We close the week with a good question from Singapore, from a listener named Gia. Dear Pastor John, thank you very much for this podcast. I would like to ask a question, following up on episode 1304 about the parable of the ten virgins. In Matthew 25, 11 and 12, Jesus says, "Afterward the other virgins came also, saying, 'Lord, Lord, open to us.' But he answered them, 'Truly I say to you, I do not know you.' Do these two verses imply to us anything about salvation, particularly so when the bridegroom said, 'I do not know you?'" Pastor John, what would you say to Gia?

So, do these verses, in the words, "I don't know you," imply anything about salvation? The answer is yes, they do. They imply exclusion from salvation. Now, let me step back and give a little reminder. This is a parable, okay? Ten virgins, in the story that Jesus made up, ten virgins are assigned to welcome the bridegroom when he comes to the feast, to go in and enjoy the bride.

So, to welcome him when he comes. Five take this seriously and stay ready. Five are careless and don't have what they need to be ready. At the last minute, they run away to try to do a last ditch effort to be ready, and it fails. It's too late. And so, here's what we read.

"While they were going to buy, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the marriage feast, and the door was shut. Afterward, the other virgins came also, saying, 'Lord, Lord, open to us!' And he answered, 'Truly I say to you, I do not know you.

Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour.'" Matthew 25, 10-13. The point is, watch. Not stay awake at night looking up into the sky because all ten slept. They all slept. The wise ones and the foolish ones, they all slept. That's not the point. But stay awake to your Lord and to your calling.

Be spiritually alert. Awake to your calling and awake to your Jesus, the way of life in Christ. Stay awake to it. Stay spiritually alert and alive. Because if you treat the Lord like he's unimportant, you won't enter the feast. You won't enter salvation. Here's the closest analogy to that language.

Matthew 7, 21. "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven." This is why I talk about exclusion. "But the one who does the will of my Father who's in heaven, on that day many will say to me, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and cast out demons in your name and do many mighty works in your name?' And then I will declare to them," here are the words, "I never knew you.

Depart from me, you workers of lawlessness." So "I never knew you" means I don't recognize you as my disciple. I don't acknowledge you as my follower. You are a spiritual stranger to me. Judas would be the best example here from Jesus' life. Three years he cast out demons and did many mighty works with Jesus.

And in the end, he was driven by money, not by love for Jesus. We know that from John 12, verse 6. He's called a thief. He was excluded at the end of all that time with Jesus. So what's with this odd use of the word "know"? I do not know you.

I never knew you. Now there's a back story here. There's background to this. For example, in the Old Testament, it was used almost interchangeably with "choose." I didn't choose you. For example, Amos 3, verse 2. "You only," God says to Israel, "You only have I known of all the families of the earth." That didn't mean Jesus wasn't aware of the other nations.

Many hadn't chosen them. They weren't acknowledged as his. They weren't recognized as his. He hadn't chosen them. Or here's Genesis 18, 18. "Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him, for I have known him, that he may command his children." And it's translated usually "chosen." It's just a plain old word "know." "I have known him, that he may command his children and his household after him to keep the way of the Lord," etc.

So when we come to the New Testament, we read things like this. This is Galatians 4.9. "Now that you have come to know God, or rather be known by God," so being known by God is expressing the initiative that God has taken to enable you to know him. "Now that you have come to know God, or rather be known by God," how can you turn back to the weak and worthless elementary principles?

Here it is again in 1 Corinthians 8.3. "If anyone loves God, he is known by God." Wow. That means being known by God is the precondition and enabling of how you come to love God. So loving God is evidence that you're known by God, that he's chosen by God.

Now back to our parable. "The foolish virgins came too late to the feast of the bridegroom and his bride, and they cry out, 'Lord, Lord, open to us!' And he says, 'Truly I say to you, I don't know you.'" That is, I don't see in you the marks of faithfulness to me.

There's always a correlation between my choosing people and their belonging to me and the marks of obedient faithfulness. We see this in 2 Timothy 2.19. "God's firm foundation stands bearing this seal. The Lord knows those who are his, and let everyone who names the name of the Lord depart from iniquity." Those are the two marks of the seal.

I know them, I chose them, and they depart from iniquity. So Jesus is saying to the five foolish virgins, "I don't see in you the life, the evidence of loving my name and departing from evil. You're not mine. I don't know you." And Jesus concludes, "Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour." Meaning, stay alert spiritually.

Keep my greatness, my beauty, my worth always before you. Don't slip into a greater love for the world. If you do, I won't know you. Incredibly sobering and humbling. There is nothing cavalier about Christian assurance. Thank you, Pastor John. Well, as we talked about this recently, Pastor John and Noel are packing up and getting ready to head out to South America right now.

That trip is fast approaching. And before they leave, we have two more APJ episodes to share with you on Monday. We hear from a boyfriend who has a girlfriend who believes homosexual practice is not sinful. Is that a marriage deal breaker? Wow. Looking forward to that. I'm your host, Tony Reinke.

We will see you on Monday. Have a great weekend.