Wise Or Otherwise

Illus: Let me share with you some true stories that have been reported on the news, such as:

• In Chicago: A man was wanted for throwing bricks through jewelry store windows and making off with the loot. He was arrested last night after throwing a brick into a Plexiglas window...the brick bounced back, hit him in the head and knocked him cold until the police got there.

• In Kentucky: Two men tried to pull the front off a cash machine by running a chain from the machine to the bumper of their pickup truck. Instead of pulling the front panel off the machine, they pulled the bumper off their truck. Scared, they left the scene and drove home. With the chain still attached to the machine. With their bumper still attached to the chain. With their vehicle's license plate still attached to the bumper.

• In Arkansas: Seems this guy wanted some beer pretty badly. He decided that he'd just throw a cinder block through a liquor store window, grab some booze, and run. So he lifted the cinder block and heaved it over his head at the window. The cinder block bounced back and hit the would-be thief on the head, knocking him unconscious. Seems the liquor store window was made of Plexiglas. The whole event was caught on videotape.

• In Seattle: When a man attempted to siphon gasoline from a motor home parked on a Seattle street, he got much more than he bargained for. Police arrived at the scene to find an ill man curled up next to a motor home near spilled sewage. A police spokesman said that the man admitted to trying to steal gasoline and plugged his hose into the motor home's sewage tank by mistake. The owner of the vehicle declined to press charges, saying that it was the best laugh he'd ever had.

• In Long Beach, California: When his .38 caliber revolver failed to fire at his intended victim during a hold-up in Long Beach, California, robber James Eliot peered down the barrel and tried it again. This time, it worked.

• In Arkansas: Some criminals are not too bright and here's one to prove that: (at the time of booking)

Officer: What is your D.O.B.?

Criminal: What's a D.O.B. man?

Officer: When's your birthday?

Criminal: May 5th

Officer: What year?

Criminal: Every year, man.

Illus: Did you hear about a young man that walked into an insurance office to purchase coverage for his new motorcycle? Only one question confused him.

• "Do you have a lien holder on the vehicle?"

• He said, "I've got a kickstand, is that the same thing?"

Illus: Did you hear about the judge that asked a woman for her occupation after running a red light. She told the judge she was a schoolteacher. The judge rose from the bench. "Madam, I have waited years for a schoolteacher to appear before this court," he smiled with delight. "Now sit down at that table and write 'I will not pass through a red light' five hundred times."

We sometimes wonder if the things we hear about people doing can possibly true because they are so foolish. THEY ARE…PEOPLE DO SOME DUMB THINGS!

This parable today that we want to look at consists of TWO things, THE FOOLISH, AND THE WISE. Let’s look at-

I. THE FOOLISH

Matt. 25:1-3, “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 foolish. They that were foolish took their lamps, and took no oil with them.”

As already stated, there are a lot of UNWISE THINGS done in the physical world but they are not limited to the physical world. We also see some unwise things done in the spiritual world.

Illus: Dr. Henry Ward Beecher entered the Plymouth Church one Sunday and found several letters awaiting him. He opened one and found it contained the single word "Fool."

Quietly and with seriousness, he announced to the congregation the fact in these words: "I have known many an instance of a man writing a letter and forgetting to sign his name, but this is the only instance I have ever known of a man signing his name and forgetting to write the letter."

Someone said a foolish man may be known by six things:

• Anger without cause

• Speech without profit

• Change without progress

• Inquiry without object

• Putting trust in a stranger

• Mistaking foes for friends

This is a good list, but I can assure you it does not cover all the foolish things about mankind.

In this parable, it was determined that five virgins were foolish simply because they did not take enough oil for their lamps.