Someone made a statement to me recently that was a bit out of the norm. He said, “Probably one of the most dependable beings in the universe is Satan the devil.” By dependable, he meant that our adversary is dependably destructive. We can count on the outcome of his efforts and tactics to eventually end in human destruction. He has always, dependably, been this way. In speaking to the Pharisees, Christ said, “You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it” (John 8:44). From the time that Lucifer became Satan until now, he has been dependably destructive.
That statement, so obviously true, carries with it an unspoken question. Does it not? Are we, the called-out people of God who have received the Holy Spirit, as dependable in doing those things that lead to life? It is a healthy and sobering question considering Christ’s Parable of the Ten Virgins. Five of them were wise, and five were foolish. The fact that they are all called virgins indicates that they represent those who have received the Holy Spirit after repentance and baptism. They all started out the same but came to very different endings. We know that the foolish ones came, in the end, to see that they were out of oil (the Holy Spirit) and had to go about obtaining it again. “And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the wedding; and the door was shut. Afterward the other virgins came also, saying, ‘Lord, Lord, open to us!’ But he answered and said, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, I do not know you’” (Matthew 25:10-12).Only half of the virgins proved to have been dependable in doing those things that lead to life. That means that only half of them were truly tuned in to their spiritual condition. That, in turn, means that only half of them dependably fought the spiritual battle that takes place in the converted human mind. Therefore, only half of them were consistently, consciously utilizing the power of the Holy Spirit. Christ’s admonishment to us is, “Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour in which the Son of Man is coming” (Matthew 25:13).
To be predictably dependable in seeking to do good, we must function as though we see and understand the unseen spiritual realm.
Marshall Stiver
