042 The Ten Virgins Podcast by Mike Stroud (class taught in 2012 in Philippines) (Transcribed by Carol Crisp)

Transcription

1 042 The Ten Virgins Podcast by Mike Stroud (class taught in 2012 in Philippines) (Transcribed by Carol Crisp) Todays lesson is on preparing the earth for the Millennium and some things that need to take place. Let's go to D&C 43. Let me show you a scripture that I saw this morning. Verses are talking about the Second Coming of the Lord. At that time, this earth is going to be moved from where it's at. Our earth is currently a telestial world. A telestial world is a place of testing, a place of trial. It is a school room. It is a school room to learn if we will be obedient to all of God's commands. The way you pass the test of the telestial world is 'obedience' to God's commands. Let's take a look at scripture. We'll come back to 43 in a minute. Let's look at Abraham 3. You can see the whole purpose of this earth. Vs. 25: And we will prove them herewith, to see if they will do all things whatsoever the Lord their God shall command them; If someone asks you, "What is the purpose of life?" we might say, to get a physical body. That's what I hear a lot. But, the purpose of life is really found in vs. 25. What did you see there? You saw 2 words. Another word for 'prove' is 'test or trial'. Those are all the same things. 'We're going to test them and prove them to see if they will do all things that we will command them.' What's another word for that? 'Obedience'. So, the whole purpose of this earth is to test us to see if we are going to be obedient. That's the purpose. The telestial world is the place of that testing. Your school is out. The test is over. The test of mortality takes place in a fallen, mortal world. That's the way it's supposed to be. That's the plan. What we have on this mortal world is 3 types of people. We have those who live celestial law, those who live terrestrial law, and those who live telestial law. Basically, telestial law is no law. If you want to get down to what a telestial person is, it's a rebel. A telestial person is 'the mortal natural man'. You can't tell him/her what to do. He's going to do it 'his way', and 'his way or the highway' attitude. Right? So, telestial law is basically, 'no law'. It's a place where anarchy can rule supreme. It's a place of murder. It's a place of adultry. It's a place of war, disease, pestilence, lies and deceit. That's the telestial world. What we've got to do to prepare for the Millennium is to take that out. We have to remove that 'element'. How is that going to happen? Joseph Smith said, "Noah came before the flood. I come before the fire". So, the way we're going to clean off this telestial element is not by water. We're going to take it off by fire, this time. Some of that fire will be man-made. Some of it will be Godly. The man-made fire will be such things as thermo-nuclear war, atomic holocaust--where the telestial earth actually burns (a man-made fire). Then, the other fire comes from the glory of Christ. Let's go back to Section 43 and see what these verses are talking about, starting in vs. 17. Hearken ye, for, behold, the great day of the Lord is nigh at hand. Student: What are destroying angels? Mike: They are angels and agents to help with this cleansing. A lot of this will be done by angels who are working under Priesthood mandate. They are instructed to go forth and do that. President Wilford Woodruff said that those destroying angels were turned loose to begin the process of cleansing the earth in 1896! So, since that date, there have been angels who have a ministry to cleanse the earth, preparatory to the Second Coming. They've been doing it since that time. One thing's for sure. Any time we see something that is destructive in nature, since these angels are called "destroying angels", that's part of their ministry, so, anything that we see that's destructive in the telestial world, could very realistically, originate from these men with these assignments. Sodom and Gomorrah becomes a 'type and a shadow' of the destruction of the world in the last days, by fire. Let's go on to vs. 17: Hearken ye, for, behold, the great day of the Lord is nigh at hand. Look at the date when this revelation was given: For the day cometh that the Lord shall utter his voice out of heaven; the heavens shall shake and the earth shall tremble, and the trump of God shall sound both long and loud, and shall say to the sleeping nations: Ye saints arise and live; ye sinners stay and sleep until I shall call again. What is that talking about? That's the resurrection. Is there a resurrection that takes place at the Second Coming? There is. It's a continuation of what we call the 'First Resurrection'. It started with the resurrection of Christ. This is going to be a more general resurrection where millions will resurrect. Who are these people who are resurrecting? It says, "Ye saints". Can we define who these are? Yes, we are talking about this group of people right here. There is no terrestrial resurrection. All of the telestial people are now dead, and their spirits are in the spirit world. So, their physical bodies have been removed from the earth, preparatory for the Second Coming. So, the only people we have left on the earth are terrestrial and celestial people. Those who previously died and whose bodies are in the grave, that are celestial people, many of those will resurrect when Christ comes. They will come up out of their graves and will meet Him as resurrected beings. He'll also bring a whole group of people with Him that are resurrected that come from another place, that were resurrected at His resurrection. "ye sinners stay and sleep until I shall call again". Isn't that nice? Stay and sleep--what does that mean? They're not resurrected, 'just stay where you are'... Your body is still asleep in the earth and your spirit stays in the spirit world, until a future time. Student: For another 1000 years? Mike: Yea, for some of them, that's right. Look at D&C 43:19 Wherefore gird up your loins lest ye be found among the wicked. 20 Lift up your voices and spare not. Call upon the nations to repent, both old and young, both bond and free, saying: Prepare yourselves for the great day of the Lord; 21 For if I, who am a man, do lift up my voice and call upon you to repent, and ye hate me, what will ye say when the day cometh when the thunders shall utter their voices from the ends of the earth, speaking to the ears of all that live, saying Repent, and prepare for the great day of the Lord? Here you have 2 general days of repentance. You have a day when the Lord sends out authorized ministers, priesthood bearers, prophets, missionaries, priesthood leaders, members of the church who call upon the world to repent. And, if that doesn't work, He has another voice that he sends. The other voice He

2 uses is the voice of nature. Let's see what the 'voice of nature' says: 25 How oft have I called upon you by the mouth of my servants, and by the ministering of angels, and by mine own voice, and by the voice of thunderings, and by the voice of lightnings, and by the voice of tempests, and by the voice of earthquakes, and great hailstorms, and by the voice of famines and pestilences of every kind, and by the great sound of a trump, and by the voice of judgment, and by the voice of mercy all the day long, and by the voice of glory and honor and the riches of eternal life, and would have saved you with an everlasting salvation, but ye would not! Steve: It's kind of interesting that just this week we had a large 7.7 magnitude earthquake off the coast of Vancouver with a tsunami warning and now on the East coast we have a huge storm getting ready to come... Mike: The worst storm in the history of the U.S. is hitting the East coast right now. It's the voice of the Lord. Basically, brothers and sisters, the world is rejecting the message of the restoration. Basically, the world has rejected the restored gospel of Jesus Christ. The world, basically, has rejected the B of M. The only thing left for a kind Heavenly Father is, "If you won't listen to the message of His servants, then He has to talk to you in a louder voice". That's a voice of earthquakes, lightening, thunder...it's the same in the B of M. Remember prior to 3 Nephi 8, the message from Samuel the Lamanite, Nephi, Alma & Amulek? He tried to get them to come by the voice of His servants, and after that point, there was 'a great storm arose such as one that had never been seen before in the history of the Nephites'. If He can't get your attention one way, he'll get it another way. It's like President Benson said, "God will have a humble people. Either we can choose to be humble, or we can be compelled to be humble." One way or another, God can't bless you in your 'proud state'. As long as you are proud, as long as pride is your sin, you've blocked yourselves out from the blessings of the Lord. There's only 2 ways that the Lord has for you to come to humility. One is voluntary. You can humble yourself because of 'the word'. You hear 'the word', you hear the prophets, the Spirit touches you, and your heart's not hardened, and you repent, then the Lord blesses you. The other one is: it takes 'the voice of nature". The sound of earthquakes and tidal waves and storms and tornadoes and disease and warfare to get you to listen to His voice so that you can be humble enough to receive His blessings. It all points towards one thing. Everything points towards the Lord wanting to bless His children. There are just a couple of ways you can get there. You can get there the hard way, or you can get there the easy way. It's up to you, but He wants to bless you. Sometimes He'll bless you even unto death. For some people, their greatest blessing will be to be taken out of this world, because there is just no hope for them, while here. They become so 'deep', that they need a change in environment. They need to go to a different classroom, with a different teacher. That's all death is, anyway, just a change from one place of instruction to another place of instruction. That's physical death. How you get there really doesn't matter. A person who dies a horrible death, the minute that it's over, that horrible death doesn't matter anymore. We sit here and say, "Oh, that was horrible". Well, the guy who just died is standing in the spirit world, there is no more pain, he's a young person--there is no more disease, and no matter how he died, it doesn't matter to him anymore. It's like a woman who has a baby. She's only concerned when she's in pain, when the labor pains are there. But, as soon as the baby is delivered, she forgets the labor pains and all she can think of now is the beautiful little baby. It's the same with death. The Lord is trying to get our attention. So, what we are going to see now, once we get rid of this telestial element, we want to lift this earth to a higher plane. We are now going to enter in to a terrestrial level. A number of changes have taken place. First of all, you have these 2 kinds of people: celestial and terrestrial persons who are living on the earth at that point. The minimum requirement for a person to go into the terrestrial world is to be morally clean. You can't even think about being in a terrestrial world if you are not morally clean. Don't even entertain the thought. So, if you are in a telestial world, and you committed a moral transgression, you access the power of the atonement to cleanse you and remove that stain, and if you die and are repentant of moral transgression, you can enter into a terrestrial level. If you die in that situation, there is no way you will go there. So, a person who is an adulterer, fornicator, or sexually immoral, at the time when our repentance runs out, if you haven't made the adjustment from a telestial to terrestrial state, it's too late. Your spirit, which is still an adulterer, is still a fornicator, is still sexually immoral, goes into a restricted place in the spirit world, and you need to work it out. You're in a different classroom, and you go back to class, and attend your classes better. But, you will not be on the earth during the millennium. That's the point. Let's take a look at some of these events that are coming up here. They're pretty frightening. Let's go to D&C 29:14 to see what's coming up in our day. I do this for a purpose. I want to give you a view of what's happening here. From here on out, when you study the 'signs of the times', and the great catastrophic events prior to the Second Coming, after todays lesson, I want you to have a different view of it. I don't want you to look at it 'as an angry God who is destroying the wicked'. There is some truth to that, but I want you to have a little broader, a little deeper view of that. Look at vs. 14: But, behold, I say unto you that before this great day shall come (The Second Coming--that's your key) the sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall be turned into blood, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and there shall be greater signs in heaven above and in the earth beneath; 15 And there shall be weeping and wailing among the hosts of men; 16 And there shall be a great hailstorm sent forth to destroy the crops of the earth.(a global hailstorm) A plague of flies: 18 Wherefore, I the Lord God will send forth flies upon the face of the earth, which shall take hold of the inhabitants thereof, and shall eat their flesh, and shall cause maggots to come in upon them; It sounds similar to the plague during Moses' time, doesn't it? 19 And their tongues shall be stayed that they shall not utter against me; and their flesh shall fall from off their bones, and their eyes from their sockets;

3 Something happens where their flesh shall fall off, and their eyes come from their sockets! 20 And it shall come to pass that the beasts of the forest and the fowls of the air shall devour them up. Let's go to D&C 45:26. And in that day (whenever you hear that now, you'll know what it refers to) shall be heard of wars and rumors of wars, and (look at this) the whole earth shall be in commotion, and men s hearts shall fail them, and they shall say that Christ delayeth his coming until the end of the earth. What's the opposite of the word 'commotion'? Rest. There will be no rest on the earth. There will be no peace. You need to know that it is your lot, brothers and sisters, and don't be worried about it, but it's your place in history to live on the earth when there will never be any earth 'peace'. There won't be any peace in your day. You can have peace in your life. You can have peace in your families. But, as far as world-wide peace, it's not going to happen. In D&C 1 the Lord says that "Peace has been taken from the earth". There will be no more peace on the earth until the Son of Man comes and reigns on the earth during the Millennium. So, our day is a day of commotion, turmoil. You can see it right now, and anybody that can't see what's going on globally, is really pretty blind right now. But there are millions of people who think that life is just going on like it always has. Do you know why that is? Because in order to see what's going on, requires you to have the Spirit of the Lord. One of the signs of the 'Last Days' before the Second Coming is that people will refuse to believe the signs. That is a sign. They just won't see them. They'll say, "It's always been like this. You guys are stupid. There's nothing different now than there was 10 years ago". They actually believe that. And you, who live by the Spirit, look around, and say, "Oh my gosh, the signs are being fulfilled everywhere around us. Every minute there's something going on." That takes the Spirit to discern that. Let's take a look at a couple more here. Skip on down to vs. 31: And there shall be men standing in that generation, that shall not pass until they shall see an overflowing scourge; for a desolating sickness shall cover the land. I don't know what that is, but it doesn't sound good. That overflowing scourge-- the Hebrew word is 'whip', so it's an overflowing 'whip', what is that? Is that a foreign nation that puts the whole world at war? I don't know. That desolating sickness-- when something is desolate, that means there is no life. So, whatever this is, it's removing large groups of people from the earth and sending them to the spirit world. Millions of people at a time. The Book of Revelations seems to indicate that the days we're coming into, we'll see huge numbers of the population going to the spirit world in a matter of days. Not weeks and months and years, but days! In one place it says a third of mankind is not on the earth anymore. A third of the population is gone. That is a few billion people quickly gone. Look at that "a desolating sickness" shall cover the land. But, here's the good part. 32 But my disciples shall stand in holy places, and shall not be moved; but among the wicked, men shall lift up their voices and curse God and die. See the 2 groups there? The people who lift up their voices and curse God and die are telestial. Prior to this earth moving back for the Millennium, you're going to have to be standing in what the Lord calls "A Holy Place". President Benson said, "Holy places are where holy men and women stand." So, it's not a temple, and it's not just going to catch the boat over there, or camp out on the temple grounds or parking lot, because it's a holy place. It's right here, where you're standing. If you're a holy man or a holy woman, if you've taken Christ as your Savior, and His Spirit is in you, you're on holy ground. Don't worry about it. Then it goes on and says, again, 33 And there shall be earthquakes also in divers places, and many desolations; yet men will harden their hearts against me, and they will take up the sword, one against another, and they will kill one another. Divers places means 'many different places'. There's hardly a week goes by now, that we don't have a major earthquake of 7. something...hardly a week. Like Steve mentioned the 7.7 earthquake off the coast of Vancouver, BC. It put the whole 'ring of fire' on tsunami alert. Nothing came of it, but that's our day, and you're going to see more and more. You're going to see earthquakes happen more frequently, and the magnitudes are going to go up. It's never going to go back. This is what my lesson is about today. There is something happening in our day. It is ever increasing magnitude and ever increasing frequency of these events. It is not going to go backwards and become less and less frequent. It's not going to happen and there's a reason why. Many desolations, and yet 'men will harden their hearts against me, take up their swords one against another, and they will kill one another'. Here's His word to us, though: Be not troubled. 34 And now, when I the Lord had spoken these words unto my disciples, they were troubled. 35 And I said unto them: Be not troubled, for, when all these things shall come to pass, ye may know that the promises which have been made unto you shall be fulfilled. So, with all of these things that are going on, with all of these changes in nature, the Lord's message to us is, "Be not troubled". Part of the way to 'be not troubled' is to understand what purpose the desolations and cataclysmic events serve. Well, there's a number of things: #1. The earth is a living thing. The earth is alive. It has a gender. It's female. Did you know that? There are male and female planets. The sun is male, and the earth is female, and the Lord refers to them in the scriptures when He refers to the sun refusing to give 'his' light. And, the earth does 'her' thing. 'Mother Nature'...There's a reason for that, but we won't go into that now. But, suffice it to say, the earth is alive and reacts to the people who live on the face of the earth. If the population of the earth are righteous, then the earth is at peace. If the population of the earth are wicked, it troubles the earth. The earth is not happy when you have all of this wickedness on it, and one of the ways it shows it's unhappiness and displeasure is by reacting physically to the wickedness on it's face. So, what do you get? Earthquakes, frankenstorms, tornadoes, plagues and disease. I want you to understand that a lot of what's happening in our day is because the planet we live on is upset. It's alive. Did you know the earth can speak? Let's go to where it talks, it has a voice. Go to Moses 7 in POGP. You can see that the earth is alive, and Jesus Christ is her creator. Vs. 47: And behold, Enoch saw the day

4 of the coming of the Son of Man, even in the flesh; and his soul rejoiced, saying: The Righteous is lifted up, and the Lamb is slain from the foundation of the world; and through faith I am in the bosom of the Father, and behold, Zion is with me. Did the earth do anything when Christ was killed? It did. Temples fell down, cities were buried, 3 days of darkness, earthquakes... Even in America, there were all these upheavals. When the Savior died, one of these prophets was heard to exclaim, "The God of nature suffers". The God of nature was suffering. He was on the cross. He was in Gethsemane and eventually died. And, the earth, who was created by that man, who was hanging on the cross, that's her creator. The earth was upset. Why do you think there was 3 days of darkness when Christ died? Three days in America, and some time in the Middle East, not 3 days, but what happened was symbolic. Jesus said, "I am the light of the world". What did we do when we killed him? We put the light out. What did the earth do? It veiled itself in darkness. There are great symbolisms here. So, the earth responds to the people who are on it. One of the reasons we are in trouble right now, and we're having these cataclysmic things is that the majority of the earth's population are choosing evil, rather than good. They're murdering their children. They're enacting laws that are taking the marriage unit and the sanctity of the family and destroying it. All of these things are going to cause Mother Earth to be upset. When she's upset, you and I feel earthquakes. And, we go, "Oh, wow, that's upsetting", and the earth is responding. Let's go to Moses 7:47. Did you know that Moses Chapter 7 is really from the Book of Enoch? So, what you're reading here are the writings of Enoch that were restored to the prophet Joseph Smith through inspiration and the Urim and Thummin. It's part of a missing Book of Enoch. So what you're doing here is reading Enoch's book here in Chapter 7, even though it's called 'Moses'. It's from the writings of Enoch. This is Enoch speaking in vs. 47. And behold, Enoch saw the day of the coming of the Son of Man, even in the flesh; and his soul rejoiced, saying: The Righteous is lifted up, and the Lamb is slain from the foundation of the world; and through faith I am in the bosom of the Father, and behold, Zion is with me. What did Enoch see in vs. 47? He saw the atonement. He saw the murder of the Son of God. He saw Him slain. Now look at vs. 48: And it came to pass that Enoch looked upon the earth; and he heard a voice from the bowels thereof, (Now, keep in mind, what had he just seen? He just saw the murder of the Son of God. Now, he looks on the earth and he hears a voice coming out of the 'bowels' of the earth. Bowels means 'way deep'. Bowels is a word in the scriptures that refers to your deepest, innermost feelings, such as compassion and mercy. So, what he's doing is, he's hearing a cry coming from way down deep in the earth, as that vision of the Son of God's crucifixion. And, look what she's saying...) saying: Wo, wo is me, the mother of men; (Now, how is Mother Earth our mother? And, what does that mean 'from the dust of the earth'. Okay, the elements that make up our physical bodies are the same elements that make up the earth. Anytime you see something die, and leave it out on the ground, and in time, it just disappears. It just goes into the earth. You leave the bones long enough, the skin and the muscle will go, and if you leave it out long enough, the bones will go. You go to where that animal laid, and you dig up underneath there and all you're going to find is nice topsoil. It just goes back into the earth.) I am pained, I am weary, (Why?) because of the wickedness of my children. (See that? So, when we see all these things that are happening in our day, I want you to remember that there's a reason why they're happening. Because, the earth is a living thing, and she's upset with the wickedness. Then, the earth says, 'when shall I rest'?) When shall I rest, and be cleansed from the filthiness which is gone forth out of me? When will my Creator sanctify me, that I may rest, and righteousness for a season abide upon my face? You see the desire of Mother Earth? Mother Earth's desire is to be what? Clean and pure. The prophet Joseph Smith said, "The earth fulfills the measure of her creation." And, because the earth fulfills the measure of her creation, she will be resurrected and exalted and become the Celestial Kingdom of God for everybody who dwells on it. The earth is moving. The earth is okay, whether or not we are with it, that's the question. You see, right here with the movement from telestial to terrestrial, you lost about 2/3 of the population of the earth. That is those who were not allowed to make the transition. I can tell you something, that the earth in a terrestrial place is a lot happier than it was in a telestial place. And why? Because of what you just read there. Because we cleaned it. It got a bath. It got something called 'the baptism of fire'. It already had a baptism of water. Now, it's getting a baptism of fire. Last part: "When will my Creator sanctify me, that I may rest, and righteousness for a season abide upon my face?" When is it? When does the sanctification of the earth take place? It's the Second Coming. The sanctification of the earth takes place here. The earth in a terrestrial level is a sanctified place. How do we know that? All the scriptures that talk about sanctification talk about us needing to be sanctified so that we can abide the presence of God. You need to be sanctified. So, if you make this move, member or non-member--by the way, there's a degree of sanctification that has to take place in order for you to even transition, and even to make the move through space. This is a move through space. This is moving from this solar system to, way back closer to the center of the Milky Way Galaxy. Let's finish Moses 7:48: I am pained, I am weary, because of the wickedness of my children. When shall I rest, and be cleansed from the filthiness which is gone forth out of me? When will my Creator sanctify me, that I may rest, and righteousness for a season abide upon my face? How long is the season? 1000 years. That season of rest is called The Millennium. It's a terrestrial level. Non-members will be allowed to come into this, but they have to at least be honorable and just men and women of the earth, and need to be at least morally clean, but they do not need to be members of the church. So, there's going to be many, many people that will be able to go into the millennium, that are not members of the church. They can eventually go into the Celestial Kingdom, if they repent. This is another place of teaching and instruction that will go on here. Let me ask you. Where's the Spirit World at this time? It's right here. The Spirit World moves with the earth. The outside of the earth is terrestrial. It's sanctified. Inside the earth

5 you still have 2 places. You have a paradise, however, I think a lot of those people will have come out of it, at this point. We don't really understand a lot of that. But, Hell is still full to the brim. So, there has to be missionary work now, going on still, in that area, even though it will be for 1000 years. The telestial people won't come out of that place until the end of the Millennium. We're going to have some instruction going on for 1000 years in the Spirit World still. The physical bodies will be burned and removed, but their spirits go into the Spirit World into a restricted area, where they still have to have agency. You still remember your former life, but you still can't tell who you were before you came here and you have no idea what your destiny will be. So, you're still behind the veil in that place. There are still restrictions there. So, what's happening in the latter-days: all of the signs and destructions are simply preparing the earth to move from where it's at, to it's destiny during the Millennium. That's all it is. In the process, many people are taken away. There's a great refining, but all of the signs of the latter-days that sound so horrible, that's a part of the cleansing process of the earth. That's all done, to take the earth from telestial to terrestrial. Let me show you another name for the earth during this time, and this should trigger something in your mind. The earth, during the terrestrial, is a paradise state. Does that ring a bell? Someone quote for me Article of Faith # 10: We believe in the literal gathering of Israel and in the restoration of the Ten Tribes; that Zion (the New Jerusalem) will be built upon the American continent; that Christ will reign personally upon the earth; and, that the earth will be renewed and receive its paradisiacal glory. What about "the earth being renewed"? It will receive it's paradisiacal glory. So, that 10th A of F is talking about this right here and a few events that lead up to it. So, the earth during this time is what we call a 'paradisiacal glory'. Notice the word used here? 'Renewed' is not the same as 'resurrected'. So, is the earth going to die? It was born and it was created. Has it had a baptism of water? Is it going to die? Will it be baptized by fire and the Holy Ghost? Yes, at the Second Coming. It's now gone from telestial to terrestrial. What's the next level? Celestial. What's one of the requirements for celestial? Birth, death, resurrection. Is that right? Can't resurrect if you haven't died. You can't die if you haven't been born. So, is the earth going to die? Yes. Is the earth going to resurrect? Yes. If it's going to resurrect, it's first going to what? Die. So, the death of the earth takes place at the end of the 1000 year period. The earth is then resurrected and becomes a Celestial Kingdom. So, we get up here to this celestial area here, the earth is going to be different. All of these things here are moving through space, by the way. Everything is moving back. What do you mean, moving back? What I mean is that at one time, it all 'fell'. Originally, this earth that we're on now, was first created somewhere near where Heavenly Father dwells. Adam and Eve were placed on it and the earth was moved out a little bit to a terrestrial level. So, what we've got is, the geometric sign of eternity. The circle. So, what have you got here? You've got the earth completing it's 'eternal round'. Isn't that interesting? All we want to do is stay with the earth. That's the movement of the earth. Now I want to address the parable of the 10 virgins in more detail than I did on Sunday, here. There are several parables in the N.T. that refer to these things we've just put up here, about the Second Coming. Let's go to Matthew 25:1-13. We'll look at one of them, and see if we can break this down a bit. I hope what we've said today will make more sense. This is the parable of the '10 Virgins'. Let's see if we can identify the parts of this parable. From what you know, let's list some things here, of the various parts of the parable. Obviously, we've got 10 virgins. There's some clothing. There are lamps and oil. Bridegroom. We've got 'time', and in particular, midnight. We've got a crier (the cry went out). We have a door. We have extra oil. We have containers. You've forgotten the most important thing of all! Let's read it and see what it says. We've got some slumbering. We've also got some 'wise' vs. 'unwise or foolish'. Let's start at the top: 1 Then shall the kingdom of heaven be likened unto ten virgins, which took their lamps, and went forth to meet the bridegroom. 2 And five of them were wise, and five were foolish. 3 They that were foolish took their lamps, and took no oil with them: 4 But the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps. 5 While the bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered and slept. What's the Kingdom of Heaven? Guess we've got to start there, first of all. It's the Celestial Kingdom. What's the Kingdom of God? It's the Lord's Church here on the earth. Who's the Bridegroom? Christ. Let's label some of these things as we go. The Bridegroom is Christ. The 10 virgins are: President Kimball says they are 'members of the Church'. Is there anything in the scripture that leads us to believe that they are members? Is there any evidence that tells us that these are not just ordinary people? That they have a right to the Bridegroom? They were invited. They got an invitation. Not everyone is invited here, folks. The only ones who are invited are who? Does it say anyone else there, besides the Bridegroom? The virgins. Five of them were wise and 5 of them were foolish. They that were foolish took their lamps, but took no oil with them. The wise took their oil in their vessels with their lamps. You see what that is? The vessel is not the same as the lamp. The vessel is the container with extra oil. While the Bridegroom, they all slumbered and slept. What can we say about that? What does that mean? What does it mean: the Bridegroom tarried? He took some time and also, he didn't come when most people expected Him to come. Do we have anything in there that gives us an exact idea of when He's coming? No, we don't. We know some things. We know that He'll come 'as a thief in the night', interestingly enough. Why that analogy of 'as a thief in the night'? Why do thieves break in at night time? Most people are asleep. It's the easiest time to break in. It's the most likely time, not to be caught. Go down a little further. 6 And at midnight there was a cry made, Behold, the bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet him. Who are the criers? Is there anyone out there warning us, to wake up, get ready, stay awake? Student: Besides Church leaders--apostles, prophets, there are home teachers, missionaries, teachers, the Holy Ghost... Mike: And the Holy Spirit. I know people right now that are

6 feeling an urgency in doing some things, family wise, because they feel that time is getting short. They feel an urgency. There is some kind of a message that is being given spiritually. 7 Then all those virgins arose, and trimmed their lamps. Let's go on there. 8 And the foolish said unto the wise, Give us of your oil; for our lamps are gone out. (Look at your Greek down at the bottom. It says "are going out". So, why the difference? Why would that be a big deal, that the lamps are going out, not gone out, yet? Why would that Greek difference in the footnote be given? You need to ponder that. That's the way that you receive revelation. So, we're approaching midnight, it's the darkest part of the night, are the lamps burning, or are they put out at this point? When these girls went to sleep, were their lamps out, or were they still burning? They're still burning. They are not sleeping in total darkness. They've fallen asleep, but their lamps are still burning. The cry comes out, "Go ye out to meet him". All of the lamps, by the way, are going out. Not just 5 are going out. All of them are going out. Here's where the interesting part is. Those that look and see they are about to get out of oil, ask for some from the others. All the lamps are going down. Look what happens. 8. And the foolish said unto the wise, Give us of your oil; for our lamps are gone going) out. 9 But the wise answered, saying, Not so; lest there be not enough for us and you: but go ye rather to them that sell, and buy for yourselves. 10 And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came; and they that were ready went in with him to the marriage: and the door was shut. My question is, "were they able to find extra oil?' I guess it all depends on what the 'oil' is, whether they were able to find extra oil. I don't think they did find any. We'll find out why, next. 11 Afterward came also the other virgins, saying, Lord, Lord, open to us.12 But he answered and said, Verily I say unto you, I know you not. 13 Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh. Let's break this thing down. What is the 12th hour? What happens when a clock goes from 11:59 to 12:00 (midnight)? What happens? It's a new day. This new day is symbolic of what? It's the Millennium. It's the beginning of the Millennium. When does the Millennium begin? At the Second Coming. Christ comes in Glory, and you start to usher in the Millennium. "And all flesh see him together" and at that point, he ushers in the Millennium. So the beginning of the M. begins right there with his coming. Is there anything in our scriptures that tell us about the 11th hour? Have you read anything about the 11th hour? Let's see if we can find it. Go to the 'Topical Guide' and see if you can find anything about the 11th hour. There's one in the D&C. I can't find it right now. That's a bit of a lack of prep! Anyway, it says it's the 11 hour and the time of the Restoration. What about these guys right here? Why do we use the word 'virgins'? And, this represents both males and females. And, they are members of the church. I want to take it a step further. This is my opinion. They're not only members of the church, but I believe we're talking about 'temple recommend' members of the church. What about the half: 5 were foolish? It means that about 50% of the membership of the church, if you go by total members, at least 50% won't be ready for the Second Coming. What does it mean, "when the door is shut"? You can't come in. What's the door? What's on the other side of the door? The Lord is on the other side. So, the door represents entrance into His presence. So, at least 50% of the membership of the church are not going to enter into the presence of the Lord. If it's temple recommend holders, think about that a little bit further. Let's break it down to members. How many members of the church (with about 15 million members) are active in the church, as a percentage, and attend church regularly? Let's say 30%. Out of that 30% that attend church regularly, how many of them qualify for a temple recommend, or hold a valid temple recommend? What we're doing in the church is that we're dealing in thirds here. Do you find that interesting? Is there a pattern somewhere here? How many of Father's children did he lose? A 'third part'. Everything we're doing in the church, up until this announcement on missionary age, roughly, 1/3 of available missionary-age young men were accepting a call to serve. An estimate is, about 1/3 are paying tithing. That may be too high a number. So, if we're looking at 50% that weren't ready to go in, and we look at the statistics of the church worldwide today, it's less than 50%. So, your talking that it's more than 70% that aren't going to enter in. As we talked about in church yesterday, what made the difference between the wise and the foolish? They all had lamps. Do you know how the N.T. lamps worked? There was a little wick. There were 2 holes in the top of a little clay lamp that was small. I have an original one that's about 2000 years old, at home. It has a little spout off the end with a hole in the end, and a bigger hole in the middle, where they poured the oil in. The little wick was made out of hemp or flax, which was a little piece of fiber that was in the oil. The wick would soak in the oil and then the flame would burn on it. It was about the size of this eraser, a little deeper. As long as there was oil, this flame would burn. The wick wouldn't be consumed because it was always saturated with the oil. This was olive oil being used. (Another symbol) Any time you see a fire, in the O.T., this fire was always symbolic of the Holy Ghost. The Holy Ghost is the symbol of fire. Keep that in mind as we break this parable down a little bit. So, they get to a certain point and the cry goes out, and the lamps are almost empty, but 5 of them have additional oil that they put in there, and they're able to survive, and get to the door, and enter in, because of the additional oil. What does the 'additional oil' represent? And, how come 5 had it, and 5 didn't? Let's go to D&C 45:56. President Kimball tells us what the additional oil is. And at that day (Second Coming), when I shall come in my glory, shall the parable be fulfilled which I spake concerning the ten virgins. (Here we go) 57 For they that are wise and have received the truth, and have taken the Holy Spirit for their guide, and have not been deceived verily I say unto you, they shall not be hewn down and cast into the fire, but shall abide the day. What did the wise have, that the foolish didn't? An extra container. They had little flasks -like a little canteen- to hold their extra oil in. So, if your lamp started to run out, all you did was to take this little extra container, and just pour some more in there. They carried that with

7 them. "D&C 45:57 For they that are wise and have received the truth, and have taken the Holy Spirit for their guide, and have not been deceived verily I say unto you, they shall not be hewn down and cast into the fire, but shall abide the day". There's your key. What day is that? The Second Coming. What's the fire? The fire of the 2nd Coming. Let's look at one more. Go over to D&C 63:54: And until that hour there will be foolish virgins among the wise; and at that hour cometh an entire separation of the righteous and the wicked; and in that day will I send mine angels to pluck out the wicked and cast them into unquenchable fire. Verse 53 is talking about the 2nd Coming again. "...even in the day of the coming of the Son of Man." So, prior to that hour, there will be foolish people coming, there will be foolish virgins among the wise. That's where we're at right now. So, we're talking about members of the church. Members who have taken the Holy Spirit to be their guide, and members who have not. "At that hour cometh an entire separation of the righteous and the wick ed. That's the members of the church, according to Pres. Kimball. What's going to cause that separation, this division, in the church, before the 2nd Coming? What's going to take the membership of the church and split them right down the middle? I know that some of them have extra 'oil'. That's the Holy Spirit, and some don't. Notice where it says that they have taken the Holy Spirit for their guide, and not been deceived? There are some issues that the church is dealing with right now, that are causing many members of the church, to leave the church. Do you know what it is? Homosexual, lesbian, gay rights, and the homosexual and gay marriage issues. There are whole groups of members of the church that think that it's not right that the church should forbid men to marry men and women to marry women, and to adopt children. It is a big issue in the church, and it's going to get bigger. Is this one of the issues that will cause the church to be split? If you haven't taken the Holy Spirit to be your guide, and you are not receiving personal revelation every day, and if you don't really know if President Monson and the Twelve are really Prophets, Seers and Revelators, if you don't know that, and these kinds of issues come, you'll be deceived, and you'll split right off from the church. Steve: Pres. Packer recently said, "I don't know if you know how to receive revelation yet, but if you don't, you will not survive what's coming." Mike: That's a good quote. So, what is oil, in the extra jar? What does it represent? It get's you through the darkest times, and allows you to have light, when it's the darkest, just before the door opens, and you enter the presence of the Lord. What is it that's going to see you through? Well, it's righteous choices. It's obedience to the Spirit of the Lord. If the Lord tells you to do something by His Spirit, obey. When you do, it's like adding a drop of oil to your extra container. So, this oil in your container is not added, a bunch at a time. It's added drop by drop. So, the foolish virgins come up to the wise ones and say, "Our lamps are going out, give us of your oil". That would be like me coming to somebody who had a temple marriage and I didn't and saying, "Let me have the experience of the temple marriage." "Give me your temple marriage experience." Can you do it? No. It would be like paying a lifetime of tithes and offerings, and then at the last minute, someone comes to you and says, "Let me have your lifetime experiences and blessings and knowledge from paying all those offerings." You can't do it. So, if you haven't added a lifetime of obedient acts, and loving service, if you haven't added a drop at a time, then when the lamp starts to run out, you've got no reserve. You can't draw on that. Let me give you a personal example of that. I'm not a super righteous person, but I can tell you of a time when I drew on my reserves, when my lamp was going down, and I was blessed to have extra oil for my lamp. Because, over the years I had added extra oil through obedience to the Spirit, a drop at a time. In 1985 my wife was killed in a head-on automobile accident. We'd been married for 19 years. We had 6 children. She waited for me when I went on my mission and we were married in the SL Temple. In one move, 3 teenage boys, who were breaking the law, crossed the center line and hit her straight on and killed her. It almost killed my little boy, who was 18 months old, and in the car at that time. So, in one move, everything that I had, that I had worked for, and found pleasurable, everything that meant anything, was just changed. I was left a widower with a bunch of little kids, all alone. I can tell you that it was a traumatic experience. It was horrible. An interesting thing happened. When the funeral came, and I was standing next to my wife's casket, and people were coming by, and they were so sorry, and giving me condolences. An interesting thing happened. I started consoling them! I found myself filled with the Spirit. For a few minutes, while I was there, I was able to teach and testify and console people. Even at her funeral, while I was sitting with my little kids, I had the spirit testify to me to get up and go speak at my wife's funeral. I got up and spoke, and I spoke on life and death and the beauty of the marriage relationship, and temple covenants, and I was filled with the Spirit. I wasn't unhappy. I wasn't mourning. What happened was, I needed extra oil. That day when my wife was killed, my lamp started to go out. But, for a lifetime, for adding a drop at a time of oil, I had some reserves. When I needed it, the Lord poured in the extra oil. It was a great experience. People remarked and said, "We're supposed to be comforting you, and you're comforting us." That's what happened there. It wasn't because I'm 'wonderful', it's because I had that extra reserve there, from a lifetime of adding on a drop at a time. Was I all the time obedient? No. Was I a sinner? Yes, but there was enough time in my life where I was obedient, that that extra container had some oil in it that I could draw on, when the night was really dark. And, the Lord poured in extra oil, and I was able to have light to light my way through that difficult time. That's the oil in the vessels. That parable teaches us that at some time, it's going to get a lot darker in the world than it is right now. The oil you've got in your lamp won't be enough. It's good to have oil in your lamp, but it won't be enough for the day that's coming up. Pres. Eyring said that 'the day of casual membership in this church is past. If you think you can survive what's coming, based on your activity levels in the past, you can't.' It's going to demand more. So you're going to need extra oil in your lamps to get through that darkest time, just before

8 midnight when it changes from telestial to terrestrial to Millennial.