Wake Up and Watch: He Is Coming! :: Matthew 25:1-13

He is risen! He is risen, indeed! Hallelujah! And He is coming!

Watch, therefore, because you know neither the day nor the hour (v 13)

This is the word for our meditation on this Last Sunday of the Church Year.

Let us pray ... Lord Christ, you have given us all that is necessary to be ready for your coming. Let us not forsake the time given to us lest we miss our opportunity for repentance and the forgiveness of sins. Keep us in your care as we await your coming. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

1.

Please now turn to page 323 and join me in confessing our faithful doctrine from the Third Article of the Apostles’ Creed. 

As the head of the household should teach it in a simple way to his family ... What is the Third Article? I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy Christian church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen.

What does this mean? I believe that I cannot by my own reason or strength believe in Jesus Christ, my Lord, or come to Him; but the Holy Spirit has called me by the Gospel, enlightened me with His gifts, sanctified and kept me in the true faith. In the same way He calls, gathers, enlightens, and sanctifies the whole Christian church on earth, and keeps it with Jesus Christ in the one true faith. In this Christian church He daily and richly forgives all my sins and the sins of all believers. On the Last Day He will raise me and all the dead, and give eternal life to me and all believers in Christ. This is most certainly true.

2.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, the day is coming when the time for repentance will end. Will that be today or tomorrow? I dunno! And neither do you. But when our Lord Jesus comes ... you have a warning against being unprepared, so repent. You have a challenge to be genuine in faith and life: therefore, receive and share the forgiveness of sins. And you have a promise that will be fulfilled: Upon his arrival he will usher you into the marriage feast of the Lamb in his kingdom that has no end. There, we who have faith in him will enjoy your eternal inheritance ... life and salvation in his name. Jesus has lived for you, died for you, and arisen. Sin has been defeated, and the Promise of the Resurrection awaits us all. 

SO WAKE UP AND HEAR THE WARNING, TAKE UP THE CHALLENGE, AND WATCH FOR THE LORD IS COMING

This is our theme. 

3. 

First, hear the warning to wake up and watch: it needs to be said again. The Lord, our bridegroom, is coming soon. So stay alert, be prepared, and live in repentance. Listen to the Law, and mourn your sin. Listen to the Gospel, and receive the forgiveness of sins. Don’t wait for him thinking you have more time to receive and share his forgiveness. Don’t wait thinking you can do that later today. In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, we will be changed (1 Cor 15:51-52) ... and there are ... and will be ... too many people in hell saying, If only I had listened to his warning. ... If only I had known the time was now. ... If only I had more time. ... If only I had recognized my sin and my need for a savior ... If only I had received the forgiveness of sins, not doubting but firmly believing. ... If only I had loved my brother in return. ... Yes, if only I had heeded the warnings. 

That’s what the world says and will say. So wake up. We procrastinate much too much as Christians, don’t we? You, who were raised in this congregation ... you have heard repeatedly that this day is coming. Therefore, repent ... that is, mourn your sin and recognize you have a savior. Be prepared.

The conviction that the Day of the Lord is coming is woven into the fabric of Scripture and the faith we confess. We speak of it in the Ten Commandments, the Apostles’ Creed, and the Lord’s Prayer. We speak of it in the Sacraments of Baptism, Absolution, and the Lord’s Supper. It is a day to look forward to with eager anticipation, unless you don’t believe. Our call to watch for the Day of the Lord is heard in one out of every five books of the Bible, most especially the prophets. And in the New Testament, the people of God are urged 22 times to do this ... to watch. 

And what are we to watch for? Hear the words of Jesus, from Matthew, Mark, and Luke: Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation (Mt 26:41). Watch, therefore, for  you do not know when the Lord of the house will come (Mk 13:35). Blessed are those servants whom the Lord finds watching when he comes (Lk 12:37). 

To illustrate these points ... Jesus tells his disciples a parable about watching for the Last Day. 

[Jesus said:] The kingdom of the heavens will be like ten virgins, who, having taken their lamps, went for the purpose of meeting the bridegroom. But five of them were foolish, and five prudent for when the foolish ones took their lamps, they did not take oil with them. But the prudent ones took oil in jars with their lamps. And as the bridegroom took his time, they all dozed and slept. But in the midst of the night, there came a shout: Behold, the bridegroom! Come out for the purpose of meeting him (vv 1-6).

One thing we see in this parable is a picture of the church ... ten virgins ... ten maidens who have virtue. They all have a lamp to shine before the world. They all appear to be waiting for Jesus. The world on the other hand has no patience for him. The world ignores the prophecy of his coming. Jesus says that his return will be just like in the days before the flood: We will be eating and drinking, marrying and being given in marriage, until the day of the Lord (Mt 24:38). This just goes to show that we cannot by our reason or strength believe. We are all prone to falling asleep. But the bridegroom, who is Christ, will come at the Father’s appointed hour. Then the feast will begin. And those who are ready will receive their inheritance. The door will be shut. And those who are not ready will find they have been locked out. 

4.

So until the great Day of the Lord, keep watch on yourselves to be genuine in faith and life, receiving and delivering the forgiveness of sins. This is the challenge of our call to watch. 

As the parable illustrates, the church is filled with people who are prepared and unprepared. Those who are prepared actually have faith in Jesus ... and the work that bears fruit in keeping with repentance ... they are giving and receiving forgiveness. Those who are unprepared are simply here. The prudent Christian lets his light shine before men that they may see your good works and sing Joy to the World. The foolish ones do not listen to the Word of God ... do not hear the Gospel ... and do not keep it, treasuring it. 

God nevertheless desires all men to come to the knowledge of the truth, as Paul also tells us in our epistle: God has not appointed us for wrath but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died on behalf of us in order that whether we are watching or sleeping we might live with him  (1 Th 5:9-10).

This is Gospel. 

Now is the day of salvation (2 Cor 6:2). 

Now is the time to forgive just as you have been forgiven. 

Now is the time to show your faith is genuine in works of love. 

5.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, we have come to the end. There is only one promise of the Gospel to be fulfilled: the return of Jesus. Our Lord has already lived for you, suffered and died on a cross for you, and arisen on the Day of Resurrection ahead of you. 

So watch for his second coming. As soon as he comes he will usher the faithful into the marriage feast of the Lamb in his kingdom that has no end. 

Then all those virgins were raised and they trimmed their lamps. And the foolish ones said to the thoughtful ones, Give us [some] of your oil because our lamps are being extinguished. But the thoughtful ones answered, saying, Lest there certainly not be enough for us, rather go your way to those selling [oil] and buy some yourselves. And while they were going to buy, the bridegroom came, and the ones who were prepared went into the wedding feast with him, and the door was shut. And coming later, the remaining virgins began saying, Lord, Lord, open to us. But in answering he said, Amen, I say to you, I do not know you (vv 7-12). 

Christians need not worry about the hour our Lord is coming. We need not worry about meeting God face to face. Jesus’ word about the Last Hour of the Last Day leads into the joyful context of the marriage feast of the Lamb in his kingdom which has no end. 

Our Lord Jesus Christ has washed you in the water of Holy Baptism. He has given you faith to believe his word of promise that your sins have been forgiven on account of his first coming, when he was born for you and lived for you ... to give you eyes that see and ears that hear the Gospel in Word and sacraments that proclaim Christ crucified and that He is risen! He is risen, indeed! Hallelujah! And he is coming!

Watch, therefore, because you neither know the day nor the hour our Lord will return. 

Keep doing this and keep watching ... in hopeful joy ... encouraging one another and building one another up ... just as the body of Christ should always do ... in Jesus’ name.