Parables 08: The 10 Virgins

Let me show you a pattern. In the doctrine of covenant section 130, you don't need to turn that. It's just, let me just show you a pattern. But in the doctrine of covenant section 130, Joseph Smith wrote, "I was once praying very earnestly." And I think he's being a little bit kind when he says once. I think this was a subject, I mean, if you're the prophet of the restoration, I often do you wanna know about the second coming. I think this is something he thought a lot about. But he says, "I was once praying very earnestly "to know the time of the second coming of the Son of Man." I mean, we're preparing for that. Joseph is the prophet of the restoration. He wants to know about the second coming. When I heard a voice repeat the following, "Joseph, my son, if thou livest until thou art "35 years old thou shalt see the face of the Son of Man, "therefore let this suffice and," what does he say? Stop asking, "I'm not gonna talk to you "about the second coming. "I'm not gonna tell you about the second coming." And I think that's significant. And we're gonna talk a little bit about why, but Joseph was not told. Of all people who should know, Joseph was not told. Now, same thing happened when Jesus is ascending, oops, when Jesus is ascending after his resurrection in Acts chapter one, they ask him the same thing. We'll thou at this time, look at verse six. Lord, we'll thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel. Is this the time? Is this the end? And what did he say? Kind of the same thing. What did he say? It is not for you to know the times or the seasons which the Father hath put in his own power. How many people have asked about the second coming? How many prophets? How many missionaries? How many people would not like to know about the second coming? And the Lord says, not for not the time, but there was once when he was asked and he answered. There is one account where Jesus goes into great detail about the second coming. It is a treasure given all the times. He doesn't answer. The one moment where he answers the question is a treasure. Interestingly, it appears in the New Testament. The New Testament has the Savior's account of his second coming. Not the Book of Mormon, not the doctrine of covenants. The New Testament. And three parables are very related. And I want to get to the parables, but I feel like it's in our best interest to lay the groundwork and talk in detail about what Jesus said about the second coming. So let me walk you through it. Let me, I'm going to use the Book of Matthew. You'll see why in just a minute. So let me turn in the New Testament to the Book of Matthew. Now, we'll just you chapter headings just to kind of get our bearings. Start in Matthew chapter 20, nope, I want 21. Matthew 21, this is Sunday and Jesus rides triumphantly into Jerusalem. So this is the beginning of his last week. He will be dead on Friday and resurrected on the following Sunday, but he rides triumphantly into Jerusalem. Now chapter 22, he teaches in the temple. We're now at notice in 21, on verse 20, is this is now Tuesday. So Monday he comes in, he curses the fig tree. Tuesday he teaches in the temple. All of the rest of Matthew 21, all of 22 and all of 23. Now let's go to the very end of 23. So 22 is where he gives the parables about the husbandry. He remember when he says, is it lawful to pay tribute to Caesar? Show me the coin, Brenda and to Caesar. All of that was Tuesday in the temple with the Pharisees. Tuesday night as they are leaving the temple. No, Tuesday night as he leaves the Jews. He says, you shall not see me henceforth, till you shall say blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord. Hinting at coming in the clouds of glory. You're not gonna see me again until I descend in the clouds of glory. And then on the way out of Jerusalem, they start having a conversation and Jesus went out and departed from the temple. And his disciples came to him for to show him the buildings of the temple. And Jesus said, see ye not all these things. Verily I say unto you, there shall not be left here one stone upon another that shall not be thrown down. So the very last two things that the disciples heard, they heard him say to the Pharisees, the next time you see me, I'll be in the clouds of glory. And this temple will be destroyed. Then they go out to the mount of allens. This is Matthew 24. Everyone remember that, that's very important. Matthew 24, they go out to the mount of allens and they ask two questions. What are the two questions? What would you ask? If you heard Jesus talk about coming in the clouds of glory and in the temple being destroyed. What would you ask? So the two questions tell, so they're in the mount of allens, that's outside Jerusalem. So Jerusalem has a wall around it. They go outside, they're near the garden of guessemony. He loved to go out to the mount of allens. The disciples come to him privately, so it's just him and the 12th. Tell us when shall these things be? And what shall be the sign of thy coming? And the end of the world. Tell us about the destruction of the temple and tell us about the second coming. Now, what follows, what chapter are we in? The quiz, a chapter are we in. Matthew, that's important. You'll see why that's important in just a minute. What follows is the sermon about his second coming. Now, Joseph Smith changed it so much. He rearranged it, he added, and it's so vital to us that the Joseph Smith translation for Matthew 24 has been canonized. There are only two JST sections that are in the scriptures. Everything else in the footnotes, the appendix, there are nestudies, the helps, but we have canonized two Joseph Smith translation changes. One in the Old Testament and one in the New Testament. Genesis 1 through 6, we call it, the JST of Genesis 1 through 6, we call, anyone know? The Book of Moses. The Book of Moses is the JST of Genesis 1 through 6. And the other, this chapter, Matthew 24, if you open up your Pearl of Great Price, let me go to the title page, which one of these is the JST of Matthew 24? Right there. There's the JST of Genesis, and there's the JST of Matthew 24. Those two are the only canonized Joseph Smith changes. Because this chapter is where Jesus talks about the second coming. And so it's in our scriptures, it's Joseph Smith Matthew. So if I turn to Joseph Smith Matthew, it will begin with those same four questions. Now, this is the better version, this is the cleaned up Joseph Smith version. So they ask him the same two questions, but it's a moral, elaborate first question. What's the first question? Tell us when shall these things be, which thou hast said concerning the destruction of the temple and the Jews? Now what we know because of history is that in 70 AD, about 37 years later, Titus and the Roman army came into Jerusalem and slaughtered them. That was the last times the Jews had a temple. That was the last time the Jews offered sacrifices in the temple, and that's a tragedy. The Romans came in and slaughtered the Jews, and they slaughtered the temple, and it wasn't until World War II, when after Hitler's atrocities, we created the state of Israel and put them back on their holy land. But they were slaughtered, and Jesus is gonna tell them about that, how to prepare for that. The second question is, what is the sign of thy coming and the end of the world or the destruction of the wicked, which is the end of the world? Now notice that from the rest of chapter 4 through verse 21, I drew a line, this is the transition from destruction of Jerusalem to second coming. So now let's pay attention after the semi-colon. Let's read the only account that we have where Jesus talks about living in the latter days. Now you've studied the scriptures enough to know that the Savior typically will say in prophecy, "Here's the problem." And then, what's he going to say next? Here's the solution. It's going to be grim for a few minutes. So bear with me. It's going to be very grim as Jesus describes the latter days. And the problems that we face, the life that we, the world we live in, this has been. He came from Laos. He can tell you all about the atrocities of human beings in the latter days. So let's describe what Jesus saw and said to them as he described our day. And then let's hear him give the list of, "Here's how you thrive." Here's what you need to do to be happy to find success, to thrive in the latter days. So first the problem. We'll make two lists today, problems and then solutions. Now I'm going to make an assumption and I think it's a pretty safe assumption. If you were to see a movie and you wanted to tell me about it and you loved the movie. Oh, price, you got to go see this movie. I'm going to make the assumption that the first thing out of your mouth is what you liked the best about the movie. Now what we typically do, we start with our best. So if Jesus is going to say, "Here's my concerns about the latter day." Isn't it safe to assume that the first thing out of his mouth is his biggest concern? I think that's fairly safe to assume. Here's my biggest concern. Followed by this, followed by this, followed by this. He's going to give four. As I read this, maybe you can find others, but as I read this, the Savior is going to say, "I have four major concerns about the latter days." Here's the problem of living in the latter days. And here's what's interesting. I think those of us living in the latter days, if we were to make the list, we would put that one first. I'm pretty sure Ben would. After what he's seen in his childhood in escaping a homeland to come to a safer country. I know many people who had list number four first. I think I probably would have before I read this. But I want you to ponder why Jesus puts this one first. And I guarantee, if you think about it, you'll say, "Yep, that's the biggest problem of our day." That is the biggest problem of living in the latter days. So what are the Savior's concerns? Let me have you take a look at the rest of 21 and 22. This is "Those of you at home." This is Joseph Smith Matthew in the Proof of Great Price, verses 21 and 22. Read that. "His biggest concern." Now I'm going to show you all sorts of other second witnesses. We'll bring in other. This is not the only time we're going to see this, but I want you to see it. Hear it from his lips. And then we're going to collaborate with other Scripture. The Savior's biggest concern is that we are going to be deceived by an imitation. Filled by an imitation. That something else will save you. His concern is that we will be, I'm going to say fooled because I want to save the word deceived for a minute. Filled by an imitation happiness. That's what he means by low Christ. Here is Christ, there is Christ. Here is salvation, there is salvation. Now let me show you, as a second witness, the Book of Mormon begins with Lehigh's dream and what's the whole point of Lehigh's dream. Here's a tree that will make you happy and here's an imitation. Don't be fooled by the imitation. In fact, let me give you a tool so that you're not fooled. What are we given in Lehigh's dream to make sure we get to the tree and not the building? The rod. Watch how that plays out here. But the biggest concern seems to be that you're going to be fooled by an imitation. And look at the very end of verse 22. Who's going to be fooled? The very elect according to the covenant. And I don't mean to be blunt, but there are a lot of people walking away from the church today. And I'm telling you, they are fooled by an imitation. They are fooled by an imitation happiness. Let me give you another witness. We've got the Book of Mormon presenting very early the idea of there is a tree. And there is an imitation. Don't be fooled because if you're fooled, you fall into the river. Now Nephi was allowed to see our day, right? So Nephi sees all the details of our day and is told, "You're not going to write this." He sees John. John's going to write. And we're all like, "No, let Nephi write it." I love John's account. I love the Book of Revelation. But if Nephi had written that, it would be a very different book. Don't you agree? So the Lord says, "No, Nephi, you're not going to write it. John's going to write it." But Nephi, you're going to see it. I'm going to show you the end of the world. Now, there are. He didn't write it, but there are moments where Nephi is allowed to hint. One of my favorite chapters of the Book of Mormon is 1 Nephi chapter 22 because Nephi is allowed to talk about what he saw without saying what he saw. So 1 Nephi chapter 22 has a lot of latter-day little hints. Let me show you a surprising one. Nephi says, "Let me tell you how the world ends." And it's not what you think. I guarantee most of us are thinking that the world ends like every superhever movie, right? There's a moment where the bad guys push down the good guys and they're beating up the good guys, but in the end, the good guys beat up the bad guys, right? It's every superhever movie. That is not how the world ends. Good does not defeat evil. Nephi says, "I've seen it." It's not good that defeats evil. Brigham is saying, "What? I'm not watching that movie." Verse 13, "Tell me how the movie ends." "Tell me how the world ends." This is second. First Nephi chapter 22 verse 13. What happens, Brigham? Good doesn't defeat evil. Evil defeats evil. They war among themselves. They destroy each other. We'll be off in Zion and they'll destroy each other. Now, just, I love patterns. You know, I love patterns, right? Do you remember the United States? We started here. The Lord had to get the church out because what was going to happen over here in the 1860s? They're going to destroy each other. So it was Lord put the church. He sends the church out here while they're destroying each other. Do you see the pattern? Lord's going to send us to Zion while they destroy each other. That's how the world ends. Nephi saw it. Now, the other thing he says, starting in verse 17, let me show you all the red here. He says, "I can't tell you how it ends, but I can tell you what. Look at all that I marked in red. I'm not going to tell you how. I'm not allowed to tell you how it ends, but I've seen it and I can confidently tell you what." The righteous need not worry. Don't worry. You're going to be just fine. The righteous need not fear. The righteous will be preserved. He says that over and over and over again. He will preserve the righteous by his power. The righteous shall not perish. The Lord shall surely prepare away for his people. He saw the end and he said, "Guys, don't stress. You're going to be fine. Just make sure you stay on the covenant path." And then watch what Nephi does. Nephi presents this whole thing in terms of false churches. Do you remember how Nephi's vision began? back in chapter 14, he saw the formation of, or not 14, 13, sorry, chapter 13. How does chapter 13 begin? I saw the formation of a great church, most abominable above all other churches. It slays the church of God. Now notice he starts talking about, notice here's Thou saws the found formation of that great and abominable church, but notice it's they, they, they, it's all over, they. So all of the enemy combined, all of the challenges combined into one description, but they're very individual. See what the Lord's doing? He's presenting the enemy in the latter days is combined as a great church, but they, they. So then when we get to chapter, yeah, chapter 20, first Nephi chapter 22, he starts telling us who the they are. And I think this is significant. Here is the fool. Here's the imitation. Nephi saw the latter days and he saw that there were five major false churches that are going to deceive the very elect. I don't think they're the only imitations, but here are some of the major imitations that Nephi saw. And he describes them as churches. They're not religious organizations, but he puts them together. Remember that great and abominable church, but they. So what is one foolish imitation that latter days saints are being fooled by? What pulls people off the covenant path? The church of getting gain. I can't tell you how many people have got caught up in money is my savior. Money will save me. That's what I need is more money. And it becomes their God. And it pulls people off the covenant path. Now on another day, let's talk word of wisdom. I think the word of wisdom is a great part of what we're about to talk about, but someday we'll talk about this. All those who are built up to get power over the flesh. I think this is the church of controlling you through addiction. The word of wisdom was given to warn us about evil and conspiring people who are going to use addiction to control you. And I know what pulls people off the path of goodness. Addiction. Gambling, narcotics, social media, gaming, the whole lot of addictions that become their God. They are controlled by their God. And they have power over the flesh. That's a sad false church. Now that's a subject for another day, but go ahead, Michelle. I'm going to say, and as numbers, sometimes we look at those addictions that we know are addictions that we forget ourselves. When we're saying we don't have time for our ministry, we don't have time to do this. Addiction comes in many forms. It comes in many forms. Look at the third one. I think this is kind of a carryover, but it's own church. There are those who walk off the path because they care more about being liked. That's my God. That's my low here is Christ low there. I care about what people think about me. So I post selfies. I look for likes. And there's a lot of people who are caught up in I want the praise of the world. That's their God. And if I saw it as a false church. And this one is one of the most though this I just this is the church. One of the churches I hate the most. And I think you've all seen someone you love pulled off the covenant path by lust. By lust. Joseph Smith said that the elders of Israel would struggle more with that than with any other sin. They will be controlled more by that than any other sin. And a lot of people are pulled off the church, pulled off the path because of the lust of the flesh. And if I nailed it. And then I love the fifth one, the things of the world. How many people are walking away from the gospel because they just desire the things of the world, the philosophies of the world, the ways of the world. And so they walk away. Now, Nifa saw it. The Book of Mormon is filled with it. And Jesus prophesied. Do you see why he listed as number one? Filled by an imitation is the biggest problem in our day. Don't be fooled by an imitation. Don't leave the path and go to the building and fall into the river which so many people are doing. And he thoughts on that one? Do you agree with him now? That's a problem in our day. Now, let's go back to Pearl of Great Price. Let's go back to our list. What are the other problems that Jesus talks about? So starting in verse 23, so fooled by an imitation. And then in 23, he mentions number two. He repeats it all the way into 28. So 23 through 28, tell me what the problem is. War. War. But if you look at the prophecies in our day, it's not what you think. In the Book of Helaman, which is a pattern. Remember, Helaman is right before the coming of Christ, which means Helaman is a pattern of the days right before the coming of Christ. Something happens in Helaman twice that never happened in Alma. All those wars with Amalakaya, all those wars that Captain Roni fought, are something that never happened that happens twice in Helaman. Helaman know where the Lamanites got to in Helaman. I love the Book of Mormon. I love that the Book of Mormon just lays out our day so beautifully because I think Helaman as a pattern of the second coming, where do the Lamanites get? In starting in chapter 1, they do it in chapter 1, verse 18. Where do the Lamanites get? To Zera Hemla. To the Lamanites ever get to Zera Hemla under Captain Roni. Nope, never did. It happens not only in chapter 1, but it happens in chapter 4. And I think more men is waving his hands to say, "Do you see what the wars in the latter days are going to be about?" Notice the language. Where did the enemy get? Where did the enemy get in the Book of Helaman? The heart of their lands. The wars in our day are wars of the heart. Now I would guess when I said, "War in the latter days, you're sitting here saying, 'I'm in Utah, there's no war here.' But when we talk about wars of the heart, what do you see all around you? Tell me what the Democrats and the Republicans are doing. Tell me about race and gender. We are fighting wars of the heart. We're fighting wars of ideology. We're fighting over ideas, not land. And that fighting is destroying us. It's happening right here in Utah. It's happening in our families, in our neighborhoods, in our communities. We're fighting over whether or not a trans woman can play in women's sports. We're fighting over the color of skin. And I think the Book of Mormon predicted that the Lamanites would get, the enemy would get to the heart of their lands. Look at the Joseph Smith's prophecy of war. Section 87 is Joseph Smith's prophecy of war. And you got to be careful not to jump the gun. It says it will start in the south and the southern states shall be divided. against the Northern States. Clear reference to the Civil War, where we fought how? Did we fight over land? Were we trying to conquer land? What were we fighting over? Ideologies, lifestyles, and then notice verse 4, "It shall come to pass after many days." So are we talking about Civil War now? No. No. And this never happened in the Civil War. After many days, slaves shall rise up against their masters. The oppressed will rise up against the oppressors. That's the wars of the heart. And we are living to see wars of the heart. And they are tearing our society apart. Now, we're reading Matthew's account, right? We're reading Matthew 24. Turn to Mark's account. Everyone turn to Mark chapter 21. No, no, 13. Sorry. Everyone turn to Mark's account. Mark chapter 13. Notice how Mark describes what Jesus talked about when he said that in the latter days there's going to be war. Mark's description is very powerful. Oh, 14, not 13. Mark 14. No, wait. Hold on. It is 13. I know it's 13. Where is it? There it is. Verse 12. Mark 13, 12. This doesn't sound like the United States Army going and destroying another nation's army. When Jesus talks about wars of the future, what does he describe here? Reagan, would you mind reading that? This is Mark 13, 12. Now the brothers shall portray the brother to death and the father to the son and the children shall rise up against their parents and shall cause them to be put to death. Is that happening? I have a brother-in-law that is so angry at his family and his parents over politics that he wants nothing to do with his family over politics. Wars of the heart. It's exactly what we're fighting. See how right Jesus was. Filled by an imitation wars of the heart. All right. What else did he say? What else does Jesus say? Let's go back to the Pearl of Great Price. So we did 23 through 28. You shall hear of wars and rumors of wars. All right. Now verse 29. What does he talk about? What are the challenges of living in our day and people blaming on global warming or whatever you want to blame it on, but we live in a day with what? Verse 29. Natural disasters. Maybe not even natural. Maybe they're human-made. But we have to deal with disaster. This is back in Joseph Smith's history, Joseph Smith Matthew. This is the Savior's description on that Tuesday night of the latter days. We are dealing with famines and pestilence and earthquakes in diverse places and pandemics and fires. We've seen fires anywhere lately. We've seen floods anywhere lately. Tornados, earthquakes. Now we need to understand what they're doing. There's a reason for earthquakes and fires and famines. Let me take you back to the doctrine in Covenant and the Lord says in section 88 that we need to raise the voice of warning. 81. 88. Verse 81. I sent you out to testify and to warn the people and become with every man who has been warned to warn their neighbor. Therefore they that are without excuse their sins are upon their own heads. So go warn your neighbor. But they're not going to believe you. So verse 88 after your testimony, cometh wrath and indignation. For after your testimony cometh the testimony of what? Earthquakes shall cause the earth to groan and then cometh the testimony and the voice of thunder and lightning and the voice of tempest and the voice of the waves of the sea heaving themselves about beyond their bounds and everything's in commotion. So this is on purpose, right? Tell me what this is. This is the earth saying what? You better repent. Let me take you to section 43. doctrine covenant section 43 in which the Lord says verse 21 for who am I? This is section 43. 21. For if I who am a man do lift up my voice and call upon you and you hate me what will we say when the day come at the thunder? Shall utter their voices from the ends of the earth speaking into the ears of all that live saying what does the thunder say? Tell me every time the thunder strikes in a way that gets your attention what is the thunder saying? Repent and prepare for the great day of the Lord and again when the lightning shall streak forth from the east to the west and shall utter forth their voices unto all that live and make the ears of all tingle that hear saying repent. So what is the reason for the famines and the fires and the floods? It is the testimony of the earth. How many times before destruction do we see the testimony of the earth? Remember Ammonia? First came Alma then came Amulac then came the Ezraum and when they rejected all three who bore their testimony next when the prison walls came down who bore her testimony last right before the destruction? The earth always the case and so don't be surprised if the earth is bearing testimony to the world and you need to pay attention. All right one more it's getting a little gloomy right? Because the Lord is just nailing these this is life in our day. Now hold on we're gonna get to the good news. I promise we'll get to the good news. Let's go back to the Pearl of Great Price Joseph Smith Matthew. All right verse 30. Verse 30. What do we deal with in the latter days? The love of man has waxed cold and iniquity abounds. The love of man has waxed cold and iniquity abounds in Christ wickedness and you see that all over don't you? We see refugees leaving their homeland because the love of man has waxed cold and iniquity abounds. Every night you turn on the news tell me what you see. The love of man has waxed cold. We are dealing with heightened iniquity in our day. Now do you see why I point out that I think most of us would have put four as number one because that's what we face. We don't think about one through three. We feel we're all dealing with someone someone in your life. Their love has waxed cold and you had they have done something horrible to you. That's is the latter days and tell me Jesus didn't nail it when he saw it thousands of years ago. This is what life in the latter days is gonna be like. Now not all gloomy. Let's talk about 31. Love verse 31. Right after Jesus gives his list of how gloomy it's gonna be. What are the challenges of living in the latter days? What does he say in verse 31? Oh we're gonna be building the kingdom of God and who's going to be building it? He's gonna be building. He will be here building his kingdom. He will be with his saints and we're gonna watch marvelous things as we build the kingdom of God. The best thing we're doing right there. That's the best thing going on on earth today right there. We are part of the most amazing thing with everything going down the toilet. Something very very good is happening and every prophet of every dispensation saw it and saw us building it and the heart had peace that the kingdom would succeed, that we would build the kingdom. What they never did, what no Old Testament prophet, what no prophet of any dispensation was able to do other than Enic, we will do. We will build another Enic. We will build and they'll come and they'll join us. We are going to build the kingdom. See the good news? So tell me what the Lord is going to do. Now, after it gives us the glimnos, what is he going to do now? All right, guys, here's the solution. Here are the tools. Here is what needs to be in your arsenal. Not only can you survive, but you can thrive. Let me give you a testimonial to raising a righteous family in a wicked society. On top of every single temple is someone's son. Someone who was told that he lived in the most wicked society that had existed up until that point. Mormon was told that there was never greater wickedness than right there among the Nephites in the end. And standing on top of every temple is the Son he raised, which says what? You can raise a righteous family in a wicked society. That's the gospel message. You can raise a righteous family in a wicked society if you have the tools. Now, here's the beautiful thing. Ready? Before we even read this, I have read this chapter thousands of times. Okay, maybe not. That's maybe an exaggeration, but a lot. And guess how many I have found? Maybe you can find one that's not on my list, but guess how many I have found? Is this a complicated long list of very complicated things? Tell me what the Lord does. Very simple things. Guess how many I have found? Two. Two. The Lord says two things. You want to survive in the latter days? Here's the solution and he gives us two things. Branded that the second thing kind of has a list of three in it, but I'm going to go with the two. I bear testimony before we even do this, that it is very, very simple to succeed in our day. The tools are simple. And there's a danger there. And if I said because they're easy to do, they are also easy to forget to do. Tool number one. So simple. Verse 37. So simple. Tell me what he says. Treasure up my word. Now what was the number one danger? I want to connect some words here. What was the number one danger in verse 22 and 21 and 22 that we would be deceived? Watch for that word. Watch for that word to be repeated. The problem is that we're going to be deceived. And so then he says in verse 37, if we treasure up his word, we shall not be deceived. Now do you see the Book of Mormon screaming out as a second witness? How do you get to the tree instead of the building? You hold to the Word of God. I wish I had a choir here. I wish I had an orchestra playing music as I said this because this is the simplest and yet most profound thing you can do to find peace in the latter days. Treasure up his word. In every form. What are some of the ways the word comes to you? Written word. Scriptures. Treasure the scriptures. Prophetic word. Mouthpiece of the Lord word. Prophets. And what's the most important? What might be the most important? The word that comes to you individually. Treasure up the word that comes to you individually. I remind you what President Nelson said in his very, very first talk. So he becomes his solemn assembly as April of 2018. So here's my outline. There's all my President Nelson talks. April of 2018. Oh, you can't see my outline. If we go to his very, very first talk revelation for the church and for our lives. What did he say? I erased it. I start the year with clean copy so I can mark them up again. Sorry, all my notes are gone. Okay, see if I can find it. There it is. Okay, there it is. Tell me what the President Nelson said in his very, very first talk. In coming days, it will not be possible to survive spiritually without the guiding, directing, comforting, and constant influence of the Holy Ghost. And what did Jesus say 2,000 years ago? Who so treasured up my word shall not be deceived. All right, number two. So simple. I say into you watch, watch. Watch therefore because you know not one hour the Lord come. Why is the Lord not tell us? Brilliant. If he told us what year he was coming, what would we all be doing? Procrastinating. The very fact he doesn't tell us is because he has a strategy. I'm not going to tell you so that you always are watching and prepared because the best way to survive the latter days is to always be prepared for his coming. That's the doctrine. Watch. You don't know if the good man of the house had known and what watch does he would come. He would have watched and he would not have suffered his house to have been broken up but he would have been ready. Therefore, here it is, here's number two. Be ready. Always be ready. Always be ready for him to come. That is how you thrive in the latter days. You assume he's coming today and you are prepared for it. If you are ready for his coming, you will do everything. You will survive the challenges of our day. That's the simple instruction. So, number one, treasure his word. And number two, always be ready. And then he uses this phrase. "Shall find so doing." This is what I want to find you doing. Let me tell you what I want to find you doing, which means you're ready. This is, he's going to make a list. He's about to make a list of what he wants to find us doing. This is what being ready means. Now, that's the end of Matthew 24. So, where would we turn next? Matthew 25 is that list. Matthew 25 is the list the Savior is making. This is what I want to find you doing. These three parables that are in Matthew 25 are the list of what the Savior wants to find us doing. This is what it means to be ready. It is such a simple concept. You're doing these things. You're ready for him. If you're not, you're not ready and you need to make some adjustments. So, do you see the connection to the 10 virgins? What was the problem with the 10 virgins? One of them was not prepared for the darkness they had to endure because he waited. One of them was not prepared. Okay, five of them. Five of them were not prepared. You see the connection? Okay. So, long story short, we're going to do the 10 virgins really quickly. You know the story. There's 10 virgins. They've been invited to the wedding feast. These are good people. but he's longer than they thought. He took longer than he thought and five of them weren't ready for the extended period of time. They weren't prepared. They didn't have oil in their vessels. Therefore, they weren't at the wedding feast. Now, what's the point? Being prepared means having oil in your vessel. Now, let me tell you where the Lord answers what that means. Back in section 45, let me show you what we have in 45. Now, Joseph is in the process of translating the Bible. He's producing the JST. He hasn't gotten to the New Testament yet. In section 45, the Lord gives us a teaser. He says, "I will show it plainly as I showed it unto my disciples as I stood before them in the flesh. He's about to give us Joseph Smith Matthew." And so, he teases us a little bit. And notice, he's going to talk about things like wars and rumors of wars. Men's hearts shall fell them. The love of men shall wax cold. See the repeat. He's talking about the very things you and I just did. They didn't have it yet. He's teasing them. And notice at the very end, I've marked these all in blue. At the very end, he says, "You'll get more of this when what?" The New Testament is translated. And Joseph produces the JST on the New Testament. Well, we've been reading that. We already have it. But for them, it was a teaser. And in the middle of that teaser, guess what he says. At that day, when I shall come in my glory, shall the parable be fulfilled, which I spate concerning the ten virgins. See the very first parable. For they that are wise have received the truth and have taken the Holy Spirit for their guide. What does it mean to have oil in your vessel? You have a reservoir of spiritual experiences that you can call upon in the darkness. You have filled your life with spiritual experiences. Connections with the Holy Ghost. Times when the Holy Ghost manifested himself to you. And when the darkness comes, you can hold onto those spiritual reservoirs. They will get you through the darkness. That's the message. You know what I want to find? When I come, I want to find that you have a rich reservoir of spiritual experiences throughout your life that you can call upon when the darkness of the latter days comes. Now, can you go to the slushed, you can't even without serving a mission? Absolutely. Not a required covenant. But what is it that those who serve a mission will have for the rest of their lives? A reservoir of spiritual experiences. I don't think a day goes. It's been over 30 years since I came home from my mission. And I don't think a day goes by where I don't think about something that happened in the mission field. It is a reservoir of spiritual experiences that get me going. My oil, my vessel has oil, my lamp has oil in it. There are many times in my life when I have been called upon to use that oil. That's what he wants to find you doing. He wants to find your vessel full that you have taken the spirit for your guide. And you have banked a whole lot of spiritual experiences. You're going to need them. You're going to need to call upon them when darkness comes. They're going to get you through the dark. President Nelson gave a great talk on spiritual momentum. Why would we need spiritual momentum? One time I ran out of gas on a hill. My car died. I ran out of gas, but I was on a hill and I was moving. And even though I had no gas, the engine was off. I'm moving. I coasted into the gas station. And I thought that's a lot like spiritual momentum. If you have the spirit, if you have movement, if you have something in your tank that can take over when the darkness comes. And we'll help you get to that gas station where you can light the fires again. Do you have a reservoir of spiritual experiences that you can call upon? Let me give you an example of someone who did and someone who did not. Let me give you an example of a man who hit a crisis and he discovered he didn't have enough reservoir. He didn't have enough oil in his vessel. If you know me, you know how much I love this man. His name was C.S. Lewis. His wife died. And it shook him. It shook him. And he was scared how much it shook him. He did not have the spiritual reservoir to survive those days. And it shook him. Luckily he got out of pan and he wrote. Let's read what he wrote. In the middle of his grief, he wrote. You may, you never know how much you really believe anything until it's truth or falsehood becomes a matter of life and death to you. It is easy to say you believe a rope to be strong and sound as long as you're merely using it to tie a box. But suppose you had to hang by that rope over a precipice. When you first discover how much you really trusted it. I had been warned. I had warned myself. We are even promise suffering. They are part of the program. We were even told, "Blessed are they that mourn." I accepted it. I've got nothing that I hadn't bargained for. Of course it is different when the thing happens to oneself, not to others. And in reality, not in imagination. I thought I trusted the rope until it mattered to me whether it would bear me. Now it matters. And I find it didn't. Bridge players tell me there must be some money on the game where else people won't take it seriously. Apparently it's like that. Your bid for God for eternal life will not be serious if nothing much is staked on it. And you will never discover how serious it was until the stakes are raised horribly high. Until you find you are not playing, not for counters or for six pencils. But for every penny you have in the world. Nothing less will shake a man. Or at any rate, a man like me out of his merely verbal thinking and his no-- and his merely noional beliefs. He has to be not silly before he comes to a sense as only trial will bring it out. Only trial will bring out the truth. Only under trial does he discover for himself. Don't let some tragedy help you realize that you have no spiritual reserve. You don't have oil in the vessel to get you through the darkness. Bank that oil. Buy. Remember what the Lord said? Oops, I'm one. Taking the Holy Spirit for your guide. So that you have a reservoir to call upon. Let me give you an example of someone who did. When Elder Holland was very early in his ministry when he was a very young apostle, he told the story of Katie Lewis. He said, "Kady Lewis is my neighbor. Her father Randy is my bishop and her mother Melanie is a saint. And her older brother Jimmy is battling leukemia. Sister Lewis recently recounted for me the unspeakable fear and grief that came to their family when Jimmy's illness was diagnosed. She spoke of the tears and the waves of sorrow that any mother would experience with a prognosis as grim as Jimmy's was. But like the latter, the faithful ladder they say in that they are, the Lewis's turn to God with urgency and with faith and with hope. Watch the reservoir take over. They fasted and prayed, prayed and fasted. They went again and again to the temple. One day Sister Lewis came home from a temple session where he and worried, feeling the impact of so many days and nights of fear being held at bay only by monumental faith. As she entered her home, four-year-old Katie ran up to her with love in her eyes and a crumpled chief of paper in her hands. Holding the papers out to her mother, she said enthusiastically, "Mommy, do you know what these are?" Sister Lewis said that, frankly, her first impulse was to deflect Katie's zeal and to say she didn't feel like playing just then. But she thought of her children, all of her children, and the possible regret of missed opportunities in little lives that passed too swiftly. So she smiled through her sorrow and said, "No, Katie, tell me what they are." They're the scriptures. Katie being back. Do you know what they say? Sister Lewis stopped smiling. Gaze deeply at this little child. Now down to her level and said, "Tell me, Katie, what do the scriptures say?" They say, "Trust Jesus." And then she was gone. Now watch this woman in pain, pull from her reservoir. Sister Lewis said that as she stood back up, holding a fistful of her four-year-old scribblings. She felt near tangible arms of peace encircle her weary soul and a divine stillness, calm her troubled heart. Do you have oil in your vessel? When I come, that's what I want to find. I want to find that you have banked many, many spiritual experiences, connections with God, moments where God manifested Himself to you and you knew it and you banked it so that you could call upon that oil in the moment of a crisis. You and I should be in oil adding mode. Always connecting with God. Always connecting with the Spirit. I bear you in my testimony that those who thrive in the latter days are those who have oil in their vessel, who are ready for Him to come. However late it might be, I have reserves. I can call upon. Calling upon those reserves is what will get you through the challenges of the latter days. Have oil in your vessel. Be prepared. Treasure His Word. And you are going to live a wonderful life in these latter days. Is my testimony in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.