The Return of the Lord Jesus — Peter Brandon

The Parable of the Ten Virgins

Now we're going to read tonight from Matthew 25, Matthew 25 and we'll read from verse 1. Now this is a story of an Eastern wedding, it needs an explanation. In the East, in the time of our Lord, invariably they married at midnight, mainly because of the heat.

The center of attraction was not the bride, but the bridegroom. And it was the bridegroom that had the followers. We would call them bridesmaids. But it was the bridegroom that had the followers. The followers would all take lamps with them that they held aloft on a kind of a bamboo cane.

And by their sides, it was all concealed, there would be little vessels. And in these vessels there was oil so that when the midnight call went, the bridegroom is coming, go out to meet him. They would take their lamps, fill them with oil, light them and then escort the bridegroom into the house where the bride was.

And there the marriage took place. Now you will notice that five were wise and five were foolish. For the foolish had not the oil. Now if you compare that in mind, then you will see the significance of this parable.

We'll read from verse one. Then shall the kingdom of heaven be likened unto ten virgins which took their lamps and went forth to meet the bridegroom. And five of them were wise and five were foolish. They that were foolish took their lamps and took no oil with them.

But the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps. While the bridegroom tarried they all slumbered and slept. And at midnight there was a cry made. Behold the bridegroom cometh, go ye out to meet him.

Then all those virgins arose and trimmed their lamps. And the foolish said unto the wise, give us of your oil for our lamps are gone out. But the wise answered saying, not so, lest there be not enough for us and you.

But go ye rather to them that sell and buy for yourselves. And while they went to buy the bridegroom came. And they that were ready went in with him to the marriage and the door was shut. Afterward came also the other virgin saying, Lord, Lord open to us.

But he answered and said, verily I say unto you, I know you not. Watch therefore for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of Man cometh. Now would you turn with me to another portion of God's word.

The Return of Christ and the Resurrection of Believers

So as to see the significance of this coming. In 1 Thessalonians chapter 4 and we read from verse 30. But I would not have you to be ignorant brethren concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not even as others which have no hope.

For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him. For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord, shall not prevent, that means go before them which are asleep.

For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trump of God, and the dead in Christ shall rise first. Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air and so shall we ever be with the Lord.

Wherefore comfort one another with these words. Now the Lord will bless to us the reading of the Holy Bible. Many people in Britain are beginning to ask the question, will Jesus Christ return again? They look at Europe and they see it all uniting.

They look at the world and they can see that there is famine in one third of the whole world. They realize that man is about to conquer space, at least he is endeavouring to get on Mars. They see all these diseases that are affecting the world and especially Britain at this moment.

And then they are beginning to say something like this, if there is a God why doesn't he intervene? So they say, will Christ come again? And the question is good. And I want to say emphatically that Jesus Christ is soon to come again.

Now when he comes there is only going to be one coming, not two. But it's one coming in two distinct stages. First of all he is going to come for a group of people known as the church. Now the church isn't a building.

I can give you one scripture immediately that proves that the word church has nothing to do with a building. And it's this, Christ loved the church and gave himself for it. Now ladies and gentlemen, I'm quite sure the Lord Jesus didn't die for this platform.

I'm sure he didn't die for these brick walls. And I'm absolutely sure he didn't die for the pews. So what does the word church mean? It means a company of people called out from the world that belong completely, if you like another word, exclusively to the Lord Jesus.

Now my dear friends, for two thousand years he has been calling people out of the nations and putting them in his family that he calls the church. And he's building that church and it's almost complete.

And when that church is complete that means when the last members have been added he's going to evacuate it to heaven. Now why? During the war when I was only sixteen, I shall never forget this, I went to Kings Cross station and there I saw thousands of people all being evacuated.

There were queues over a mile long waiting to get on the various trains. Now what was the nation doing? It was evacuating all the men and women and children they could from the city. Why? Because they knew it was going to be blitzed.

Then when I was about nineteen, getting on for twenty, I was in the navy, still in the same war. And then I joined a battleship called the Nelson. And we went into action on D-Day. What day was that?

The invasion day. That wasn't the evacuation. That was the invasion day. When our troops went right over into France and then Germany and captured again those lands. Now if you can bear that in mind, you will see the two phases of his coming.

Tribulation, Judgment, and the Two Phases of Christ's Coming

Very shortly, could be tonight, there might be a great trumpet sound that Christians will hear. And then probably their names will be called. And thousands and millions of people will be missing. They will be evacuated from the world and you'll never see them again.

And then God will deal with the nations in judgement because of their rejection of Christ and because of their abounding sin that will come upon the earth. And then after seven years of judgement, it's called in scripture, tribulation.

And there will be three and a half years of the great tribulation. When if he did not stop those judgements, the whole world would be destroyed. And then he is going to come with all his saints and reign over this earth for a thousand years.

Now what I want to talk to you about just for a few minutes is not the invasion, but the great evacuation that every Christian should be expecting. Now all this is seen in the story that we have in Matthew 25.

And I'm going to separate it into three sections. We're going to look at the signs of his soon coming. We're going to look at the summons of his coming. And then we're going to look at the segregation of his coming.

The Sign of False Christian Profession

First of all then, the sign. The first sign that comes to us when we look at this parable is this. A glorified pretense of Christianity. For instance, if those ten young ladies were all standing on the platform and you could see them, and someone said to you, I want you to pick out the difference between the wise and the foolish, you couldn't.

They all had lovely white garments. They all had little white bonnets on their heads. They all had golden sandals on their feet. They all had a little ring on the left hand of their small finger. They all had around their waist a belt carrying a vessel.

They were all excited. They were all talking about the bridegroom and so on. But says the scripture, five were wise and five were foolish. Now what was the difference? The difference is not seen in their conversation.

It's not even seen in their morality. It's not seen in their dress. It's not even seen in the vessels. The difference is this. Five had oil, five had no oil. Now what does the oil speak of? If we had time to go back to the Old Testament, we would find a prophecy called Zechariah, and it's the fourth chapter.

And the prophet there sees a great lampstand. And going through this lampstand, coming from two olive branches connected with olive trees, there is oil, and it's called the golden oil. And then the angel that gave him the vision shook him and said, Do you understand what this means?

He says, No, my Lord. And this was the message. Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the Lord. Have you got it? The oil speaks of the Holy Spirit. So what is the Lord saying? He's looking down the avenue of time, and he's looking at people just before he comes, and he's saying something like this.

Just before I come there will be people that will look like Christians, say that they're Christians, act like Christians, but there will be no oil in their vessels. They will not be born again of the Holy Spirit.

Now if we had time, dear friends, to go into the scriptures deeply, we would find the Lord Jesus saying this in Matthew 7. Not everyone that says, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven, but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.

For many, many will say, not just a few, many will say in that day, we have prophesied in your name, we have done wonderful works in thy name, we have cast out demons in your name, then will I profess I never knew you, depart from me ye workers of iniquity.

You see they had all the externals, but not the Holy Spirit. Now what makes a person a Christian? Please note this. When a person becomes a Christian, God does two things in that person's life. Number one, he puts away sin through the blood of the Lord Jesus.

Number two, he puts in the Holy Spirit, and immediately the Holy Spirit comes in that person's life, he is born of God. Now you will say, why does God put away his sins, and then fills him with the Spirit?

Because that person makes Jesus his Saviour and his Lord. And immediately he makes him Saviour and Lord, he is forgiven of his sins, filled with the Spirit and he is ready. But you know when the Lord looked down that avenue of time, and he saw the end times, I'm quoting now from Paul, he says, many in the last days shall have a form of godliness, but deny the power thereof.

Now friends, I want to say something that's awfully serious, but I want to baptise it in love. You might be christened as a little baby, that will not give you the Holy Spirit. You might be confirmed by a very godly minister, but he cannot give you the Holy Spirit.

You may be baptised by immersion, but you could be baptised by immersion six times, you would never receive the Holy Spirit. You might break bread every Sunday, and you could be left behind, if you're not born again of the Holy Ghost.

The Danger of Outward Religion Without New Birth

I shall never forget being in Norfolk, and there was a young man there that I was very fond of. I would say he would be about 27, married a very fine Christian girl. And sometimes when I was in the prayer meeting, I would hear him praying.

Sometimes he would stay behind, and he would discuss the Scriptures with me, and I could tell he had a wonderful grasp of the Scripture. It was lovely to hear him Sunday morning, worshipping the Lord and worshipping intelligently.

And then one night I took up the subject, Tares Among the Wheat. And I was showing that it's only a trained eye, that can identify in its initial stages, the tare and the wheat. And I was pointing out that in the last days, there's going to be this awful satanic delusion, of the pretence of Christianity.

And this young man came weeping into the inquiry room. He said, calling me by my first name Peter, he said, I'm not saved. I said, now listen, I'm going to give him another name. James, I think you've got your wires crossed.

No, he says, I haven't. Well, why do you think you're not saved? Well, he said, I fell in love. And he named the person that he had married. And she wouldn't marry me until I became a Christian. And I made a profession in order to marry her.

But all the time I've been haunted, that I'm not real. But I said, look Jim, you're praying in the meetings, you have a love for the scripture, you worship. He said, that's all pretence. And he broke down his way to the Lord Jesus.

It shook the whole church. But can you see what was happening? He was holding a lamp of profession without any oil. He was never born again. Would there be any like that? May God open your heart tonight.

Spiritual Indifference and the Midnight Call

Then you will notice the other sign is general indifference. Notice what the scripture says. They all slumbered and slept while he tarried. Now the Lord didn't tarry so that they might slumber and sleep.

He tarried in order to bring more into the kingdom. But because he tarried, they lost the hope of his coming. And they all slumbered. The word slumber there is marked by humour. And it's the idea of the dropping of the head.

You often see it in a hot gospel meeting. And you feel like saying to someone, don't struggle any longer. Go and sleep and enjoy it. You see it's dropping the head. But the word there to sleep is much deeper.

It's to sleep like a log. It's the idea of someone that sleeps and you can't wake them. Now can you see the picture? First of all there's a delaying of his coming because he wants to bring more into the kingdom.

And then there is this drowsiness. Always nip spiritual drowsiness right at the initial stages. Don't let it move into this state where you fall into a deep sleep. Now watch those young ladies. Can I talk to them for you?

Jo, the Lord Jesus is coming. The bridegroom. Get up, you're not ready. Fast asleep. If he came now, you'll be ashamed of his coming. What are they thinking? This one's dreaming of a beautiful new girl.

That one's dreaming of a new kitchen sink and all that surrounds it. This one's dreaming of a beautiful world tour. Let me talk to them again. He's coming. Can't touch it. Do you know why? The devil has given them the biggest sleeping tablet and they've accepted it and they've gone asleep.

You know dear friends I was only looking at the people on the beach this morning and this is what went through my mind. Does a man swimming in that see nothing wrong with that? But if that man knew that he was guilty before God he would have a tremendous shock.

But that's the fact that he didn't know it. There's a man there swimming in the sea and he's almost 80 years of age and in 10 days time he might have a heart attack and he's unaware that if he had a heart attack he would be in a lost eternity.

But this was general. All the people in that water nothing wrong with that cooling off in this hot weather but all those people hardly knew anything about the Lord's coming. What does it indicate? The devil has injected them with a sleeping tablet and they're off into a coma.

Beloved friends may God awaken us tonight. You'll never be a Christian until God awakens you. And then I want you to notice as they were in this deep slumber suddenly there was the midnight call. Let me explain so you get the drama of the story.

There would be a bugle blast. Then probably two men would put their hands over their mouths and they would shout this. And probably heard it repeated. The bridegroom's coming. She nudged the other. She nudged her.

And there they are what a panic. Wondering what to do. The bridegroom's coming. And they were unprepared. You see it came in the midnight hour. Dear friends could I say this to you dear people in Australia.

Signs of the End Times and the Urgency of Readiness

That if you knew what was happening in Europe you would call it a midnight hour. The whole of Europe is ready for the man of sin. The whole of Europe is beginning to unite. And obviously the various governments cannot control it.

It's all waiting what the Bible predicts of this mighty evil man called the man of sin. And they won't be able to buy until they have his computerized number 666. Take for instance the world in which we live.

Now these are facts. One third of our world is actually starving. One third of our world is underfed. So that lots of children have no nutrition. And one third of the world is overfed. Didn't the Lord predict that there would be famines and pestilences.

Now my dear friends you have not been plagued with B .S .C. But it will touch you. You haven't been plagued with foot and mouth disease. But that's creeping all over Britain. And look at this terrible disease called AIDS.

Almost a half of Africa will be wiped out within 15 years. You see already we are beginning to see signs of these great troubles that are going to come upon the earth. And then last of all the world's number one trouble spot isn't Belfast.

It's not Europe. Note this. The world's number one trouble spot is Israel. And therefore all the eyes are going towards Israel. And that's where the last great battle is going to be fought. Not only in the plains of Megiddo.

It will be much bigger than that my dear friends. It will be a worldwide conflict. And it will be in confrontation with the man in the glory. Now here's something I cannot understand. And I'm going to share it with you.

If ever the world is hearing God saying to it midnight, midnight. It's midnight politically. It's midnight morally. It's midnight internationally. It's midnight scientifically. And yet we're still fast asleep.

Let me reason with you like this. If you switch on the television and they warn us of coming storms. You will take protecting clothing. And rightly so. God is warning the world of the coming storm. And we do nothing about it.

Dear friends I want to say this to you in love. If you are not a born again Christian. If you haven't got the Holy Spirit. Don't leave this building until you have. The Lord is coming very soon. Let's look at the challenge and with this we're close.

Christ the Lamb and Christ the Coming Bridegroom

First of all you will notice it's behold the bridegroom comes. Go out to meet him. Now there are two scriptures that divide the whole of the Bible. In the Old Testament it's behold the lamb is coming.

In the New Testament it's behold the bridegroom is coming. Or if you like behold the king is coming. He's going to be a kingly bridegroom. Now what about this lamb? Well my dear friends if you were an Israelite.

And if you had broken the king commandment ignorantly. And someone came up to you and said if your name was Joseph. Joseph you told me a deliberate lie. When was that? About 18 months ago. When you said that produce that you was making was worth so and so.

And it was only worth so much. Oh I wasn't conscious of that. Well you've told a lie. Immediately that Jewish man realized that he had told a lie. He knew the sentence upon him was death. That meant separation from God.

And so he would go to his flock. And the drama would be great. And he would look out a lamb that was one year old. And he would make sure that it was absolutely perfect as far as he could tell. And then he would put a rope around its neck.

And he would take it if there was a man in the wilderness to a place called the tabernacle. A priest would come out to meet him all dressed in white. And he would say what is it Joseph? Is it a worship offering or a sin offering?

And he would shake his head and say I'm afraid it's a sin offering. Well he says you know what to do. And then you would see him doing this. He would take his hands. Rest them on the head of that little lamb.

And he would tell God that he told a deliberate lie. And there would be tears and broken. Because he knew that sin was deadly seriousness before Holy God. And then he would take a knife. And he would say something like this.

I deserve to die. But that little lamb is going to die for me. And he would kill him. And then the priest would go to work. He would cut the little lamb up. And he would take out its inwards. And very carefully burn them on the altar.

And then he would take its blood very carefully. Very reverently. And he would sprinkle it upon the four horns of the altar. And pour it right at the base of the altar. And that blood was a receipt that life had been taken.

And he would say yes. It was the blood of that little lamb that covers me. Now he said Joseph come with me and lift the lamb. He would hold that lamb in his arms. And all the time he would be saying this.

You die for that wicked sin. And when he got outside the camp there would be a roaring fire. And as he looked at the fire a little voice would say. That's God's judgment on sin. And he would take the lamb and throw it in.

And the little lamb was consumed for his sin. Now if you bear that in mind. Then you'll understand this great scripture. When John the Baptist saw the Lord Jesus coming. This is what he said. And I'm going to pray that this may become a revelation to someone.

Behold. Look. The lamb of God. That beareth away the sin of the world. And when Jesus Christ came into this world. He came in to be the universal lamb for the sin of the world. And when he died upon the cross.

And it's not easy to tell you. Because I feel now the weight of my sin being placed upon him. There on that cross. He showed it before God. The whole matter of the sin of the world. And my dear friends he was so realistically made sin.

He cried the language of a man in hell. My God, my God why hast thou forsaken me? And then with a mighty voice. And what a voice. He said one word. Finish. And there we have the lamb of God. Dying for our sins.

That we might be forgiven. Not for one sin. But for all sin. Because the scripture says. For by one offering. He has perfected forever. Him that is sanctified. You see the Lord Jesus. For sin in its entirety.

On the cross. But when he comes the second time. And I want to be very careful now. He's not going to come as the lamb. He's going to come as the bridegroom. Now please notice. Behold the bridegroom cometh.

Go out to meet him. Now what does that really mean? When Jesus Christ comes the second time. He's not going to come with a cross of wood upon his back. He's not going to come with a crown of thorns on his head.

You see he dealt with sin once and for all. But when he comes again. He's going to come as a bridegroom. And my dear friends. That coming is going to be majestic. When he comes. Thessalonians says this.

The Rapture and the Resurrection of the Dead in Christ

And I want you to hear the majesty of these words. The Lord himself. Shall descend from heaven. With a shout. What kind of shout will it be? Well it's going to be a resurrected shout. It's going to be a shout of victory.

But it's going to be a shout. That will cause people to be so awakened. That the scripture says. The dead in Christ shall rise first. You say what do you mean by that? All those who have died in the Lord Jesus.

Since Pentecost. Whose spirits and souls are with the Lord Jesus. When the Lord Jesus comes again. He's going to take their bodies from the ground. And he's going to be. They're going to be marvelously changed.

And they're going to be given a body of glory. The dead in Christ shall rise first. Now I want you to think of the nobility of that number. Think of the millions. That have been born again. Who will hear that shout.

Right from the first century. Shall we say to the 21st century. Shall rise first. What a wonderful gathering that will be. And then we come in. And we which are alive and remain. Shall be caught up together with them in the clouds.

You say what does that mean? Every single person in this room. Who is genuinely born again. When the Lord Jesus comes. You will be literally physically taken. Ask someone I've got a problem. Now what's that?

Well all those dead people. Some have been dead you say for 2000 years. Their bodies have all decomposed. Their bones have all been corrupted yes. Many of them were burnt to death right. Some were eaten by fishes.

That's correct. How can they be raised? Well here's a simple fact. Matter is never destroyed. It's evaporated into energy. That's where we get the atoms. And he will take the original atoms of those dear people.

And from it again he will make a completely new body. And if the Lord came at this moment right now. All those who are born again. Would be removed from the earth. Now I'm not trying to be over dramatic.

But this will happen. Very shortly. Billions of people. And there's 6 billion people in the earth. Billions will switch on the television. And they will hear something like this. A white face announcer saying.

Millions missing. The most dramatic experience in human history. And then the whole thing will go blank. What's happened? The Lord has come. Are you ready? Now somehow I believe that the Lord Jesus is coming so soon.

That we should have a practice. During the war when I was in the Navy. We were always having practices. We would have a practice for a gas attack. And a special alarm would go on. And you had to get your gas mask ready in 30 seconds.

Then we had action stations. And you had to be there in 45 seconds. You see they wanted everyone ready. And there was practice after practice. Now if we Christians believe the Lord is coming. We ought to have a practice.

Are you ready? Would you like it now? So this is what I'm going to do. I'm going to count 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. And then I'm going to shout the Greek word Parousia. Which means His coming. And let's see how we get on.

Now when I shout Parousia. Don't you shout. Let's see how we get on. Ready? A practice. 4, 5. Would you go? Would you be left behind? Are you pretending or real? You see dear friends. They that were ready went in.

Those whose sins were forgiven. Who were sealed with the Holy Spirit. Who had received the Lord Jesus went in. What a moment. They see the loveliness of Christ. They're shut in to eternal peace. And He shuts out the tribulation.

And the man of sin. They're shut in to the marriage supper of the Lamb. They're shut out to the great abomination that's going to hit the earth. All the wonder of it. Now these are not my words. They're the words of the Lord Jesus.

The Unprepared Virgins and the Final Invitation

Well what happens to those who are unprepared? You watch. They turn to the wise and they say give us of your oil for our lamps are gone out. And they said not so. Go and buy for yourselves. You can't buy the Holy Spirit.

It's a gift from God. And I do not know what kind of oil they got. But it wasn't the oil of the Spirit. It was some imitation. Now you watch them. They see the others going in. For the scene actually is of a marriage.

They're getting right near the door. And they say quick. We may yet do it. And they get right to the door. And it's closed on their faces. Now watch their reaction. They hear in the distance. The tapping of footsteps.

And then there's a cry. Now my dear friends. I'm going to use the cry as the Lord said it. And this is just how the Lord would say it. Now watch. He says I don't know yet. Dear friends it will be agonizing and suicidal.

If you're locked up. Now would you mind if I spoke to your heart and clothes. I believe there might be someone breaking bread here. And you're not born again. Maybe an aged sister. And you've never been born again.

Don't leave this place to your right regard. I believe there's someone here tonight. And you're not born again. You're near it. Don't leave this place until you are born again. Because the coming of the Lord is near.

May I give you the scripture. Seek ye the Lord while he may be found. Call ye upon him while he is near. Let the wicked forsake his way. And the unrighteousness his thoughts. The unrighteousness his thoughts.

And let them return unto the Lord. Do that now.