Jesus concludes His teaching about the end times with three parables in Matthew 25 that warn about what will take place in the final days: the separation of the genuine from the counterfeit. For all of church history, the two are going to be mixed, and the Parable of the Sower gives a clear indication of this. Now, this may baffle people, but there is no place in Scripture that says we cannot know who is saved and who is not. It actually says the opposite; we can know. Every person gives indications of where they truly stand and where they don’t. Some will be obvious, and some will be harder to tell. And I am not suggesting we go hunting to mark everyone. But in Jesus’ parables, we get clues of character and behavior that mark a born-again believer and those who are not. The three parables in Matthew 25 give some of these indicators.
First, we have the Parable of the Wise and Foolish Virgins. Again, both groups are professing believers. In the context of a Jewish wedding, five of these took their job seriously and came ready for the long haul, with extra oil in the event of a delay. The other five were rather nonchalant about it and came expecting the arrival to be instant. Since the bridegroom was delayed, everyone fell asleep while waiting. Then, when he arrived, the wise ones were prepared and could get in position immediately. The foolish ones could not, rushed to get oil for their lamps, and missed the event. There are way too many of us who take church too casually and treat God as a mere concept instead of an actual person.
Then we have the Parable of the Talents. Three servants are trained and equipped to do what they need to do, and each is given the resources in accordance with their abilities. Two servants did what they were supposed to do, but the third did nothing with his. The believer is supposed to engage in the work he is called to do, but many only use these gifts for self or not at all. In America, we have this total consumer mindset where a church is only about me and what it can provide for us. Because churches are built around that mindset, offering a service for consumption instead of a message to give, the talents God has given many are going to waste and rot. But the faithful servants who still have the Kingdom mindset are going to use those talents to bring in more income, fruit, and spiritual goods to God’s “storeroom.”
Then we have the Parable of the Separation of Sheep from Goats. Throughout the whole church age, the true believers and false believers are going to be intermixed. Now, take notice that in no parable or teaching I can think of does Scripture actually say that we never can know who is going and who isn’t going to heaven. What these parables actually showcase are the traits of those who are going and those who are not going. The Parable of the Wheat and Tares is very much like this one because both are identified early but not actually separated until the end. The sheep and goats look alike, but it doesn’t take long being with both to start noticing the difference. Jesus points out that the sheep are those who looked after His people, and the goats are those who only looked after themselves and were only concerned about serving those they thought were royalty. They never understood that Jesus’ heart was for the lowly, the downtrodden, and the outcast. While He also cared for the rich, big names, and societal leaders, if they thought they were just fine on their own, Jesus left them alone, except to berate them for oppressing His people.
In all three of these parables, Jesus gives characteristics of the believer ready for Jesus’ return. They are ready for Jesus’ imminent return, prepared for that “any moment” arrival. They are found to be actively using their skills and talents in doing the work of the King. They are looking after those who are in down times. I don’t remember who this is attributed to, but one preacher from many years past was asked if Jesus were to return that day, what would he do differently. His answer was, “I would keep doing what I am doing.” Jesus is not going to give us time to suddenly get ready. We have to be ready already, and while we are waiting for the call, we are to work in such a way that Jesus could come and see us doing our duty and say, “Well done!” If we look at all the saints of the past, those who died often terrible deaths awaiting the promises, they went out still believing.
The sad reality, though, is that the extreme majority of those who profess to be Christians today are not ready. They don’t want Jesus to come back yet because they still have sin they want to enjoy before “getting their life back in order.” I have never understood why anyone who professed to be a Christian would even think that. Even in my days when I took my faith too casually and just rode my parents’ faith, I never thought like that. And now, as I am writing this, I am in the process of starting a new chapter in my life; that includes getting my overall health and routines back into a better shape and better order, and getting even more Kingdom-focused than I have been before. I want Jesus to be able to say I am doing what I am supposed to be doing when He returns, and I want to move away from my academic focus on the faith and make it more real and practical than it has been. The “temple” of the American church is about to get cleansed, and I want to do my part to clean up before that fully happens. That requires being a “wise virgin,” a user of the talents given to me, and to care for those whom God has His heart upon. It’s easy to talk about the theory, but we need to be practitioners of this, too.
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