Virgin Lock Out — David Wilkerson

The Ten Virgins and the Closed Door

I'm going to read the first 13 verses about the virgins. I'm reading from King James. It brings it out a little clearer for me, but New American, whatever you have, it's clear. Then shall the kingdom of heaven be likened unto ten virgins, which took their lamps and went forth to meet the bridegroom.

And five of them were wise, and five were what? Foolish. Foolish. You're going to understand today what that word means. It's pretty awesome for God to call some of his people foolish. Stop and think about that a minute, how awesome it is for God to call some of his people foolish.

We're going to find out clearly what that means. They that were foolish took their lamps and took no oil with them. That's what this message is about. But the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps.

While the bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered and slept, and at midnight there was a cry made, Behold, the bridegroom cometh, go ye out to meet him. Then all those virgins arose and trimmed their lamps, and a fool he said unto the wise, Give us of your oil, for our lamps are gone out.

They're gone. But the wise answered, saying, Not so, lest there be not enough for us and you, but go you rather to them that sell, and buy for yourselves. 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.

Afterwards came also the other virgin, saying, Lord, Lord, open to us. But he answered and said, Verily I say unto you, I know you not. I don't know you. In other words, I don't even recognize you. What's there for?

For you know neither the day nor the hour when the Son of Man cometh. Look at this again. They come back and say, Lord, Lord, open to us. And remember, they had been chosen by the bridegroom himself to be in his bridal party, and then when it comes time for the door to be open, he says, I don't even recognize you now.

You've changed. I don't even know you now. And the door was shut and they were locked out. It's called virgin lockout. Heavenly Father, I pray this morning that you would anoint ears to hear and eyes to see that you would pour your oil in our hearts and soften them so we will not be hard.

Lord Jesus, this world will only harden those who don't have a heart to hear. Those, Lord, who are not devoted to you are going to be resenting what they hear this morning because it will only harden a heart that's already set in that direction.

Lord, if there are people here this morning with ears to hear, open them. Eyes to see, open them. Heart to receive, open the heart. Lord, I pray for an anointing from God. An anointing of the Holy Spirit that this world would go forth the way you want it to go forth.

Lord, you promised me in prayer this week that you would change me in this message, you would change everybody in this house. You would change us. Lord, we've been hearing a strong word, we've been hearing the truth, we've been hearing correction.

But, oh God, this morning, bring your hammer on my heart and all of us and let us look in the mirror and be honest before you, God. Totally honest. Or then, Lord, we're sitting here playing games and it means nothing.

And one day, Lord, we'll face you and be damned because we didn't get serious with you. Lord, show us the seriousness. You're speaking God's own words, Master. You're speaking the words of the Father.

This is a reflection of God's heart. And, Lord, we can't shut it off. We can't let it go. We have to deal with it. Look at it. Oh, Holy Ghost, come now. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen. Now, the prophet Isaiah, I want you to keep Matthew open 25 on your lap.

Isaiah’s Prophecy About Hardened Hearts

We'll be coming back to this. But the prophet Isaiah prophesied that Jesus would come speaking parables and that only certain people would understand what he was teaching. Now, you don't have to turn to him, but let me read to you the prophecy of Isaiah.

This is concerning the ministry of Jesus and what it would be like. I'm reading from Isaiah 6, 9, 10. If you're keeping notes, you can just write that down. But listen to it. Go and tell this people, hear indeed, but understand not, and see indeed, but perceive not.

Make the heart of this people fat, make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes, lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and be converted and be healed.

Now, isn't that something to prophesy about Jesus? Of course, it says he's going to be preaching the gospel of good news. But also, to a certain class of people, he said, I'm going to come and I'm going to shut their eyes, I'm going to shut their ears, and I'm going to make their heart as hard as rock.

Because they don't want to hear, they don't want to see, and because they don't, they're going to get harder under my parables, under my teaching. It'll be mysteries to them. Now, let me show you the fulfillment of that.

In fact, Matthew, just turn back to Matthew 13, keep that open. Look at Matthew 13, and you'll see the prophecy of Isaiah fulfilled. Right to the letter. Verse 34. Matthew 13, verse 34. These things spake Jesus unto the multitude, in what?

In parables. And without a parable spake he not unto them. Now, note that. That's what Isaiah said about him. He was going to come and he was going to speak mysteries. These are parables. Without a parable, or without a mystery, he spoke not unto them.

But it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, that's Isaiah, the verse I just read, saying, I will open my mouth in parables, I will utter things which have been kept secret from the foundation of the world.

The Hidden Mysteries in Jesus’ Parables

Now, I go back to Matthew 25, and leave it open there, please. Look at me for just a moment. The importance of the parables of Jesus Christ have never been fully appreciated by the body of Christ. In fact, there's a tendency to look at the words of Jesus as being so childlike and simple, and just pass over them.

If you want to go deep, you go to Paul. And that's the tendency in the ministry today, that Paul has the depth, and Jesus almost spoke like a child to children. But these are deep, hidden mysteries of God.

Jesus said these are mysteries. And that only a certain people can understand it. And the disciples, in fact, said, Master, why speakest thou unto them in parables? Matthew 13, 10. Why do you speak in parables?

Every time you teach, you're showing mysteries. They're not understanding you, Jesus. Every time they ask him a question, he'd give them a parable. They didn't understand a word of it. These were mysteries that Jesus spoke.

Jesus himself even says it in Matthew 13, 11. I'll read it. Because it's given unto you to know the mysteries. That's the hidden truths. He's talking about his parables of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it's not given.

Why is it not given to them? Because they don't have a heart for it. They really don't want the truth. They don't want to dig in. They don't want to understand. He's conveying a marvelous truth to us, that truth is revealed only to those who have eyes that are open, ears that are open, and a heart that's ready to hear.

No other one understands it. And those who hunger for the truth of Christ's righteousness, he said, your light will grow brighter, the fire in your heart will grow hotter, and what you have will be increased.

But if you don't really want my truth, what you already have will be taken from you. And if you want to understand why some of these ministries that are on television are so carnal, and they're still getting millions of dollars, I'll tell you why.

God is stealing the discernment. He's taking it away, what they have, and giving it to those who have it. I'll read it to you. For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance.

He's talking about discernment, knowledge of the Word. But whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even what he has. Therefore I speak unto them in parables, because they seeing, see not, and hearing, they hear not, neither do they understand.

And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah, this people's heart is waxed gross, that's callous, their ears are dull of hearing, their eyes, they have closed. Jesus said, I'm talking to a people who have closed their eyes and their ears, why should I give them the truth?

Why should I give them an understanding? They wouldn't listen, they won't be converted, they've shut themselves. He said, I'm going to speak in parables, but I'm going to reveal those mysteries to a certain body, who hunger and thirst after righteousness, they'll understand.

The Disciples’ Hardness of Heart

Even the disciples had hard hearts. I read all through Mark last night, the whole book of Mark, and it began to hit me how callous even his own disciples were. Remember Jesus saw them toiling in the water, he'd gone to pray and he saw them and he started walking in the water toward them.

Now remember they'd just seen 5 ,000 fed, they'd seen 4 ,000 fed, they'd seen him raise the dead, they'd seen him heal the sick, and here he appears and he says, don't be afraid, it's I, and they don't understand at all.

For they considered not the miracle of the loaves, for their heart was hardened. After watching the miracles, it's amazing all the miracles God has done in our lives, and yet we're hard. We're still not hearing, we're still not seeing, we're still not walking in the fullness of Christ and his word, because we forget all the things that he's done in the past.

Not until Christ was resurrected and translated, they even begin to understand. Remember also, they got in a boat one day, and they only had one loaf of bread with them, now remember they had just a few hours before fed 5 ,000.

Jesus says, get in the boat and let's go to the other side, and they only took a loaf, one loaf of bread was in the boat, and Jesus says, Jesus had been talking to the Pharisees, and he saw that hardness.

He saw those ears that were closed, and no matter what Jesus taught, they were shut up, they were locked, and Jesus' heart was burning, and he turns to his disciples and he says, beware of the leaven of these Pharisees, and they look at each other, he said, it must be because we've only got one loaf of bread.

They didn't understand he's talking about a kind of lifestyle, he said, don't be like these hard-headed, these stiff-necked people, listen to what Jesus said to them, Jesus said, you still don't understand, is your heart still calloused?

He said, you're still not understanding me. He said, you have eyes, can't you see? You have ears, can't you hear? Listen, even after his resurrection, they've been told on three occasions now, I saw him, I saw him, he's alive, and they're sitting in a room totally disbelieving, and Jesus, the scripture says, came and rebuked them for their unbelief and their hardness of heart.

He rebuked them. Now of course there was a time Jesus said to the disciples, blessed are your eyes for they see and your ears for they hear. What he's saying, you've got a measure of faith in you, there's something in you that wants the truth, and you're seeing some of it, but there's still a layer of hardness on you, and if you don't get rid of that layer of hardness, you're not going to understand in the last days.

Daniel’s Prophecy and Understanding in the Last Days

In fact, God gave Daniel a prophecy for our day, and I want you to listen to it. You don't have to turn there, but you can mark it down. It's Daniel 12, 9 and 10, and I'll read it to you. And he said, go thy way, O Daniel.

In fact, why don't you turn there? It would be good to see it. Daniel, the 12th chapter. Daniel 12. I'll show you a prophecy that's being fulfilled right now, it's being fulfilled in this service today, it's being fulfilled all across America and around the world.

In fact, let's begin at verse 8. Daniel 12, verse 8. And I heard, but I understood not. Daniel's not even understanding this vision he sees. Then said I, O Lord, what shall be the end of these things?

And he said, go thy way, Daniel. For the words are closed up and sealed. Until when? Look at me now. Is that what it says? That this thing is locked up until the end of time? All right, what's the next verse say?

This is the time in which it's going to be opened. Many shall be purified, and made white, and tried, but the wicked shall do wickedly, and none of the wicked shall what? But the who? We're talking about wise virgins and foolish virgins.

Who's going to understand in the last days? The wise. And none of the wicked shall understand, but the wise shall understand. All right, look at me please. I believe that right now, we're living in the fulfillment of the days of the prophecy God gave to Daniel here.

And Daniel, which Lord's raising up a holy people that are separated? They're separating. There seems to be something in their heart that says, I know the Lord is coming soon. I read the signs. They're reading the signs of the times.

They know it. It's not because of a preaching they've heard. There's something awakened in their own heart. They know that the coming Lord is near. It has to do with the signs of the time. But the Holy Spirit is bringing forth a bridehood.

He's bringing forth a virgin body. And by the way, I'm going to show you that this parable of virgins has to do with personal responsibility. Because once they get inside, they become the bride. The virgin represents the walk.

Once they get inside, it's the virgin company. Because the bride is a many-member body. Remember that. Becomes the bride once inside the marriage supper. This has to do with individual responsibility now.

It's a corporate responsibility once inside. But this has to do with every individual and the way they're walking toward the coming of the Lord. But this awakening that's happening. And those who have been awakened are beginning to understand.

There's a discernment. They understand when they hear a preacher who's not preaching truth because he doesn't witness. They understand things that people are not understanding. And they say, how can people be so stupid and blind?

I think we have one of the most spiritual mating lists in America. We have more people on our mating list of some 300 ,000. I believe some of you ladies here, you know that. The letters that come, the most spiritual.

They're saying, God's awakened. They're saying, how can the church be so brave? How can people be so spiritually dull to support some of this stuff? Why? Because the little discernment they had, God took it away and he's giving it to this holy body.

This separated body. And every bit of discernment that mass, that multitude of half-hearted, non-diligent Christians have had, he's going to give it to his precious body. All the discernment of the foolish virgins will be given to the wise.

And the wise will understand in the last days and what? The teachings of Jesus, the claims of Christ. No one who holds on to secret sin is going to understand a word of what God's doing in the last days.

You're not going to understand it. You're going to have your vision smeared. You're going to be undiscerning. You're going to attribute God's righteous judgment to the devil. And that's why right now while God's shaking television ministry, and get it down quick, God's doing it.

It's not the devil, it's God. God is using the wicked as his rod, just like he used the Assyrians to judge Israel. But he's using it right now. And I'm telling you now, the next thing, they're about to be shut.

They're about to be shut. Now listen closely, the judgments of God have just begun. Financial shaking is coming that's going to bring down every single ministry in Dallas, Texas, all over the United States, that is not a true reflection of the holiness of Jesus Christ.

They are coming down. God's going to shut off their supply. He's going to close it down. It's going to be so awesome. He said, I'm going to make the ears of all my people tingle. You won't even begin to comprehend it.

He's going to shake fear through his house. He said, they're going to call evil good and good evil. Because they're not wise, they're not understanding what's happening. But the wise, he said, are going to understand.

The Wise Virgins and the Claims of Christ

I believe that the wise are going to be shown the claims of Christ. Those claims of Jesus are going to take such a hold on them. They're going to be awakened to the demands of holiness and not shake them off.

They're going to represent this wise body of virgins that go into the marriage supper of the Lamb. And I believe the parable of the virgins is one of the parables Jesus once opened to us. I've studied that.

Folks, I've been on this for about a month. This parable of the Holy Ghost make me realize what this is. And it's brought terror to my heart because I begin to realize he's talking about Christians. These are all Christians.

And he's saying, and I'm not saying 50 of all Christians are going to be damned. But there's a great host. Many, many are going to come in the last days saying, Lord, I cast out devils. I healed the sick.

I did mighty works. And he said, I don't even know you. He said, we ain't drank in no presence. He said, I don't know you. You ministered among us. I don't know you. They're going to be lost. I believe in Pentecostal churches, charismatic churches.

Thousands are going to be damned. They're going to hell. If some of you are sitting here, you're not going to be saved. You're not going to be saved unless God does something quickly. This is a parable about personal responsibility.

This has to do all before the coming of the Lord. Because you see, when his kingdom is established, there'll be no foolish virgins there. So this has to do before his coming. Before Jesus comes, this whole parable takes place.

It has to do with our walk with Christ. It has to do with our personal responsibility. And I take it very seriously because there are going to be a lot of people dry up. Lamps are going to go out. Fires are going to die.

People are going to be crying, open, open, open. It's going to be locked. Then shall the kingdom of heaven be like unto ten virgins which took their lamps and went forth to meet the bridegroom. Alright, listen to me now.

These virgins, all of them, are going out to meet the bridegroom. They represent Christians who are engaged or espoused to Christ. I read you 2 Corinthians 11, 2, just listen to it. Paul said, I have espoused you, I've given you to one husband.

That I may present you as chaste virgins to Christ. He said that's what the whole gospel is about. That you may be presented pure as a virgin to Jesus. In Revelation, you don't have to turn there either, but Revelation 14, verse 3 and 5.

John sees this vision of those standing before the throne of God singing a new song. He said, for they are virgins. These are they who follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth. In their mouth is found no guile.

For they are without fault before the throne of God. This parable is not talking about a harlot church. It's not talking about wicked pristins. The foolish virgins are not corrupt. They are not idonators or backsliders.

They are not the corner corner at this point. At least not outwardly. Outwardly you can't tell the difference. Because even the foolish are virgins. A virgin is a type of purity, untouched. They are not living in error.

They are not in rebellion. They are not bound by the things of this world outwardly. They are walking in a maze of right. They are expecting to come along so much so they are going out to meet him. They are walking with the righteous.

They are devoted to the bridegroom. They truly expect him to come. And we are not going to understand this until the Holy Ghost grips your heart this morning and lets you know that there is going to come a very sad deficiency in many lives of pristins.

At the last dark hour there is going to be a deficiency break out. Something is going to be exposed in the hearts of many who have set themselves to seek God. Who have walked with the righteous. Who have truly said even so come quickly Lord Jesus.

And they are not going to have what it takes to see him through. You know a lady wrote to me last week. She said, Mr. Wicks, I was going along and I read her. I was going along enjoying forgiveness and thanking the Lord for the blood of Jesus.

And trying to fight all my besetting sins. Doing the best I know how to make it. But you make it sound so hard. You make me feel like I am not even saved. You make me want to give up because it is too hard.

And I am hearing more and more of that. I was just thanking God for the blood. But you see she is admitting that she is still not laying down her idols. And the reason she calls it hard is because there is something there the Holy Ghost is dealing with.

The Dividing Line Between the Wise and Foolish

The truth is we have not even begun to face the claims of Jesus Christ. Let him lay hold of our hearts. We are not facing the claims. We are not really listening to what Jesus said. And letting it go down deep in our hearts and deal with everything within us.

We are not dealing with it. You know Jesus had great multitudes that followed him. But then one day he decided to draw a line. And I will tell you with all this talk about unity. That is not the way the Lord works.

Oh there is a unity. His body is never divided. Those who are in the body are united by the fact that they are in the body. Walking in his righteousness. But Jesus, you talk about unity. He drew a line here between the false.

Between the foolish and the wise. Didn't he? He drew a strong division. And he looked at all these disciples who were following him. Multitudes that loved the loaves and the fishes. But he knew his time was about to come.

He knew he was leaving and going to the Father. He said I am going to draw a line. He said unless you eat my body and you drink my blood you can't be my disciples. Now you listen to what the scripture says.

Many therefore of his disciples when they heard that. They said to themselves this is a hard saying. Who can bear it? Who can take such preaching? When Jesus knew himself that his disciples murmured at it.

He said unto them. Does this offend you too? From that time. Many of his disciples went back. And walked no more with him. This is too hard. Listen. Brother Bob, Brother Ron and others have been sent by God.

You have been hearing. Yes you have been hearing a message that sounds hard. But it sounds hard only to those who won't yield to the yoke. I tell you what. I believe preachers are sending more people to hell than all the drug pushers.

And the doctors in the United States of America. And around the world. Preachers are saying you are ok. You are loved. Don't listen to gloom and doom. Don't listen to this hard message. It is the viciousness of the devil.

No. Are you going to call it love? When a preacher sends out virgins foolish. Not prepared to meet the bride. Is that love? Is it love to let people go on in their blindness? Is it love to see the enemy at the gate.

And the Lord about to come and not blow a trumpet? No. It is not love. This is not. He said my yoke is easy. My burden is light. Now you preachers. Oh his yoke is easy. His burden is light. Yes if you put your neck to it.

If you yield to it. If you fight it. It becomes a chain. The greatest burden in the world. His yoke becomes hard. The only reason his yoke is easy. Because the neck is laid to it and yielded to. There is a yoke.

There is a burden of the Lord. That yoke will crush you. That yoke will break your heart. That burden of the Lord will break your heart. But then it becomes sweetness because you yield to it. You know for a good while there is no way to distinguish outwardly who is wise and who is foolish.

The Condition of the Heart and the Oil of Devotion

Because five are wise. Five are foolish. They are going along in unity. They are probably singing. Worshipping. They are full of hope. Everybody has got the lamp in their hand. And that lamp represents a measure of light.

It represents a measure of discernment. They all have this measure of discernment. It appears they have all forsaken the world. They have set their hearts on the marriage supper. They all said I am going in.

I am going to the marriage supper. But inwardly there is a big difference. And only God can see it. Because five of them have a lack of diligence. Five of them are missing something. Five are not prepared in their hearts.

And I tell you what. All this parable is about is the condition of the heart. Because the kingdom of God is likened unto what it says. And what does the Bible say about the kingdom of God? The kingdom of God is not in meat or drink.

The kingdom of God is unseen. It is here in the heart. Isn't the kingdom of God in the heart? What he is saying. I am showing you what the heart is like. I am going to show you the heart of the foolish.

I am going to show you what is in the heart of the wise. This is all about the heart. You have got to keep that in mind. Remember when Jesus came into the Passover room? It is his last supper with him.

And he said, I am not going to drink this again until I drink it with you in the kingdom. And by the way, that is why he wouldn't touch the wine on the cross when they gave him wine to drink. Because he said, I won't touch it again until I drink it with you in the kingdom.

And he said, and what a bombshell it must have been. He said, I am going to be crucified, but one of you in this room who eats with me is going to betray me. Can you imagine the consternation of all those disciples that look around?

And one by one, each one of them examined their heart and said, Master, is it me? Can you imagine? James and John and Andrew and Levi and Peter. They are looking at each other. He is saying, one of us, one of us in the end is going to fail him.

One of us before this thing is over is going to be responsible for crucifying him. And one of them says, is it me, Lord? Is it me? And that is what I want you to think about. And that is what God has been putting in their heart.

The Lord is saying, there are going to be five virgins. Five who thought they were all out for me. Five who said, I am going to the marriage supper of the Lamb. There are going to be five of you, he said.

And you are going to be shut out. And can you say what the disciples said? Can you say, Lord, is it me? Don't tell me that I have walked with God for 30 years. Is it me, Lord? Could it be? Could it possibly be that there is something in me that is going to be fulfilling in the last dark hour?

Is it me, Lord? I tell you what, I have been searching my heart all week. I laid it out before God. Lord, are those holy principles so instilled in me? I got a letter from my husband this past week. He said, my wife wanted me to get saved and I gave my heart to Jesus.

My kids are on drugs and all messed up. But now my wife is cold and she said, I want you to leave the church and come back here to sin with me. And he said, I know if I follow Jesus it is going to cost my wife.

I love her. But he said, I have made up my mind, I am going on with the Lord. I am going on with Jesus. God was building a principle into him. They are going to see him through the dark hour because you see, this is all about having what it takes to go through this midnight hour.

The Midnight Hour and Persevering Faith

There is a midnight hour. It is dawn. My friends, I don't see this parable as being only for this generation. Because even Jesus said that there is an hour of darkness coming. All the apostles talked about the hour of darkness.

Peter talked about the hour of darkness. In fact, Paul in Romans 1, I think it is 121, he talked about the hearts that are darkened. He talked about those who had a knowledge of God and refused to retain it.

And God turned them over, and their minds have been darkened. This preaching of darkness has been there. You see, all through the centuries this parable had to mean something to all of them. They couldn't say, well this has nothing to do with us, that is the last day.

No, the Puritans talked about the hour of darkness. I have got writers in my office from the Puritans. 300 years, written 300 years ago. 250, 300 years ago. And they are talking about, they say this is the last time.

One Puritan writes, I know Jesus is coming in my time. And I can show you English writers 100 years ago, saying this is the darkest hour of history. But you see, that midnight hour can be the death age.

It means that what the Lord is saying, there is going to come a time in every one of your lives. Every one of us. But you are going to hear a trumpet sound. You are going to have an awakening. You are going to be called to go out toward the bridegroom.

You are going to have to make up your mind. Amps going to go out, or you are going to be a flaming torch until Jesus comes. For you, either by death, or by his coming. It is not just about this last day.

Although I believe that represents it in its fullest picture. They that were foolish took their lamps, and took their oil with them. But the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps. Now listen to me friends, it is a frightful thing, and I said it before.

It is a frightful thing to be called foolish by a holy God. Now understand this label of foolish. Listen to what Jesus said. Jesus said, for I have not spoken to myself. Now who gave us this parable? Jesus.

Now listen to what he says. I am reading, don't turn it to John 12, 49 and 50. For I have not spoken to myself, but the Father which sent me, he gave me a commandment, what I should say, and what I should speak.

Whatever I speak therefore, even as the Father said unto me, so I speak. And that hit me like a knife. That was a sword that went through me. This is God. This is Almighty God. This is a reflection of his heart.

And God, looking down from his holy throne to his church, to his body, is saying, five of you are not going to make it. Half of you are not going to make it here in this parable. You are foolish. Now this word foolish in the Greek means you have blocked out the truth.

In fact, you can get stones and corns and look it up. Listen to it. Here is the meaning of it. A mysterious inner hidden blindness. A heart shut up in stupidity. Not paying attention. In fact, one of the descriptions is blockhead.

Do you know what that means? Eyes it can't see, ears it can't hear. It's wood. Nothing gets through anymore. It's all shut up. It's locked. But you see what the Lord is saying? These foolish virgins have locked out the truth.

They no longer want to hear it. There is a subtle inner blindness. There is a little dark hidden area where they harbor sin. There is one area not dealt with. And in that one area, there is a hardness.

Not in that one area, hardness. He said, you are not paying attention to my full claims. You are not letting my claim get a hold of you and change you. There is something so deep and stupid and blind and stubborn.

There is a little bit of the world that you are blindly stubbornly holding on to. In fact, the word means it's subtle. It's a little thing. It's something you won't give up. He said it's a stupidity. It's a dullness.

It's a blindness. It's deep. It's hidden. Jeremiah describes the stupidity of God's people. He refused to listen to the call of total repentance and laying down every secret sin. He said, how long shall I see the standard and how long shall I hear the trumpet?

He said, how long does this trumpet have to blow? How much do you have to hear before you obey? For my people are foolish. My people are foolish. Whose people? It's God speaking to Jeremiah. Whose people?

My people are foolish. And I'm reading to you Jeremiah 4, 21 and 22. They have not known me for they are stupid children and they do not understand my words. They are wise to do evil but to do good they don't have any knowledge.

Jeremiah said of these foolish, though they say the Lord liveth, surely they are swearing falsely. They go on saying the Lord is my Lord. He's Lord. He's Lord. They sing He's Lord. He's Lord. He said they are swearing falsely because they are still idolatry.

They are not telling the truth. This foolishness according to the scriptures is a blind stubborn refusal to accept correction. A mysterious inner hardness and unwillingness to walk a straight narrow path.

A senseless dullness of blinking at certain truths to blink at a certain truth. It's a picking and choosing of what you want to do about the word of God. Picking and choosing. Jeremiah said, O Lord, are not Thine eyes upon the truth?