Your Wedding Invitation--
read
this column first...
“The kingdom of heaven is like a King, that made a marriage for his Son,
and He sent his servants to call them that were bidden to the wedding:
but they would not come.” Matt 22:2.
This parable was spoken by Christ in the last week of his life and is
especially relevant for the end-time period of seven years.
Until now, most people in western societies have not been too
interested in the kingdom of heaven because money has met most of their
needs and government has promised to meet the rest of it—health care,
education, welfare, and people have been free to marry or divorce
whomever they please so their “needs” can be met.
But life is changing. Things will never be the same again. What’s
happening will be like the “great voice as of a trumpet” that separates
the past, present and future, Revelation 1:10,19.
The scenes of Revelation are
beginning.
America has been like the church of Laodicea, “rich and increased with
goods and in need of nothing,” but God says we are lukewarm and will be
spewed out. It happened to the ancient church in Asia—the city was
destroyed with an earthquake. History has lessons that repeat.
Because America in general, and some groups in particular, have not been
interested in the wedding invitation when they should be, the king
“burned up their city.” Matt 22:7. Perhaps we can see in the destruction
that is happening, a need to refocus our attention on things that are
eternal and cannot be taken from us.
The Bible asks, “Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean? Not
one.” But with God, “all things are possible.” And it will be His truths
that separate us into the wise who get into the marriage in Matthew
25:10, or the foolish who aren’t prepared—they don’t have oil (that
comes from study of the Bible, Zechariah 4:3,14) to light their lamp and
see the way.
But if you will follow this message with your Bible and look up texts to
see the basis for what is being said, any who choose may be included,
even “bad and good,” Matthew 22:10.
In the next verse we find a man who wasn’t wearing the wedding garment
provided by the king, so that he was thrown out. The Bible explains that
our loins are to be girded with truth, Ephesians 6:14. “Your word
(Scripture) is truth,” John 17:17. What we do should be covered by
Scripture so that we are wearing the wedding garment.
This does not mean we are cut out if we ignorantly make mistakes, for
the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commands all men
every where to repent because he has appointed a day, in which he will
judge the world.” Acts 17:30,31. We are entering that time of judgment
and must repent (change our minds and ways of doing things) so that our
lives are shaped by God’s laws which has principles of self-government.
It is coming down to a choice of big government that will tell everyone
what to do, how and when to do it (bondage), or freedom in God’s kingdom
live in harmony with His laws that mean true equality and worth of every
person as Moses said--
“What nation is there so great, that hath statutes and judgments so
righteous as all this law?” Deuteronomy 4:8.
How surprised a heathen spy might have been if he could have
crept into the Most Holy Place of Israel’s temple in the time of
Solomon. He might have discovered that the secret of Israel’s success
and prosperity was not an idol studded with gems, but a law that had
principles of fairness for every situation in life.
In a world going crazy and falling apart with lawlessness and rebellion,
here is wisdom and fairness for all, for God is no respecter of persons.
“There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there
is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ…And if you are
Christ's, you are Abraham's seed and heirs according to the promise.”
Galatians 3:28,29.
The wedding invitation is a call to be part of God’s kingdom. “In the
days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom,” Daniel
2:44. This kingdom is at the
end of the world, in the toes of time as Daniel sees a stone cut out of
a mountain. In Daniel, mountain represents God’s people, Jerusalem, Dan
9:16,20. Everyone believes they are God’s people, but God is going to
cut a stone out of these groups to be His special kingdom. It will be
composed of those who choose to base their lives on His laws.
If we choose, “the Bridegroom comes” for us and we may marry Him in a
covenant relationship. That’s how Israel did it when they came out of
Egypt and went to Sinai. God said, “if ye will obey my voice in deed,
and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure… And ye shall
be unto me a kingdom,” Exodus 19:5,6.
They accepted the covenant and God later said, “I am married unto
you,” Jeremiah 3:14.
The times ahead will test us and our faithfulness to the covenant and we
will learn more, but we also learn by sharing, even as light gets
greater by sharing what we have. Step one for us: The King “sent his
servants to call them that were bidden to the wedding.” We become His
servants by inviting others to consider the invitation.
May God bless and guide us as we seek to conform our lives to His
principles in these troublous times when the kingdoms of this world are
falling apart and have nothing to offer us except empty promises now,
and a New World Order that will soon force everyone against God’s will
as shown in Revelation 13:17.
For a better understanding of this, please visit
www.UnitedStates1.netfirms.com
|
Wedding Parables for Endtime, Revelation
Wedding parables support our need to invite others to the wedding and
for us to have light showing how we get there. We may marry the
Bridegroom by making a covenant.
Each wedding parable supports
-
An invitation that we must give
-
An unexpected calamity
-
High reward
-
Loss of destiny for preachers that don't participate
Keywords:
Wedding
parables, Revelation, prophecy, end times, earthquake
Ask your pastor
or Sunday School teacher how many wedding parables there are in the
Bible. Most know about the 10 virgins in Matthew 25; some may know about
the wedding garment in Matthew 22, but none that I’ve asked know about
Luke 12:32-48--“wedding” is mentioned once.
1.
All three wedding parables
support the need to invite others and for us to have light showing
the way (how we marry the Bridegroom).
A. The King who makes a marriage for His Son sends His
servants to bid everyone ("bad and
good," Matt 22:10) to the marriage.
B. The wise have light to show the way.
The foolish do not and go looking for oil, Matt 25:9. (They lack oil
from the Old Testament olive tree, Zechariah 4:3,14. Christians focus on
N.T.
C. "Lights burning" is parallel imagery in Luke 12:35.
2.
All three wedding parables have
an unexpected calamity.
A. In Matt 22:7, the "remnant" had their city burned for failing to
appreciate the invitation. It’s more than 70 AD, because Christ blended
the temple signs with “end of the world,” Matt 24:3.
B. Christ is the word (John 1:1,14) and He is also “the First and the
Last,” Revelation 1:11. The first place that a word or phrase is found
often has a meaning or context for the end-time. Using this rule, the
midnight cry in Matt 25:6 is linked to calamity at Passover, Exodus
12:29,30.
C. We are to be ready "that when He comes and knocks, [we] may open to
Him immediately." Luke 12:36. What's His "knock"? With the Bible as it's
own expositor, the only other place that Christ knocks is in Revelation
3:20, for the church of Laodicea. We think Jesus always knocks at our
heart, wanting to be part of all we do.
We forget He wanted His church to repent of their materialism and
lukewarmness. The church ended in an earthquake; a sign for us? No one
denies that the description of the church at Laodicea fits us.
"What is to come has been already, and God summons each event back in
its turn." Ecclesiastes 3:15, NEB.
3. All three wedding parables offer high reward, but a loss in destiny
for church leaders.
A. We see this in 70 AD when the temple burned, but Christ mingled those
signs as also being for the end of the world in Matthew 24:1-3. Would
God do such a thing for America that tries to bless the world?
Maybe we are like that lukewarm materialistic church. We forget
our slight of the wedding invitation. We think about the 2nd coming when
we hope to eat the wedding supper, but we are ignorant of Bible teaching
on how the wedding occurs (explained below), and church leaders failed
to inform us.
B. Change in leadership is also suggested in the imagery of "Go to them
that sell [oil]." Matt 25:9. The ministry studies Scripture and distills
it as oil for the church. Earning their living doing so, they are "them
that sell," but in Christ’s parable, they weren’t going to the wedding,
and those who ask them for their input will arrive too late. This is not
a good picture for preachers.
C. Luke's wedding parable has four groups, Luke 12:43-48.
1. The "little flock" that is “so doing when He comes” are made "ruler
over all that He has" Luke 12:44.
2. The evil servant who thinks delay and smites fellow servants is lost
as unbelievers, Luke 12:45,46. This is New World Order forcing
compliance by marking everyone, Revelation 13:17.
3. The ministry "that knew his Lord's will and prepared not"...shall be
beaten with many stripes, Luke 12:47.
4. Church members they did not inform "that knew not...shall be beaten
with few stripes."
Confirmation:
The aggelos (messenger or
preacher to the lukewarm church of Laodicea) is “naked.” Naked means he
is not wearing a wedding garment and will be thrown out, Matthew
22:11-13. These are parallel passages--Luke’s wedding parable has six
parallels with the message to Laodicea, so this is all about the
wedding. We compare Scripture, "here a little, there a little." Isaiah
28:10.
In Amos 1, Israel cheers as God promises to punish their enemies, but
their joy soon turns to sorry as God promises them punishment also for
"three transgressions or for four." Every denomination today has at
least three or four areas that they are not following the light. God's
movement in the end-time must transcend denominational lines.
Our actions choose the group we want to be in:
“By faith Noah…by faith Moses…” None of them knew except they had the
word of God, and He “will not do anything [except] He reveals His
secret…” Amos 3:7. We must be like Bereans who studied to see if
Scripture supports it. "Whatsoever is not of faith is sin," Romans
14:23.
The King's servants
bid to the marriage and have light to show the way. If we aren’t
inviting others and don’t have light to show how we can marry the
Bridegroom, we’re not included
So how do we marry the Bridegroom?
When Christ said, “Search the Scriptures…they testify of Me,” the only
Scriptures in existence were the Old Testament. There we see God
appealing to Israel to turn to Him, “I am married to you,” Jeremiah
3:14. When did they get married?
God took Israel from calamity
in Egypt to a covenant relationship at Sinai. That's how they got
married, and became His kingdom. “All those things happened unto them
for examples [types,
margin] and they are written for our admonition…ends of the world”
1Corinthians 10:1,11. We are headed for calamity, as shown above, #2,
but we can marry Christ if we make a covenant with Him when He "knocks"
if we "open to Him immediately," Luke 12:36.
If you wish to consider more information on how the "knock" is an
earthquake,
please read this article and return here.
This has been a lot to consider. Please visit again to read the
next column when your "digestion" of this has cleared.
As John the Baptist was a forerunner before the first advent and
fulfilled the role of Elijah, Christ spoke of His 2nd advent, "Elijah
truly shall first come, and restore all things," Matthew 17:11. The
intent of our focus is to consider truths that have been lost and
consider how we may help to restore them. (Next column).
One important truth for end-time that we overlook is the "appointed
times" that God instituted to teach truths in His plan of salvation.
Passover was when God said, "I will
execute judgment." Exodus 12:12.
Judgment fell on Jericho in the context of unleavened bread (Passover)
in Joshua 5:11-13. Sodom also received judgment in that context, Gen
19:3.
The disciples were probably thinking "Passover" for the
judgments that Christ said would come at the end of the world (their
question in Matt 24:3) when three times He said, "You don't know the day
or hour..."
#1. The Greek word, eido, does not mean can't
know, won't know, never know. It means "be aware, consider, understand
or perceive. Christ was saying, You don't understand, or It's not like
you think... and each time He said it, He gave an example that fit a
provision in their law for Passover one month later, like for travel, or
#2. "As in the days of Noah," the Flood came with
Passover timing, but in the 2nd spring month, Gen 7:4,11. These
provision for 2nd Passover were based on Numbers 9:10,11
#3. You don't know...but if the goodman had known...he
would have watched and not suffered his house to be broken..." Matt
24:43. To see how this clue fit 2nd Passover, 2009,
visit
http://www.PopesVisit.net
#4. The pope's Jerusalem visit last year at 2nd Passover
(above link) suggests the possibility that Christ's final
example, His coming at Bridegroom, could come at 2nd Passover
this year, 2010, because after telling us to watch (be awake on the eve
of Passover as those appointed times enjoined (Exod 12:11,42) and as He
asked His followers (Matt 26:38-41) and as He later said, "If you don't
watch [be awake], I will come on you as a thief" Rev 3:3.
*Passover is considered by many to begin at the even of
the 14th day from when green ears of barely are found on a new moon in
spring. Others go by the first new moon after the equinox. Using this
latter rule with the clues Christ gave for 2nd Passover, it would begin
on the evening of May 29. Readers are encouraged to "watch and pray"
on that evening that God will "passover" us in any judgments that may
fall as His appointed time of judgment. Exod 12:12
For an excellent paper, "The Gospel According to Moses and Elijah" by a
Professor of Hebrew at Andrews University, please click
Gospel
If you would like the 7 Seals--7 topics that are
emphasized 7 times in Scripture as a mark of end-time truth, please send
an email to Ruhling7@juno.com
There is no charge for this material that offers a basis for the
covenant we must make with Christ as Bridegroom.
|
|
