Christians must be prepared for the End Times, John Piper says, pointing to the parable of 10 virgins as evidence for the need to be ready for Jesus Christ's second coming and the urgency to evangelize those who are not yet saved.

Piper, who serves as the founder and teacher at DesiringGod.org, says in a sermon posted to his website this week, that as outlined in this parable in Matthew 25:2-4, Christians need to be fully prepared for Christ's return, instead of just pretending to be prepared with a façade of superficial religious belief.

The parable reads, in part: "Five of them were foolish, and five were wise. For when the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them, but the wise took flasks of oil with their lamps."

The parable goes on to say that God tells believers to "Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour" of His arrival, adding that the 10 women were tasked with preparing the way for the Lord, but five were unprepared.

This parable relates to Christians' preparedness for the End Times, Piper explains, as the oil represents true spirituality, while the lamp can prove empty if one is lacking an active faith.

"Are you ready? Do you have oil in the form of your religion?" Piper questions. "Life, faith, hope, love, reality, or are you just carrying your formal little lamp around? 'I go to church. I carry a Bible. I pray before meals. I try to keep the Ten Commandments.' Your little lamp," says Piper, who serves as chancellor of Bethlehem College & Seminary in Minnesota.

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