Jasper County Democrat, Volume 17, Number 40, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 22 August 1914 — BROOKLYN TABERNACLE [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

BROOKLYN TABERNACLE

< * — THE WEDDING FEAST. Matthew 22:1-14—Aug. 23.

“O Jerusalem.' Jerusalem, which killest the Prophets, and stonest them that are sent unto thee; how often would 1 hare gathered thy children together, as a hen gathereth htt brood under her wings, and ye would not!" —Luke IS: It RERE we have another parable of the Kingdom. Today's lesson shows that God’s promises and providences toward Israel under the Law Covenant were to prepare that nation to be God’s holy na tion and especially to provide at Christ's coming a sufficient number to constitute the elect Church. Messiah’s joint-heirs iu the Kingdom—His Bride. The parable shows that only a few were “Israelites indeed,” in whom was no guile—not enough to constitute the Kingdom class. Hence the call of this Gospel Age, selecting from the Gentiles sufficient of saintly character to be joint-heirs with the Jewish remnant in the Messianic Kingdom. The Marriage of the Lamb.

Jehovah Himself is the King who made a marriage for His Son—arranging before ttie foundation of the world that there should be joint-heirs with Christ in Ilis Kingdom. This marriage, of course, could not take place until the King's Son had come into the world and, by His obedience unto death, had made the way for His followers and for Ilis Kingdom., At the appropriate time God sent His servants to call them that were bidden to the

wedding. But they would not come. John the Baptist and his disciples did this work of calling to the attention of Israel the fact that the King’s Son was in their midst.—John 1:20:3:2$ Again, other servants were sent forth. Jesusf sent His disciples

to the Jews, saying to them that were bidden. “All things are ready. Come to the marriage.” But the people, under the guidance of the scribes and the Pharisees, the theologians of that day, made light of the Message and went—one to his farm and another to his merchandise—saying, We do not believe this Kingdom Message. Some did even worse than this. They treated these servants shamefully and slew them.

Then, as seen in another parable, Jehovah was wroth with Israel, lie sent forth armies and destroyed those murderers and burned their city. The fact that it was the Roman army under Titus which destroyed Jerusalem, A. D. To. did not make it any less Jehovah's army; for He is able to make the wrath of man praise Him and able to use whom He may please as His messengers for good or evil. Gentiles Called to the Wedding. Meantime God said to His servants. tlie Apostles, and others through them. The wedding is provided for; but the Jewish nation, which was especially invited, has not proved Worthy of the honor. Go ye. therefore, into the highways; and as many as ye shall find, bring to the marriage feast. The

Servants did so, and the wedding was furnished with guests. The highways rep resent public concourse. The Lord's ambassadors were no longer to restrict themselves to Jews, but were to make known everywhere the fact that God Is now calling out of the

world a little company, lovers of right eousness. to become eventually Christ's joint-heirs in His Kingdom. Be it noted that these ambassadors were not to intercept all in the highways, but merely to urge upon all they met in the concourse the great privilege of the open door to the wedding feast. I i Inspecting the Guests. The man found without a wedding garment in the presence of the King represents a class, not merely one individual. Today we might find just such a class, professing to be Christ’s followers, but declaring that they no longer trust in the merit of His sacrifice for sin. They have rejected Jesus as their Savior, their Redeemer, and retain Him merely as their Teacher, apparently accepting only a part of His teachings. The parable shows that this class will be rejected from the Kingdom privileges. When our minds were filled with hallucinations of the Dark Ages, we assumed that this class, represented by the man without a wedding garment, would be cast into eternal torment But now we perceive that as the guests were called out of the darkness of the world iuto the light of the wedding chamber, so the casting of one into the outer darkness would mean merely the taking from him the knowledge and joy represented by the light. Our Lord's statement. “Many are called, but few chosen.'’ does not mean that only an elect few will receive God's favor in the future. For eighteen hundred years the Gospel Call has sounded. Yet comparatively few have accepted and come into the elect condition—the Church, the Bride of Christ Thus again the Master explained the matter saying, "Fear not. Little Flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the Kingdom." The Little Flhck. composed of Jews and Gentiles, willthrough faithfulness become God’s chosen people—the Bride of Christ.

The Man Without a Wedding Garment.

Gentiles Called.