¹ go to those who sell oil and buy some for yourselves. Note! buy and sell oil — think spiritual equivalent: the truth or the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit has been referred to as talents in the parable of the talents. The Holy Spirit has been referred to as gold, white garments, and eye salve in Rev 3:18: "I counsel you to buy from me gold refined and tried in the fire, so that you may be rich; and white garments, so that you may be clothed and the shame of your nakedness may not appear; and anoint your eyes with eye salve, so that you may see." Look at the words buy and sell spiritually: "Buy the truth, and do not sell it; also wisdom, and discipline, and understanding." Pro 23:23. Obviously you cannot buy the truth, it is a metaphor for acquire the truth, and sell is a metaphor for letting your teachings from Christ's spirit go cold by disobedience; teachings that you hear are are spirit and life-giving, (the life of God): The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life-giving. John 6:63. So, what is the life of God? Jesus told us: I am the way, the truth, and the life, John 14:6; and I am the light of the world. He who follows me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the Light of Life. John 8:12. Isaiah further shows how buying is a metaphor for acquiring more of the Holy Spirit by listening:

Come, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters, and he who has no money, come, buy and eat; yes, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price. Why do you spend money for that which is not bread? And your hard-earned money for that which does not satisfy? Listen diligently to me, and eat that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in abundance. Incline your ear, and come to me. Hear [and obey], and your soul shall live. Isa 55:1-3

The wise virgins told the foolish virgins to go and obtain more truth, more life, more light, more Holy Spirit using the metaphor of buying and selling oil.

This (the Holy Spirit) is what those without the mark of the beast were unable to buy or sell; they were unable to seek the Holy Spirit, (buy and sell), in any way except through the Roman sect; and those who differed, so without the mark of the beast, were killed if they did not attend Catholic masses and take the Eucharist at least every 90 days. Nine million souls were put to death in the Inquisition by the Roman Catholic sect in 800 to 1500 AD. See the Footnote to Revelation 13:16-17, for additional explanation.

² Truly I say to you, I do not know you. From the Word of the Lord within: "I only know those who have been crucified." He knows everything, but his "knowing" you is for him to become one with you, which occurs after you have been crucified. The Lord did not know them because they had not been listening to his voice and not following his commands. If you don't hear him and follow him with endurance to be completely crucified, he doesn't know you. And if he doesn't know you, he will shut the door, refusing to open it, saying "I tell you, I do not know you or where you come from" and at judgment he will say to you "depart from me you who work iniquity, for I have never known you." Mat 25:11-12, Luke 13:24-27, Mat 7:21-23.

If you don't hear his voice and die daily, you are still lost in your sins; but if you persistently listen and obey the voice of the truth, your soul is purified by obedience to the truth,1 Peter 1:22; but you must endure to the end. Jesus said: "There is only one thing needed, and Mary has chosen the good part, which shall not be taken away from her" — to sit at the feet of Jesus and listen to his words. Luke 10:39-42.

So you can see that hearing his voice and following him (obeying him) is critical to your future — critical to obtaining life: The words I speak to you are spirit and they are life-giving. John 6:33. The promises are: if you listen to and obey the Holy Spirit, he will teach you all things, he will guide you into all truth, he will show you things to come, and you will know all things. See that you do not refuse him who speaks. For if they did not escape, who refused him who spoke on the earth, how much more will we be liable, if we turn away from him who speaks from heaven [which is in your heart]. Heb 12:25

It is a cross to a man's will to sit silently, struggling to keep his mind from wandering; it is a cross to a man's will to obey what he is commanded and taught by the Holy Spirit; this is the cross of which you must deny yourself and pick it up every day to then follow Jesus. To follow is to obey. You cannot be his disciple unless you pick up your cross daily and follow his orders. Salvation is only received by those who follow the lamb wherever he goes — who obey completely the voice of the Lord, in whatever he commands. Do not be discouraged if you don't hear for some time. Even your waiting is to your credit: Let your mercy, O LORD, be upon us, in proportion to our waiting and hoping on you. Psalms 33:22. For since the beginning of the world men have not heard, nor perceived by ear, nor has the eye seen a God beside you, who acts for the one who waits for him. Isa 64:4.

The foolish virgins, whose lamps had little oil, were quite certain that they had done everything necessary to enter heaven. George Fox would say such people had "high notions," who could speak with great sounding words about the light, the heavens, the cross, their trials, etc.; but had not actually experienced of what they spoke, and they didn't even think there was an experience to be had. Today, the web is full of blogs of "Christians" talking about various fine points within the New Testament letters, which they assume were written to them too. So when they read Paul saying, "I have been crucified with Christ," they think, "well then, so have I." They even write how difficult it is to keep their minds on heaven this side of the earth. Everything they read, they presume it applies to them also; yet the letters were mostly written to groups who had attained the first stage of perfection, and to some, even the second stage. Some even think they are perfect by imputation, which is really no more than to think you are righteous by imputation even though you are still locked in your sins. The extent of peoples' presumptions of their being in the states of: in Christ, in his name, possessing the righteousness of Christ, crucified with Christ, raised to the heavens, a citizen of heaven, in the kingdom, having put on Christ, one with Christ, etc., is incredible. These people are what the Word of the Lord described, "All are filthy dreamers;" still with hearts filthy, full of sin; and dreaming they are righteous believers with a crown awaiting them in heaven.

William Dewsbury has an excellent writing on The Foolish Virgins and Wise Virgins, which is available for your reading; in it Dewsbury gives us further information on these two different groups of virgins:

• The wise virgins had progressed so far that the light had arisen in them to guide their thoughts, their words to speak, and their deeds to be done. They had persevered waiting on God in humble silence so that they possessed the life of God, Jesus, in sufficient measure to live in that life. They had patiently and persistently waited on the Lord in silence until the light had arisen within them; their lamps had oil, which burned to give light that was sufficient to see and be guided. They had "the oil of joy and gladness in the power of his love. This oil exercises their consciences and keeps all their affections in order unto the Spirit of truth, which bridles their tongues not to utter words before the Lord; but in true silence to wait upon him, until his Spirit moves them to declare his mind, from the living power the soul possesses and enjoys in Christ, the husband of the wise virgins. He by his power keeps the lamp of his bride trimmed, the Lamb's wife, she always breathing and thirsting for him to manifest his power to take away sin and renew the image of God; and in Christ Jesus, the soul's life, to witness the perfect man to reign in her forever.
  
  
• The foolish virgins had grown tired of waiting on the Lord and were content to live in their fleshly knowledge of truths, speaking words of other men's lines: quoting scriptures, quoting Fox's letters, quoting teachings they have heard others utter in their meetings, etc. They possessed the name of Quaker but had not persisted and endured on the cross to enjoy the arising of the light. They had a lamp, but it had no oil to burn and create light by which to see. They had even enjoyed a number of revelations from the Lord, which they added to their fleshly knowledge, giving them great words to speak in their pride, leaving them content to know many truths without really knowing the Lord or the Lord really knowing them. They lacked "the oil of joy and gladness in the power of his love." They "feed with the swine upon the husks, the form and image of what you have enjoyed, or what you see in the vision but do not enjoy in the possession, and speak, in a drunken spirit, words without knowledge. With these, there sits a painted beast, the will at liberty, out of the cross."

In their ambition to teach and preach, the foolish virgins took over the Quaker society, creating nothing but more foolish virgins; and the much fewer wise virgins gradually died off. The Quakers deteriorated from the true church of God to just another deficit sect, just another suburb of Babylon, but many of them can talk all day about the inner light.

The more you learn from reading the Bible, from reading this web site, and even from being taught by the Lord; until the Lord has removed your desire to talk about God and the Lord, your temptation to teach and preach increases proportionally. So beware! Don't forget the warnings that "to serve without hearing is putting your life in danger," (See Footnote to John 17:8). Let this be a warning to all who seek the Lord.

From the Word of the Lord within:

• "It is no value to me to know truths and not know the Lord.
• Do you know him or just pretend to know him; to know him is to have met him and listened to him.
• Seek the meeting.
• Do not be eager to speak.
• First the light arises, then the kingdom.
• The arising of the light will be unmistakable; it is an ego-shattering experience.
• Light comes from faith in the voice. "

Faith in the voice is evidenced by your obedience to what you hear the Lord speak to you as you wait on Him and listen in humble silence; to follow is to obey what you hear — that is operational faith that is alive, not dead.

³ Lord, I knew you that you are a hard man, reaping where you have not sown, and gathering where you have not scattered seed. The wicked servant is accusing the Lord of being a hard man, reaping (harvesting) where he has not sown (planted) and gathering where he has not scattered. William Penn, in No Cross No Crown, writes:

If a Christian is asked, "Is Christ your Lord?" They will cry, "Of course he is our Lord; yes, He is my Lord and Savior."
"Very well; but do you obey his commandments?" [If they know his commandments they will say], "No, how should we? "
"If you don't obey his commandments, how can you claim to be his disciples?"
"It is impossible, they say. What! Do you expect us to obey all his commandments? No man can!"

So, has Christ made it impossible to be a Christian? Is Christ unreasonable?
Does He reap where He has not sown? Require where He has not enabled?

Thus, like Judas, modern Christians call Him Master, but join with the evil of the world to betray Him; and they kiss and embrace Him as superficial, pretended believers; and then they sell Him like Judas, to gratify their indulgent passions. Thus, as God said long ago, they make Him serve with their sins and for their sins too! (Isa 43:24).

Christ is in every man that comes into the world, so that every man might believe. John 1:7,9. When you sin, you drag Christ with you, through the mire and filth of your slavery, subjecting him to it all. Each time you sin, you are piercing Christ within you. If you have sorrow and regret, with resolve to not repeat the same mistake again, your godly sorrow is a soothing balm to the wounds you have inflicted.

On the day of the Lord, which all will experience, you will see whom you have pierced, and you will mourn; in addition, on that day the words He anonymously spoke to you in your lifetime, but which you ignored, will be recalled and be your judge. John 12:48. He who doesn't love me will not keep [and obey] my teachings. John 14:24.

⁴ This Parable of the The Talents is the parable that Christ speaks concerning the increase of a man's heavenly treasure, the Spirit of God, a measure of which every man has received from the Lord: The manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to benefit all. 1 Cor 12:7. Everyone must improve, or increase their given heavenly talent, thus to become good and faithful servants, and stewards if they intend to enter into the joy of the Lord. As Edward Burrough wrote in his testimony of his journey to the kingdom, "the good and faithful servant improves his talent to the honor and riches of his master, but the slothful servant hides it in the earth, living in filthiness, saying he has no power."

Christ, the Light, is given to all men who come into the world, so that they might believe. John 1:7,9. Everyone also has the Holy Spirit of God, because it was poured out on all mankind at Pentecost. Acts 2:14-21, and the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to benefit all. 1 Cor 12:7. His Spirit is chained down, subject to your selfish spirit that rules you. This seed of God is waiting to be sought, listened to, and obeyed — which causes growth. From the seed of Christ, which is chained down within a man, Christ must increase, while the selfish, rebellious spirit of man decreases — until finally Christ appears within a man, to be seen, to be witnessed, to bring salvation, to bring the Kingdom, to bring glory to the purified believer. This seed, light, or spirit of God is your talent, which must be improved in this life; if you fail to grow it, in the next life it is taken away from you and given to another who has improved their talent, while you are cast into outer darkness as a wicked and unworthy servant.

A talent was a very large sum of money. Jesus spoke in parables, deliberately to hide understanding from the wise and intelligent who thought they could see [spiritually], but who were blind [spiritually]. The blind guides of Christendom, without a clue to what this parable meant, decided it was an exhortation to Jesus' disciples to use their God-given natural abilities in the service of God, and to take risks for the sake of the Kingdom of God. Natural abilities, without a smattering of the spiritual, have thus become to be known as "talents" in the English language. This shows how deep Christendom's apostasy has become: it has even become imbedded in our language, further confusing those who seek to understand Jesus' teachings.

While you have light, believe in [depend on, trust and obey] the light, that you may become the children of light. John 12:36. The Light (Christ) is given to every man who comes into the world, John 1:9, so that through the Light, all men might believe, John 1:7; and by abiding in the Light and obeying the Light, man receives salvation to become a child of the light, a son of God. For God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. 1 John 1:5. So man is given the small measure of light that he might believe what it shows him, what it reproves him, what it convicts him — while a man is alive on the earth. If a man is totally obedient to the light, he will become a child of God, a child of the light. But if he hates the light because it reproves his selfish lifestyle and behavior, then he dies in his sins; and when a man dies still sinning, Christ the light steps out of him, leaving the man in total darkness, which is Hell. Then the measure of light that the man had is given to another who improved his talent while alive. The result: everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power 2 Thes 1:9; man is cut off from the life, power, and glory of God, dwelling in total darkness. From the Word of the Lord within: "When the light leaves, you will panic; all the ungodly will panic."

So O man, believe (accept the reproofs and convictions) in the light, while you have the light because to lose the light is to be cast into outer darkness where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

This is Step 1 — the seed, chained down. To read about steps 1 through 5, see The Mystery — Christ in You. To read more about the parable of the talents, see George Fox's writing.

⁵ You must share from your excess with those in need of the necessities of life. It is impossible to please the Lord without distributing liberally. You must learn that life is giving, not taking. You must learn the value of giving; for if you are not faithful in the least of treasures (unrighteous money), how can you expect to ever receive true, heavenly treasure? This sharing is only the basic beginning of repentance. You cannot get to the kingdom of heaven unless while alive on earth you kill, (mortify), the deeds of the body by stripping yourself of your selfish human nature, which is accomplished through the Spirit on the inward cross of self-denial.

The Roman Catholics say: "a man is saved by a good life," referencing at judgment the sheep and goats are separated on the basis of good deeds. Mat 25:31-48
The Catholics' belief is closer to the truth than the Protestants' belief in instant salvation because every man is judged by his words and works;
however, a kind whoremonger, or a loving drunk, or a kind covetous person, or a philanthropic immoral person, or a loving liar, etc., whatever their good works, anyone who dies with fruits of the flesh will not be spared the fury of God.
It is impossible to lead a "good life" unless you are prompted by God what good deeds to do;
and unless your selfish spirit is crucified on the inward cross of self-denial, to have the Spirit of Christ take its place on the throne in your heart, you will not be prompted by God what good deeds to do — your faith will be dead, and your supposed salvation will be shockingly revealed as a lie that you loved more than the truth.

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