"Coming or Going"
Sermon Series: "Striking A Balance"
Matthew 25 (NASB)
1 Then the kingdom of heaven will be comparable to ten virgins, who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom.2 Five of them were foolish, and five were prudent.3 For when the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them,4 but the prudent took oil in flasks along with their lamps.5 Now while the bridegroom was delaying, they all got drowsy and began to sleep.6 But at midnight there was a shout, Behold, the bridegroom! Come out to meet him.7 Then all those virgins rose and trimmed their lamps.8 The foolish said to the prudent, Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.9 But the prudent answered, No, there will not be enough for us and you too; go instead to the dealers and buy some for yourselves.10 And while they were going away to make the purchase, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the wedding feast; and the door was shut.11 Later the other virgins also came, saying, Lord, lord, open up for us.12 But he answered, Truly I say to you, I do not know you.13 Be on the alert then, for you do not know the day nor the hour.14 For it is just like a man about to go on a journey, who called his own slaves and entrusted his possessions to them.15 To one he gave five talents, to another, two, and to another, one, each according to his own ability; and he went on his journey.16 Immediately the one who had received the five talents went and traded with them, and gained five more talents.17 In the same manner the one who had received the two talents gained two more.18 But he who received the one talent went away, and dug a hole in the ground and hid his masters money.19 Now after a long time the master of those slaves came and settled accounts with them.20 The one who had received the five talents came up and brought five more talents, saying, Master, you entrusted five talents to me. See, I have gained five more talents.21 His master said to him, Well done, good and faithful slave. You were faithful with a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master.22 Also the one who had received the two talents came up and said, Master, you entrusted two talents to me. See, I have gained two more talents.23 His master said to him, Well done, good and faithful slave. You were faithful with a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master.24 And the one also who had received the one talent came up and said, Master, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you did not sow and gathering where you scattered no seed.25 And I was afraid, and went away and hid your talent in the ground. See, you have what is yours.26 But his master answered and said to him, You wicked, lazy slave, you knew that I reap where I did not sow and gather where I scattered no seed.27 Then you ought to have put my money in the bank, and on my arrival I would have received my money back with interest.28 Therefore take away the talent from him, and give it to the one who has the ten talents.29 For to everyone who has, more shall be given, and he will have an abundance; but from the one who does not have, even what he does have shall be taken away.30 Throw out the worthless slave into the outer darkness; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.31 But when the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, then He will sit on His glorious throne.32 All the nations will be gathered before Him; and He will separate them from one another, as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats;33 and He will put the sheep on His right, and the goats on the left.34 Then the King will say to those on His right, Come, you who are blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.35 For I was hungry, and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me something to drink; I was a stranger, and you invited Me in;36 naked, and you clothed Me; I was sick, and you visited Me; I was in prison, and you came to Me.37 Then the righteous will answer Him, Lord, when did we see You hungry, and feed You, or thirsty, and give You something to drink?38 And when did we see You a stranger, and invite You in, or naked, and clothe You?39 When did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?40 The King will answer and say to them, Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me.41 Then He will also say to those on His left, Depart from Me, accursed ones, into the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels;42 for I was hungry, and you gave Me nothing to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me nothing to drink;43 I was a stranger, and you did not invite Me in; naked, and you did not clothe Me; sick, and in prison, and you did not visit Me.44 Then they themselves also will answer, Lord, when did we see You hungry, or thirsty, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not take care of You?45 Then He will answer them, Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.46 These will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.
Revelation 22 (NASB)
1 Then he showed me a river of the water of life, clear as crystal, coming from the throne of God and of the Lamb,2 in the middle of its street. On either side of the river was the tree of life, bearing twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit every month; and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.3 There will no longer be any curse; and the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and His bond-servants will serve Him;4 they will see His face, and His name will be on their foreheads.5 And there will no longer be any night; and they will not have need of the light of a lamp nor the light of the sun, because the Lord God will illumine them; and they will reign forever and ever.6 And he said to me, These words are faithful and true; and the Lord, the God of the spirits of the prophets, sent His angel to show to His bond-servants the things which must soon take place.7 And behold, I am coming quickly. Blessed is he who heeds the words of the prophecy of this book.8 I, John, am the one who heard and saw these things. And when I heard and saw, I fell down to worship at the feet of the angel who showed me these things.9 But he said to me, Do not do that. I am a fellow servant of yours and of your brethren the prophets and of those who heed the words of this book. Worship God.10 And he said to me, Do not seal up the words of the prophecy of this book, for the time is near.11 Let the one who does wrong, still do wrong; and the one who is filthy, still be filthy; and let the one who is righteous, still practice righteousness; and the one who is holy, still keep himself holy.12 Behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to render to every man according to what he has done.13 I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.14 Blessed are those who wash their robes, so that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter by the gates into the city.15 Outside are the dogs and the sorcerers and the immoral persons and the murderers and the idolaters, and everyone who loves and practices lying.16 I, Jesus, have sent My angel to testify to you these things for the churches. I am the root and the descendant of David, the bright morning star.17 The Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let the one who hears say, Come. And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who wishes take the water of life without cost.18 I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: if anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues which are written in this book;19 and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away his part from the tree of life and from the holy city, which are written in this book.20 He who testifies to these things says, Yes, I am coming quickly. Amen. Come, Lord Jesus.21 The grace of the Lord Jesus be with all. Amen.
1 Then the kingdom of heaven will be comparable to ten virgins, who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom.2 Five of them were foolish, and five were prudent.3 For when the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them,4 but the prudent took oil in flasks along with their lamps.5 Now while the bridegroom was delaying, they all got drowsy and began to sleep.6 But at midnight there was a shout, Behold, the bridegroom! Come out to meet him.7 Then all those virgins rose and trimmed their lamps.8 The foolish said to the prudent, Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.9 But the prudent answered, No, there will not be enough for us and you too; go instead to the dealers and buy some for yourselves.10 And while they were going away to make the purchase, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the wedding feast; and the door was shut.11 Later the other virgins also came, saying, Lord, lord, open up for us.12 But he answered, Truly I say to you, I do not know you.13 Be on the alert then, for you do not know the day nor the hour.14 For it is just like a man about to go on a journey, who called his own slaves and entrusted his possessions to them.15 To one he gave five talents, to another, two, and to another, one, each according to his own ability; and he went on his journey.16 Immediately the one who had received the five talents went and traded with them, and gained five more talents.17 In the same manner the one who had received the two talents gained two more.18 But he who received the one talent went away, and dug a hole in the ground and hid his masters money.19 Now after a long time the master of those slaves came and settled accounts with them.20 The one who had received the five talents came up and brought five more talents, saying, Master, you entrusted five talents to me. See, I have gained five more talents.21 His master said to him, Well done, good and faithful slave. You were faithful with a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master.22 Also the one who had received the two talents came up and said, Master, you entrusted two talents to me. See, I have gained two more talents.23 His master said to him, Well done, good and faithful slave. You were faithful with a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master.24 And the one also who had received the one talent came up and said, Master, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you did not sow and gathering where you scattered no seed.25 And I was afraid, and went away and hid your talent in the ground. See, you have what is yours.26 But his master answered and said to him, You wicked, lazy slave, you knew that I reap where I did not sow and gather where I scattered no seed.27 Then you ought to have put my money in the bank, and on my arrival I would have received my money back with interest.28 Therefore take away the talent from him, and give it to the one who has the ten talents.29 For to everyone who has, more shall be given, and he will have an abundance; but from the one who does not have, even what he does have shall be taken away.30 Throw out the worthless slave into the outer darkness; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.31 But when the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, then He will sit on His glorious throne.32 All the nations will be gathered before Him; and He will separate them from one another, as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats;33 and He will put the sheep on His right, and the goats on the left.34 Then the King will say to those on His right, Come, you who are blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.35 For I was hungry, and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me something to drink; I was a stranger, and you invited Me in;36 naked, and you clothed Me; I was sick, and you visited Me; I was in prison, and you came to Me.37 Then the righteous will answer Him, Lord, when did we see You hungry, and feed You, or thirsty, and give You something to drink?38 And when did we see You a stranger, and invite You in, or naked, and clothe You?39 When did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?40 The King will answer and say to them, Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me.41 Then He will also say to those on His left, Depart from Me, accursed ones, into the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels;42 for I was hungry, and you gave Me nothing to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me nothing to drink;43 I was a stranger, and you did not invite Me in; naked, and you did not clothe Me; sick, and in prison, and you did not visit Me.44 Then they themselves also will answer, Lord, when did we see You hungry, or thirsty, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not take care of You?45 Then He will answer them, Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.46 These will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.
Revelation 22 (NASB)
1 Then he showed me a river of the water of life, clear as crystal, coming from the throne of God and of the Lamb,2 in the middle of its street. On either side of the river was the tree of life, bearing twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit every month; and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.3 There will no longer be any curse; and the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and His bond-servants will serve Him;4 they will see His face, and His name will be on their foreheads.5 And there will no longer be any night; and they will not have need of the light of a lamp nor the light of the sun, because the Lord God will illumine them; and they will reign forever and ever.6 And he said to me, These words are faithful and true; and the Lord, the God of the spirits of the prophets, sent His angel to show to His bond-servants the things which must soon take place.7 And behold, I am coming quickly. Blessed is he who heeds the words of the prophecy of this book.8 I, John, am the one who heard and saw these things. And when I heard and saw, I fell down to worship at the feet of the angel who showed me these things.9 But he said to me, Do not do that. I am a fellow servant of yours and of your brethren the prophets and of those who heed the words of this book. Worship God.10 And he said to me, Do not seal up the words of the prophecy of this book, for the time is near.11 Let the one who does wrong, still do wrong; and the one who is filthy, still be filthy; and let the one who is righteous, still practice righteousness; and the one who is holy, still keep himself holy.12 Behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to render to every man according to what he has done.13 I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.14 Blessed are those who wash their robes, so that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter by the gates into the city.15 Outside are the dogs and the sorcerers and the immoral persons and the murderers and the idolaters, and everyone who loves and practices lying.16 I, Jesus, have sent My angel to testify to you these things for the churches. I am the root and the descendant of David, the bright morning star.17 The Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let the one who hears say, Come. And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who wishes take the water of life without cost.18 I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: if anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues which are written in this book;19 and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away his part from the tree of life and from the holy city, which are written in this book.20 He who testifies to these things says, Yes, I am coming quickly. Amen. Come, Lord Jesus.21 The grace of the Lord Jesus be with all. Amen.