I'd like this morning to read in Matthew chapter twenty four the gospel by Matthew chapter twenty four I'm going to read verse forty five in chapter twenty four who then is a faithful and wise servant whom his Lord hath made ruler over his household to give them meat in due season. Blessed is that servant whom his Lord when he cometh shall find so doing. Verily I say unto you that he shall make him ruler over all his goods. But then if that evil servant shall say in his heart, My Lord, delayeth this coming, and shall begin to beat to smite his fellow-servant, and to eat and drink with the drunken, the Lord of that servant shall come in the day when he looted not for him, and in an hour that he is not aware of, and shall cut him sunder, and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites. There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Chapter twenty-five. Then shall the kingdom of heaven be likened unto ten virgins which took their lamps and went forth to meet the bridegroom. 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 carried they all slumbered and slept, and at midnight there was a crime made to hold the bridegroom common. Go ye out to meet him. Then all those virgins arose and trimmed their lamps. And the fool said unto the wise, Give us off your oil, for our lamps are going out. But the wise answered, saying, Not so, lest it be not enough for us and you. But go ye rather to them that fell, and buy for yourselves. And while they went to buy, the right room came, and they that were ready went in with them to the marriage, and the door was shut. Afterwards came also the other virgin, saying, Lord, Lord, open to us. But he answered and said, Fairly, I say unto you, I know you not. Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor they are when the Son of Man cometh. But the kingdom of heaven is as a man traveling into a far country, and calls his own servants, and delivered unto them his goods. And unto one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one, to every man according to his several ability, and that straightway took his journey. Then he that had received the five talents went and tried for the same, and made them other five talents. And likewise he that had received two. He also came the other two, but he that had received one went and digged in the earth and hid his Lord's money. After a long time the Lord of those servants cometh, and reckoneth with them. And so he that had received five talents came and brought all the five talents, saying, Lord, thou deliverest unto me five talents. Behold, I have gained five talents beside him, five talents more. Then the Lord said unto him, Well done, thou good and faithful servant. Thou hast been faithful over a few things. I will make thee ruler over many things. Enter the joy of thy Lord. He also that had received two talents came and said, Lord, thou deliverest unto me two talents. Behold, I have gained two other talents beside them. Then the Lord said unto him, Well done, good and faithful servant. I have been faithful over a few things. I will make thee ruler over many things. Enter thou into the joy of thy Lord. Then he which have received one talent came and said, Lord, I knew thee that thou art a hard man. Leaving where thou hast not song and gathering where thou hast not shrug. And I was afraid, and I went and hid thy talent in the earth. Lo, thou... there thou hast not as thine his lord answered and said unto him thou wicked and slowful servant thou knowest that i reap where i sowed not and gather where i have not strawed thou oughtest therefore to have put my money to the exchangers and then at my coming i should have received my known refusory take therefore the talent from him and give it unto him with the same talent, for unto every one that hath shall be given, and he shall have abundance. But from him that hath not shall be taken away that which he hath, and cast ye the unprofitable servant into utter darkness, there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. And we go about his blessing for the reading of his precious word. I have come to feel that the two chapters, Matthew twenty-four and twenty-five, in relation to the last day, and in relation to the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ, are very, very important. Now, it's evident that in the course of, say, half an hour to start and expand, these two chapters would be utterly impossible. But I want to point out that practically every facet every light of truth concerning the second coming of the Lord Jesus Christ we find in these two chapters. It is the final great address of the Lord Jesus Christ before he went to the cross. I suppose we all realize that there were two addresses that were given at that time by our Lord. One was public on the Mount of Olives. and it has to do with the coming again of the Lord Jesus Christ. And the second one we find in this Gospel according to John chapter thirteen through seventeen, and it was private in the upper room where the Lord delivered to his disciples and the nucleus of the church. He delivered unto them the seven great fundamental doctrines of Christianity. These are the two great addresses. that the Lord gave just before he went to the cross. They're different. But at the same time, they're absolutely full of very precious truth. Just for a few minutes here this morning, I want to look at three parables that we find at the end of chapter twenty-four and also the beginning of chapter twenty-five. I should say, that it all started with three questions that the disciples asked him. There were four of them, and they asked the Lord, When shall these things be, and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the age? The Lord, as he came away from the temple, they were admiring the beautiful buildings that were there, and the Lord said to them, He said, one day, not one stone will be left upon another, but it will be hewned on. And they were so quiet at that. And so they asked these questions, When shall these things be? And what shall be the sign of thy coming and of the end of the age? The first one it had to do with the destruction of the temple. And in Luke chapter twenty one we get the answer to that question. And there in Luke twenty-one were told about what happened in AD seventy when the temple was destroyed. But the other two questions are signed by coming on the end of the edge we find in the first section here of chapter twenty-four. And it has to do from beginning to end, we find it has to do with the nation of Israel. the sign of thy coming. And by the way, the coming that's mentioned there is his coming in glory. And it has to do with the nation of Israel. From verse three down to verse forty four, we find it divided into two parts. And the first part is the beginning of sorrows. And the last part is the the Great Tribulation. And we find the tribulation mentioned in verse fifteen right in the center. Here the Lord is describing the events in connection with Israel and is coming again in glory. And we have to get it clearly in mind that this first section of the Great Address, it has to do with the nation of Israel. What shall be the sign of thy coming? This is not the rapture. but it is coming in glory. And we get that coming in Revelation chapter nineteen. And here in this section, it describes it in two parts. Three and a half years we find the beginning of sorrows. And then we find the great tribulation on the events that follow it. And it ends up with the end of the age. as far as Israel is concerned. So the first part of the address, it has to do especially with the nation of Israel. I know that many people are confused about that at the present time. And some of the events that we find lined out here in Matthew twenty four, we assume that it is the rapture that is referred. That is complete confusion. Let's get it clearly in our mind that God has a wonderful program. for the nation of Israel, on the first part of this tremendous address, it has to do with the nation of Israel. Now, after describing these events that cover a period of seven years, it's Daniel's Seventieth Week, divided in two parts. In the center, we find that the temple is desecrated. and we find the terrible persecution and the great tribulation that overtook the nation of Israel, that will overtake the nation of Israel. So here, in the first part of the address, it has to do with Israel. And it covers the period of seven years, in two parts, three and a half years, the beginning of sorrow, and then the great tribulation lasting for a period of three and a half years. So here the first part of this tremendous discourse of the Lord Jesus Christ, it has to do particularly with the nation of Israel. Now at the end of that there are three little parables and they are called parables of the kingdom of heaven. When I was a young believer and reading down this tremendous discourse on how it is described in Matthew chapter twenty four, I couldn't understand the relationship of these three parables that we find as an appendix to the truth concerning the end of the age on Israel and the coming of the Lord, the coming of the Son of Man. And reading it, it was an enigma to me I know perfectly well that the three parables that we find here are applied in different ways and I'm not going to dogmatize about it this morning but I believe that the kingdom of heaven has a very definite relationship with the parables that we find in Matthew chapter thirteen you may remember that in chapter thirteen in Matthew we read seven parables of the kingdom of heaven. Now, what period of time did they cover? They covered the period of the absence of the king. Oh, the king was crucified, buried, raised again, gone up to heaven. And there's a period there described in Matthew chapter thirteen, the time of the absence of the King. And these three parables that we find here, again, they're called Kingdom of Heaven parables. As a young believer, it was very difficult for me to understand them. But on reading an exposition by William Kelly, quite a good time ago, and he's expanding the whole chapter. And when he comes to these three parables, he said, these are parables that have a definite link with the parables of the kingdom of heaven that we find in Matthew chapter thirteen. Now that's through a floodlight on the interpretation of these three parables. I should say that not only William Kelly, but also Dr. Gableine, and other men that were very familiar with the prophetic scriptures and wonderful expositors of the word of God, they said the same thing. So I believe that the three parables refer to the period of the absence of the king. They are kingdom parables, and I believe that they refer to the present time. They refer to us. So the first part is Israel. But the second part here is the period of the absence of the king. And if we read the parables, in Matthew chapter thirteen you'll find that in every case it is a distinction between what is genuine and real and what is false and counterfeit. It would be interesting to go back to Matthew chapter thirteen and to look at the different phases of the kingdom of heaven. this period when the king is in heaven, he's on the throne in heaven, but the events that are going on on the earth and the present period in which we live, not just so much the church, but the whole situation of profession in the world, I believe, not as described in Matthew thirteen on here, These three parables, I believe, refer to that period. I'm not going to dogmatize about it, but it has been a help to me after reading Mr. Kelly's exposition on other outstanding servants of God, and it has cleared up a difficulty in my mind. So here the first one we find is two servants. And these two servants are set over the household to give meat in due season. And we find that the wise servants, wise and faithful servants, and his responsibility was to give meat in due service, the new time, to the members of the household. And we find the test is, when the Lord comes back again, the work that he does is going to be rewarded. So we find the contrast between a wise and faithful servant and also an evil servant. Now let's look just for a moment at the first one. The wise and faithful servant, his responsibility was to give me in you seated. And when the Lord comes back again, He is rewarded for that responsibility. I believe that the test here of the coming of the Lord is referring to the man that has the responsibility of standing up before an audience and ministering to them. Ministering to the household. You know, many a time it searches my heart. to stand up before an audience and ask myself the question, what kind of ministry are you giving? Is it meat in your season? I think that that is very important. And I thank God for every man that has the responsibility for the ministry of the Word of God, who is a wise and faithful servant. He stands up and gives meat in your season. Every time I look at the passage, I think of the first time I had the opportunity of the ministry of the word over in Africa before an African audience. I was sitting on the platform with an old African brother. His name was Von Gula. He was a real pioneer evangelist that had gone backwards and forwards across Central Africa and had seen many, many souls saved. I was young at the time. I was twenty-one years of age, and I had the responsibility of standing up at a conference where there were three thousand Africans present and ministering the word. I had spent some time in learning the Umunda language, and I got up to give my first address before them. And this old man was sitting by my side, and when I turned around and looked at him, I saw that he was dressed in an old pajama jacket. He didn't have a shirt, but he had an old pajama jacket, and it was fastened with a safety fan. And again, looking at him, he was in his bare feet. And his, I could see his feet, there were big, thick calluses, about an inch and a half thick on the soles of his feet. And his name was Juan Gula. And one of the missionaries, he said, now don't laugh at him. He said, those calluses on his feet are honorable calluses. He has walked thousands of miles preaching the gospel to people that have never heard it. But what I want to say is this, that just before I got to my feet, he caught me by the elbow. And he pulled me down beside him, and he says, Brother, God's people are hungry. Please give them food. I'm going to turn around and saw that dear soul with his white hair and the countenance on his feet. I said to myself, Brother, I hope I remember that. And you know, it has made an impression upon my mind from that day to this. God's people are hungry. Please give them food. Now that is the wise and faithful servant to give them food in due season. And I believe that the test that we get here is whether the man who stands on the platform, whether he's feeding or doing something else. Oh, what a joy it is to see one to stand up before an audience and minister food, minister nourishment to the people of God and to comfort and edify the people of God. This is the kind of ministry that the Lord appreciates and the audience does too. So this is the wise and faithful servant. But then we read about an evil servant. And notice what it says about him. It says, My Lord, Deleth is coming. Oh, he's not coming soon. My Lord Deleth is coming. And then he begins to beat his fellow servants. To smite his fellow servants. You know, he was self-deceived. And he was self-assertive. and bereaved it when the Lord comes, that man who was doing that kind of thing, it was shown that he wasn't a servant of God at all and he was cast into utter darkness. You know, here again, the kingdom of heaven, we get the genuine and we get the false and counterfeit. Oh, there's many a man who stands on the platform today and instead of ministering the word for edification to pick up the big stick or the sword and to slash the people of God right and left. And anyone that does that kind of thing, you need to examine himself, whether he is genuine and real or not, or whether he is false and counterfeit. So that this first parable of the wise servant and the foolish servant Again, we get the contrast between the genuine and the false. And it has to do with the public ministry of the word. So the second parable is well known. Many, many times we've preached the gospel from it. The wise and the foolish virgins. And again, it starts out, the kingdom of heaven is likened unto ten virgins that went forth to meet the bridegroom. Now, I believe that what we get here is a little outline of the present dispensation and of those that make a profession. I'm not going to go into the different details of the parable except to say that it seems to be divided into four different parts, four time periods. As far as the virgins were concerned, there were ten of them. And ten is the number of responsibility. And they were virgins. To look at them, you would know the difference between them because they were all virgins. As far as their life was concerned, their life was pure and chaste. But there was a solemn, a solemn difference between them. They all had lamps. And the lamp means that they had a profession. But the difficulty is that some had oil in a vessel along with the lamp. Now the test of genuineness at the present time is the indwelling spirit of God. And there are a lot of people today, oh, they have a profession, but it's not genuine. The oil, the oil of the indwelling spirit of God, the seal of the genuine believer is absent. They have never been born again. never been regenerated. And notice the difference between the wise and the foolish. And notice the different period that's mentioned in the parable. First of all, we read all of them, they went out. They went forth to meet the bridegroom. They went forth. Now, I believe that that going forth to meet the bridegroom indicates the first period of Christianity in the present age. They went forth. to meet the bridegroom. You know, I believe in the first two hundred and fifty years of the church's history, I believe the truth of the second coming again of the Lord Jesus was bright and clear. Anyone that would read a little bit about the early days of Christianity, there were men in those days that were very very clear of the difference between the Lord's coming for Israel and the Lord's coming for his people. The first two hundred and fifty years there was a bright testimony, although there was the genuine and the real and the false and the counterfeit at that time as well. But the first period is they went forth to meet the bridegroom. And then the second one is while the bridegroom turned They all slumbered and slept. Now, those two words slumber and sleep are different. To slumber means to nod your head. But the second one, it means the deep sleep of midnight. They all, all of them, they slumbered and slept. And unfortunately, there was a period in human history when all traits of the teaching concerning the coming of the Lord was lost. It's what we call the Dark Middle Ages. It lasted from five hundred AD until fifteen hundred AD of thousand years, a period that has been called the Devil's Millennium, Satan's Millennium, the Dark Middle Ages, I'm afraid, they all slumbered and slept. You know, sometimes on a Sunday, after you've had a good meal and come to an afternoon meeting, it's very difficult to keep awake. You nod your head. And the first one, they slumbered, nod your head. But the last term is, they slept. And the period of the Dark Middle Ages, the great truth of the coming again of the Lord Jesus was lost. But at midnight there was a crime made. Go ye forth to meet him. Now here is a second going forth. And it happened at midnight. And I believe that what we get here is a revival. And I believe that that revival took place around fifteen hundred under Martin Luther and those great performers. And I believe from that time forth that the truth of the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ was recovered. I'm not going to go into the different events whereby that happened. But it was at midnight that there was a cry. Go ye forth to meet him. And here is a second going forth. That is getting back to first principle. Go ye forth to meet him. And we do thank God from the time of Martin Luther right down through the period of the Wesleyes and so on. the truth of the coming of the Lord, and the difference between the Perusia and the Apocalypse. That is the coming of Christ for his people, the people of Israel, and also for the Church of God. It was recovered. And I would love to go over some of the events that happened and how not only was it an evangelical revival, but there was also a revival of truth concerning the church and particularly of the good truth of the coming again of the Lord Jesus. At midnight a primate go ye forth, a second going forth, getting back to the first principle. And then after that we find that finally the bridegroom came. On day that we're ready went in with him for the marriage. But the five virgins They did not have any oil. They said, our lamps are going out. And while they went to get oil, the bridegroom came and the door was shut. I believe that's the period in which we are today. And the whole test is, as I got that oil of the Holy Spirit of God, regenerated by the Holy Spirit. It's the taste of what is genuine and real and what is false and counterfeit. And there's an awful lot of people today have a profession all to have the lamp, but they do not have the vital thing, the unwilling spirit of God. And it's only those that from the bridegroom comes will rise to meet him and go in and then the door is shut. No, this parable of the wise and foolish virgins, I believe, applies particularly to the present time. And though the Lord helped us, beloved brethren and sisters here, to make the truth widely known that it's only those that are truly the Lord's through the new birth and have the indwelling seal of the Spirit of God upon them that will go in when the bridegroom comes back again. Now the third parable, just a word about it. We find here again a test. The Lord, when He went away, and by the way it speaks here about a long time, He went away and before He left, He gave talents to His people. One man was given five talents, another was given two, and another was given one. five and two and one and they had the responsibility of exercising those talents that they had and seeking to get in touch with the Lord and to exercise the talent that had been given to them now I'm perfectly aware that the talent here is a golden talent but just without going into details about the parable. I believe that what we get here is gifts in the body of Christ. One man gets five, another gets two, and another gets one. What is a five-talent man? I believe a five-talent man are men that are highly gifted in the body. Paul, I think, was a five-talent man. And to look at our own day, I thank God that there are five talent men are on. I wonder how many of us remember AP Gibbs. He was a dear, dear friend. And I believe AP Gibbs, that outstanding servant of God, he was gifted in many, many ways. He could hold children's spell bond when he was speaking to children. and he could minister the deep things of God. And not only that, but he was a musician and was able to compose hymns and so on. He was highly gifted. Oh, thank God for five talent men. And then there are two talent men. And I think that there are sometimes we find men that don't reach the standard of some of these outstanding servants of God, but still they are gifted as well. I believe that Peter, Simon Peter, he was a two-talent man. He certainly had the gifts of the gap. He could talk, but at the same time, he was a man that was able to give tremendous ministry, and he was filled with the Holy Spirit of God. And then there's one-talent man. Now, what is a one-talent man? You know, in the Old Testament, we'll read about a talent of gold built to the seven-branch gold in central state. I believe that there's such a thing as a specialist. And there's some people that have a specialty in some line of service for the Lord. We had a man in Africa. We were talking about him yesterday with a friend. His name was, we call him Tabernacle Brown. And everywhere he went it was a tabernacle, tabernacle, tabernacle, tabernacle all the time. He was always preaching on the tabernacle. He was a specialist. And someone would say, what is a specialist? Well, the definition that has been given of it is a man who knows more and more about less and less. That is a specialist. You know there are specialists too among us, and God can use that. But here there are different gifts in the body of Christ. And when the Lord comes back again, the talents that have been given to us will be examined. You notice the first man, he says, Lord, my five talents have gained five talents more. And he gets the reward. Well done, good and faithful servant. Enter the joy of thy Lord. And again, the same thing with the two talent man. He gets exactly the same reward. Lord, thy two talents have gained two talents more. He had exercised his talents, and he had gained two talents more. The Lord's well-done, good and faithful servant came to thou into the joy of thy Lord. But notice the last man. He said, Lord, he said, I was afraid of you. And he said, I took the talents that was given to me, and I buried it in the earth. And here you have what is thine. and he called him a hard man. You know, he showed what he said, that he wasn't a Christian at all. He didn't have any... The genuine love for the Master, and he said these hard things about him that proved that the man was not a true believer at all. So here is the test of gift. every single one of us here this morning we have a gift that has been given us by God and God will hold us responsible what we do with it when he comes back again so the three parables I think parables of the kingdom of heaven are most important first of all for the preacher to give food in due season and then as far as a professor to see that we are truly born again, genuine believers. And then at the third one, that the talent that God has given to it is being used today and is being increased for the glory of God. These are the three tests that are attached to this wonderful, wonderful discourse that we find in Matthew, twenty-four, twenty-five. And then it goes on to the Gentile nations and it is applied to them the coming of the Lord. So when we read these things, it searches our hearts. And by the Lord help us, beloved brethren, just as a day that the tests that are given that we may be genuine and real and not false or counterfeit. May God bless his word. Just a little word of prayer. Our blessed God and Father, we do thank thee for thy word. We thank you for its beauty. And our Father, many times there are things that we don't understand, but when we look at thy word and see the beauty of it and the way that things are developed, it rejoices our heart. And we do pray that these tests, in connection with the coming again of the Lord Jesus, on the end of the age, we do pray that our hearts may be genuine, and loyal to thyself and to thy word until the Lord Jesus come. We ask it in his own worthy, precious name. Amen.