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Behold the
Bridegroom Cometh
Oftentimes, Jesus used illustrative stories,
known as parables that He drew from nature and human life. One parable He gave
was about ten virgins awaiting their bridegroom. Five of them were wise and
five were foolish. The five that were foolish took their lamps with them, but
no oil. The wise virgins took oil in their vessels along with their lamps. The
bridegroom was taking a long time in coming and they became drowsy and fell
asleep.
At midnight there was a cry given out, “The
bridegroom is coming! Go out to meet him!” All of the virgins, both wise and
unwise, arose and prepared their lamps. Unfortunately, the unwise didn’t have
enough oil to keep their lamps burning and their lamps went out. So they asked
the wise virgins for some of their oil, but the wise told them that they could
not give them oil because they might not have enough. The wise told them to go
and buy some for themselves. While the unwise were on their way, the bridegroom
came; taking the wise with him and the door was shut. Later, the unwise virgins
said:
“
. . Lord, Lord, open to us.”
(Matt. 25:11)
But He answered and said:
“. . . Verily I say unto you, I know you not.”
(Matt. 25:12)
Jesus gave this illustration so that we can
understand that we need to be ready to meet Him who is our Bridegroom, at all
times. He also wanted us to know that His arrival will be unexpected, not to be
spiritually asleep and definitely not to wait until the last minute to make
preparations! We need to consider another thing and that is that the midnight
hour that Jesus mentioned has great significance for us today because the hour
is swiftly approaching for His return.
Some years ago I had a dream that I have never
forgotten. I dreamed that I was in a dimly lit, filthy basement. There was a
dressing room like you would find in a dress shop. I went into the dressing
room and put on a long, white beautiful bridal gown. For some reason, I took
the gown back off again. I could see myself doing this over and over again. I
would put the gown on and then take it back off. When the gown was removed it
would touch the dirty floor and become soiled. As long as I kept the garment on
it remained beautiful, white and clean.
When I awoke I tried to figure out if the dream
had any significance because it was so real. The meaning finally came to me in
this way: I believe that the dimly lit basement represented the world full of
evil and darkness. The gown represented the wedding garment known as our robe of
righteousness which we are to wear if we are to enter into Heaven. It was a
reminder that the wedding garment is to be treasured and kept pure and spotless,
free from the debris and unrighteousness of the world. We must continually wear
the garment for it to be kept clean and to be ready for Christ’s return. When it
is taken off it becomes filthy with sin and we will be unprepared to meet our
Bridegroom.
I delight
greatly in the Lord; my soul rejoices in my God. For He has clothed me with
garments of salvation. (Isa.
61:10)
Since my father was a pastor, he never even
wore a robe and house shoes around the house. He was always dressed nicely in
case someone from the church came by to see him or needed prayer. He stayed
ready for service at all times. He had to stay prepared even if no one
came! I think that is a good example for what I am talking about
today. We must be watching and be prepared for Jesus Christ who could come for
us even within this very hour. But if He does not return, we must stay ready
and looking for Him.
We must make sure that we keep our garments
clean and are ready to meet our Bridegroom just as the wise virgins were. They
were indeed ready when it was announced that He had come and they went to meet
Him. We must not allow ourselves to become weary with waiting for Him and fall
asleep. We must be on guard because He may just come today. When we are
anxiously awaiting our Savior, we can rest assured that we will see Him in the
clouds.
At that time
men will see the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and glory.
(Mark 13:26)
We Shall Behold Him
Words and Music
by Dottie Rambo
The sky shall unfold,
preparing His entrance;
The stars shall applaud Him with thunders of praise.
The sweet light in His eyes shall enhance those a waiting,
And we shall behold Him then face to face.
Chorus:
And we shall behold Him, we
shall behold Him
Face to face in all of His glory;
And we shall behold Him, Yes, we shall behold Him
Face to face, our Savior and Lord
The angels shall sound the
shout of His coming;
The sleeping shall rise from their slumbering place.
And those who remain shall be changed in a moment,
And we shall behold Him then face to face. (Repeat chorus)
Prayer: Father,
thank you for what You have shown us in your Word. Thank you that we can rely
on Your Promise that tells us that Jesus will come back for us one day in the
clouds of glory. We await His return. We await with great anticipation the
moment of our rising to meet Him whether our bodies lie in the grave or we are
alive at the time of His appearing. We say this day . . . even so, come Lord
Jesus! (Rev. 22:20 KJV)
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