 00:23:40.400 --> 00:23:42.799 But they didn't stay ready. 00:23:43.920 --> 00:23:46.960 They had some oil, but not enough oil, five. 00:23:48.640 --> 00:23:52.240 They waited till midnight to prepare for what they needed in midnight. 00:23:52.880 --> 00:24:05.599 They didn't take advantage of the time to prepare themselves, to trim themselves, to make sure everything was there that was necessary to be able to be there when the bridegroom came and they weren't prepared for the delay of the bridegroom. 00:24:05.759 --> 00:24:08.000 And so they did not stay ready. 00:24:08.720 --> 00:24:10.000 And they missed that. 00:24:10.079 --> 00:24:13.599 And now here are haunting words in this story. 00:24:14.400 --> 00:24:16.240 The door is shut. 00:24:18.319 --> 00:24:21.599 The five went in, the five came back after finding oil. 00:24:21.680 --> 00:24:22.720 They're knocking at the door. 00:24:22.799 --> 00:24:23.440 Please let us in. 00:24:23.519 --> 00:24:24.960 Knock, knock, knock, let us in. 00:24:25.039 --> 00:24:28.880 The ring doorbell is going off, and we see that please let us in. 00:24:29.200 --> 00:24:31.359 And the door is shut. 00:24:31.759 --> 00:24:33.920 And it says, I never knew you. 00:24:35.359 --> 00:24:37.759 I don't know how that strikes you. 00:24:38.400 --> 00:24:43.599 But how is the Lord going to let us in if we've never met him? 00:24:45.200 --> 00:24:50.480 Let me ask you, how likely are you to let a stranger come in your house? 00:24:52.880 --> 00:24:55.680 How likely are you to open a door to a stranger? 00:24:57.119 --> 00:25:10.880 When we lived in Del Rio for seven years, between the years of 1981 and 1988, my wife would tell the kids, if someone rings the doorbell, don't answer the door. 00:25:10.960 --> 00:25:13.039 Now, here's the backstory to that. 00:25:13.279 --> 00:25:17.519 The house we lived in was budded right up against the church building. 00:25:17.680 --> 00:25:20.559 Our backyard was part of the side yard of the church building. 00:25:20.720 --> 00:25:23.680 So we lived in a house there that the brethren provided for us. 00:25:23.839 --> 00:25:26.240 And that meant everybody came by stopped. 00:25:28.400 --> 00:25:32.720 And so I was out of town one day, and the rule was when dad's out of town, we don't answer the door. 00:25:34.880 --> 00:25:41.759 One day, somebody knocked on the door, and Cody Glenn was probably all about kindergarten, first grade age. 00:25:42.319 --> 00:25:46.000 He opened the door, so I was a stranger, slammed the door and said, Mom, somebody's at the door. 00:25:46.559 --> 00:25:48.079 A little too late. 00:25:49.599 --> 00:25:51.920 You're not gonna let somebody in you don't know. 00:25:52.880 --> 00:25:54.400 That's what the Lord's saying. 00:25:55.680 --> 00:26:00.079 I'm not gonna let you in because I don't know you, and you don't know me. 00:26:01.599 --> 00:26:04.079 But now here's the encouraging thing about that. 00:26:05.759 --> 00:26:10.319 For us, the door is open. 00:26:19.519 --> 00:26:21.039 It's the day today. 00:26:22.319 --> 00:26:23.759 The door's open. 00:26:24.559 --> 00:26:26.079 And we can come in. 00:26:28.079 --> 00:26:36.960 But we're going to have to reacquaint ourselves with the intimacy of God with the small things in our life. 00:26:38.799 --> 00:26:42.799 We're going to have to acquaint ourselves in the Word of God. 00:26:43.680 --> 00:26:47.359 And we're going to have to reconnect ourselves to a sense of community. 00:26:48.720 --> 00:26:53.119 And then he closes with this powerful expression that we uttered in the beginning. 00:26:53.440 --> 00:26:55.359 Watch therefore. 00:26:57.519 --> 00:26:59.759 Because you don't know the hour. 00:27:00.880 --> 00:27:05.839 But you can't wait until the hour comes to prepare. 00:27:08.079 --> 00:27:14.960 The challenge of being a disciple of the Lord is to start ready and to stay ready. 00:27:16.880 --> 00:27:19.599 Tonight the door is open for each one of us. 00:27:20.400 --> 00:27:22.640 And Jesus Christ says, I am the door. 00:27:23.920 --> 00:27:26.880 And anyone who enters through me shall have everlasting life. 00:27:28.160 --> 00:27:29.519 And he awaits. 00:27:30.480 --> 00:27:31.759 He awaits us. 00:27:31.920 --> 00:27:34.319 If we can help you come while we stand up, while we sing.