Pacific Press Publishing Company · Oakland, California · Nov 15, 1899
NOT MAN BUT GOD.
"BUT we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us." 2 Cor. 4:7.
"Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men; and the weakness of God is stronger than men. . . . That, according as it is written, He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord." 1 Cor. 1:25-31.
THROUGHOUT earth's sad history it has been the object of Satan to hold man to outward appearance rather than to inward worth; and to a great extent he has succeeded. Man has been more impressed by what he has seen and heard than by what is. He has worshiped stocks and stones and images of his own manufacture, rather than the great God, who made all things. He has seen his idols shattered many times; he has seen the work which he thought due to their worship melt away, yet he blindly falls again before his senseless god, or god of flesh, and worships as of yore.
AND all this is not because man may not find the true God; for He gives man all he has, reveals Himself in a myriad ways, "that they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after Him, and find Him, tho He be not far from every one of us." Acts 17:27.
WHAT a blessed truth this is; and yet how true it is that the very men which God intrusts with the message hide from the needy sinner, by their own shadow, the glorious light of the Gospel of Christ! Not so with nature. Every year, in seed-time and harvest, nature reveals God, dying as to herself, that men may see God's power and glory in the resurrection and the harvest. But man, poor, weak, mortal, changeful, fickle, inconstant man, exalts himself, and hides God.
God's Word has been the joy and rejoicing of the heart of His people in all past ages. Abel and Enoch and Noah and Abraham and Moses and Joshua and Samuel and David and Elijah and Isaiah and Jeremiah and Daniel, and even so to the end of the long list of the heroes of faith, the men of God abased self and exalted the Master. God said it; that was sufficient. They were mortal; yet men honored them. They said, not us, but God. The one exception, once in a lifetime, under sore provocation, was punished by premature death as a public reproof of self-exaltation.
BUT now the "higher criticism" of mortal man has made in the eyes of the people the Word of God of little more account than the mythology of Greece or Rome; and the tradition of a paganized church, fostered by "leaders" in professed Christian thought, have made the commands of God of none effect. And in it all before the eyes of the people God is brought low, and man is exalted as a demi-god.
NOT so with the heroes of faith, the mighty men of power. Paul could boast pure pedigree, unswerving devotion to ritual and nation, membership in the strictest sect, great scholarship, consuming zeal in religion, and outward blamelessness of life; but all these he lays at the feet of Christ, and declares them refuse and loss. He emptied himself, like his divine Master, and God filled him. Mighty eloquence fell from his lips,—truth which has blessed the ages. The incident which the artist has attempted to portray in our illustration, was characteristic of his life. Paul and Barnabas are at Lystra. An impotent (helpless, powerless) man is among the hearers. He believes, and the apostle sees it. Paul speaks, "Stand upright on thy feet. And he leaped and walked." Acts 14:10. And the people whose priests had hid God by the human, exalt the men as gods, and bring forth "oxen and garlands unto the gates, and would have done sacrifice with the people." Verse 13. Do the apostles receive the homage, and allow themselves to be thus exalted?
Not so. They mourn that the people are so blind. They are in haste to undeceive them. They rend their clothes, and cry:—
"Sirs, why do ye these things? We also are men of like passions with you, and preach unto you that ye should turn from these vanities unto the living God, which made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and all things that are therein; who in times past suffered all nations to walk in their own ways. Nevertheless He left not Himself without witness, in that He did good, and gave us rain from heaven, and fruitful seasons, filling our hearts with food and gladness." Verses 15-17.
THIS is the message of the true servants of God. Men are nothing, tho other men may count them gods. The prophets were men; the apostles were men. The power, the wisdom, the goodness, are all of God. "But we2have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us." "Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but ministers by whom ye believed, even as the Lord gave to every man? Therefore let no man glory in men."
THIS is the message of the everlasting Gospel to the world to-day. "The Voice said, Cry. And he said, What shall I cry? All flesh is grass, and all the goodliness thereof is as the flower of the field; the grass withereth, the flower fadeth; because the Spirit of the Lord bloweth upon it; surely the people is grass. The grass withereth, the flower fadeth; but the Word of our God shall stand forever." Isa. 40:6-8. And here is a kindred message of the everlasting Gospel: "Fear God, and give glory to Him; for the hour of His judgment is come; and worship Him that made heaven, and earth." Rev. 14:6, 7. O, that men could once see and know God! No longer would they exalt man, save in God's way.
FIRST A HOLY CHURCH THEN THE HOLY GHOST.
By Albion F. Ballenger
The Church and the Spirit—An Organized Church—What Church?
THE Holy Spirit in his office of witness as manifested on the day of Pentecost belongs to, and is only given to, the church. As lungs to breathing, so is the church to the Holy Ghost. It is true that it is the globule, or lung cell, which receives the air, but God "fitly joined together and compacted" these individual cells into lungs before He breathed into them the breath of life, and these cells perform a function thus fitly joined together which they could not perform separated. It is also true that the Holy Ghost is given to "each one" as on the day of Pentecost, but each one must be of "one accord," or "fitly joined together in one body," as was the church then, with all the Achans and Judases cleansed out, before they can manifest the fulness of the witnessing power which God has given to the church.
The church is the "habitation of God through the Spirit," or, in other words, God inhabits the church by means of His representative, the Holy Spirit. The individual members are all "fitly framed together" "into an holy temple," "for an habitation of God through the Spirit." Eph. 2:21, 22. And the gifts of the Spirit, which are the demonstrations of the power of the Holy Spirit for service, for witnessing, are given to the church. "God hath set some in the church, first apostles, secondarily prophets, thirdly teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healing, helps, governments, diversities of tongues." All these are gifts of the Spirit, and God hath set them in the church. 1 Cor. 12:28.
Some one will admit all this but say that it is the invisible church, or body of Christ, to whom the fulness of the Holy Spirit is given; that, therefore, a visible or organized church is not necessary. But this is a mistake. It is a visible, organized church which received the power from on high on the day of Pentecost. It was a church which Christ had organized, but it was nevertheless organized and visible. Christ said, "The gates of hell shall not prevail against" "My church;" and He shows the church to be a visible, responsible body, which can hear of the trespassing of obstinate members and speak authoritatively to such members. Matt. 18:15-18.
From this we must deduct the solemn truth that we can not have apostolic power in the church until we have a church of apostolic purity. A church must be found or framed out of which all the Achans and Ananiases have been cleansed.
If one Achan drove the power of God from "the church in the wilderness," the many Achans can but keep the "power from on high" away from the church of to-day. What, then, shall be done? Shall we cease to seek God for the baptism of His Spirit because His fulness can not be realized until the church is cleansed?—God forbid.
First Seek the Lord for His Spirit to Cleanse You, and then to use you to witness against the uncleanness of the church. By this means you will either cleanse the church or hear a call from the Spirit, saying, "Come out of her, My people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues."
The writer is positive that he is able to point out the church whom God will use to manifest forth the fulness of His power. Reader, are you anxious to find that church? Here is a description of it.
"And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write: These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God; I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot; I would thou wert cold or hot. So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of My mouth. Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked." Rev. 3:14-17.
Reader, can you find the church described by this scripture? Do you know of a church that has a form of godliness without the power? Do you know of a church that is proud and worldly while claiming to be the true church of God? Is this church your church? Do you reply that you don't know of a church that is not in that condition? It isn't enough to be able to find such a church—that is, easy. But can you find a church in that condition that will confess that they are in that condition—not a church that has a few members in it "who sigh and cry for the abominations that be done in the midst thereof," but a whole church that will acknowledge that they are in that condition, or can be led to acknowledge that they are in that condition. Until such a church is found or formed it will be impossible for God to manifest forth to the world the fulness of the power from on high.
When a church can be found that will acknowledge that they are wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked, and will heed the exhortation that follows, then we shall have found the church through whom God will manifest all the power of the Holy Ghost. "I counsel thee to buy of Me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see. As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten; be zealous therefore, and repent. Behold, I stand at the door, and knock; if any man hear My voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with Me." Rev. 3:18-20.
The church that will accept of this fearful rebuke, repent, and open the door to Jesus Christ in the person of the Holy Spirit, will have all its denominational pride cleansed away. And it is this pride which, as much as any other sin, is keeping the Holy Ghost from the church.
THE LAW REVEALED IN CHRIST.
By Ellen G. White
God Manifest in Christ—Christ the Only Way of Salvation—A Great and Blessed Truth—Love and Justice—An Unchangeable Law.
GOD so loved the world, that He gave His only-begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
As speech is to thought, so is Christ to the invisible God. He is the manifestation of the Father, and is called the Word of God. God sent His Son into the world, His divinity clothed with humanity, to make known in His life and character the attributes of the Father, that men might bear the image of the invisible God. He was the embodiment of the law of God, which is the transcript of His character.
The world saw God imaged in the purity and benevolence of Christ; but because of its depravity and darkness, it did not recognize Him as the Son of God. "The Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us (and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only-begotten of the Father), full of grace and truth." He was "the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made by Him, and the world knew Him not." In spite of overwhelming evidence, men manifested unbelief which only Satan could inspire.
Christ secured probation for man at an infinite cost. He must suffer for the sins of the world, that the purposes of God might not be defeated. He must destroy the apostate; for the death of Satan meant life to all who believe, and death to all who are disobedient. Nothing less than the life of Christ would atone for man's transgression. He must restore man by placing on vantage ground every one who would believe in Him as a personal Saviour. When there was no heart to pity, His arm brought salvation. God laid help on One that was mighty, saying, "Save man from destruction." The Son of God accepted the work joyfully, becoming man's substitute and surety, that He might save him from his sin, and call him from transgression to obedience. He pledged Himself to take man's nature, and stand at the head of the human race, to satisfy every claim made against them as a people bound in the slavery of sin. Through this gift of God to the world man has been given every opportunity of knowing God and the laws of His government.
The truth could come to man only through Christ, for He was the image of the invisible God. He represented the power and glory of the Father, and the divine signature was upon all His words and works. "I can of mine own self do nothing." He declared; "I speak not of myself; but the Father that dwelleth in Me, He doeth the works." It is a
Great and Blessed Truth
that God is love. The superhuman efforts which the Father has put forth for the good of humanity, reveal that His love is without a parallel. Through Christ this love is constantly expended for men. The heavenly universe is in constant activity in behalf of the sons of men. They work that sinners may be convicted of sin. But man is not to deceive himself with the idea that because God is a God of love, He has not a perfect standard of righteousness. The revelation of His love, in giving His Son to die the shameful death of the cross, shows that God has a standard of character. Only by a life of ignominy and suffering and humiliation and the death of the cross could Christ pay the penalty of the broken law. "He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement of our peace was upon Him; and with His stripes we are healed."3
In the grave Christ was the captive of divine justice. To the Judge of the universe He had made Himself responsible for the transgression of the law. It was necessary that there be given to the world a stern manifestation of the wrath of God against all who reject light and evidence and stubbornly remain in unbelief. In the crucifixion of His Son is revealed
God's Hatred for Sin.
This penalty Christ bore for the sins of the transgressor. He has borne the punishment for every man, and for this reason He can ransom every soul, however fallen his condition, if he will accept the law of God as his standard of righteousness. The cry of despair from the soul calls forth the tenderest love of God, and this is salvation to every one that believes. He who sees the guilt of his transgression, and understands the infinite sacrifice made in his behalf, will not continue in sin. But if men continue to resist light and evidence, they will cut themselves off from God's mercy, and then will come the ministry of wrath. God can not save the sinner in his sin. The love of God is immeasurable to those who repent, but His justice is firm and uncompromising to those who abuse his long-suffering love.
God destroyed the inhabitants of the old world by a flood, because they refused to obey His commandments. The record states: "God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And it repented the Lord that He had made man on the earth, and it grieved Him at His heart. And the Lord said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for it repenteth me that I have made them." Had man not eaten of the tree of knowledge and every kind of wickedness, God would not have destroyed him. And God "looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth. And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before Me; for the earth is filled with violence through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth."
It is thought strange by some that our salvation should demand our entire submission to the law of God. But
The Lord Could Not Do a More Cruel Thing
than to save man in his rebellion. No man can be saved unless he comes under the rule of Christ. Salvation means to us complete surrender of soul, body, and spirit. Because of the unruly elements in our nature, our passions often gain the mastery. The only hope of the sinner is to cease from sin. Then his will is in harmony with the will of Christ. His soul is brought into fellowship with God. Those who enlist in the army of Christ must in all things submit to His authority and consult His will. Implicit obedience is the condition of salvation. God's law must be obeyed in every particular. It is our salvation to make His law our rule, His life our pattern, His glory our chief aim. To keep ourselves in the love of God, to be bound to obedience by His requirements, this is to be free in Christ.
Hurrying them from one temptation to another,
Satan Gives Men No Time to Consider These Things.
Man may repulse the enemy on one point, and think himself secure, but the wily foe has always another scheme in readiness. He follows us at every step, using every circumstance of life to cause us to regard him with favor; for he is playing the game of life for the soul. He institutes every amusement he can devise to absorb time and keep God out of the thoughts. He has sought to deceive men into the belief that Christ died in order to abrogate the law of God. But Christ did not die to immortalize transgression.
Every Man May Keep the Law of God,
for Christ in His human nature kept the law; and He says to every soul, "If ye love Me, keep My commandments." Christ is "the image of the invisible God, the first-born of every creature; for by Him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers; all things were created by Him, and for Him; and He is before all things, and by Him all things consist." The first chapter of Colossians will wonderfully enlighten the mind as to the truth as it is in Jesus. If we will study it, we shall understand how Christ has made it possible for man, fallen through disobedience and transgression, to keep all the commandments of God.
Every blessing that Heaven could bestow was given to man in Christ. The Son of God clothed His divinity with humanity, that humanity might touch humanity, and divinity lay hold of the throne of the Infinite. He desired to demonstrate to man that humanity connected with divinity, by faith in Christ, might partake of the divine nature. The death of Christ reveals that not one jot or tittle of the law of God can be altered to meet man in his fallen condition.
The Saviour assures us that as long as the heavens and the earth remain, not one tittle of the law shall fail. Christ's death upon the cross did not destroy the heavens or the earth; both still remain; therefore God's law remains unchanged. Far from lessening its claims, the death of Christ testifies through all generations to the immutability of the law of Jehovah. Its claims upon man are eternal.
Mrs. E. G. WHITE.
When Thou Hast Christ, Thou Art Rich
"WHEN thou hast Christ, thou art rich, and hast enough."
PUNISHMENT OF THE WICKED.
By William Penniman
"Whatever Is Conditional May Be Lost."
THEREFORE Mr. Lee takes the position that the loss of salvation, in view of the immortality of the soul, involves endless punishment in endless suffering. This is true so far as loss is concerned, but the question depends upon what the loss is. "The soul that sinneth, it shall die." Eze. 18 : 20. Therefore the soul is lost. Does not the soul lose its life, or existence, according to definitions and Bible proof already given in preceding articles? And, further, this loss, in view of the immortality of the soul, can not be established unless it is first proved that the soul is immortal. God "only hath immortality" (1 Tim. 6 : 16), therefore man does not possess it apart from God.
Man is called mortal in the Bible, not merely his flesh, but all it takes to make man. We read (Job 4 : 17), "Shall mortal man be more just than God?" The words "immortal soul" are not found in the Word of God. We are commanded to seek for glory, honor, immortality, eternal life. Rom. 2 : 7. Why seek for a thing we already possess?
It does not follow that, as the immortality of the soul is conditional, it is therefore liable to endless loss or suffering.
All the texts which we have quoted to prove the end of the wicked will also prove that the soul is not immortal.
Mr. Lee quotes the following texts to prove endless suffering: "The soul that sinneth, it shall die." Eze. 18 : 20. "The wages of sin is death." Rom. 6 : 23. "To be carnally minded is death." Rom. 8 : 6. "Sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death." James 1 : 15. He then uses the following language ("Lee's Theology," p. 325): "If death is made to consist of the dissolution of the body, it is the negation of those vital energies which constitute natural or animal life. Now, when a person is dead, on this principle self-resuscitation is utterly impossible; life has become extinct, and nothing but death reigns and pervades the whole system." He, therefore, thinks it must follow that spiritual or moral death must be looked upon in the same light, that death means death. He says, "Death is the absence of life." In this definition he proves too much. This is just as true as that darkness is the absence of light. Therefore, how can there be an absence of life when life is prolonged? But, of course, what he means by life is existence in happiness, and by death existence in misery. This construction of language will not harmonize with God's Word. The very texts which he has quoted to prove eternal, conscious suffering, prove the very opposite, according to the definition that the word "death" is "extinction of life."
Of course one may be punished by confiscation or loss of property, or his friends or relatives may be put to death before his eyes, or he may experience the punishment on his own person. This is a conscious punishment. But is not one equally conscious when he knows what he is doomed to suffer, when not actually suffering, even in this life? The same principle is true of the sinner in the resurrected state, as he will be conscious that he has lost heaven and happiness, which he has rejected, and which he might have enjoyed forever. If this is not a consciousness of guilt and of punishment, then we fail to know what it is. There is no consciousness after one is dead. Therefore this objection amounts to nothing.
"Blessed are they that do His commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city." Rev. 22 : 14. How important it is that we have a right to the tree of life, for we read (Rev. 20 : 15), "And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire." WM. PENNIMAN.
WORKING FOR OUR GOD.
By Dean Farrar
WE all, in turn, must face our forlorn hours of saddest bereavement. For us all, sooner or later, our house must be left unto us desolate. But . . . these natural sorrows are and are meant to be full of blessedness; the light of God shining upon them transmutes them into heavenly gold. The wounds which God makes, God heals. The fire which kindles the grains of frankincense upon His altar, at the same time brings out their fragrance. All that He sends, if borne submissively, becomes rich in mercy. Upon the troubled soul which seeks Him, His consolations increase "with the gentleness of a sea which caresses the shore it covers."—Dean Farrar.
THE LITTLE THINGS.
A MAN was once asked why he took so much pains to oblige others in trifles. His answer was, in substance: "I have neither the wealth, nor the intellect, nor the learning, nor the position to do big things for God or man, and so I take delight in doing any little thing to promote another's interest or enjoyment. In this way I may add to the sum of human happiness, and also recommend my Saviour to the attention of those who know Him not."—Christian Intelligencer.
FRIEND, HOW CAMEST THOU?
By Uriah Smith
The “Wedding”—When Does It Take Place?—What Is the Wedding-Garment?—What Has It to do with Us?
A QUESTION commencing with these words, addressed to a certain party, is found in Matt. 22:12. It implies that the one addressed was in a place where he did not belong, and was there in defiance of a good reason why he should not be there. How? That is, What is the reason you are in this place? The next clause will reveal more of the circumstances which call forth this question: “Friend, how camest thou in hither not having a wedding-garment?” This enlarges immensely the field of inquiry. It is now seen that the occasion is that of a wedding, and that a peculiar apparel is necessary to fit one to appear thereat; and it is implied that the garment was provided, and placed within the reach of every one, so that no one had any excuse for not having it on; for when one was asked why he came not having it, he was speechless.
The questions which here immediately come to the front, are: What is this wedding? When does it take place? What is the wedding-garment? Have we any invitation to be present on that occasion? and how shall we secure the wedding-garment, so that we may be properly arrayed?
This is one of the many great problems of Scripture, for which an easy key is provided; and that key, in this case, is the subject of the sanctuary. By this we have free access to every inviting recess in these departments of the temple of truth, and in the calcium light of the facts connected with this subject, we behold every shade of uncertainty dispelled, and every feature glowing in the beautiful radiance which shows its own place and office, and its relation to all the rest.
Thus, in the study of the subject of the sanctuary, as given in a previous issue, we have found a time when the work to be performed in the first apartment of the sanctuary, or the holy place, ceases there, and the ministry is transferred to the second apartment, or the most holy place. Here the work assumes a special phase; it is the work of atonement, or the putting away of sin; it is a work of judgment, for it results in deciding who are righteous and to be saved, and who are found with sins unforgiven, and hence to be set on the left hand, and cast out with hypocrites and unbelievers. It involves, therefore, the examination of the books containing the records of men's lives; for God has ordained that all men shall be judged from the things written in the books, according to their works. Rev. 20:12. Tho this text does not apply to the time and the work now under notice, but much later, to the great scene at the end of the thousand years, nevertheless it lays down the rule by which, and the method on which, all judgment, in every branch of that great work, is to be conducted; for men are to be judged out of the things “written in the books,” and judged “according to their works,” the record of which must consequently be found written in the books. The period of time, therefore, covered by this work in the most holy place of the heavenly sanctuary, is one of the utmost importance and solemnity. It is the first instalment, the primary division, of the great work of judgment so clearly set forth in the Scriptures, which is to decide the final destiny of all mankind. For convenience of expression, we call this portion of the great assize
The “Investigative” Judgment,
in contrast with other divisions which constitute the “executive” judgment. This investigation of character, with reference to future destiny, would naturally begin with the earliest members of the human family, come down through all generations consecutively to the end of time, and close with the last generation, which is to be alive on the earth when the Lord returns again in earth in all His glory.
To the class last named this will of course be a most thrillingly important point in their experience; and it would be in accordance with the Lord's uniform dealing with His people, to send to them, as the crisis approaches, a voice of warning and a message of instruction in regard thereto. There are several passages of Scripture of the nature here indicated applying to this time and work.
A Message to the Remnant Church.
Remember that it is the last generation of Christians that is here involved. Turn to the counsel of the Faithful and True Witness to the Laodicean church, a church likewise composed of the last generation of Christians; for it is the last of the series of the seven churches; and these churches represent seven consecutive periods of the Gospel age. To this last church the Faithful and True Witness comes forth, and in the most impressive manner gives them this exhortation: “I counsel thee to buy of Me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed; . . . and anoint thine eyes with eye-salve, that thou mayest see.” Rev. 3:18.
Here, as will be at once seen, is presented much material which will fit into the scene of Matt. 22:12. But before making the application, there is other testimony to be brought in. First, the third message of Revelation 14. This is the last message of mercy given to the world, before the Son of man appears upon the white cloud, coming to reap the harvest of the earth. It is, therefore, an experience of the last generation of Christians, or what is called, in Rev. 12:17, “the remnant of her [the woman's] seed,” in other words, “the remnant church.” There is, in consequence, only one possible place for it to fall into connection with the experiences we are considering, and that is, at the time of the atonement; the cleansing of the sanctuary, or the investigative judgment, the very time when the message to the Laodicean church applies.
therefore, occupies the time while the cleansing of the sanctuary is being accomplished. While that work is going on in heaven, this message is its counterpart, taking place on earth; and this message warns against the worship of the beast, and his image, and the receiving of his mark, and enjoins the keeping of the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus, which is the whole duty of man.
There can be no mistaking the bearing of these scriptures on the question before us; for they pertain to the last generation, and the final decision of all cases; and the experience of the guest with the wedding-garment, brings to view the same condition; therefore, if we can find the character and qualifications required of the last generation of Christians to make them accepted of God, we shall find what constitutes the wedding-garment.
But there is still another passage to be noticed (Acts 3:19): “Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord; and He shall send Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you; whom the heaven must receive [or retain] until the times of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all His holy prophets since the world began.” The blotting out of sin we know pertains to the last work in the sanctuary above, when the sanctuary is cleansed, and Christ confesses to His Father, the Ancient of Days, the names of His people, as overcomers through His name. Dan. 7:13; Rev. 3:5. And the blotting out of sin is secured by the true repentance enjoined in Acts 3:19.
We have now found the last generation, in view of the decisive issues right before them, solemnly reined up to the following admonitions: To repent and be converted, to avoid the worship of the beast and his image, and the receiving of his mark, and to buy of the True Witness, our Lord Jesus Christ, gold tried in the fire, white raiment, and eye-salve. The white raiment at once suggests a garment—such a garment as will bear the scrutiny of the King, when He comes in to examine the wedding guests. But the white raiment is the “righteousness of saints,”—the righteousness of Christ. The white raiment of Christ's righteousness is, therefore, the wedding-garment, which every one must have on who would pass the examination for the wedding, and the marriage supper of the Lamb.
The Facts and the Parable.
It will now require but a moment to adjust together the facts we have before us, so as to show how fully they fit the parable of Matthew 22. The king who made a marriage for his son is God, the Father; the son is Jesus Christ; the marriage is the induction of Christ into His government, His elevation to the throne of power, as the ruler of the everlasting kingdom to which God has appointed Him. Luke 22:29. Of this kingdom the New Jerusalem is the symbol and metropolis. Christ there ascends the throne as the light and glory of that celestial locality. Rev. 21:22, 23. That city is therefore called, specifically and emphatically, “the bride, the Lamb's wife.” Rev. 21:9, 10. But just before Christ takes His position as king, He must finish His work as priest; and His work as priest closes with the “investigative judgment,” the examination of the books of record, that every man may be rewarded as his works have been; in other words, Christ's work as priest closes with His cleansing of the sanctuary. So before the wedding the guests are to be examined, to see if each one has on the wedding-garment. What are these two scenes but one and the same thing? This is not a work done in heaven; for no one will ever reach there without a wedding-garment. But it is a preliminary transaction, just such as is brought to view in Matt. 22:11-13, and in the closing work in the sanctuary. All this takes place before probation closes; and to this point one may come without a wedding-garment, and, being examined, be found wanting and be cast out. Matt. 22:13; Rev. 3:15, 16. Without a knowledge of the subject of the sanctuary,5no possible place can be found in which to apply the facts and scriptures here brought to view; hence the necessity for all to study and become familiar with the subject of the sanctuary.
Since 1844, when the 2,300 days of Dan. 8:14 ended, at which point the prophecy declared that the sanctuary should be cleansed, (that is, the work of cleansing would commence), the “King,” in the figure of the parable, has been examining the guests; for these include the dead as well as the living, tho there are special declarations which apply to the living alone. In the parable, the maker of the marriage alone examines the guests. In the fulfilment, God alone sits the Judge in the investigative judgment, while Christ is still Priest and Mediator. In the other divisions of the work, all judgment is committed unto the Son; for it must be the “execution” of the judgment to which John refers when he says, “For the Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the Son.” John 5:22. Fifty-five years of the investigative judgment have already passed. How many years remain to complete it, or how soon the work will reach the cases of the living—our own cases—we know not. In actual, conscious experience, Matt. 22:12, 13 must pertain to the living; and now is the time to secure the wedding-garment.
In an Eastern wedding, the maker of the marriage provided beforehand suitable garments for all the guests, and furnished each one before the wedding ceremony; and to neglect or refuse to put it on at the time, was as great an affront as could be offered to the one who made the marriage, and had done them the honor of an invitation. So the garment for the heavenly wedding is freely provided and offered to us. The righteousness of Christ now awaits our demand and appropriation; but if we neglect this opportunity, and fail to obtain that righteousness, when, erelong, our cases come up in the judgment, the question will be put to us. Friend, how camest thou in hither without a wedding-garment? And, like the man in the parable, we shall be sadly speechless.
URIAH SMITH.