Posted by Steven Benjamin on April 11, 2009, 6:13 pm, in reply to "Re: Shepherds Rod: TRACT No. 3 (pt 10)"
So while it is necessary in the congregation of the dead to separate the wicked from the righteous now awaiting the resurrection morning, it is just as necessary in the congregation of the living to separate the wicked from the righteous now preparing for deliverance from the coming trouble, and awaiting the second coming of Christ -- His visible coming to wake the dead saints and to take up both them and the living.
There are therefore two separations, one among the righteous dead and the other among the righteous living, the dead being appointed to resurrection and the living to translation.
Those, on the other hand, whose names shall be blotted out of the books are those who shall have failed to put on the "wedding garment. " Matt. 22:11. At the Master's command (Matt. 22:13), they shall be cast out, never more to be among the wedding guests.
This cleansing of the Book of Life is further seen to be necessary in order to enable the angels rightly to select the saints, for when the Son of man comes with all His angels, He shall send them "with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together His elect [the resurrected] from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other" (Matt. 24:31), and take them to join the living.
The concentrated light now shining forth from the prophecies herein viewed in their correlative connection, shows that both the sanctuary in heaven and the one on earth were polluted, not by the political and military conquests of heathen powers, but rather, first, by some of its converts' not enduring (Matt. 10:22); second by Satan's bringing in the tares while men slept (Matt. 13:25); and third, by the exceeding great horn's casting out the "daily," treading down the truth, and bringing in the abomination that maketh desolate: thus involving both the earthly and the heavenly sanctuaries.
This startling revelation shows conclusively that the cleansing according to Daniel 8:14 is first of the sanctuary in heaven, and second of the sanctuary on earth. Important as it is, any who would fail to make a diligent and careful study of the nature and significance of this great work of God's investigating the guests who have come in for the wedding are simply indifferent to the prospects of eternal life -- "so great salvation. " For when a person's judgment is pending, and he is unaware of the fact, he will be unprepared and unable to stand when his case is investigated. To this all-important subject "therefore we ought to give the more earnest heed. " Heb. 2:1. And in doing this, we must approach the judgment
In The Light Of The Parables.
The seed-sower, the seed, the field, the season of cultivation and growing, and the season of harvest must together be perfectly calculated to illustrate the spiritual kingdom; otherwise the representation can only lead into error instead of into truth.
The four seasons of the year all being required in completing the process of planting, raising, and harvesting the year's crops, and Autumn being the beginning of the agricultural year (just as the close of the summer season is "the feast of ingathering, which is in the end of the year, when thou hast gathered in thy labours out of the field -- Ex. 23:16), this parable therefore illustrates by the twelve months of the year a period of gospel history, in the closing of which the kingdom of Christ is to be set up, and the beginning of which is
The Seed-sowing Time.
There being a period of church history illustrated by this twelve month harves period, we must therefore find the time of its beginning -- the time of seed-sowing, and the time of its closing -- the time of reaping.
"He that soweth the good seed," says Christ, "is the Son of man," and the enemy that sowed the tares "is the devil. " Matt. 13:37, 39.
"The Son of man," He who "soweth the good seed," is of course none other than Christ. But as He could not be called the "Son of man" before being born of a woman, He accordingly could not have sowed "the good seed" of the spiritual harvest until after His birth in Bethlehem, Judea.
As His ministry -- His sowing of "the good seed," the truth -- began right after His baptism (Matt. 4:17), therefore to establish the beginning of the parabolic harvest period, we must ascertain the date He was baptized.
"And after threescore and two weeks," prophesied Daniel, concerning Christ's ministry and His death, "shall Messiah be cut off, but not for Himself:. . . and He shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week He shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease. " Dan. 9:26, 27.
That this is prophetic time, reckoned by the year-day rule of Ezekiel 4:6, is seen from the fact that there were seven years from the time Christ was baptized to the time the apostles were permitted to take the gospel to the Gentiles. During this period, Christ confirmed or fulfilled the covenant. "In the midst of the week," or at the end of three and one half years, He was to be crucified, thus causing the earthly sacrifice to cease.
The fact having been established (see illustration on p. 55) that the three and one half years of Christ's ministry terminated on the 16th day of the first month then counting three and one half years (follow the illustration on page 55), we find that His baptism took place on the 16th day of the seventh month which was in the Week of Tabernacles, and the celebration of which was the end of the agricultural year, the close of the harvest (Lev. 23:39).
Thus we see that the parable is in perfect fidelity to nature, and that "the Son of man" commenced sowing the spiritual seed right on time -- in the end of the old and in the beginning of the new year's harvest -- in precisely the right season of the year. With the sowing of the seed beginning with Christ's baptism and the harvest coming at the "end of the world," the period of the parable obviously embraces the entire gospel dispensation -- from the beginning of Christ's ministry to the close of probationary time. Between the two is the
Wheat-growing Time.
The three and one half years from the beginning of Christ's ministry to His crucifixion being the sowing time, and the harvest time being the end of the world, then the intervening period is the time for the growing and ripening of the grain, also the
Tare-sowing Time.
Upon finishing His sowing of the good seed, "the Son of man. . . left His house, and gave authority to His servants, and to every man his work, and commanded the porter to watch. " Mark 13:34. But with Him gone, "men slept," as men are given to do when their employer is away. Thus, sometime after Christ ascended on high "His enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went his way. " Matt. 13:25. But His servants, sleeping, knew it not! What a tragically ironic picture! Zion's watchmen fallen asleep on her very walls, while the enemy slips over unseen and unopposed! O what a fearful guilt of gross dereliction of duty lies upon the watchmen since apostolic days!
Denouncing those today responsible for this failure to protect the church from fellowshipping virtually anyone who professes an interest and shows a desire to be fellowshipped, though such a one neither be grounded in the truth nor bringing forth "fruits meet for repentance," the Spirit of Prophecy declares: "Too much hasty work is done in adding names to the church roll. Serious defects are seen in the characters of some who join the church. Those who admit them say, We will first get them into the church, and then reform them. But this is a mistake. The very first work to be done is the work of reform. . . . Do not allow them to unite with God's people in church relationship until they have decided evidences that the Spirit of God is working upon their hearts. Many whose names are registered on the church books are not Christians. " -- The Review and Herald, May 21, 1901.
(CONTD)
Message Thread:
« Back to thread