Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people with his own blood, suffered outside the gate. Therefore, let us go forth to him outside the camp, bearing his reproach. For we have no continuing city here, but we seek one to come.
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"There may be some foolish things about a 'wise virgin' and there may be some wise things about a 'foolish virgin'", said Preacher Clark. "You must be careful not to judge people in the Lord too quickly."
According to one of Jesus' most memorable parables, the assembly of saints is comprised of wise children of God ("wise virgins") and foolish children of God ("foolish virgins"). All of them have been born again, but the "foolish virgins" are not faithful to Jesus and will be cast out of his kingdom on the Day of Judgment. The wise will live forever in peace with God.
A wise virgin may be someone dirt poor who never even learned to read or write. And a foolish virgin may be a wealthy college professor. The difference between the two is the quality of their commitment to Christ, not their education or social position or money. The wise love God with all their heart, even if they do not know or have much of anything. The foolish love the world and God; they judge themselves and others on the basis of their social position and their possessions, or perhaps their good looks, or their God-given intellect.
Be careful when making any judgments concerning any one of God's children. God does not judge as men do. He does not look at what men see. One of the Old Testament prophecies of Christ was that he would not judge anything by what he saw or what he heard; rather, he would be led in all his judgments by the holy Ghost within him. To learn to judge all things the way Christ did is a most important lesson of true holiness. The man who learns to do this can overlook some apparently foolish things about wise virgins and see who they really are. He can also see through the appearance of wisdom that some foolish virgins may project and see them for what they really are.
Contemplating the things of God one day long ago while I was a student at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, I realized that I had heard more truth told in Brother Frank's sermon the previous weekend than I had heard in any entire semester of lectures from any of my seminary professors. Now, Brother Frank was an old holiness preacher, a holy Ghost filled man with a third grade education, while my professors held prestigious degrees from famous universities. Some of them could speak several different languages, and some of them traveled around the world, studying and teaching at Oxford or some other world-renowned university. But knowing God is possible only by experiences with the power the holy Ghost (1Cor. 2:11), and as the wise man in Job said, "Who is it by study can find out God?"
I loved the simple wisdom of the truth that I heard from humble servants of Jesus in those lowly country prayer meetings, and I hated the contorted foolishness of the error that I was being taught daily by the proud and erudite professors at that highly regarded seminary. Were I, or anyone else, to judge by appearances, I would have thought that my professors, not ignorant old Brother Frank, held the secrets to the knowledge of God. But Jesus rescued me from judging according to the flesh and taught me to judge righteous judgment.
Jesus is never fooled by appearances because he never considers them, and if we will listen to the holy Ghost that Jesus purchased for us with his own blood, it will also be impossible for us to be fooled.
To be filled with the holy Spirit is life and wisdom, and to trust in what the Spirit is saying is never to be deceived. Everybody who knows what the Spirit is saying knows the voice of God. Everybody whose thoughts are being given to them by the Spirit possesses the mind of Christ. And everybody whose heart feels what the Spirit is feeling is enjoying holy communion with the Father and the Son. Let this be the standard by which you judge all men.