The Holy Spirit in the Earth
There are those, today, who say that Christianity is the problem and not the answer. They blame it for wars because many wars are over religion and Christianity is a major contender in world religion. However, true Christianity is not a religion at all, but a relationship with our creator. In true Christianity there is a change in one’s spirit and that one becomes very charitable, but at the same time, that one despises sin because it is harmful.
This paper gives an example of the true Holy Spirit influence.
In Judges 19 there is a terrible atrocity recorded. It seems that an upright man, a Levite had married his concubine and she was untrue to him and went back to her father’s house in Bethlehem in Judah.
Four months later, the Levite decides to go get his wife. The father-in-law keeps persuading him to eat, drink and be merry and put off the trip home. The fifth day was turning out the same way, but toward evening, the Levite decided to end the delays and get going. By the time he and his concubine had traveled to Jebus, it was getting dark. The Levite decided not to stay in a place of strangers, (the Jebusites lived there) and he traveled a little further to Gibeah, a Benjamite city. No one invited him into their house so he sat on the street. Finally a man came and begged him to go home with him because it wasn't safe in the street. As he and his host ate and drank, a group of Benjamite men beat on his door and demanded that he send the guest out so they could have sex with him. The good man of the house offers his virgin daughter and the concubine instead. The men outside refused the offer and demanded the guest.
The guest, a godly man, I would assume since he was headed for the house of the Lord, shoved his concubine out to them. They have abusive sex with her all night and finally leave her on the doorpost almost dead.
When the Levite got up in the morning, he made preparations to leave and went outside and said to his wife, "Up, and let us be going." He received no answer, for she was dead. He put her body on the beast of burden, and when he got home, he cut her up in twelve pieces and sent a part of her with a massage to each of the tribes of Israel.
Israel was outraged and they went to war with the Benjamites because they would not stand against their brothers who offended. But after they killed off most of the Benjamites, they had compassion and devised a plan to get the remaining Benjamites, wives lest the tribe become extinct. They had vowed not to give their daughters to them, so they devised a plan to have a dance and arranged for the Benjamite men to snatch young girls to be their wives.
Think about this: The one good man offered his poor virgin to these animals. Today a good man would fight to the finish before he would allow his daughter to be treated like that.
The godly Levite shoved his wife out to them. A godly man, today, would fight to the finish before he allowed his wife to be treated like that.
Did this godly man at least wait up until the wickedness ended so he could rescue the woman? No. He went to bed and slept and woke and took care of his needs and then went out to leave. He didn’t even go out to see if she was okay in the morning. When he went out, he saw her lying there, and he does nothing for her. When he was ready to go, he said, "Let’s go." That’s as cold-hearted as you can get.
Then Israel did the right thing in dealing harshly with those who performed or condoned such behavior. And it was good to have compassion for the few remaining of the tribe. But, to arrange for young girls to be snatched and forced to be brides to a different tribe and to a people who had been slain for depravity? No! Most people, today, would not treat females as if they were mere property.
This story got me to thinking about how much men have improved since then. Today, most people would fight to the death to stop what happened and to protect their loved ones. They wouldn’t even have to be godly to do that. The only people who wouldn’t fight to stop it would be the most base, cowardly or wicked kind of people.
We’re civilized. We hear of barbaric acts and think that society is at it’s worst, but we (society) have come a long way. Who is responsible for this? This vast improvement is because Jesus came and not only preached love and caring, but he showed it to the max. I believe this great improvement in mankind is due to the presence of the Holy Spirit in the earth. And I believe that it’s also because many people think that what Jesus did does cover their sin and they are grateful, and since they have received mercy, they show more mercy. The Good News of God’s love and grace motivate people to try to behave better. Also, grace, available to all, was introduced in the New Testament, and men are enjoying grace and learning to be graceful.
Think of how barbaric it would be here if God hadn’t done what he did over 2000 years ago.
Think about what was happening in America back in the days of slavery. It was barbaric. But God got a few people’s attention and worked with them to persuade the many. And today, most people find that kind of treatment, of any person or people, to be atrocious.
So, mankind has come a long way, just having the influence of the Holy Spirit here, even though most people don’t allow him to have full sway in their lives.
© Sylvia Huffnagle
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Spirits
GOD is the good Spirit, and He lives forever and reigns supreme. But there are evil spirits. They come in and influence our thoughts and actions when we disobey the good Spirit. We were created by love (God is love); we were created in love; we were created to be loved, and we were created to love others. This comes about when we become a habitation of God. (Ephesians 2:2) God, being charity, himself, desires to express himself and share himself. Goodness, such as love, joy, peace, knowledge, wisdom, understanding, patience, gentleness, kindness, generosity, self-sacrifice, etc. are incomplete without being shared. This Spirit cannot do good while suppressed. God seeks expression.
But so do evil spirits seek expression. Herein lies the problem. God is a gentleman and only lives where he is welcome. But the devil and his cohorts are pushy, lawless, bullies, liars, and deceivers. They try to take over. They gain power through our emotions, our lack of knowledge, and in our desires. They tell us what we want to hear. They convince us to do what we want to do. They cause us to make harmful choices. Every time we make a decision to disobey God, we have made a decision that will do harm.
There is salvation and deliverance for man. It is found in Jesus Christ. Why him? While on earth , Jesus made sure he was always a habitation for God's Spirit. He submitted to God's will and way at all times and was, therefore, protected from evil (harm) and from doing evil. After he passed all his tests and trials, he was in a position to do something about ours. He took our place in death in order to give us life. He died for us when he had no death coming. He did it because God asked him to. God promised to raise him back to life if he would do this. He believed God. This was what Adam and Eve didn't do. Jesus countered their mistakes. Their choices relinquished the kingdom to Satan. (God said to Adam, have dominion over the earth.) Jesus took back the kingdom from Satan. Through his choices, he had dominion over his feelings, thoughts and actions. He obeyed God. He ruled. He is the second Adam.
God offers us a second chance to live. This is done by receiving Jesus as your Savior (appropriating what he did to defeat the devil, to pay the price for our sin, and restore us to spiritual life) and by making him Lord in your life. He has proven himself trustworthy and able to make all the right choices. He is the only one who can save you from evil because he is the only one who overcame evil and he can do it for you. Adam and Eve messed up by submitting to the liar. Jesus overcame by submitting to the Father. You can overcome by receiving Jesus into your heart and submitting to him.
© Sylvia Huffnagle
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Renewing the Mind
We are born selfish. Our entire world at that time is ourselves. As we become aware of our surroundings and other people, we are bombarded with commercials and entertainment that confirm over and over that life is for us to enjoy.
Most of us end up not enjoying life. We get depressed. We were supposed to look nice, have nice things, have a good marriage, have wonderful children, be good parents, have successful careers and be well liked. What went wrong?
The problem is that sin entered the world through Adam and Eve. God gave mankind the ability to choose good or evil, blessings or curses, life or death. The liar convinces mankind that they can have good and evil, blessings without right choices and life even though they live in death.
Because of this, everything is all mixed up, and instead of the additions we look for, we experience subtractions. What can we do?
There is good news! Jesus has saved the day. How?
You see, he didn’t get wrapped up in the "We-serve-ourselves’ way of thinking. He kept his focus on "I serve my heavenly Father." And because he trained his mind to think God’s way, he succeeded in choosing good, choosing blessings and in choosing life. Now, he offers it all to us. How do we get it? Just receive him. That is, you must repent of your way of thinking and doing and receive a new way, God’s way. Jesus is the way, the truth and the life. To get on the winning way, you must receive him as you Savior. He became the propitiation or savior of the world through what he did to make atonement for Adam and Eve’s and all of mankind’s wrong choices. What did he do? He made the right choices. He chose to obey God. He chose to lay down his life and with God’s permission take it up again. He bore our sins on the cross so that we can be washed clean of all sin, be totally forgiven and be given spiritual life again.
The second thing you must do to have goodness, blessings and life is to make Jesus the Lord of you life. Why? Because he did it right. He’s the only one. God ordained that we can have life by dying to the old way of living and receiving Jesus as the one who influences our choices rather than making our choices based upon what we want.
In order to live the life of renewal, you must study the Bible and learn to rethink almost everything. You have been taught wrong from the day you were born. Now you must be taught the right way. Then end result is eternal blessedness. But you may have to give up the driving desire to enjoy today in order to have the promised enjoyable tomorrow. Why? Because in order to have the enjoyable life that we desire, we must be patient while God teaches all those we depend upon for our happiness to think right. FEAR NOT! If you truly desire God’s kind of happiness, it will not be so hard. He will give you "a new heart." This new heart will want to do things God’s way; therefore, it will not be a burden, it will only be a challenge.
© Sylvia Huffnagle
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Call the Solemn Assembly
Joel: 1:1-4: The word of the LORD that came to Joel the son of Pethuel. 2: Hear this, ye old men, and give ear, all ye inhabitants of the land. Hath this been in your days, or even in the days of your fathers? 3: Tell ye your children of it, and let your children tell their children, and their children another generation. 4: That which the palmerworm hath left hath the locust eaten; and that which the locust hath left hath the cankerworm eaten; and that which the cankerworm hath left hath the caterpiller eaten.
(I liken this to the post-modern church of today. The churches could take up this lament: Isa: 26:18: We have been with child, we have been in pain, we have as it were brought forth wind; we have not wrought any deliverance in the earth; neither have the inhabitants of the world fallen.
I am not trying to ridicule or put down the church. My intent is to convince her that it is time to call the solemn assembly. In chapter two I will show just what needs done. I believe that the churches’ crops have been destroyed as described above.
When God sent Jesus and called us to repentance he had in mind what is written in Jer: 24:7: And I will give them an heart to know me, that I am the LORD: and they shall be my people, and I will be their God: for they shall return unto me with their whole heart.
But instead it seems to me to be as in Jer: 51:51: We are confounded, because we have heard reproach: shame hath covered our faces: for strangers are come into the sanctuaries of the LORD's house.
Below is what God says must be done to get back on tract. A little dab will not do you. We need to do this God’s way. We cannot make a few adjustment. We cannot try new ways. We must do this God’s way.)
5-8: Awake, ye drunkards, and weep; and howl, all ye drinkers of wine, because of the new wine; for it is cut off from your mouth. 6: For a nation is come up upon my land, strong, and without number, whose teeth are the teeth of a lion, and he hath the cheek teeth of a great lion. 7: He hath laid my vine waste, and barked my fig tree: he hath made it clean bare, and cast it away; the branches thereof are made white. 8: Lament like a virgin girded with sackcloth for the husband of her youth.
(Why does he call us drunkards? It is because we have drunk fermented wine in abundance, but we have not feasted on God’s new wine--Eph: 5:18: And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit;
A nation has attacked God’s church. Who is it? Babylon. All the post-modern beliefs and teachings that take away from the written Word of God or from the truth that Christ has come in the flesh are Babylonian and anti-Christ. The world should not influence the church. In the church, the church should be living and acting like the church. Strangers to the gospel should not feel at home there. They may be made to feel like welcomed strangers, but they should not fit in until they receive Jesus--the Jesus in the Bible. The one who says: You cannot serve God and mammon. The one who says: Why do you call me Lord and do not the things that I say? The one who says: You must forsake all to be my disciple.)
9-13: The meat offering and the drink offering is cut off from the house of the LORD; the priests, the LORD's ministers, mourn. 10: The field is wasted, the land mourneth; for the corn is wasted: the new wine is dried up, the oil languisheth. 11: Be ye ashamed, O ye husbandmen; howl, O ye vinedressers, for the wheat and for the barley; because the harvest of the field is perished.
12-13: The vine is dried up, and the fig tree languisheth; the pomegranate tree, the palm tree also, and the apple tree, even all the trees of the field, are withered: because joy is withered away from the sons of men. 13: Gird yourselves, and lament, ye priests: howl, ye ministers of the altar: come, lie all night in sackcloth, ye ministers of my God: for the meat offering and the drink offering is withholden from the house of your God.
14-15: Sanctify ye a fast, call a solemn assembly, gather the elders and all the inhabitants of the land into the house of the LORD your God, and cry unto the LORD, 15: Alas for the day! for the day of the LORD is at hand, and as a destruction from the Almighty shall it come.
(That’s what we are going to talk about in chapter two. The things described above and below sound to me like the baroness of the church. Some may look at the works of some churches and say: “See how much they do. At least they are trying.” But there is more to this than getting people to come to church. They must be given the Spirit and the Word of the Lord. They must be brought into a condition of holiness--set apart for the Lord--and they must be taught how to live.)
16-20: Is not the meat cut off before our eyes, yea, joy and gladness from the house of our God? 17: The seed is rotten under their clods, the garners are laid desolate, the barns are broken down; for the corn is withered. 18: How do the beasts groan! the herds of cattle are perplexed, because they have no pasture; yea, the flocks of sheep are made desolate. 19: O LORD, to thee will I cry: for the fire hath devoured the pastures of the wilderness, and the flame hath burned all the trees of the field. 20: The beasts of the field cry also unto thee: for the rivers of waters are dried up, and the fire hath devoured the pastures of the wilderness.
Joel 2:1-11: Blow ye the trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm in my holy mountain: let all the inhabitants of the land tremble: for the day of the LORD cometh, for it is nigh at hand; 2: A day of darkness and of gloominess, a day of clouds and of thick darkness, as the morning spread upon the mountains: a great people and a strong; there hath not been ever the like, neither shall be any more after it, even to the years of many generations. 3: A fire devoureth before them; and behind them a flame burneth: the land is as the garden of Eden before them, and behind them a desolate wilderness; yea, and nothing shall escape them. 4: The appearance of them is as the appearance of horses; and as horsemen, so shall they run. 5: Like the noise of chariots on the tops of mountains shall they leap, like the noise of a flame of fire that devoureth the stubble, as a strong people set in battle array. 6: Before their face the people shall be much pained: all faces shall gather blackness. 7: They shall run like mighty men; they shall climb the wall like men of war; and they shall march every one on his ways, and they shall not break their ranks: 8: Neither shall one thrust another; they shall walk every one in his path: and when they fall upon the sword, they shall not be wounded. 9: They shall run to and fro in the city; they shall run upon the wall, they shall climb up upon the houses; they shall enter in at the windows like a thief. 10: The earth shall quake before them; the heavens shall tremble: the sun and the moon shall be dark, and the stars shall withdraw their shining: 11: And the LORD shall utter his voice before his army: for his camp is very great: for he is strong that executeth his word: for the day of the LORD is great and very terrible; and who can abide it?
(Everyone thinks this mighty army is the church, but it is not. It says in verse eleven that it is God’s army, but it is His army to execute His wrath. Look at verse 20. It is Babylon--New Age--Gnosticism--Post-modern thinking. It has crept into every venue of life on planet earth.)
12-14: Therefore also now, saith the LORD, turn ye even to me with all your heart, and with fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning: 13: And rend your heart, and not your garments, and turn unto the LORD your God: for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repenteth him of the evil. 14: Who knoweth if he will return and repent, and leave a blessing behind him; even a meat offering and a drink offering unto the LORD your God?
15-17: Blow the trumpet in Zion, sanctify a fast, call a solemn assembly: 16: Gather the people, sanctify the congregation, assemble the elders, gather the children, and those that suck the breasts: let the bridegroom go forth of his chamber, and the bride out of her closet. 17: Let the priests, the ministers of the LORD, weep between the porch and the altar, and let them say, Spare thy people, O LORD, and give not thine heritage to reproach, that the heathen should rule over them: wherefore should they say among the people, Where is their God?
(What God wants us to do--what has to be done to gain the restoration we need is to call all those who love God--all those who care about the church--all those who want God to manifest Himself in a mighty way--to the house of prayer. They are to drop everything. Don’t worry about meals. Don’t worry about duties. Get to the house of God and fall on your face and cry out for God to restore all that has been taken away. Below, God tells us what He will do for us when we do this.)
18-20: Then will the LORD be jealous for his land, and pity his people. 19: Yea, the LORD will answer and say unto his people, Behold, I will send you corn, and wine, and oil, and ye shall be satisfied therewith: and I will no more make you a reproach among the heathen: 20: But I will remove far off from you the northern army, and will drive him into a land barren and desolate, with his face toward the east sea, and his hinder part toward the utmost sea, and his stink shall come up, and his ill savour shall come up, because he hath done great things.
21-27: Fear not, O land; be glad and rejoice: for the LORD will do great things. 22: Be not afraid, ye beasts of the field: for the pastures of the wilderness do spring, for the tree beareth her fruit, the fig tree and the vine do yield their strength. 23: Be glad then, ye children of Zion, and rejoice in the LORD your God: for he hath given you the former rain moderately, and he will cause to come down for you the rain, the former rain, and the latter rain in the first month. 24: And the floors shall be full of wheat, and the fats shall overflow with wine and oil. 25: And I will restore to you the years that the locust hath eaten, the cankerworm, and the caterpiller, and the palmerworm, my great army which I sent among you. 26: And ye shall eat in plenty, and be satisfied, and praise the name of the LORD your God, that hath dealt wondrously with you: and my people shall never be ashamed. 27: And ye shall know that I am in the midst of Israel, and that I am the LORD your God, and none else: and my people shall never be ashamed.
(He will send His teachers and preachers and they will teach all--the full council of God. Afterwards He will pour out His Spirit upon all flesh.)
28-32: And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions:29: And also upon the servants and upon the handmaids in those days will I pour out my spirit.30: And I will shew wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke.31: The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and the terrible day of the LORD come. 32: And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the LORD shall be delivered: for in mount Zion and in Jerusalem shall be deliverance, as the LORD hath said, and in the remnant whom the LORD shall call.
(As the song says: These are the days of Elijah. ... This is the end of the age. The war is between Christ and the anti-Christ spirit in the world. God wants to pour out His Spirit. God wants people to call on His name and be saved. Let’s do it! Call the solemn assembly.)
© Sylvia Huffnagle
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The Spotless Bride
Eph: 5:1-5: Be ye therefore followers of God, as dear children; 2: And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweetsmelling savour. 3: But fornication, and all uncleanness, or covetousness, let it not be once named among you, as becometh saints; 4: Neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor jesting, which are not convenient: but rather giving of thanks. 5: For this ye know, that no whoremonger, nor unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, hath any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God.
6-10: Let no man deceive you with vain words: for because of these things cometh the wrath of God upon the children of disobedience. 7: Be not ye therefore partakers with them. 8: For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of light: 9: (For the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness and truth;) 10: Proving what is acceptable unto the Lord.
11-16: And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them. 12: For it is a shame even to speak of those things which are done of them in secret. 13: But all things that are reproved are made manifest by the light: for whatsoever doth make manifest is light. 14: Wherefore he saith, Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light. 15: See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, 16: Redeeming the time, because the days are evil.
17-21: Wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is. 18: And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit; 19: Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord;
20: Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ; 21: Submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God.
22-24: Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord. 23: For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the saviour of the body.
24: Therefore as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in every thing.
25-33: Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it; 26: That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, 27: That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish. 28: So ought men to love their wives as their own bodies. He that loveth his wife loveth himself. 29: For no man ever yet hated his own flesh; but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the Lord the church: 30: For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones. 31: For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh. 32: This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the church. 33: Nevertheless let every one of you in particular so love his wife even as himself; and the wife see that she reverence her husband.
(I included the whole chapter because it pretty much sums up the spotless bride, but it is verse 27 that I am writing this article about: That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish. I will give you a few other passages to establish the kind of bride Christ will marry and then I’ll show you the meticulous preparation involved in getting ready for the groom.)
2Cor:11:2: For I am jealous over you with godly jealousy: for I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ.
Jn:13:8: Peter saith unto him, Thou shalt never wash my feet. Jesus answered him, If I wash thee not, thou hast no part with me.
Jn:17:19: And for their sakes I sanctify myself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth. (Sanctified means set apart--you are set apart from the world and betrothed unto Christ.)
1Tm:6:14: That thou keep this commandment without spot, unrebukeable, until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ:
2Pt:3:14: Wherefore, beloved, seeing that ye look for such things, be diligent that ye may be found of him in peace, without spot, and blameless.
This is how the bride is made ready for the king:
Esther 2:12: Now when every maid's turn was come to go in to king Ahasuerus, after that she had been twelve months, according to the manner of the women, (for so were the days of their purifications accomplished, to wit, six months with oil of myrrh, and six months with sweet odours, and with other things for the purifying of the women;
(The first thing the bride of the king goes through to be sanctified for him is six months of intensive and expensive conditioning. Then she goes through another six months of perfume treatments and other purifying treatments.
We can compare this to intensive conditioning to what the Holy spirit and the written word of God do for Christ’s bride. Then the true bride of Christ goes through a period of intensive training that she might offer up to God a sweet smelling fragrance. That would be her testimony or lifestyle and her prayers.)
13-14: Then thus came every maiden unto the king; whatsoever she desired was given her to go with her out of the house of the women unto the king's house. 14: In the evening she went, and on the morrow she returned into the second house of the women, to the custody of Shaashgaz, the king's chamberlain, which kept the concubines: she came in unto the king no more, except the king delighted in her, and that she were called by name(After all that you are ready to please the king. Have you gone through God’s beauty treatments? Is your spirit beautiful?)
15-17: Now when the turn of Esther, the daughter of Abihail the uncle of Mordecai, who had taken her for his daughter, was come to go in unto the king, she required nothing but what Hegai the king's chamberlain, the keeper of the women, appointed. And Esther obtained favour in the sight of all them that looked upon her. 16: So Esther was taken unto king Ahasuerus into his house royal in the tenth month, which is the month Tebeth, in the seventh year of his reign.
17: And the king loved Esther above all the women, and she obtained grace and favour in his sight more than all the virgins; so that he set the royal crown upon her head, and made her queen instead of Vashti.
(Esther was examined and found completely ready to be presented to the king. The king loved her. In Prov: 4:6, 8:17, Jn 10:17, and 14:21, we see that Wisdom and Jesus said they would love those that pleased them--those who listen to them--so to say the king loved the bride relating to Christ and the church it means He is able to bestow His love upon her.)
18: Then the king made a great feast unto all his princes and his servants, even Esther's feast; and he made a release to the provinces, and gave gifts, according to the state of the king.
(It is God’s desire and plan for the redeemed to gather together and go through the beauty treatments and get ready to be Christ’s bride. The spotless bride will enjoy the wedding supper with her groom while the world is experiencing the wrath.
Have oil in your lamps and keep them burning. The Holy Spirit is the oil. He is your teacher and He is the one who leads you in daily life decisions. He is the one who anoints you to witness and minister to other. He is the one who empowers you to walk the walk and talk the talk.)
Mt:25:1-13: 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. 6: And at midnight there was a cry made, Behold, the bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet him. 7: Then all those virgins arose, and trimmed their lamps. 8: And the foolish said unto the wise, Give us of your oil; for our lamps are gone 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. 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.
© Sylvia Huffnagle
