Go ye therefore into the highways, and as many as ye shall find, bid to the marriage.
After those first bidden would not come and were counted not worthy, the king commands his servants to go into the highways and bid as many as they find to the marriage. It is the third call to the feast, the giving of the gospel to the Gentiles, sent not to a select group but to all nations and to everyone without limitation. Those gathered are a mixed company of both bad and good, and servants may not refuse admittance to any who will come. Coming is not enough, for every guest must wear the wedding garment, which is the righteousness of Christ, a spotless character made white in His blood. The king's inspection of the guests to see the garment represents the investigative judgment, and those found without it are cast out into outer darkness. Therefore God's people are to go beyond the churches and expected places into the highways and byways wherever people can be found, to invite all to the gospel feast so His house may be full.
Parable Setting and Sequence
The invitation is a king's invitation, proceeding from one vested with power to command and conferring high honor involving much. That honor is unappreciated, the king's authority is despised, and while the householder's invitation in the parable of the great supper was regarded with indifference, the king's is met with insult and murder. Those bidden make light of the king's command, pleading circumstances and supposed duties, and treat his messengers with scorn, despitefully using them and slaying them. For those who do despite to the king more than exclusion from his presence and table is decreed, for he sends forth his armies and destroys those murderers and burns up their city.
The dinner is ready but those first bidden, who thought themselves worthy to be bidden, would not come at the final call that all things are now ready and are counted not worthy. The king then commands his servants to go into the highways and bid to the marriage as many as they find. This means God sends forth His servants to invite men personally to the feast to assure that they understand the invitation.
The servants go out into the highways and gather together all as many as they find, both bad and good, until the wedding is furnished with guests. The invitation is not limited to a select group. The call turns from the first-bidden higher classes, the chosen people, who were wholly intent on securing worldly gain and refused, one to his farm and another to his merchandise, not feeling sufficient respect for the master of the feast and thinking their own wisdom sufficient. It reaches instead those not so absorbed in buying and selling, planting and building, whose business transactions are not made of such importance that eternity is left out of the reckoning, and gathers people of every kind.
The marriage represents the union of humanity with divinity, and the wedding garment represents the character required of those fit to attend the wedding. Guests must meet God's standard of character to be fit for the wedding, and the wedding garment is Christ's righteousness, which must be accepted, for without it a person is not a fit guest. Marriage and its celebration are honorable, affirmed as a divine institution whose covenant could illustrate important truths, with innocent social joy accepted. The parable pictures a prepared feast in the marriage hall with a place set for the guests called to the wedding.
The people invited from the highways to the marriage come as guests, distinct from the bride, which challenges the claim that the church is the Lamb's wife. Those who held otherwise taught that putting on the robe of Christ's righteousness shows those invited to be His church, married to Christ as His bride. They taught that many refuse the message inviting sinners to enjoy the heavenly feast because they pride themselves in buying and selling to get gain and think they cannot afford to lose any worldly advantage for the sake of the feast, knowing that accepting requires putting off their common citizen's dress.
First Guests Refuse Invitation
Those first bidden to the marriage were the Jewish people, the chosen people, the higher classes who counted themselves worthy to be bidden. When they proved unworthy and refused, the invitation in mercy turned from them to others, to the Gentiles.
They made light of the gracious invitation, treating it with contempt and pleading circumstances and supposed duties as excuse. One went to his farm and another to his merchandise, and others turned to social attractions, wholly intent on securing worldly gain. They were absorbed in buying and selling, planting and building, making business of such importance that eternity was left out of the reckoning. They felt insufficient respect for the master of the feast and thought their own wisdom sufficient. Some turned away for lesser concerns, neglecting preparation for everlasting life, and their unreadiness could discourage others from accepting.
Their refusal was not mere indifference like that shown to a householder's invitation, but carried deeper guilt and deeper insult, because this was a king's invitation proceeding from one vested with power to command. The high honor conferred was unappreciated, the king's authority was despised, and truth that reproved sin was hated. His servants were treated with scorn, entreated spitefully, despitefully used and slain. For those who did despite to the king more than exclusion from his presence and table was decreed. He sent forth his armies, destroyed those murderers and burned up their city. This warned the Jews of the fate awaiting Jerusalem in rejecting God's only means to save them, and was fulfilled when the Romans were permitted to destroy the fated city.
Highway Call to All
The command to go into the highways is the third call to the feast, given after those first bidden were counted not worthy and would not come. It is the sending of the gospel in mercy to the Gentiles after its rejection by the Jewish people, the king sending his servants to bid as many as they find to the marriage. The invitation is not limited to a select group but is extended to everyone the servants can find along the highways, and the servants gathered both bad and good until the wedding was filled with guests. Bible truth is to be offered to all whom the church can reach, and the gospel is to go to all nations and to everyone without limitation by character, age, wealth, or race. No walls are built to keep any living soul from salvation, for the heavenly banquet prepared by sending the Son to die that men through faith become one with God is not offered to a few but to all who will come. The call reaches people wherever they are found, including the Southern field and those still held in ignorance and sin, and it gathers those who receive the truth into a united company of believers who worship together and work with God to seek and save the lost. It is a lifelong invitation to receive Christ and the final message of mercy.
Those gathered by this broad call are a mixed company, for the servants go out and gather all as many as they find, both bad and good. Some are true believers and many accept outwardly and take their stand as believers without ever putting on the robe of Christ's righteousness. God sends forth His servants to invite men personally to the feast to assure that they understand the invitation, after the general invitation and the final call that all things are now ready were refused by those who thought themselves worthy to be bidden. Every heart may and can respond if it will, and Christ bids souls with confidence that a large number will respond to His love, yet knowing the call and agreeing with its truth are not enough without obeying and coming. A heart yearning for God will recognize His voice, but God waits for a response and cannot work for the soul that does not respond to offered grace, so the choice and the issue rest wholly with each person and with themselves.
The highways denote those in the highways of life, the higher classes, for whom a special work is to be carried forward under divine supervision. Few can obtain personal association with this class, which raises the question of how they can be reached. The highways also denote ordinary public life and every walk of life, reaching business people, teachers, leaders, and others whose attention has not been drawn to the special truths for the time, including highly educated and gifted people who can be reached simply and humbly. Many who hear, whether rich or poor, high or low, will accept, and some regarded as uneducated will be called to serve by the simple work of reading and explaining Scripture. The command means to labor with increasing activity in the cities, diligently proclaiming the last message of mercy and the life-saving truths of the third angel's message to unwarned multitudes fast becoming the sport of the evil one, and the work is not to end in the cities but to extend into surrounding settlements and country districts, into the byways and hedges, reaching all classes and various nationalities with none passed by unwarned, because the gift and saving grace encircle the whole world and are not for higher classes alone nor for one nationality.
The highway invitation is part of the gospel call to receive the prepared feast of pardon and saving grace, extended widely beyond the churches with every effort made to gather guests from every class. It calls people to prepare for the marriage supper of the Lamb by putting on meekness, humility, truth, and the righteousness of Christ so they may enter when He comes to receive the faithful. Men of the world are not to be passed by but are to be taken hold of, brought in, and urged to come to the banquet Christ has prepared for them. Heaven will be appreciated by them as repose from the din and confusion of earth, and they are to be urged to accept the peace and happiness and joy Christ is longing to bestow. The feast set before those bidden is a banquet that will satisfy every want, His word full of marrow and fatness, found by those who seek Him with all the heart, and Christ has provided the wedding garment, the robe of His righteousness spotless as the pure white lily, which He proffers as the richest gift that can be bestowed on mortal man and to which they are to give their whole attention.
Wedding Garment Required
The wedding garment is Christ's righteousness, a spotless character made white in the Lamb's blood, the white linen of a clean pure character woven in the loom of heaven, which must be accepted and worn to be a fit guest for the union of humanity with divinity and to meet God's standard of character. Coming to the banquet is not enough, for the King examines all the guests gathered from the highways, and only those clothed in that robe are accepted as worthy of a place in His kingdom. Mere profession of truth, speaking God's Word, or accepting Bible truth in name without practicing it and being changed in daily life is like attending without the garment and is not acceptable to God. Deeds reveal whether faith is genuine, and many who profess to accept the invitation lack the garment, having a form of godliness without the inward working of the Holy Spirit.
No one has a garment of his own that gives a position of honor at the feast, for all are lost and hopeless clad in garments of self-righteousness. The guest who came without the provided garment was rejected because he treated his own defiled righteousness as sufficient, which rejects what Christ provided to make sinners fit for His presence. Salvation comes not by superior intellect or refinement of ideas but through the grace of God, and the imputed righteousness of Christ alone makes the sons and daughters of Adam members of the family in heaven and gives worthiness to sit down at the marriage feast. To come is to lay aside the old citizen's dress lived in ignorance and accept the dress prepared by Jesus.
That dress is meekness, humility, truth and the righteousness of Christ, acceptance of the truth as it is in Jesus; those who truly receive it no longer live the old life, their speech is changed to altogether another line, their faith stands not in the wisdom of men but in the power of God, their characters become Christlike and their lives obedient to God's commandments in keeping with the perfection God requires. The prepared supper itself is the richest blessings from heaven, the full cup of the wine of truth, justification by faith and the imputed righteousness of Christ, to be drunk fully and not received only in part by those who hold aloof and cling to the old dress. Those newly found in the highways and hedges after the first called must give just as implicit obedience and high-principled service as those first called, with no mistake about fitness among those called to the heavenly banquet.
This requirement applies with especial force to those today who claim to believe in Christ, as it applied to the Jewish nation deciding its own destiny as a nation divorced from God; though given all privileges of the richest banquet ever presented and having consented to come, those who refuse the garment and reject the only begotten Son forever separate themselves from God. Answering the call to the marriage supper of the Lamb requires being clothed in the white robe of Christ's righteousness, cleansed from impurity and made holy. Worldly pleasure can distract from answering, and every soul who would share in the supper must confess and repent of wrongs that grieve Christ, for to enter without the garment is to be unprepared to share with Him. The call to the supper therefore stands joined to the warning about the man who came without the wedding garment, whose exposure shows the examination of all who come to the repast of truth set before them with earnest interest.
Those who carry the invitation must themselves have on the wedding garment, the robe of Christ's righteousness. They invite by proclaiming the knowledge of the rich repast of truth and the redemption Christ offers, and by showing through consecrated service, not living to please themselves or absorbing means for vanity, that His righteousness clothes them and His atoning death prepared the feast. The call to take the marriage contract and partake of the supper lays an obligation requiring association with Christ, who gives real value to character, brings back allegiance to God and His commandments, turns crosses into crowns, and places His own image and superscription upon men to change them into obedient, loyal children. He paid the ransom of His own precious blood by becoming a Sin-bearer to open the way for all who desire eternal life above every earthly consideration, yet great and worldly-wise men refuse because this present world is their god, listening to the foe and framing foolish excuses, refusing to believe they can be made truly great and valuable; God allows everyone to choose his own Lord, which is why so few of them are in His ranks. The heavenly banquet prepared by sending the Son to die that through faith men become one with God is not offered to a few but to all who will come, with no walls to keep any living soul from salvation, and predestination means all who accept Christ as personal Saviour, return to loyalty and perfect obedience to all God's commandments, and are willing to be saved by Him are the elect, predestinated from the foundation of the world to the praise and glory of His grace in the effectual salvation of this peculiar people chosen from among men.
Judgment and Probation Warning
The king's coming in to inspect the guests to see whether they wear the wedding garment is the investigative judgment, the closing work in the heavenly sanctuary. The garment inspected for is a spotless character made white in the blood of the Lamb, and those found wearing it are accepted as worthy of a place in God's kingdom. That examination ends before probation closes and the door of mercy is shut. When the door is shut, late effort to enter cannot undo refusal, for the feast was prepared for the guests' benefit yet some turned away for lesser concerns.
Those found without the garment are cast out into outer darkness with weeping and gnashing of teeth. More than exclusion from the king's presence and table is decreed for those who do despite to him, and those who refuse the garment of Christ's righteousness and reject the only begotten Son forever separate themselves from God. The invitation therefore stands in the closing warning about probation: people must be ready when the King's feast comes, because the time to prepare is ending and the day may arrive unexpectedly, and to be found at the feast without the garment is to be unready.
The highway invitation is the last message of warning and mercy, proclaiming pardon and salvation to the world through human messengers. It must be given while probation remains open, and those who receive the warning and reject it will have no second call to the heavenly feast after probation closes. The work belongs to each person rather than to someone else, calling for urgent labor beyond familiar places to warn people in the highways and byways and give them opportunity to understand truth and choose their side while probation lasts and the work can still be done.
The verse applies to the final gospel call, the invitation to the marriage supper of the Lamb with proclamation of Christ's soon coming. That invitation must still reach places and people who have not heard it, and many more people are needed to carry it. This means labor with increasing activity in the highways, which are the cities, diligently proclaiming the last message of mercy, the life-saving truths of the third angel's message, hunting for souls to communicate what is for their eternal welfare among unwarned multitudes who have never yet been enlightened. The work is not to end in the cities but to extend into surrounding settlements and country districts, into the byways and hedges, reaching all classes and various nationalities with none passed by unwarned, because Jesus was God's gift to the entire world and His saving grace encircles the whole world.
Many refuse because they pride themselves in buying and selling to get gain and think they cannot afford to lose any worldly advantage for the sake of the feast. They know that accepting requires putting off their common citizen's dress and putting on the robe of Christ's righteousness, thus showing themselves His church, married to Christ as His bride. Those invited are to heed the warning and make ready to enter the wedding, so that God's house may be filled. Neglecting preparation for everlasting life and making excuses can leave people unready, and their unreadiness can discourage others from accepting, since self-righteousness cannot provide the garment which is the righteousness of Christ.
The invitation to the marriage supper of the Lord must be answered now because time is short. Everyone must be prepared by accepting the robe of Christ's righteousness so as not to be found without it, and by having the peace of Christ. Being prepared also requires resisting the devil when Satan works in great power with the children of disobedience as agents to destroy souls, so that he will flee.
Mission to Carry Invitation
The command sends God's people beyond the churches and expected places into the highways, hedges and byways, wherever people can be found, to invite all to the gospel feast so that His house may be full. The call is to be extended widely with every effort to gather guests, offered broadly to all who will come, to people living in sin, vice and degradation whom God seeks to redeem. Those gathered receive the truth into a united company who worship together and work with God to seek and save the lost, and the invitation is the proclamation of the gospel to those who have not yet heard it, including cities and towns where present truth is unknown. It is the prepared feast of pardon and saving grace, and both bad and good are brought in.
The work reaches new fields and neglected places, including large cities not yet adequately worked, the East, Colorado, tourist destinations served through institutions as lights, out-of-the-way places, surrounding settlements and country districts, Cooranbong and bush communities where souls are expected to respond, and the Southern field. The freed people in the Southern states, still held in ignorance and sin, should have been reached and must be invited, for the invitation is not limited to one class or group. The work must continue without stopping until everyone within influence has heard the last message of mercy.
Labor is for every class found on the highways, from the poor and lowly in gross darkness to men of the world, Gentiles and idolaters. It includes those deeply harmed by sin and habit who feel unworthy, who are not to be excluded but lovingly urged to come, and at the same time leaders and teachers, people of high social standing, men in business life and positions of trust, ministers, men of talent, science, invention and genius, wealthy patients, and those in responsible positions. Many of high standing will accept, and their resources, influence and organizing powers can support the work, open access where ordinary ministers cannot go, manage institutions with industrial work, and serve as leaders, educators, financiers and presidents of conferences who stand firm for principle in present and future perils.
The message is carried by living preachers and printed publications sowing gospel truth in hearts, by canvassers visiting homes, opening the Scriptures and carrying books to out-of-the-way places and the lower classes where entire families may be reached in no other way. It is carried by personal evangelism with prayer, by care for the sick and practical needs, by sanitariums giving the message of Christ's soon coming and salvation to higher classes who come for treatment and then draw others, by schools training missionaries to sow seeds of truth in highways, hedges and byways, by multiplying camp meetings in different localities, warning the cities, unfurling the standard of truth before a perishing world, and giving the Bible to the people. God waters the seed so hungry souls are filled by the feast of heavenly truth.
Hearers are to be approached personally with tender affection and brotherly regard, earnestly, plainly, respectfully and with concern for their welfare, wisely and graciously, humbly in the simplicity of Christ's righteousness and the sanctifying power of the gospel. The truth is to be heard in a manner suited to them and different from the past, first presenting Jesus as the Sin-bearer and sin-pardoning Saviour and making the gospel clear rather than beginning with unfamiliar doctrines. Believers are not to lower God's high standard of law to gain converts but to call sinners toward it.
Every Sabbath-keeping Adventist should support and take part in this work of mercy and faith working through love, using God-given abilities and talents in faithful service through prayer and determined, unselfish effort to seek and save the lost. Many more laborers are needed, for many places have not yet heard the invitation to the marriage supper of the Lamb and the proclamation of Christ's soon coming, and even one hundred workers are not enough for one field. Neglecting that duty to use talents in service makes those entrusted with truth accountable to God.
As many as are found are to be bid, and servants may not refuse admittance to any who come. Those who respond will be a mixed company, some true believers and many who accept outwardly without ever putting on the robe of Christ's righteousness, but the work of separation is not given to any human being, though the Bible rule in regard to disorderly members must still be carried out. If those invited, including teachers, ministers and others in influential positions approached personally and respectfully, refuse the invitation, the messengers have done their duty by reporting the refusal to God.
The invitation proclaims pardon and salvation and the knowledge of the rich repast of truth and redemption, sowing seeds of truth that God waters to fill hungry souls, so God's salvation is revealed in a remarkable way. It calls the church to go into byways and highways to point souls to Jesus Christ, take Him as personal Saviour, believe in God and have His righteousness imputed to them, and let light shine nigh and afar to show children, neighbors and others the way to enter the strait gate unto eternal life. Words and actions shaped by love and reverence for God carry blessing into every part of life and can turn many toward what is right.
The work belongs to those who have received new light and life and power from on high through the Holy Spirit, who no longer trust human inventions but present the Spirit, contend for God's glory, and labor everywhere in the byways and highways for the saving of souls while intensity takes hold of earthly elements and new life springs up among Satan's agencies before the last conflict. Those who do this build on the sure Rock of Ages and are secure, unlike those with great light who are like sleeping virgins with lamps but no oil, cold with feeble piety. When conditions in the cities make it impossible to remain living in them, God's people must first secure land in the country away from the cities and raise what they can for support, then go out from there to evangelize with the simplicity of true godliness and the Spirit of Christ, which teaches how to go. Public highway work in new fields calls for presenting truth in simplicity after Christ's methods, and the speaking ability of a gifted speaker is needed for that work in connection with other workers.
After those first bidden would not come and were counted not worthy, the king commands his servants to go into the highways and bid as many as they find to the marriage. It is the third call to the feast, the giving of the gospel to the Gentiles, sent not to a select group but to all nations and to everyone without limitation. Those gathered are a mixed company of both bad and good, and servants may not refuse admittance to any who will come. Coming is not enough, for every guest must wear the wedding garment, which is the righteousness of Christ, a spotless character made white in His blood. The king's inspection of the guests to see the garment represents the investigative judgment, and those found without it are cast out into outer darkness. Therefore God's people are to go beyond the churches and expected places into the highways and byways wherever people can be found, to invite all to the gospel feast so His house may be full.
Parable Setting and Sequence
The invitation is a king's invitation, proceeding from one vested with power to command and conferring high honor involving much. That honor is unappreciated, the king's authority is despised, and while the householder's invitation in the parable of the great supper was regarded with indifference, the king's is met with insult and murder. Those bidden make light of the king's command, pleading circumstances and supposed duties, and treat his messengers with scorn, despitefully using them and slaying them. For those who do despite to the king more than exclusion from his presence and table is decreed, for he sends forth his armies and destroys those murderers and burns up their city.
The dinner is ready but those first bidden, who thought themselves worthy to be bidden, would not come at the final call that all things are now ready and are counted not worthy. The king then commands his servants to go into the highways and bid to the marriage as many as they find. This means God sends forth His servants to invite men personally to the feast to assure that they understand the invitation.
The servants go out into the highways and gather together all as many as they find, both bad and good, until the wedding is furnished with guests. The invitation is not limited to a select group. The call turns from the first-bidden higher classes, the chosen people, who were wholly intent on securing worldly gain and refused, one to his farm and another to his merchandise, not feeling sufficient respect for the master of the feast and thinking their own wisdom sufficient. It reaches instead those not so absorbed in buying and selling, planting and building, whose business transactions are not made of such importance that eternity is left out of the reckoning, and gathers people of every kind.
The marriage represents the union of humanity with divinity, and the wedding garment represents the character required of those fit to attend the wedding. Guests must meet God's standard of character to be fit for the wedding, and the wedding garment is Christ's righteousness, which must be accepted, for without it a person is not a fit guest. Marriage and its celebration are honorable, affirmed as a divine institution whose covenant could illustrate important truths, with innocent social joy accepted. The parable pictures a prepared feast in the marriage hall with a place set for the guests called to the wedding.
The people invited from the highways to the marriage come as guests, distinct from the bride, which challenges the claim that the church is the Lamb's wife. Those who held otherwise taught that putting on the robe of Christ's righteousness shows those invited to be His church, married to Christ as His bride. They taught that many refuse the message inviting sinners to enjoy the heavenly feast because they pride themselves in buying and selling to get gain and think they cannot afford to lose any worldly advantage for the sake of the feast, knowing that accepting requires putting off their common citizen's dress.
First Guests Refuse Invitation
Those first bidden to the marriage were the Jewish people, the chosen people, the higher classes who counted themselves worthy to be bidden. When they proved unworthy and refused, the invitation in mercy turned from them to others, to the Gentiles.
They made light of the gracious invitation, treating it with contempt and pleading circumstances and supposed duties as excuse. One went to his farm and another to his merchandise, and others turned to social attractions, wholly intent on securing worldly gain. They were absorbed in buying and selling, planting and building, making business of such importance that eternity was left out of the reckoning. They felt insufficient respect for the master of the feast and thought their own wisdom sufficient. Some turned away for lesser concerns, neglecting preparation for everlasting life, and their unreadiness could discourage others from accepting.
Their refusal was not mere indifference like that shown to a householder's invitation, but carried deeper guilt and deeper insult, because this was a king's invitation proceeding from one vested with power to command. The high honor conferred was unappreciated, the king's authority was despised, and truth that reproved sin was hated. His servants were treated with scorn, entreated spitefully, despitefully used and slain. For those who did despite to the king more than exclusion from his presence and table was decreed. He sent forth his armies, destroyed those murderers and burned up their city. This warned the Jews of the fate awaiting Jerusalem in rejecting God's only means to save them, and was fulfilled when the Romans were permitted to destroy the fated city.
Highway Call to All
The command to go into the highways is the third call to the feast, given after those first bidden were counted not worthy and would not come. It is the sending of the gospel in mercy to the Gentiles after its rejection by the Jewish people, the king sending his servants to bid as many as they find to the marriage. The invitation is not limited to a select group but is extended to everyone the servants can find along the highways, and the servants gathered both bad and good until the wedding was filled with guests. Bible truth is to be offered to all whom the church can reach, and the gospel is to go to all nations and to everyone without limitation by character, age, wealth, or race. No walls are built to keep any living soul from salvation, for the heavenly banquet prepared by sending the Son to die that men through faith become one with God is not offered to a few but to all who will come. The call reaches people wherever they are found, including the Southern field and those still held in ignorance and sin, and it gathers those who receive the truth into a united company of believers who worship together and work with God to seek and save the lost. It is a lifelong invitation to receive Christ and the final message of mercy.
Those gathered by this broad call are a mixed company, for the servants go out and gather all as many as they find, both bad and good. Some are true believers and many accept outwardly and take their stand as believers without ever putting on the robe of Christ's righteousness. God sends forth His servants to invite men personally to the feast to assure that they understand the invitation, after the general invitation and the final call that all things are now ready were refused by those who thought themselves worthy to be bidden. Every heart may and can respond if it will, and Christ bids souls with confidence that a large number will respond to His love, yet knowing the call and agreeing with its truth are not enough without obeying and coming. A heart yearning for God will recognize His voice, but God waits for a response and cannot work for the soul that does not respond to offered grace, so the choice and the issue rest wholly with each person and with themselves.
The highways denote those in the highways of life, the higher classes, for whom a special work is to be carried forward under divine supervision. Few can obtain personal association with this class, which raises the question of how they can be reached. The highways also denote ordinary public life and every walk of life, reaching business people, teachers, leaders, and others whose attention has not been drawn to the special truths for the time, including highly educated and gifted people who can be reached simply and humbly. Many who hear, whether rich or poor, high or low, will accept, and some regarded as uneducated will be called to serve by the simple work of reading and explaining Scripture. The command means to labor with increasing activity in the cities, diligently proclaiming the last message of mercy and the life-saving truths of the third angel's message to unwarned multitudes fast becoming the sport of the evil one, and the work is not to end in the cities but to extend into surrounding settlements and country districts, into the byways and hedges, reaching all classes and various nationalities with none passed by unwarned, because the gift and saving grace encircle the whole world and are not for higher classes alone nor for one nationality.
The highway invitation is part of the gospel call to receive the prepared feast of pardon and saving grace, extended widely beyond the churches with every effort made to gather guests from every class. It calls people to prepare for the marriage supper of the Lamb by putting on meekness, humility, truth, and the righteousness of Christ so they may enter when He comes to receive the faithful. Men of the world are not to be passed by but are to be taken hold of, brought in, and urged to come to the banquet Christ has prepared for them. Heaven will be appreciated by them as repose from the din and confusion of earth, and they are to be urged to accept the peace and happiness and joy Christ is longing to bestow. The feast set before those bidden is a banquet that will satisfy every want, His word full of marrow and fatness, found by those who seek Him with all the heart, and Christ has provided the wedding garment, the robe of His righteousness spotless as the pure white lily, which He proffers as the richest gift that can be bestowed on mortal man and to which they are to give their whole attention.
Wedding Garment Required
The wedding garment is Christ's righteousness, a spotless character made white in the Lamb's blood, the white linen of a clean pure character woven in the loom of heaven, which must be accepted and worn to be a fit guest for the union of humanity with divinity and to meet God's standard of character. Coming to the banquet is not enough, for the King examines all the guests gathered from the highways, and only those clothed in that robe are accepted as worthy of a place in His kingdom. Mere profession of truth, speaking God's Word, or accepting Bible truth in name without practicing it and being changed in daily life is like attending without the garment and is not acceptable to God. Deeds reveal whether faith is genuine, and many who profess to accept the invitation lack the garment, having a form of godliness without the inward working of the Holy Spirit.
No one has a garment of his own that gives a position of honor at the feast, for all are lost and hopeless clad in garments of self-righteousness. The guest who came without the provided garment was rejected because he treated his own defiled righteousness as sufficient, which rejects what Christ provided to make sinners fit for His presence. Salvation comes not by superior intellect or refinement of ideas but through the grace of God, and the imputed righteousness of Christ alone makes the sons and daughters of Adam members of the family in heaven and gives worthiness to sit down at the marriage feast. To come is to lay aside the old citizen's dress lived in ignorance and accept the dress prepared by Jesus.
That dress is meekness, humility, truth and the righteousness of Christ, acceptance of the truth as it is in Jesus; those who truly receive it no longer live the old life, their speech is changed to altogether another line, their faith stands not in the wisdom of men but in the power of God, their characters become Christlike and their lives obedient to God's commandments in keeping with the perfection God requires. The prepared supper itself is the richest blessings from heaven, the full cup of the wine of truth, justification by faith and the imputed righteousness of Christ, to be drunk fully and not received only in part by those who hold aloof and cling to the old dress. Those newly found in the highways and hedges after the first called must give just as implicit obedience and high-principled service as those first called, with no mistake about fitness among those called to the heavenly banquet.
This requirement applies with especial force to those today who claim to believe in Christ, as it applied to the Jewish nation deciding its own destiny as a nation divorced from God; though given all privileges of the richest banquet ever presented and having consented to come, those who refuse the garment and reject the only begotten Son forever separate themselves from God. Answering the call to the marriage supper of the Lamb requires being clothed in the white robe of Christ's righteousness, cleansed from impurity and made holy. Worldly pleasure can distract from answering, and every soul who would share in the supper must confess and repent of wrongs that grieve Christ, for to enter without the garment is to be unprepared to share with Him. The call to the supper therefore stands joined to the warning about the man who came without the wedding garment, whose exposure shows the examination of all who come to the repast of truth set before them with earnest interest.
Those who carry the invitation must themselves have on the wedding garment, the robe of Christ's righteousness. They invite by proclaiming the knowledge of the rich repast of truth and the redemption Christ offers, and by showing through consecrated service, not living to please themselves or absorbing means for vanity, that His righteousness clothes them and His atoning death prepared the feast. The call to take the marriage contract and partake of the supper lays an obligation requiring association with Christ, who gives real value to character, brings back allegiance to God and His commandments, turns crosses into crowns, and places His own image and superscription upon men to change them into obedient, loyal children. He paid the ransom of His own precious blood by becoming a Sin-bearer to open the way for all who desire eternal life above every earthly consideration, yet great and worldly-wise men refuse because this present world is their god, listening to the foe and framing foolish excuses, refusing to believe they can be made truly great and valuable; God allows everyone to choose his own Lord, which is why so few of them are in His ranks. The heavenly banquet prepared by sending the Son to die that through faith men become one with God is not offered to a few but to all who will come, with no walls to keep any living soul from salvation, and predestination means all who accept Christ as personal Saviour, return to loyalty and perfect obedience to all God's commandments, and are willing to be saved by Him are the elect, predestinated from the foundation of the world to the praise and glory of His grace in the effectual salvation of this peculiar people chosen from among men.
Judgment and Probation Warning
The king's coming in to inspect the guests to see whether they wear the wedding garment is the investigative judgment, the closing work in the heavenly sanctuary. The garment inspected for is a spotless character made white in the blood of the Lamb, and those found wearing it are accepted as worthy of a place in God's kingdom. That examination ends before probation closes and the door of mercy is shut. When the door is shut, late effort to enter cannot undo refusal, for the feast was prepared for the guests' benefit yet some turned away for lesser concerns.
Those found without the garment are cast out into outer darkness with weeping and gnashing of teeth. More than exclusion from the king's presence and table is decreed for those who do despite to him, and those who refuse the garment of Christ's righteousness and reject the only begotten Son forever separate themselves from God. The invitation therefore stands in the closing warning about probation: people must be ready when the King's feast comes, because the time to prepare is ending and the day may arrive unexpectedly, and to be found at the feast without the garment is to be unready.
The highway invitation is the last message of warning and mercy, proclaiming pardon and salvation to the world through human messengers. It must be given while probation remains open, and those who receive the warning and reject it will have no second call to the heavenly feast after probation closes. The work belongs to each person rather than to someone else, calling for urgent labor beyond familiar places to warn people in the highways and byways and give them opportunity to understand truth and choose their side while probation lasts and the work can still be done.
The verse applies to the final gospel call, the invitation to the marriage supper of the Lamb with proclamation of Christ's soon coming. That invitation must still reach places and people who have not heard it, and many more people are needed to carry it. This means labor with increasing activity in the highways, which are the cities, diligently proclaiming the last message of mercy, the life-saving truths of the third angel's message, hunting for souls to communicate what is for their eternal welfare among unwarned multitudes who have never yet been enlightened. The work is not to end in the cities but to extend into surrounding settlements and country districts, into the byways and hedges, reaching all classes and various nationalities with none passed by unwarned, because Jesus was God's gift to the entire world and His saving grace encircles the whole world.
Many refuse because they pride themselves in buying and selling to get gain and think they cannot afford to lose any worldly advantage for the sake of the feast. They know that accepting requires putting off their common citizen's dress and putting on the robe of Christ's righteousness, thus showing themselves His church, married to Christ as His bride. Those invited are to heed the warning and make ready to enter the wedding, so that God's house may be filled. Neglecting preparation for everlasting life and making excuses can leave people unready, and their unreadiness can discourage others from accepting, since self-righteousness cannot provide the garment which is the righteousness of Christ.
The invitation to the marriage supper of the Lord must be answered now because time is short. Everyone must be prepared by accepting the robe of Christ's righteousness so as not to be found without it, and by having the peace of Christ. Being prepared also requires resisting the devil when Satan works in great power with the children of disobedience as agents to destroy souls, so that he will flee.
Mission to Carry Invitation
The command sends God's people beyond the churches and expected places into the highways, hedges and byways, wherever people can be found, to invite all to the gospel feast so that His house may be full. The call is to be extended widely with every effort to gather guests, offered broadly to all who will come, to people living in sin, vice and degradation whom God seeks to redeem. Those gathered receive the truth into a united company who worship together and work with God to seek and save the lost, and the invitation is the proclamation of the gospel to those who have not yet heard it, including cities and towns where present truth is unknown. It is the prepared feast of pardon and saving grace, and both bad and good are brought in.
The work reaches new fields and neglected places, including large cities not yet adequately worked, the East, Colorado, tourist destinations served through institutions as lights, out-of-the-way places, surrounding settlements and country districts, Cooranbong and bush communities where souls are expected to respond, and the Southern field. The freed people in the Southern states, still held in ignorance and sin, should have been reached and must be invited, for the invitation is not limited to one class or group. The work must continue without stopping until everyone within influence has heard the last message of mercy.
Labor is for every class found on the highways, from the poor and lowly in gross darkness to men of the world, Gentiles and idolaters. It includes those deeply harmed by sin and habit who feel unworthy, who are not to be excluded but lovingly urged to come, and at the same time leaders and teachers, people of high social standing, men in business life and positions of trust, ministers, men of talent, science, invention and genius, wealthy patients, and those in responsible positions. Many of high standing will accept, and their resources, influence and organizing powers can support the work, open access where ordinary ministers cannot go, manage institutions with industrial work, and serve as leaders, educators, financiers and presidents of conferences who stand firm for principle in present and future perils.
The message is carried by living preachers and printed publications sowing gospel truth in hearts, by canvassers visiting homes, opening the Scriptures and carrying books to out-of-the-way places and the lower classes where entire families may be reached in no other way. It is carried by personal evangelism with prayer, by care for the sick and practical needs, by sanitariums giving the message of Christ's soon coming and salvation to higher classes who come for treatment and then draw others, by schools training missionaries to sow seeds of truth in highways, hedges and byways, by multiplying camp meetings in different localities, warning the cities, unfurling the standard of truth before a perishing world, and giving the Bible to the people. God waters the seed so hungry souls are filled by the feast of heavenly truth.
Hearers are to be approached personally with tender affection and brotherly regard, earnestly, plainly, respectfully and with concern for their welfare, wisely and graciously, humbly in the simplicity of Christ's righteousness and the sanctifying power of the gospel. The truth is to be heard in a manner suited to them and different from the past, first presenting Jesus as the Sin-bearer and sin-pardoning Saviour and making the gospel clear rather than beginning with unfamiliar doctrines. Believers are not to lower God's high standard of law to gain converts but to call sinners toward it.
Every Sabbath-keeping Adventist should support and take part in this work of mercy and faith working through love, using God-given abilities and talents in faithful service through prayer and determined, unselfish effort to seek and save the lost. Many more laborers are needed, for many places have not yet heard the invitation to the marriage supper of the Lamb and the proclamation of Christ's soon coming, and even one hundred workers are not enough for one field. Neglecting that duty to use talents in service makes those entrusted with truth accountable to God.
As many as are found are to be bid, and servants may not refuse admittance to any who come. Those who respond will be a mixed company, some true believers and many who accept outwardly without ever putting on the robe of Christ's righteousness, but the work of separation is not given to any human being, though the Bible rule in regard to disorderly members must still be carried out. If those invited, including teachers, ministers and others in influential positions approached personally and respectfully, refuse the invitation, the messengers have done their duty by reporting the refusal to God.
The invitation proclaims pardon and salvation and the knowledge of the rich repast of truth and redemption, sowing seeds of truth that God waters to fill hungry souls, so God's salvation is revealed in a remarkable way. It calls the church to go into byways and highways to point souls to Jesus Christ, take Him as personal Saviour, believe in God and have His righteousness imputed to them, and let light shine nigh and afar to show children, neighbors and others the way to enter the strait gate unto eternal life. Words and actions shaped by love and reverence for God carry blessing into every part of life and can turn many toward what is right.
The work belongs to those who have received new light and life and power from on high through the Holy Spirit, who no longer trust human inventions but present the Spirit, contend for God's glory, and labor everywhere in the byways and highways for the saving of souls while intensity takes hold of earthly elements and new life springs up among Satan's agencies before the last conflict. Those who do this build on the sure Rock of Ages and are secure, unlike those with great light who are like sleeping virgins with lamps but no oil, cold with feeble piety. When conditions in the cities make it impossible to remain living in them, God's people must first secure land in the country away from the cities and raise what they can for support, then go out from there to evangelize with the simplicity of true godliness and the Spirit of Christ, which teaches how to go. Public highway work in new fields calls for presenting truth in simplicity after Christ's methods, and the speaking ability of a gifted speaker is needed for that work in connection with other workers.