THE BRIDEGROOM COMETH

 

In Nephi’s vision of us in our day, he spoke of ‘carnal security’ that leads the members of the Church to the dangerous mentality of ‘all is well in Zion’ (2 Nephi 28: 20-24). It makes some of us think that we have plenty of time to repent and to get our lives into order. This mentality can be seen in the parable of the Ten Virgins.

As a symbol of our covenant relationship with Christ, Jesus used the metaphor of marriage in this parable between Himself and His Church. Therefore, when He comes, He will come as a bridegroom to wed the righteous of His Church. These, He states are the members who have received the truth, have taken the Holy Spirit for their guide and have not been deceived (D&C 45:56,57).

There is something interesting worthy of note in the marriage metaphor. The parable says that the Bridegroom 'tarried', meaning he delayed His appearance to the last hour of the day. In fact, he has 'tarried' now for over 2000 years. It has been so long since He spoke of His return that many Church members are sleeping and not watching on the 'towers of Zion' finding it too long to wait for the midnight hour and the call to gather for the wedding feast (McConkie, Mortal Messiah Book 3, p 467). Could it be that He ‘tarries’ so that as many as possible can be saved? This is a merciful act.

The call to gather has already come. It came on November 3rd, 1831 through the prophet of this dispensation: "Yea, let the cry go forth among all people: Awake and arise and go forth to meet the Bridegroom; behold and lo, the Bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet him. Prepare yourselves for the great day of the Lord. Watch, therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour" (D&C 133:10,10).

The oil of preparedness cannot be purchased but needs to be earned over time because this oil is the oil of righteousness: "In our lives the oil of preparedness is accumulated drop by drop in righteous living. Attendance at sacrament meetings adds oil to our lamps, drop by drop over the years. Fasting, family prayer, home teaching, control of bodily appetites, preaching the gospel, studying the scriptures—each act of dedication and obedience is a drop added to our store. Deeds of kindness, payment of offerings and tithes, chaste thoughts and actions, marriage in the covenant for eternity—these, too, contribute importantly to the oil with which we can at midnight refuel our exhausted lamps. (Spencer W. Kimball, Faith Precedes the Miracle, p.256 )"

When the time of His appearing is here, there will be no reservoir of good works, spiritually building moments, or a sinless slate that we can draw from and we will no longer be able to exist on the testimony of others, as the five negligent virgins presumed. Imagine the frantic situation some of us will be in and imagine the sorrow of those of us who will be bereft of the ability to fill their lamps…..

ODE TO THE TEN VIRGINS

I would gladly give you some oil

Your empty lamp to fill,

If you could glean the sweat

From my furrowed brow

As I worked on the oil press

So diligently until now.

 

- CATHRYNE ALLEN 

(Art: Five Were Wise by Michael Malm)

EVEN SO, COME LORD JESUS

 

I have friends who are presently immersed in the Second Coming frenzy. They all believe that 2020 was the beginning of the end. And rightly so, considering that President Nelson advised in last General Conference that our 'new normal' should be preparing for the Saviour's coming. Some of my friends are frightened and some are very excited at the possibility that the Second Coming is at the door. The thing is, it has been at the door for a long time, only we have just now started to take notice.  Consider what President Kimball had to say about this in 1972:

"There will be no general warning to the membership of the Church that things will be shortly falling apart.  We have been commanded to follow the signs of the times and that is all the warning we need or will be given. But the membership is asleep. Like the ten virgins, we have been commanded to watch and prepare, but like the people in the days of Noah, many members have become lulled into a false sense of security. This 'lack of warning' is designed to weed out the tares; the 'all is well in Zion" crowd....when the cry sounds, there is no time for preparation." ("Faith Precedes the Miracle", Chapter 23)

1972 is a long time ago but the voice of warning did not start way back then, it started even earlier. In fact it started on 1 November, 1831, with the revelation given to Joseph Smith which is now known as the very first chapter of Doctrine and Covenants. We read in verse 3: "And the voice of warning shall be unto all people, by the mouths of my disciples, whom I have chosen in these last days." The whole restoration of the Church was accomplished for this very purpose, to be the voice of warning. 

I have often heard in Sunday School a very well intentioned but silly question asked by the teacher which goes like this: "If you knew the Saviour was coming tomorrow, what would you do to prepare?" Even sillier than this question are the answers I have heard, like: more missionary work. I am always amazed at this. Just how much missionary work could you do in one day to make up for years of not doing it??? What could you possibly accomplish in one day? My answer is, nothing. There is nothing we could do in one day to change ourselves for the better or to accomplish more good works. Nothing you could accomplish in one day would give you enough oil in your lamp. 

This is what scares me: When Jesus taught His disciples about the condition of the world preceding the Second Coming, He said that there shall arise false Christs who shall show great signs and wonders and they shall deceive even the very elect (Matthew 24:24). John spoke of one main anti-Christ who would assume the guise of Christ in the last days (1 John 2:18-22; 4:3-6; 2 John 1:7) Many of us who will not be endowed with the spirit of discernment and guidance of the Holy Ghost will be led away. The endowment of these two gifts is what the preparation in advance can do. When this anti-Christ comes, and we are prepared, we will be able to know him for who he is. I know some members of the Church who fall into the category of 'the very elect' and who have already been led away. It is scary to think that we can lose those we love. What should also scare us, is that it could happen to us too. 

John the Revelator was shown all the calamities and destruction before the Second Coming. We are living through these times, and the worst is yet to come. Nothing can alter what will be, except on thing....our preparedness. We can do today what will make the difference tomorrow. The more we prepare now, the greater our enthusiasm for His coming will be, until we arrive to the day when we can say: 'even so, come Lord Jesus' (Rev 22:20) 

- Cathryne Alen

"BEHOLD THE BRIDEGROOM COMETH"

During His Olivet Discourse which He delivered the week of the Atonement, Jesus spoke at length about His return and the signs of His coming. In His attempt to impress upon us the importance of preparedness the Saviour gave us two parables to better understand what the nature of our preparation should be. Both of these parables are directed towards the members of the Church. The call to preparedness is twofold as seen through the two parables included in the Olivet Discourse: The Parable of the Ten Virgins which illustrates the importance of obedience and The Parable of the Talents which represents service and which completes the essential requirement for salvation.

We learn in the Parable of the Ten Virgins that Jesus is the bridegroom who is returning from a far country to attend the marriage feast when He will take the Church as His bride. The ten virgins therefore are members of His Church. There are two important components of this parable worth our notice. The first is that the Bridegroom 'tarried' meaning he delayed His appearance to the last hour of the day. In fact, he has 'tarried' now for nearly 2,000 years. It has been so long since He spoke of His return that many Church members are sleeping and not watching on the 'towers of Zion' (McConkie, Mortal Messiah Book 3, p 467) finding it too long to wait for the midnight hour and the call to gather for the wedding feast. But the call to gather has already come. It came on November 3rd, 1831 through the prophet of this dispensation: "Yea, let the cry go forth among all people: Awake and arise and go forth to meet the Bridegroom; behold and lo, the Bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet him. Prepare yourselves for the great day of the Lord. Watch, therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour" (D&C 133:10,10).

The second important component of this parable is that only half of the virgins had sufficient oil in their lamps which were necessary due to the late hour to illuminate the way to the marriage feast. The five that had no oil when the bridegroom finally came wasted their time procuring it at the last minute which made them arrive late for the feast and were therefore not granted entrance (Matt 25:10). Anciently, the lamps of the Ten Virgins 'consisted of a round receptacle for pitch or oil for the wick. This was placed in a hollow cup or deep saucer which was fastened by a pointed end into a long wooden pole, on which it was born aloft. According to Jewish authorities, it was the custom in the East to carry in a bridal procession about ten such lamps......according to rubric, ten was the number required to be present at any office or ceremony, such as at the benedictions accompanying the marriage-ceremonies' (McConkie, Mortal Messiah Book 3, p 466).

It is significant here to note that the Saviour used the metaphor of marriage for His second coming. Why marriage? Because marriage is a union based on love. It is out of love for us that He 'tarries' so that as many as possible can be saved. The oil referred to in the parable and which ancient Israel burnt in their lamps could be purchased at the market. The oil required for our lamps however cannot be purchased but needs to be earned over time because this oil is the oil of righteousness: "In our lives the oil of preparedness is accumulated drop by drop in righteous living. Attendance at sacrament meetings adds oil to our lamps, drop by drop over the years. Fasting, family prayer, home teaching, control of bodily appetites, preaching the gospel, studying the scriptures—each act of dedication and obedience is a drop added to our store. Deeds of kindness, payment of offerings and tithes, chaste thoughts and actions, marriage in the covenant for eternity—these, too, contribute importantly to the oil with which we can at midnight refuel our exhausted lamps. (Spencer W. Kimball, Faith Precedes the Miracle, p.256 )"

The parable tells us that those who heed the call to prepare are wise while those who do not give heed are foolish. Foolish because they who do not prepare will not be able to fill their lamps with the oil of those who do: "If this oil is acquired by personal righteousness, then it is impossible for one to share with another. I cannot go to sacrament meeting for my sons, not can I say personal prayers for my daughters. I can pray for them, but those are my prayers, not theirs. And if someone should suddenly determine that the coming of the bridegroom is at hand, they might not have time to re-evaluate, repent, re-supply and return before the door closes" (Ted Gibbons, NT Lesson 22 'Inherit The Kingdom Prepared for You).  Personal righteousness cannot be shared because it affects a change over time in the inner man. This change is essential so that when 'he shall appear we shall be like him' (Moroni 7:48). No man can endure on borrowed light, eventually his true nature will outshine the light he has attempted to borrow. The Saviour, being perfect, is not going to take a bride that is full of iniquity, unrighteousness and worldliness. The bride has to be on the same wave length as the bridegroom. It is meant to be a marriage of equals. Equal in character and equal in love. No bridegroom will take a bride that does not love him. Hence the Saviour's admonition: 'If ye love me, keep my commandments' (John 14:15).

If obedience begins to develop love in the heart of the bride for her Christ, service for her fellowman, as expounded in the Parable of the Talents, completes it. In the Olivet Discourse Jesus told his apostles that they will sit in judgment of His Church with Him upon His return. Through the two parables He delivered to them He made it plain for us to see that the members of the Church will not only be judged for their personal righteousness but also how well they have served God and their fellowman. Thus personal righteousness and service constitute perfect love that qualifies us for the Kingdom. As the Parable of the Talents shows, members of the Church are those called to ministerial service and are endowed with spiritual gifts for this purpose. They are endowed with diversities of gifts for the benefit of all and for the growth of the Kingdom. When we came here 'trailing clouds of glory' we came from God bearing those gifts with us: "All men, and the servants of the Lord in particular, acquired, in preexistence, by obedience to law, the specific talents and capacities with which they are endowed in this life. Men are not born equal; they come into mortality endowed with the abilities earned and developed in a long period of premortal schooling. And a just and equitable Being, who deals fairly and impartially with all his children, expects each of them to use the talents and abilities with which they are endowed and the gifts that are given them by a divine Providence" (McConkie, Mortal Messiah Book 3, p 470)

When the foolish virgins came knocking on the door demanding to be a part of the wedding ceremony, the Lord replied: "Verily I say unto you, ye know me not" (Matthew 25:12 JST).  And well did He say so "for how knoweth a man the master whom he has not served, and who is a stranger unto him, and is far from the thoughts and intents of his heart?" (Mosiah 4:13). When we face the Saviour at His coming will we in Him recognise the hungry and the thirsty and the naked and the sick that we helped in our time on earth? Will we in His face recognise the stranger that we 'took in'? What would it take for us to do such a noble deed? To offer someone shelter from the storm, to lighten their burden, to change their life? President Monson had an example of such selflessness in his grandfather: "Old Bob came into our lives in an interesting way. He was a widower in his eighties when the house in which he was living was to be demolished. I heard him tell my grandfather his plight as the three of us sat on the old front porch swing. With a plaintive voice, he said to grandfather, “Mr. Conkie, I don’t know what to do. I have no family. I have no place to go. I have no money.” I wondered how grandfather would answer. Slowly grandfather reached into his pocket and took from it that old leather purse from which, in response to my hounding, he had produced many a penny or nickel for a special treat. This time he removed a key and handed it to Old Bob. Tenderly he said, “Bob, here is the key to that house I own next door. Take it. Move in your things. Stay as long as you like. There will be no rent to pay and nobody will ever put you out again.” ( Thomas S. Monson, The Long Line of the Lonely, Ensign May 1981)

"From the foundation of the world, from the beginning, from all eternity - for such a length of time that no man can measure it - for just such a time has 'the kingdom' been prepared for the faithful. And their inheritance therein is dependent upon their charitable works in mortality, upon how they give of themselves to serve their Lord and King" (McConkie, Mortal Messiah Book 3, p 474).

"Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungered, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink? When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee? Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee? And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me."  (Matthew 25:40)