THE FIVE WISE VIRGINS
#1 They Were Wise
by Barbara Wilkinson
The parable of the 10 virgins is given in Matthew 25:1-12. It gives minute details, saying that 50% were wise and would go into to the wedding of the bridegroom and 50% would not have oil in their lamps and would have to go buy oil, so would be locked out of the wedding. What does that mean?
it also does not tell the significance of the oil in their lamps. The Book of Mormon says many plain and precious things have been removed from the Bible causing the people to stumble. [1 Ne 3:168-245] I believe the meaning of the oil is one of those plain and precious things that have been removed. God gives back that information in modern day revelation, telling the 4 qualities of those with oil:
10b] And at that day when I shall come in my glory,
shall the parable be fulfilled which I spake concerning the ten virgins;
1.
for
they that are wise
2.
and
have received the truth,
3.
and
have taken the Holy Spirit for their guide,
4.
and
have not been deceived,
verily I say unto you, 10c] They shall not be hewn down and cast
into the fire, but shall abide the day, and the earth shall be given unto
them for an inheritance;
NOTICE:
50% that were UNWISE were hewn down and cast into the fire. Does that mean they
went to hell instead of paradise OR maybe even eternal fire and
damnation????
I love the Webster’s
1829 Dictionary because it gives religiously oriented definitions
and even quotes scriptures. It defines wisdom as: “True
religion; godliness, piety, the knowledge and fear of God; and sincere and
uniform obedience to His commands.” That is talking of GODLY WISDOM.
In contrast, the American Heritage Dictionary 1973, defines wisdom as: “Under-standing of what is true,
right or lasting; common sense, good judgment.” That is a more generic,
definition and can define WORLDLY WISDOM, if you think that world philosophy
etc. is true, right, common sense and good judgment. UNDERSTAND: Worldly wisdom sounds very logical, until you compare it to
the scriptures, which are GODLY WISDOM.
Our objective should be to develop Godly wisdom. Moses tells us about a common, ordinary person like you and me who had GODLY WISDOM,
“… See,
the Lord hath called … Bezaleel …” [Who is he? Who
knows, just some good carpenter who was seeking the Lord.] “And he [God] hath filled him with the Spirit of God, in wisdom, in understanding, and in knowledge, and in all
manner of workmanship;” Exo 35:30,31
Bezaleel had qualities of Godly WISDOM: He was:
1. FILLED WITH THE SPIRIT OF GOD. This isn’t something you are ZAPPED with but, “the Spirit
giveth light to every man that cometh into the world; and the Spirit
enlighteneth every man through the world, that
hearkeneth to the voice of the Spirit; [and that
person] … cometh unto God… the
Father;”
[DC 83:7c,d] God fills YOU with His Spirit as YOU LISTEN TO
THE VOICE OF Christ and do what HE SAYS. Read the scriptures and see who was ‘filled with the Holy Ghost.’ They were always very righteous people who
were busily engaged in serving the Lord.
2.
He was filled with wisdom, understanding and knowledge in all manner of
workmanship. He was a
skilled carpenter and metallurgist etc.
My father-in-law was like that, he could DO ANYTHING! Bezaleel obviously could too, because God
called him to build the temple and make ALL the things in it. It was essential
that he be WISE enough to do all that work ACCORDING TO GOD’S PATTERN AS GIVEN
TO MOSES. People like Nephi, Alma and
Mormon had this same wisdom, they did everything according to God’s laws,
statutes and commandments. We need to
develop that wisdom too.
3.
Bezaleel was filled with Wisdom
and knowledge, which are gifts of the Spirit, which God
gives His righteous servants so they can better serve Him.
understand: Wisdom and knowledge
are NOT synonyms.
They are very different.
Knowledge is obtained through education either in the school and/or
study on your own. My mother only had a
3rd grade education, but she self taught herself in many areas and
was a student of the scriptures.
Geniuses have great knowledge, often in widely varied areas, but they
may not have one ounce of wisdom. For
example, I have heard of brilliant people who couldn’t hold a job; couldn’t
live within their income even though they make huge salaries; can’t take care
of themselves; and were social misfits.
In contrast, there are people with little or no education [knowledge] that
had great wisdom. My mother also was an
extremely WISE mother; every child should have a mother like mine. J.J. Cornish
sounded like that sort of man.
In contrast Laman and Lemuel had
the same opportunity to learn that Nephi did, but they were …wise
in their own eyes,… [Pro 3:7] and did not fear God or depart
from evil. They were worldly wise, that is, in Satan’s
wisdom. Thus they did not become the
leaders of the group; instead God gave that responsibility to their young
brother because he developed GODLY WISDOM and great knowledge of God and His
gospel. With time the Lamanites were
separated from the people of Nephi and much later it was said of them that they
were: “…a wise
people, as to the wisdom of the world;” [Mos
Worldly
wisdom is entirely different from GODLY WISDOM.
My brother is brilliant, and has developed worldly wise. His
bookcases are full of books on every subject of the world, EXCEPT the word of
God. I was flabbergasted when I realized
that he didn’t even own a Book of Mormon, Doctrine and Covenants or Inspired
Version among his books. My brother
thinks the wisdom and knowledge of God is foolishness. But the scriptures say that the wisdom of the
world is foolishness to God. [1 Cor
James describes both the GODLY
WISE and the foolish person. He says:
13] Who is a wise
man and endued with knowledge
among you? let him show out of a good
conversation his works with
meekness of wisdom…
17] … the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be entreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy.
18] And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace of them that make peace.
Jam 3:13-18
Notice the wise person,
1. Is ENDOWED with knowledge: he is a student. From the context, we can assume that means he or she was a STUDENT OF THE SCRIPTURES.
2. The wise person will use good conversation in his work. A person without a foul mouth is a PECULIAR PERSON and will stand out, especially if he works meekly in wisdom. Meek is “strength under the control of GOD.” That means that through your conversation and Godly workmanship people will see a good, wise, righteous, trustworthy worker, who does his or her work in obedience to the commands of God, in the knowledge and fear of God. [1829 definition o f wisdom] My husband Max was that sort of worker. The quality of his life and work showed through. He did not compromise and do less than Godly workmanship. At times his coworkers were irritated by, or jealous of, this sort of workmanship, but his bosses praised his work because he was honest, dependable and never talked crude in front of their business associates.
3. It was obvious to all who knew Max that he was a Christian and that his wisdom was Godly wisdom.
4. Max was also known as a pure [righteous] person, that was peaceable [a great peace maker], gentle, easy to entreat, FULL of mercy and good fruits, not partial, nor a hypocrite. He was a good example of his heavenly Father and people often mentioned that to me.
In contrast James tells the signs of an UNWISE person:
14] But if ye
have bitter envying and strife in your hearts,
§
glory not
[Don’t be proud of it
or brag of the strife you have caused],
§
and lie
NOT against the truth [Have you ever exaggerated the
truth in telling what happened, or left out details that made you look better?].
15] This wisdom descendeth not from above, but
is earthly, sensual, devilish.
16] For
where envying and strife is, there
is confusion and every evil work.
Jam 3:14-16
We have all seen this happen in the church or workplace. Instantly, Satan steps in and causes contention, quarreling and lack of cooperation. That is, we see envying, strife, confusion and evil works. It is so bad you no longer want to go to work or to that church and people begin to ‘bail out.’ Gossip flies about what happened. Ask the people involved and you get bragging about what they did, exaggerated stories to make them look good and/or backbite about the other people involved etc. Listen to the people on both sides and you think both sides are the offended party. NO ONE takes claim for the heartbreaking situation, it is always ‘the other guy’s fault not mine.” The end result is total disaster. THIS IS NOT GODLY WISDOM. But Godly wisdom can come out of it with the right desires and attitude.
For example, when I was a young child, there was an old man in our branch that was against everything, almost every thing that came up in the business meeting. My mother, a very GODLY WISE person told me some of his ideas, which with 20/20 hind sigh were very wise ideas, but contrary to popular opinion of a branch with many unwise people. I heard someone say, “All we need is one good death in the branch and we will be fine!” As a child I remember looking up at him with confusion and a broken heart over such a comment out of a believed priesthood member. The old man died, but that branch still had envying and strife and confusion… I was even more confused.
In contrast, when I was an adult in another branch we had a little old lady who also was contentious, quarrelsome and uncooperative at every business meeting, causing confusion and strife. The backbiting against her ran rampant. One day the pastor’s wife suggested we all pray for her instead of backbiting. We did it and in a couple months she was the sweetest, most cooperative person not only at the business meeting, but also in her relationship with everyone in the branch.
I believe Satan was using her to cause contention within the branch and when the branch prayed for her, Satan was forced to leave her. If each branch would take this approach when we have dissention in the branch, how much more peaceful our branches would be…. that is they would have GODLY WISDOM.
When strife and confusion occur in your branch, workplace or home, look and see if Satan is using YOU as the bone of contention, if so pray that the Lord would give you the Spirit of Peace and Love.
For example, on the way to the district conference in which Max was to accept the call to an Elder, I started a verbal battle with Max about which door he should enter the house by, how stupid. Our verbal battle got so bad that Max pulled over to the side and said, “If I’m that bad a husband, I should not accept this call to the office of Elder.” Then it hit me, Satan was using me to try to stop Max from taking the call. I said, “I know you have a call to the office of Elder and I believe Satan is using me and my big mouth to try to stop you from accepting that call.” [Godly wisdom and understanding] We prayed together, the evil spirit left the car and God’s peace came in and filled the car.
Also we found that any time Max preached, whether I knew it or not, Satan caused me to be contentious, quarrelsome and uncooperative. I testified of this at a Witnessing Weekend and a woman came up and said she thought she was the only one that had that problem. I assume it is a common method for Satan to try to destroy the ministry of good men. I always say, “Behind every good priesthood man there is a good woman.” I’ve added to that, “unless Satan is trying to use her to destroy her husband’s work, and she allows it.” Be very watchful, and prayer that Satan will not be able to use you to destroy your husband’s ministry.
RECOGNIZE that wisdom of the devil is earthly, sensual, devilish, plus contentious, quarrelsome and uncooperative. When these things are evident in the home or branch, call your prayer partners and Pray against the powers of the devil, ask that Satan may not use you to cause such strife in any area of your life. Also ask God to put a shield of righteousness… or a hedge of thorns [Hos 2:6] around your home, your church and your work place that Satan will not be able to cause envying, strife or confusion etc. and ASK God to helping all of you in your home or branch to GROW IN GODLY WISDOM.
Proverbs tells us about a foolish man:
7] The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; but fools despise wisdom and instruction.
Pro 1:7
He ‘despise wisdom and instruction,’ for example, he is a hearers
ONLY and not doers of the word of
God. [Jam
5] A wise man will hear, and will increase learning [knowledge]; and a man of understanding shall attain unto wise counsels;…
PRO 1:5
So we see that:
1)
A
wise person- listens, studies, learns, and obtains wise counsel.
2) A foolish person- despises wisdom and instruction.
Daily we choose which we will be.
We don’t always want God’s wisdom and instruction because we want to do
our own thing, OR we allow other to go against our GODLY WISDOM. For example,
recently I was ‘boasting’ in my mind that I sure was glad that I wasn’t so
foolish as to despise Godly wisdom etc.
God humbled me by reminding me that I gave into my brother and sister’s
insisting that I needed a bigger and better TV, when I was planning to get TV
totally out of my life. That is, I gave into worldly
wisdom and materialism.
Realize, you will be less likely to follow Satan’s
wisdom if you are daily reading the scriptures, because GODLY WISDOM will
continually be stored into your mind for future reference. Nephi told his
people to,
5]
…liken all scriptures unto us that it might be for our profit and learning.
6]
Wherefore, I spake unto them, saying, Hear ye the words of the prophet, … and
liken them unto yourselves, that ye may have hope...
I find hope in a disaster situation when a scripture just pops into my mind and I am comforted, OR even more important, given counsel as to what I should do, even a scripture I have not memorized, For example, recently in a ‘panic’ situation, words kept coming to my mind. I knew it was scripture, but I had no idea where it was found. I looked it up and found even more words of comfort and wise counsel. This also happens when I am teaching a class, trying to witness, or need a scripture to help comfort someone in distress. Many of these scriptures have been given thousands of years ago, but are still relevant today.
Jeremiah was a wise man who unfortunately was given
many “dark” [gloom and doom] sayings,” prophecies to give to the
people, prophecies of destruction if the people didn’t repent and return unto
God. He wondered if anyone was even
listening and once asked,
‘Who is the wise man, that may understand this?..” [Jer 9:12] Are we the wise man or the fool? Do we read, understand and listen to the
prophecies of “darkness” given to our day and time? We have heard them,
but are we listening and using GODLY WISDOM to prepare for such a time. The
Lord said to the Jews in Jeremiah’s time something that certainly could be
likened to any generation:
13 And the Lord saith, Because they have forsaken my law which I set before them, and have NOT obeyed my voice, neither walked therein.
14 But have walked after the imagination of their own heart, …
16 I will scatter them also among the heathen… and send a sword after them, till I have consumed them.
Jer 9. 13-16
Years ago
in my daily reading of the scriptures I came to Jeremiah, which was NOT a
favorite of mine because it was all gloom and doom. I grumbled to God, asking why I had to read
about all those ancient times, of gloom and doom. He told me to
‘liken those scriptures to my day.” I read Jeremiah through new eyes of understanding
and I realized we were as unrighteous as they were. We are not keeping His laws, obeying His
voice or walking in his ways, so we too are candidates for the wrath of God.
REMEMBER: what God says to one He says to all.
As I read Jeremiah that day a prophecy given to the Brother of Jared
kept coming to my mind:
And
he had sworn in his wrath unto the Brother of Jared, that whoso should possess
this land of promise, from that time henceforth and forever, should
serve him, the true and only God, or they should be swept off when the fullness
of his wrath should come upon them…
… when they are ripened in iniquity; …
Eth 1:30,32 [read versus 30-35 for the whole
prophecy]
I did a word searched for the
signs of ripened in iniquity:
§
They
reject the word of God, [1 Ne 5:123];
§
The
voice of the people chose evil rather than good, and their laws had become
corrupted [Hel 2:64];
§
They
could not be governed by their law, [Hel 2:65];
§
They
are murderers and are fornicators [sex out of marriage], [Hel 3:64];
§
They
have secret bands or groups, (I’ve received a lot of information about this
happening today), [Hel 3:65];
§
Secret
groups who murder (Contract murderers) [Hel
These are signs of our time too. We are not a Godly WISE nation, therefore almost ripened in iniquity. God warned us when we saw the secret
combinations in our nation that His wrath would soon come upon us. Jeremiah gave his people fair warning that we
can liken to ourselves as individuals even if we can’t cause our nation to turn
around:
23
But this thing commanded I them,
saying,
§
Obey
my voice, and I
will be your God, and ye shall be my people; and
§
walk
ye in all the ways that I have commanded
you, that it may be well unto you. [Even when it will not be well with the total nation.]
24 But they hearkened not, nor inclined their ear, but
§
walked
in the counsels, and in the imagination of their evil heart, and
§
went
backward, and not forward.
Jer 7:23,24
Are we UNWISE like the Jews, are we going backward instead of
forward? The way to tell is are we
having greater spiritual experiences than they had in the early church? If not, then we are not hearkening to God’s
commands and counsel and His wrath would come upon them along with the rest of
the nation.
The Doctrine and Covenants said the early church was under condemnation. As far as we can tell, this condemnation has never been lifted. Any talks I have heard on it said it was because we hadn’t accepted the Book of Mormon. But further study indicates to me that there is more to it than just that:
8a]
And your minds in times past have been darkened because of unbelief, and because you have treated lightly the things you have received,
which vanity and unbelief hath brought
the whole church under condemnation.
8b]
And this condemnation resteth upon the children of Zion, even all; and they shall remain
under this condemnation until they repent
and remember
otherwise there
remaineth a scourge and a judgment to be poured out upon the children of Zion;
for, shall the children of the kingdom pollute my holy land? Verily, I say unto
you, Nay.
DC 83:8a-c
1. I see 5 good reasons for the condemnation to be on the church in 1832, as well as today. King Benjamin made it clear to his people:
79] … that after ye have known and have been taught all these things, if ye should transgress, and go contrary to that which has been spoken, that YE do withdraw yourselves from the Spirit of the Lord, that it may have no place in you to guide you in wisdom's path, that ye may be blessed, prospered, and preserved.
80] I say unto you, that the man that doeth this, the same cometh out in open rebellion against God;
81] Therefore he listeth to obey the evil spirit, and becometh an enemy to all righteousness;
82] Therefore, the Lord has no place in him, for he dwelleth not in unholy temples.
Mos 1:79-82
The last criticism of the church in 1832 was that they were not bringing forth “fruits to the kingdom,” therefore they were condemned. This term usually means they were to bring souls to Christ. So counted the number of times after DC 83:8 they were told /commanded to bear testimony to the world, I counted 12. Are we a witnessing people?
§ How many Books of Mormon have you given away in the last year?
§ How many times in the last month have you witnessed to a non-member?
§ How many baptisms in your branch during the last year were new converts to the church, not our natural increase.
Our answers to these 5 requirements indicate how WISE we are and if we are still under condemnation or not.
Another test is, are we keeping the former
commandments? Here are 3 that I see we
struggle with: Keep the Sabbath holy [1 of 10 commandments]
From Moses’
time
wisdom is one of the gifts of the Spirit:
5b]
for there are many gifts, and to every man is given a gift by the Spirit of God:
5c]
to some it is given one, and to some is given another, that all may be profited
thereby;
DC 46:5b,c
All the gifts of the Spirit are given so, “…that all may be taught
to be WISE and to have KNOWLEDGE” [DC 46:7b] and that these gifts
are given to, “… every man severally as he will. [I Cor
8a]
And it shall come to pass that he that asketh in spirit shall receive in
spirit; that unto some it may be given to have all those gifts, that
there may be a head, in order that every member may be profited thereby:
8b]
he that asketh in the spirit, asketh according to the will of God,
wherefore it is done even as he asketh.
9a]
And again I say unto you, All things must be done in the name of Christ,
whatsoever you do in the spirit;
9b]
and ye must give thanks unto God in the spirit for whatever blessing [gift
]ye are blessed with; …
DC 46:8a-9b
Why are these gifts given? So we will not be DECEIVED, # 4 QUALITY OF A WISE VIRGIN:
4a] Wherefore, beware, lest ye are deceived, and that ye may not be deceived, seek ye earnestly the best gifts, always remembering for what they are given;
4b] for verily I say unto you, They [the
best gifts] are
given for the benefit of those who love me, and keep all my commandments, and
him that seeketh so to do, that all may be benefited, that seeketh or
that asketh of me, that asketh and not
for a sign that he may consume it upon his lusts. [You aren’t asking
to have the gifts of the Spirit to show off or for the sake of PRIDE or
self-aggrandizement.]
DC 46:4a,b
So I think God is telling us to become a sufficiently righteous person that we can ASK in the Holy Spirit, in the name of Jesus Christ to receive the specific gift or gifts of the Spirit that we DESIRE. We are told to, seek after the best gifts. [DC 46:4a] so that ALL may be taught to be WISE. [DC 46:7b]
The gift of wisdom certainly is one of the best
gifts to seek after, since it is
one of the qualities required for entering in to the wedding of the Lamb, I
think it is one we should all ask for.
One of the MOST IMPORTANT
words of WISDOM I HAVE LEARNED is that God waits for us to ASK for things, HE NEVER FORCES HIS
UNDERSTANDING, WISDOM OR GIFTS UPON US.
For years I had unanswered
questions about things I didn’t understand.
Then Ray Treat said, ASK LOTS OF QUESTIONS IF YOU WANT LOTS OF
ANSWERS. Since then I have asked lots of
questions and asked for the discerning of spirits, and can’t believe how
quickly I have learned.
UNDERSTAND: It is WISE to ASK and SEEK out the
things that are most expedient for us to know, so we can become the righteous
people God would have us be. I call those HOW TOS of spiritual growth.
A good example of asking questions and getting
answers is Earl Curry wanted to know how Satan would try to destroy the
Earl R Curry, as copied from
the original given at a talk in Kirtland.
How many of these do you see or have seen within the church and in the lives of His people in the last 40 years?
What is a “counterfeit spiritual life?” I had to ponder on this one and ASKING God for understanding. Counterfeit is defined as imitation with a view to deceive; assume the appearance of something; hypocritical; have a resemblance of the genuine; assume a false appearance. So I’d say a counterfeit spiritual life is hypocritical person who puts on a pious, sanctimonious appearance in public of being Spirit filled. He or she may be giving false prophecies, teachings etc. in the name of the Lord, but his or her daily life is lived in WORLDLY WISDOM, not living the righteous obedient like God requires. We need to look carefully and see if we are counterfeit Christians. Choose CAREFULLY what you do and say each day to see if you are using GODLY WISDOM or WORLDLY WISDOM. Which you chose will determine if you are prepared when the bridegroom comes, where you spend eternity, as well as, the quality of your life here on earth. BE WISE—choose God’s way and live.
Scripture references are from
Inspired Version of the Holy Scriptures, Book of Mormon 1908 edition, and
Doctrine & Covenants. All emphasis
is added by the author.