22:10Matthew 22:10

After those first invited refused the ready feast and violently rejected its messengers, the king sent his servants into the highways to invite all they could find until the wedding was filled with guests.Ms 46, 1896, par. 1–2+4 That sending is the gospel call of mercy going to the Gentiles and to all the world, to every soul without regard to nation, rank, or condition, both bad and good.COL 307.2–308.1+4 Those gathered are a mixed company, true believers together with those who profess faith and share the provisions yet lack real regard for the Giver.Ms 18, 1899, par. 1–4+4 Merely being invited, gathered, and present does not make one fit to remain, for each guest is given and must put on the wedding garment, which is the righteousness of Christ, a pure Christlike character in obedience to all God's commandments.COL 307.2–308.1+4 Before the marriage the king comes in to examine the guests, deciding the cases of all professed followers, so all must secure the robe and be ready during probation before the door of mercy shuts.GC 428.1–2+4

Matthew 22:10 describes the final call to the feast after those first bidden refused to come when told that all things are now ready.Ms 46, 1896, par. 1–2+1 Those first bidden were the chosen people and the higher classes, wholly intent on worldly gain and so absorbed in buying and selling, planting and building, building transactions, merchandise, farms and social attractions that eternity was left out of the reckoning.Ms 18, 1899, par. 1–4+2 They thought they could not afford to sacrifice worldly advantage to attend the king's banquet, and the great and worldly-wise men made this present world their god, listening to the foe and adopting his excuses instead of coming.COL 309.1–2+1

Those bidden made light of the gracious invitation, pleading circumstances and supposed duties, despising reproving truth and treating the messengers with scorn, spitefully using and slaying them.Ms 149, 1898, par. 3+1 The insult brought the wrath of the king, who sent forth his armies and destroyed those murderers and burned up their cities, a fate that was a warning of what was carried out against Jerusalem by the Romans.Ms 149, 1898, par. 3+1 None of those first men who were bidden would taste the supper.Ms 143, 1898, par. 1–3+1

Though those first bidden proved unworthy, the wedding remained ready.Ms 46, 1896, par. 11–13+1 The king then sent his servants into the highways to bid as many as they could find, to invite men personally and to assure them that the guests understand the invitation and that all things are ready.Ms 46, 1896, par. 1–2+1 The servants in obedience went out into the highways and roads and gathered together all as many as they found, both bad and good, until the wedding was furnished with guests and the wedding hall was filled with a mixed company.Ms 46, 1896, par. 1–2+3 This gathering is the setting for the account of the man who came without a wedding garment.Lt 90, 1898, par. 3

The parable is the second parable of invitation, a king's invitation coming from one vested with power to command and involving much.Ms 149, 1898, par. 3 Refusal of this command meets no more favorable response than the householder's invitation but deeper guilt and more dreadful punishment than mere exclusion from his presence and table.Ms 149, 1898, par. 3 The parable's use of a wedding feast also affirms that marriage is a divine institution and the marriage covenant deserves respect.3RED 13.3–14.1

The sending into the highways is the gospel invitation and call of mercy going to the Gentiles and the Gentile world after the Jewish people reject it, the third call to the feast after those first bidden proved unworthy.COL 307.2–308.1+3 It reaches people active in the world's work, including leaders, teachers, and those with influence, talents, and knowledge, who have too often been neglected.RH May 8, 1900 God prepared the heavenly banquet by sending His Son into the world to die on behalf of sinners, so that through faith in Him they become one with God.6MR 388.2 The invitation is not made to a few but to all who will come, both bad and good, with no walls built to keep any living soul from salvation.6MR 388.2+2 It is to be proclaimed in highways and byways without regard to national, denominational, sectarian, rank, or caste distinctions, given without limitation to all people and without distinction to all classes.Ms 59, 1895, par. 34–39+2

The feast represents the gospel, the banquet of God's Word, spread before all as the treasures of His Word.Lt 94, 1898, par. 10–15+1 It is a wedding supper already prepared for the church as the richest blessings from heaven, justification by faith and the imputed righteousness of Christ, a banquet that satisfies every want and every need.Lt 61, 1893, par. 2–3+3 Coming to the supper means fully receiving that truth, understanding the true state of the church, being willing to receive Christ and seek God wholeheartedly, with personal decision and effort beginning in every family.Lt 61, 1893, par. 2–3+1 Only those born of the Spirit can rightly appreciate and enjoy these high, exalted truths and distinguish between good and evil.Ms 70, 1901, par. 6–8 The marriage means the union of humanity with divinity.COL 307.1+1 In the parable Christ is the Bridegroom and the church is the bride.Ms 185, 1903, par. 1–3

On the Lamb's wedding day the guests gather for a heavenly feast, the King calls His own, and angels prepare the table and its food.COL 423.3 The predestination in the parable includes all who accept Christ as a personal Saviour and return to loyalty and perfect obedience to all God's commandments.6MR 388.2 All who are willing to be saved by Christ are the elect of God, and it is the obedient who are predestinated from the foundation of the world, while the gathered guests are not all thereby chosen.6MR 388.2+1 People hear the gracious call to the heavenly feast but may refuse to accept it and act on it, turning away for lesser interests and rejecting the invitation.14MR 19.1–3+1 The invitation must be accepted during probation, for the opportunity to enter does not remain open indefinitely; when the door is shut those who were unready seek admission too late and will have no second call or later opportunity to come, and their neglect can also influence others to remain unready.Ms 59, 1895, par. 34–39+1

The servants went out into the highways and roads in obedience to the king's command after those first bidden refused, and gathered all as many as they found, both bad and good without distinction, until the wedding was furnished with guests and the hall was filled.Ms 18, 1899, par. 1–4+3 Those first bidden were the higher classes and the chosen people, wholly intent on worldly gain, who would not come, while those then gathered were less absorbed in buying and selling, planting and building and in building transactions, so that eternity was not left out of the reckoning.Ms 18, 1899, par. 1–4+1 The gathering without distinction formed a mixed company, and the king's later scrutiny shows that being gathered does not by itself secure acceptance, for in the gospel feast all are examined and only those clothed in Christ's righteousness are received.COL 312.1–3+1

That mixed company holds true believers together with others who appear to believe and take their stand as believers yet have never put on Christ, the robe of His righteousness.Ms 79, 1908, par. 4–7+2 It includes professing Christians who lack Christ's righteousness and must have His righteousness rather than their own and reveal His likeness in life, since being present at the supper does not ensure acceptance or readiness for the final test and entry into God's city.Ms 79, 1908, par. 4–7+1 The giving of the gospel to the Gentiles after those first bidden proved unworthy brings in all kinds of people, and the servants must invite and admit all who come, bidding as many as are found of all classes, especially the poor and lowly in the byways and hedges and those in gross darkness, without refusing admittance to any or doing the work of separation, while still carrying out the Bible rule in regard to disorderly members.COL 309.1–2+2

Some who accept do so only to benefit themselves, to share the provisions of the feast and to eat its provisions, with no more real regard for the giver than the rejecters had and no desire to honor the king.ST Jun 15, 1915+2 They say by partaking that they have accepted Christ as personal Saviour, yet refuse to clothe themselves in His distinguishing dress, the wedding garment which is the truth as it is in Jesus, the robe of Christ's righteousness, the white linen of a clean pure character.Ms 143, 1898, par. 6–8 Only those who answer the call Come for all things are now ready to the marriage supper of the Lamb and put off the old citizen life lived in ignorance do Him honor, with speech changed and conversation in altogether another line, so that faith stands not in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.Ms 143, 1898, par. 6–8

Being invited and gathered to the feast does not make a guest fit to remain, for all who attend must make the required preparation or be cast out.COL 307.2–308.1+1 Being gathered does not itself show true discipleship, ensure acceptance, or ensure readiness for the final test and entry into God's city.ST Jun 15, 1915+3 Fitness to remain is having on the wedding garment, which is accepting the righteousness of Christ as defined in John 6, taking a firm stand for Christ, surrendering to God what is already His, and not continuing in sin, presenting the marriage of humanity with divinity and the standard of character each must reach to be counted a fit guest.Ms 13, 1899, par. 1–2 Many are lost through presumption, measuring character by their own ideas instead of agreeing with God's standard, not through any failure of God to fulfill every specification of His promise.Ms 13, 1899, par. 1–2

Each guest gathered into the wedding is given a wedding garment as a gift from the king, purchased for him, prepared for all, woven in the loom of heaven, spotless as the pure white lily, and proffered as the richest gift that can be bestowed on mortal man.Ms 143, 1898, par. 1–3+2 Wearing it shows respect to Him who made every provision for the feast, while coming in one's own garments or the common citizen's dress of the carnal spirit of the world insults Him, abuses His benevolence, and does the greatest dishonor to the One who invites.Ms 143, 1898, par. 1–3+3 No one may come to the repast clothed in that citizen's dress, and only those born of the Spirit can rightly appreciate and enjoy these high, exalted truths and distinguish between good and evil.Ms 70, 1901, par. 6–8

The garment is Christ's righteousness, His imputed righteousness, the white robe of a clean pure character, the truth as it is in Jesus, the robe of being like Jesus and revealing Christ's likeness in life.RH Sep 24, 1908+4 No garment of one's own gives a position of honor at the marriage supper of the Lamb, and if any are saved it is not because of superior intellect or refinement of ideas but through the grace of God.8MR 309.1–310.1 One's own righteousness is defiled garments and will not do, and all clad only in self-righteousness stand lost and hopeless when contemplating Christ's unsurpassed purity and excellence.Lt 49, 1887, par. 5+1

Fitness to remain as a guest means possessing the character represented by the garment, a character all must possess to be counted fit, for the marriage means the union of humanity with divinity.COL 307.1+1 That fitness is being made Christlike, purified in life, obedient to God's commandments, taking a firm stand for Christ, surrendering to God what is already His, and not continuing in sin.Ms 13, 1899, par. 1–2 It means accepting Bible truth and the righteousness of Christ not in name only but practising it, with a life shaped by truth and the work of the Holy Spirit, unsanctified hearers who do not practise the Word being unfit to represent Christ.STMW10 4.2–5.1+2 Faithful service is required of those who misuse privileges and talents, and speech is changed so that conversation is in altogether another line and faith stands not in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.STMW10 4.2–5.1+1

To accept the invitation is to put off the old citizen life lived in ignorance and put on the robe, thereby showing belonging to His church as His bride married to Christ.Ms 143, 1898, par. 5+1 All who partake of the gospel feast thereby say they have accepted Christ as personal Saviour, yet some accept only thinking to benefit themselves by eating the provisions while refusing to clothe themselves in the garment.Ms 143, 1898, par. 6–8 Only those who answer the final call Come for all things are now ready to the marriage supper of the Lamb and are cleansed from impurity to holiness of life do Him honor.Ms 143, 1898, par. 6–8+1

The guest found without the garment represents one who has a form of godliness without manifesting in life practice the inward working of the Holy Spirit.Ms 111, 1906, par. 1–3 He is one who holds on to wrongs that have grieved Christ, who leans on others instead of making God the dependence, who sets the self in stubborn self-will, and who cherishes traits of character that unfit for seeing and understanding the working of the Spirit of God and lead to being led by another spirit.Lt 24, 1892, par. 5–7+1 Such fail to obtain the experience essential to be clothed in the righteousness of Christ and are joined with the foolish virgins who have no oil in their vessels with their lamps.Lt 24, 1892, par. 5–7 They need to repent and confess so that Christ may forgive and cleanse, to search their own hearts thoroughly, and to arouse themselves and come into a humble, sacred nearness to God with vital connection to the great Leader instead of giving counsel not imparted from above and following their own way and will.Lt 24, 1892, par. 5–7+2

Many are lost through presumption, measuring character by their own ideas instead of agreeing with God's standard, not through any failure of God to fulfill every specification of His promise.Ms 13, 1899, par. 1–2 God is just to separate that wrongdoer from His presence and cast him out.Lt 49, 1887, par. 5 Satan's pleasure gatherings can keep people from accepting the call to the marriage supper of the Lamb and receiving the white robe of character, which is the righteousness of Christ.14MR 122.2–123.1

Every guest must give whole attention to securing the robe and must individually accept Christ's robe as a personal Saviour.Ms 109, 1901, par. 9+1 It is offered even to the lowliest who believes in Him, and the imputed righteousness of Christ alone makes the sons and daughters of Adam members of the family in heaven and alone gives worthiness to sit down at the marriage feast.8MR 309.1–310.1

The gathering of both bad and good until the wedding is furnished does not end the matter, for before the marriage itself the king comes in to examine the guests to determine who has the wedding garment.GC 428.1–2+1 That examination is the investigative judgment, in which the cases of professed followers are decided before probation closes and the door of mercy shuts.GC 428.1–2 In the gospel feast all who have been gathered without distinction are thus examined, and being present does not by itself secure acceptance, for only those clothed in Christ's righteousness are received.GC 428.1–2+1

The call that fills the hall with guests is joined directly to the reckoning with the one found there without the wedding garment.Lt 86, 1898, par. 17 Presence at the king's feast is not enough, since a person may be found there unready and without the garment.COL 319.2–3 The feast therefore warns that all must be prepared for the coming of the Son of man.Lt 86, 1889, par. 4+1

The time now is short and everyone needs to be prepared for the marriage supper of the Lord.Lt 86, 1889, par. 4 To be furnished as guests means accepting the robe of Christ's righteousness and the peace of Christ so as not to be found without the wedding garment.Lt 86, 1889, par. 4 When Satan works in great power with the children of disobedience as agents to destroy the soul, resisting the devil will make him flee.Lt 86, 1889, par. 4 The filling of the wedding hall after the servants gather everyone they find is part of a solemn call to heed the invitation and make ready to enter the wedding, so that the house may be filled.Ms 8, 1874, par. 18

The gathering from the highways is the present commission to carry earnest invitations and the light of truth into highways and byways, to all nations, to nearby towns and rural places, and to places that have not yet heard, as the final worldwide call to the marriage supper of the Lamb while Christ's coming draws near.Ms 185, 1903, par. 1–3+4 Small sanitariums established in many places fulfill this commission as a most successful means of bringing the message of Christ's soon coming and salvation through Christ to the attention of a large class reachable in no other way, including those from the higher walks of life who come for treatment and then draw others by telling of benefits received.1MR 227.5 Camp meetings, giving the Bible to the people, and warning the cities far and near carry forward the same work of revealing God's salvation remarkably through the Spirit.Ms 185, 1903, par. 1–3+2

The call reaches people of every standing, rich and poor, in ordinary walks of life, including the poor and lowly, those in gross darkness, and even those sunk in degrading sinful habits who cannot restore themselves but may be gathered through patient, loving effort.Ms 18, 1899, par. 14+4 Uneducated hearers who accept it are called to simple service, and their work of reading and explaining Scripture can succeed.Lt 123, 1905, par. 3 Men and women of all classes are to be invited to the gospel feast without exclusion as unworthy.Ms 18, 1899, par. 14+2

Those found in the highways include the higher classes, people of high standing, leaders, teachers, ministers, men in positions of trust, and men in business, science, invention, organization, and finance, whose ability, means, and influence are needed yet who have too often been neglected.RH May 8, 1900+4 They are difficult to reach because few gain association with them, so they must be sought with tender affection and brotherly regard, given a fair chance to hear and weigh the truth, and approached personally and earnestly; if they refuse, the messengers have done their duty.RH May 8, 1900+3 Many of high standing will accept the truth, support the work with means and influence, and help reach others whom ordinary ministers may not reach.Ms 185, 1903, par. 19–20

The weight of teaching holds that the gospel invitation is first to be given to those in the higher walks of life, to shepherds, divinely appointed teachers, men of genius and talents, managers, leaders, captains, educators, and solid financiers, to hear truth in a manner different from the past, to stand as solid as rock to principle in present crisis and future perils, and to carry forward the last-days work including management of institutions where industrial work is carried on.Ms 18, 1899, par. 9–10

Bringing others means taking hold of them to bring them in, urging the peace, happiness, and joy Christ longs to bestow as repose from earth's din and confusion, working and praying for souls, drawing them to Christ through love, and carrying the gospel to people in their homes through personal outreach, teaching, prayer, and practical care.Ms 109, 1901, par. 9+4 Missionary work is not to be limited to church members or to those who already appear receptive, but is to reach beyond usual work and usual circles throughout life's byways and highways to save fellow beings.Ms 7, 1898, par. 10–12+2 Those who know the truth work for souls to accept it while upholding the high standard of God's law rather than lowering it to gain converts.Ms 7, 1900, par. 12–13

All who follow Christ work as He worked to gather all they find, both bad and good, not living to please self or absorbing means to flatter vanity but in self-denying service, proclaiming the rich repast of truth and the redemption His atoning death prepared, both by the message they bear and by the garment they wear.STMW10 4.2–5.1+2 Merely being gathered is not enough, for accepting Bible truth in name while refusing to practice it leaves one like a guest without Christ's righteousness, and those entrusted with truth and talents are accountable for faithful service.RH May 8, 1900+3 The servants invite and admit all who come and do not do the work of separation, though the Bible rule concerning disorderly members is still to be carried out.RH May 8, 1900+1