The Inherent Separation Message in Matthew 22 as Reapplied by Ellen WhiteClick to go to our Home Page
Dear Reader, Ellen White reapplies Matthew 22
to the end-time. We will examine her statement on that chapter to see just
how plainly and inherently a call out message is found within that chapter. There
are three calls made within that chapter. Here is her reapplication of
Matthew 22: Matthew 22
Sermons and Talks Called to
the Wedding Feast (Sermon by Ellen G. White In Washington, Township, Iowa, Cir.
1874.) The words which I have
selected as a foundation for a few remarks you will find in the 22nd chapter
of Matthew, beginning at the first verse. [Verses 1-10, quoted.] {1SAT 4.1} The portion of
Scripture presented before us, which I have referred to and have presented
before your minds, is of intense meaning--much more than I am able to
explain. It is of great interest to us, and we should consider it, and
let it have due weight upon our minds. We find by perusing God's sacred
Word of inspiration that when the promised Messiah, the Son of God, came into
the world His own people, even His own nation--the Jews--would not and did
not receive Him. As we are told in the first chapter of St. John,
"He came unto His own, and His own received Him not" (John 1:11).
{1SAT 4.2} The provision was
made, but they would not receive it. The Father Himself provided a ransom,
even a sacrifice. His own dear Son submitted Himself to His Father's
requirements, came into this sinful world, became a man of sorrow and
acquainted with grief. [The first call
by Christ Himself] He went about doing good, speaking in tones of
tenderness, saying in the deepest and most fervent and sweetest accents ever
uttered, "Come unto Me, all ye
that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon
you, and learn of Me; for I am meek and lowly in heart"; and He assures
us we shall find rest to our souls. {1SAT 4.3} [Second call] "Again, he sent forth other servants,
saying, Tell them which are bidden, Behold, I have prepared my dinner: my
oxen and my fatlings are killed, and all things are ready: come unto the marriage. But
they made light of it, and went their ways, one to his farm, another to his
merchandise." -5-
{1SAT 4.4} The great King Himself
hath made a marriage for His Son. [Reapplication
of Matt. 22] He hath sent forth
His servants for many hundreds of years, saying, "Come, for all
things are ready." But how little do the [people of the] world heed the
invitation! They make light of it and go their ways to their worldly pursuits
and worldly pleasures, the same as they have done for centuries. But the King sendeth forth His armies and
destroys those murderers and burns up their city, and we are told in the
ninth chapter of Daniel, the 26th verse, that "the people of the Prince that shall come shall destroy the city...;
and the end thereof shall be with a flood." {1SAT 5.1} "Then saith he to
his servants, The wedding is ready, but
they which were bidden were not worthy. Go ye therefore into the
highways, and as many as ye shall find, bid to the marriage." {1SAT 5.2} Ron’s Commentary: There are two calls to the marriage. One was
made by Philadelphia in 1844. Philadelphia was the perfect church not faulted
by God. It was never formally organized before it became overladen with
Laodiceans. End comment. In the 14th chapter of
Luke, verse 16, we find that there was made a great supper and many were
bidden. Servants were sent forth to
say to those that were bidden, "Come; for all things are now
ready" [verse 17]. But they made excuses. {1SAT 5.3} The King of the
kingdom hath made a marriage supper for His Son. He hath sent forth His
servants to say to those which are bidden, "Come to the marriage."
The Lord is sending [Reapplication
of Matt. 22] His servants, saying unto all who will hear, "Come,
make ready for the great marriage supper of the Lamb; He is soon coming
to receive all the faithful to the mansions prepared by Him, to partake of
the feast which He hath prepared." He is sending, and
hath been sending His servants for some thirty years past to say
unto His people, "Come, make ready, put on your wedding garments;
clothe yourselves with meekness, humility, and truth, and have yourselves
clad in the righteousness of Christ, that you may be -6- able to appear before Him, and enter into the guest chamber with
those who shall sit with Me at the wedding of My Son." {1SAT 5.4} All must be clothed
with the wedding garment in order to be accepted, lest we be found
speechless. {1SAT 6.1} Is it not of the
greatest importance that we be found having on the robe of righteousness,
that we be ready when the Bridegroom cometh to enter in to the marriage
supper? May we heed the invitation given and make ourselves ready that we may
have admittance into the Master's house, that He say not unto us that none
which were bidden shall taste of His supper. In the parable, those who
were bidden heeded not its invitation, but continued excusing themselves,
feasting upon the pleasures of this world as the masses do at the present
time. {1SAT 6.2} The servants of God are inviting and entreating
them to come away from the alluring scenes of this vain and fleeting world,
to make ready for the marriage supper, but they will not come. We hear
them saying, There's no danger; tomorrow shall be as this day and much
more abundant; no need of being disturbed. [cf. Isaiah 56:12]. We must needs attend to farms and merchandise
and the things of this life, lest we lose worldly interests, and become poor
and suffer want. They forget that He who careth for the little sparrows and
clotheth the lilies of the field, careth for the humble, trusting soul, and
will guide and direct all those who are ready to do His will, and bestow upon
His dear children such things as they need. To all who through
patience and perseverance overcome, He hath promised to give a crown of never
fading glory, a robe of righteousness, and an entrance into the beautiful
city of our God. {1SAT 6.3} This same King is sending forth His servants
today. He is inviting His guests, saying, "Come, for all things are
now ready." The Lord of the marriage -7- is soon coming: behold, He is at the door. Delay not to open the
door, lest He turn away from receiving you and you enter not into the
marriage feast. Open the door and receive the Master, that you may enter into
the mansions of everlasting rest and never fading glory prepared for all
those that love Him. Who will make ready for the coming of Him who hath said,
"Behold, I come quickly; and My reward is with Me, to give to every man
according as his work shall be" [Rev. 22:12]. {1SAT 6.4} If we neglect our
spiritual interests, neglect to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable unto
God, which is our reasonable duty, we become entangled with the trifling
cares of this life. If we even once omit our daily duty of calling upon God
for His divine aid, His care and protection, we lose one day's enjoyment. We
have not the sweet, melting influence of God's Holy Spirit attending us
through the day, but we feel cast down and easily discouraged. The enemy of
souls is ready to take advantage [of us] and often does, bringing us into
captivity and sin. {1SAT 7.1} We may sometimes be
cumbered about much serving, like Martha; but how much more commendable was
the act of Mary, who sat and listened to the teachings of Jesus. He says,
"Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many things: but . . . .
Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her"
(Luke 10:41, 42). {1SAT 7.2} How many times the
things of this vain, deceitful world come between us and our eternal
interests! Temporal things spring up within our hearts and choke those things
which are spiritual. We permit the enemy of righteousness to persuade us that
we should attend to the things of this life. We now and then neglect greater
duties lest we suffer want. If we faithfully entreat God to -8- give us strength and to perform temporal duties, and at the same
time to give us grace and wisdom to
overcome evil; if we have our hopes centered above and our conversation
in heaven, whence we look for the Son of man who has bidden to the marriage
all who will come: who has gone up on high to prepare mansions for all those
who love and keep His sayings, and has told us He is coming to receive us, we
may enter in to the wedding feast with Him, that where He is there we may be
also. If we turn away from those calls
and invitations, what will be the consequence? {1SAT 7.3} In the 13th chapter of
the Acts of the Apostles, 46th verse, we find that if we put God's work
from us, and judge ourselves unworthy of everlasting life, we have no
reason to expect an entrance into the kingdom. The 24th verse of the 14th chapter of Luke informs us that "none
of those men which were bidden shall taste of my supper." {1SAT
8.1} The great eternal
Father has prepared a marriage feast for His Son. Will we give heed to His
servants who have been and are
being sent forth to proclaim unto us the solemn invitation? Or shall we make light of it? Oh, why
refuse to make ready for the marriage of the Son of God? There is room for
all who will accept the invitation. None can say [that] those things were not
duly represented. Remember, when the good man returns, those who are ready
will go in to the feast and the door will be shut, and there will be no
further entrance, for we read that when "the master of the house is
risen up, and hath shut to the door" (Luke 13:25), then those who would
find admittance will hear the answer, "I know you not. . . ; depart from
Me." {1SAT 8.2} End Matthew 22 Parable from Sermon and Talks The Lord has shown me in vision that the following statement by
Ellen White is based on God’s prophesy of those who were bidden in Matthew 22: The
Prophesied Fall of The Professing Seventh-day Adventist Church
The
Midnight Cry Call of 1844, to the Marriage Supper In the summer and autumn
of 1844 the proclamation, "Behold, the Bridegroom cometh," was
given. The two classes represented by the wise and foolish virgins were then
developed--one class who looked with joy to the Lord's appearing, and who had
been diligently preparing to meet Him; another class that, influenced by fear
and acting from impulse, had been satisfied with a theory of the truth, but
were destitute of the grace of God. In the parable, when the bridegroom came,
"they that were ready went in with him to the marriage." The coming
of the bridegroom, here brought to view, takes place before the marriage. The
marriage represents the reception by Christ of His kingdom. The Holy City,
the New Jerusalem, which is the capital and representative of the kingdom, is
called "the bride, the Lamb's wife." Said the angel to John:
"Come hither, I will show thee the bride, the Lamb's wife."
"He carried me away in the spirit," says the prophet, "and
showed me that great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from
God." Revelation 427 21:9, 10. Clearly, then,
the bride represents the Holy City, and the virgins that go out to meet the
bridegroom are a symbol of the church. In the Revelation the people of God
are said to be the guests at the marriage supper. Revelation 19:9. If guests,
they cannot be represented also as the bride. Christ, as stated by the
prophet Daniel, will receive from the Ancient of Days in heaven,
"dominion, and glory, and a kingdom;" He will receive the New
Jerusalem, the capital of His kingdom, "prepared as a bride adorned for
her husband." Daniel 7:14; Revelation 21:2. Having received the kingdom,
He will come in His glory, as King of kings and Lord of lords, for the
redemption of His people, who are to "sit down with Abraham, and Isaac,
and Jacob," at His table in His kingdom (Matthew 8:11; Luke 22:30), to
partake of the marriage supper of the Lamb. The proclamation,
"Behold, the Bridegroom cometh," in the summer of 1844, led
thousands to expect the immediate advent of the Lord. At the appointed time
the Bridegroom came, not to the earth, as the people expected, but to the
Ancient of Days in heaven, to the marriage, the reception of His kingdom.
"They that were ready went in with Him to the marriage: and the door was
shut." They were not to be present in person at the marriage; for it
takes place in heaven, while they are upon the earth. The followers of Christ
are to "wait for their Lord, when He will return from the wedding."
Luke 12:36. But they are to understand His work, and to follow Him by faith
as He goes in before God. It is in this sense that they are said to go in to
the marriage. In the parable it was
those that had oil in their vessels with their lamps that went in to the
marriage. Those who, with a knowledge of the truth from the Scriptures, had
also the Spirit and grace of God, and who, in the night of their bitter
trial, had patiently waited, searching the Bible for clearer light--these saw
the truth concerning the sanctuary in heaven and the Saviour's change in
ministration, and by faith they followed Him in His work in the sanctuary
above. And all who through the testimony of the Scriptures accept the 428 same truths, following
Christ by faith as He enters in before God to perform the last work of mediation,
and at its close to receive His kingdom--all these are represented as going
in to the marriage. In the parable of
Matthew 22 the same figure of the marriage is introduced, and the
investigative judgment is clearly represented as taking place before the
marriage. Previous to the wedding the king comes in to see the guests, to see
if all are attired in the wedding garment, the spotless robe of character
washed and made white in the blood of the Lamb. Matthew 22:11; Revelation
7:14. He who is found wanting is cast out, but all who upon examination are
seen to have the wedding garment on are accepted of God and accounted worthy
of a share in His kingdom and a seat upon His throne. This work of
examination of character, of determining who are prepared for the kingdom of
God, is that of the investigative judgment, the closing of work in the
sanctuary above. When the work of
investigation shall be ended, when the cases of those who in all ages have
professed to be followers of Christ have been examined and decided, then, and
not till then, probation will close, and the door of mercy will be shut. Thus
in the one short sentence, "They that were ready went in with Him to the
marriage: and the door was shut," we are carried down through the Saviour's
final ministration, to the time when the great work for man's salvation shall
be completed. In the service of the
earthly sanctuary, which, as we have seen, is a figure of the service in the
heavenly, when the high priest on the Day of Atonement entered the most holy
place, the ministration in the first apartment ceased. God commanded:
"There shall be no man in the tabernacle of the congregation when he
goeth in to make an atonement in the holy place, until he comes out."
Leviticus 16:17. So when Christ entered the holy of holies to perform the
closing work of the atonement, He ceased His ministration in the first
apartment. But when the ministration in the first apartment 429 ended, the ministration
in the second apartment began. When in the typical service the high priest
left the holy on the Day of Atonement, he went in before God to present the
blood of the sin offering in behalf of all Israel who truly repented of their
sins. So Christ had only completed one part of His work as our intercessor,
to enter upon another portion of the work, and He still pleaded His blood
before the Father in behalf of sinners. The Next Scheduled Midnight Cry Call to the Marriage
Supper of the Lamb Midnight Cry Repeated: "My mind was carried
to the FUTURE, when the signal WILL BE GIVEN, 'Behold, the Bridegroom cometh
God ye out to meet Him.'" E.G. White, Review and Herald, Vol. 3,
p. 331, Feb. 11, 1896. Notice the
date, Feb. 11, 1896.
The
first call made to the modern day world was in 1844. It was made by
Philadelphia, the church triumphant, which is not faulted in Revelation 3. God
awakens her first and then she awakens the ten virgins. This is the
implication of what Christ’s Object
Lessons, p. 405-6 says. Combine that with the following statement to
find out who is called and awakened by whom: "Characteristics of True Reformers.--Here [Isa. 8:11-14] are
given the characteristics of those who shall be reformers, who will bear the
banner of the third angel’s message, these who avow themselves God's
commandment-keeping people, and who honor God, and are earnestly engaged, in
the sight of all the universe, in building up the old waste places. Who is it that calls them, The
repairer of the breach, The restorers of paths to dwell in? It is God. Their names
are registered [written--Heb. 12:22, 23] in heaven as reformers, restorers,
as raising the foundations of many generations." E. G. White, SDA Bible Commentary, Vol. 4, 1151. The true reformers are called and
awakened by God’s Holy Spirit. Then their voice and the voice of God, COL,
406, awaken all ten virgins, for Matthew 25:4 says that ALL those virgins
slumbered and slept. It is the true reformers who come TO the Laodiceans with a most
denunciatory message: What greater deception can come upon human minds than a confidence
that they are right when they are all wrong! The message of the True Witness
finds the people of God in a sad deception, yet honest in that deception.
They know not that their condition is deplorable in the sight of God. While
those addressed are flattering themselves that they are in an exalted
spiritual condition, the message of
the True Witness breaks their security by the startling denunciation
of their true condition of spiritual blindness, poverty, and wretchedness. The
testimony, so cutting and severe, cannot be a mistake, for it is the True
Witness who speaks, and His testimony must be correct. {3T 252.4} COUNTERPART: "The Lord commanded
one of his ancient servants, 'Pray not thou for this people [Jer. 7:16 and
11:14], neither lift up cry nor prayer for them neither make intercession to
me for I will not hear thee.' The prophet thus describes the sins which had
called forth this fearful
denunciation: 'The prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests bear
rule by their means and my people love to have it so and what will ye do in
the end thereof?' 'From the least of
them even unto the greatest of them, every one is given to covetousness and
from the prophet even unto the priest, every one dealeth falsely.
They have healed also the hurt of the daughter of my people slightly, saying,
Peace, peace, when there is no peace.' The apostles declare that this state
of things will find its COUNTERPART in the last days. Many have a form of
godliness, but in their daily life deny the power thereof. They have ceased
to be convicted of their sins or alarmed at their state. They say in their
hearts, 'The church is flourishing.
Peace and spiritual prosperity are within her borders.' The words of the
prophet may well apply to these self-deceivers,
'They have chosen their own ways, and their soul delighteth in their
abominations. I also will choose their delusions, and will bring their
fears upon them." E. G. White, Second Advent Review and Sabbath Herald, 11-07-82. This startling denunciation of
Laodicea prompts the hearers to regard it as too severe, unloving and unnecessary.
They flatter those who would ally their concerns by a less severe overture to
them. Why? Because they love peace and they delight in their abominations.
They will even pay large sums of money, as was the case with Desmond Ford, to
be told that they are flourishing in God’s grace. But the more pliant Aarons
are not their real friends. Reproofs always hurt human nature. Many are the souls that have
been destroyed by the unwise sympathy of their brethren; for, because the
brethren sympathized with them, they thought they must indeed have been
abused, and that the reprover was all wrong and had a bad spirit. The only
hope for sinners in Zion is to fully see and confess their wrongs, and put
them away. Those who step in to destroy the edge of sharp reproof that God
sends, saying that the reprover was partly wrong and the reproved was not
just right, please the enemy. Any
way that Satan can devise to make the reproofs of none effect will accomplish
his design. Some will lay blame upon the one whom God has sent with a message
of warning, saying, He is too
severe; and in so doing they become responsible for the soul of the
sinner whom God desired to save, and to whom, because He loved him, He sent
correction, that he might humble his soul before God and put his sins from
him. These false sympathizers will have an account to settle with the Master
by-and-by for their work of death. {3T 329.1} The End Result of the Second Call to
the Marriage Supper of the Lamb—The Midnight Cry of Matthew 22 and 25 It is of extreme unction to discern
that in the representative Matthew 22 calls made by Christ and His disciples,
His servants who made that call were gathered out of the apostate church. That
was the church triumphant coming to the aid of the apostate church militant
and all who would not heed the cry to come out of the apostate church were
destroyed with it. So, as regards Matthew 22 and the SDA church, only those
who are “gathered out,” DA 232, are saved. The message is given by
Zion, the bride of Christ, Isaiah 62:1-5. Her call is mentioned in verse 11
and this call is a paraphrase of the Midnight Cry of Matthew 25: Behold the
bridegroom cometh, God ye OUT to meet Him.” Why this call out? Because
according to God in Isaiah 4:1-4, all formally organized churches are doing
their own thing at the end-time. "Christ was a protestant...The Reformers date back to Christ and
the apostles. They came out and separated themselves from a religion of forms
and ceremonies. Luther and his followers did not invent the reformed
religion. They simply accepted it as presented by Christ and the apostles."
E.G. White, Review and
Herald, vol. 2, 48, col. 2. "The Sanhedrin had rejected Christ's message and was bent
upon His death therefore Jesus
departed from Jerusalem, from the priests, the temple, the religious leaders,
the people who had been instructed in the law, and turned to another
class to proclaim His message, and to gather
out those who should carry the gospel to all nations.” Desire of
Ages, p. 232. If you do your job properly in warning your fellow brethren, you will
be rejected by the Sanhedrin of the day and you will be forced to seek
another class. God gives us the end result of that second call to the church. Therein
lies the inherent call out message of Matthew 22. And here is the end result
of that second call: Mat 22:8 Then saith he to his
servants, The wedding is ready, but
they which were bidden were not worthy. Mat 22:9 Go ye therefore into the highways, and as
many as ye shall find, bid to the marriage. The final third call is to the world. God bless all who will hear and heed, Ron |