Sarah was driving to the coffee shop to meet up with her college roommates. It had been 5 years since they had shared an apartment together. As well intentioned as they were to stay in contact, they all had drifted apart as they started their careers. Sarah currently a teacher, Amy now a nurse, and Heather a software engineer.
As Sarah entered the coffee shop, she smelled the strong aroma of fresh brewed coffee and baked pastries. She looked around for her friends. She spied them near the window in the back. After Sarah ordered her coffee and croissant, she joined Amy and Heather at the table, greeting each of them with a hug.
“Hi.”
Both Amy and Heather echoed, “Hi.”
Amy asked, “What have you been up to?”
Heather glanced at both Sarah and Amy, “I enjoy working in programming. However, after looking at the screen all day I’m ready to get out in nature and go on a hike. On the weekends I go out with my boyfriend and we have fun dancing and hanging out. We’re getting close and thinking about moving in together.
Sarah shared, “I have fun teaching the kids, but I’m really excited about my Women’s Bible Study this fall. I love studying and learning God’s word. I draw closer to Jesus the more I learn and I’m starting to have a little understanding of the depth of His love for me, for everyone.”
“What are you studying?” Heather asked as she sipped her coffee.
Sarah replied, “We’re studying the book of Revelation. I’m also finding out in my own studies that there are so many references to the end times throughout the Bible.”
“With my job and spending my free time with my boyfriend, I don’t have time to get involved in stuffy religion. I’m having too much fun in life,” explained Heather.
Amy injected, “I’m so busy. I don’t have time to read my Bible much but I go to church as often as I can. What does it say about the end times?”
Sarah pulled out her smart phone, “One of the scriptures I find fascinating is Mathew 24:40-41. ‘Two men will be in the field; one will be taken and the other left. Two women will be grinding with a hand mill; one will be taken and the other left.’”
Amy responded, “Isn’t it talking about one person being a Christian and one who isn’t?”
“I’m not so sure. Let me read to you the parable of the 10 virgins ‘At that time the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. Five of them were foolish and five were wise. The foolish ones took their lamps but did not take any oil with them. The wise ones, however, took oil in jars along with their lamps. The bridegroom was a long time in coming, and they all became drowsy and fell asleep. At midnight the cry rang out: Here’s the bridegroom! Come out to meet him! Then all the virgins woke up and trimmed their lamps. The foolish ones said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil; our lamps are going out. No, they replied, there may not be enough for both us and you. Instead, go to those who sell oil and buy some for yourselves. But while they were on their way to buy the oil, the bridegroom arrived. The virgins who were ready went in with him to the wedding banquet. And the door was shut. Later the others also came. Lord, Lord, they said, open the door for us! But he replied, Truly I tell you, I don’t know you. Therefore, keep watch, because you do not know the day or the hour.’” (Matthew 25:1-13)
“What does that mean? Five of those virgins weren’t believers, were they? I’m saved. I went forward at a Billy Graham crusade when I was 20. I just don’t have the time to study or be involved in a church like you are,” explained Amy.
“All 10 virgins were believers because they all had oil in their lamps. In the Bible oil represents the Holy Spirit. Believers are the only people who have the Holy Spirit in them. The five foolish virgins weren’t prepared for the coming of the groom since they only had a little oil in their lamps. Jesus doesn’t define wise or foolish in this parable. I believe the wise virgins are believers who are fully living in the presence of Jesus and have developed a personal relationship with Him. The foolish virgins are most likely believers who have fallen away from following Jesus or people who believe but never developed a personal relationship with Him. At the end of the parable the foolish believers are shut out of the wedding. The Lord does not know them. This parable is describing what will happen when Jesus comes to get His bride, the church.”
Heather shaking her head, laughed, “This is all craziness.”
Sarah continued, “We need to be like watchmen on the wall and be ready at all times. We don’t know the day or the hour Jesus will call us, his bride, home. We can’t be lukewarm like the church of Laodicea.” (Revelation 3:14-22)
Amy exclaimed, “I’m not sure I understand what you are saying and people have been talking about Jesus returning for over 2000 years.”
Amy glanced down as she cut a piece of her cinnamon roll. Heather still shaking her head, saw Sarah disappear right before her eyes and gasped. Amy was startled by the shattering of coffee cups and plates that dropped onto the tiled floor. People were screaming. She looked up suddenly, shaking her head in disbelief, both she and Heather locked eyes in astonishment. The only thing in the chair Sarah had been sitting in were the clothes she had been wearing. She was gone. They looked throughout the coffee shop. People were in shock. There were sets of clothing on chairs and on the floor where people had been. (1Thessalonians 4:16-17)
ARE YOU READY FOR THE BRIDEGROOM?