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35:1

@@@^@0@9Matt. 13:47-50 — “Again, the Kingdom of heaven is like unto a net, that was cast into the sea, and gathered of every kind: which, when it was full, they drew to shore, and sat down, and gathered the good into vessels, but cast the bad away. So shall it be at the end of the world: the angels shall come forth, and sever the wicked from among the just, and shall cast them into the furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth.”@7@^Clearly, the net represents the gospel church into which are caught both hypocrite and saint. Accordingly, in the time of the firstfruit harvest (the Judgment “in the house of God”) “at the end of the world” (Matt. 13:49), the angels @9sever the wicked from among the just, not the just from among the wicked@7. But in the second fruit harvest (the Judgment in the world) the separation is the reverse: @9the just are taken out from among the wicked, not the wicked from among the just@7, so says The Revelation: “And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, My people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues.” Rev. 18:4. Plainly, the Judgment “in the house of God” is the harvest in which the hypocrites as “tares” are burned, but as bad “fish” they are cast out. In the Judgment in Babylon (in the world), though, not the bad, but the good are taken out and brought into the purified house of God where there is no sin and no sinner, and where there is no danger of the plagues. This same truth concerning the house of God again comes to us in these words:

41:1

@@@^@0@9Rev. 3:14-18 — “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: 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.”@7@^Another view of this tragic truth is given in—

41:2

@@@^@0@9Luke 14:16-24 — “Then said He unto him, A certain man made a great supper, and bade many: and sent His servant at supper time to say to them that were bidden, Come; for all things are now ready. And they all with one consent began to make excuse. The first said unto him, I have bought a piece of ground, and I must needs go and see it: I pray thee have me excused. And another said, I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I go to prove them: I pray thee have me excused. And another said, I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come. So that servant came, and shewed his Lord these things. Then the Master of the house being angry said to His servant, Go out quickly into the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in hither the poor, and the maimed, and the halt, and the blind. And the servant said, Lord, it is done as Thou hast commanded, and yet there is room. And the Lord said unto the servant, Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that My house may be filled. For I say unto you, That none of those men which were bidden shall taste of My supper.”@7@^In this parable are seen two periods of time. The first period is while the gospel has “@9bade many@7” (Luke 14:16) to the marriage supper, the time from the Apostles to the time of His last servant with the last message God sends to His people, the time all things are “ready.” The next period is the time in which His last servant served (Luke 14:17). This servant is sent, we are told, at “supper time,” at the end of the day, indicating that he bears the last message. Moreover, he is at first sent to those who have previously been “bidden”; that is, to those who were already in the gospel truth, in the church. At the outset he is to contact a class of people deeply engrossed with the cares of this life, and is to tell them that “all things are now ready,” that if they wish they can now prepare and go to the wedding, there to enjoy the Bridegroom’s banquet. This is the last call for the supper.

44:3

@@@^@0@9Matt. 13:31-33 — “The Kingdom of heaven is like to a grain of mustard seed, which a man took, and sowed in his field: which indeed is the least of all seeds: but when it is grown, it is the greatest among herbs, and becometh a tree, so that the birds of the air come and lodge in the branches thereof. Another parable spake He unto them; The Kingdom of heaven is like unto leaven, which a woman took, and hid in three measures of meal, till the whole was leavened.”@7@8@0@9Zech. 4:6 — “Not by might, nor by power, but by My spirit, saith the Lord of hosts.”@7@^Not a blast or a boom, and not a bust either, but the plain, quiet Truth, Brothers, Sisters, is what saves you and brings the Kingdom into being.

10:1

@@@^Since this separation of the “tares” from among the “wheat” — “the harvest” — is one and the same work with the Judgment of the living, then the only difference between the Judgment of the dead and the judgment of the living is that in the former the names of the wicked are removed from the books above, whereas in the latter the wicked are bodily swept away from among the living members of the Church. Not only the prophecies and parables here considered, but also the type (the atonement — Lev. 23:27, 29), including @9Early Writings@7, pg. 118 and @9Testimonies to Ministers@7, pg. 234, teach the same truth.

13:4

@@@^Accordingly, it is impossible for the non-Christian to know what real Christianity is. For this very reason the Scriptures emphatically warn: “...but the wicked shall do wickedly: and none of the wicked shall understand.” Dan. 12:10. Let the sinner, therefore, renounce his sin, pray for the Spirit of Truth, and then understanding will come to him. “Seek ye the Lord while He may be found, call ye upon Him while He is near: let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the Lord, and He will have mercy upon Him; and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon. For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways, saith the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts.” Isa. 55:6-9.

17:1

@@@^Now the manifest truth is that if time should last, and if we are to stay in the pathway of true Christianity where the light shines, then all must do something about this badly neglected work of caring for the needy, for it cannot be accomplished from one central location, but must necessarily be localized to every state and country wherever the message of the hour takes “root downward and bears fruit upward.” Isa. 37:31.

19:5

@@@^Thus in this all-revealing beam of Heaven’s great searchlight of truth are clearly set apart the “two ways for travelers” — the false way, pretentious and loose and broad, which the many are traveling unto destruction; and the true way, unpretentious and strait and narrow, which the few are traveling unto life. With both ways now standing flooded with light from beginning to end, the traveler is able to see the entire length of each way, and therefore to know what to expect by traveling the one or the other. Why not, then, choose to go the way which leads to life, security, and happiness, and forever shun the one which leads to sorrow, poverty, and death? Why longer fool oneself in venturing to obtain God’s faithful promises by running from a lo here to a lo there, from this quack to that one? Why not go after life’s blessings in God’s way? Of course all God’s ways are contrary to man’s, but if they were not, how much better would they be than our own? “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways, saith the Lord.” Isa. 55:8.

23:1

@@@^Never before was the doctrine of miracles, especially of tongues and of healing, so variously agitated, urged, and practiced as it is throughout Christendom today. Yet never was there greater doubt as to the genuineness of the manifestations. And when confronted by the agitators of these miracles, those who do not believe in or accept them, nor possess their power, resort to saying just about anything and everything they can think of in their effort to counter the phenomena and to comfort themselves with their limited spiritual attainments. To clear away the smoke which has resulted from this fiery issue between these two hostile camps of Christians, and to expose the truth on the subject, which the master enemy has so completely covered up, is Inspiration’s purpose herein.

24:3

@@@^Although this subject is confounded by controversy, yet there stands forth out of it the indisputable fact that, regardless of anyone’s claims, no other sect of people, since the miracle-endowed disciples passed away, have possessed the gift which all of the 120 received on the Pentecost. Hence the plain truth is that that gift subsequently lifted it’s wings, as it were, and departed from among men, as verily as did the disciples themselves, and that never since that day has it remanifested itself.

27:1

@@@^What then is the truth about this gift? Are we to understand that the gospel work will close without it? Inspiration does not remain silent on the question, but, as we shall see, makes plain that the gospel work will never close, “the harvest” never be garnered in, without a world-wide manifestation of the gift of Miracles, including the gift of tongues.

29:2

@@@^What smites the image? Is it not the stone which Daniel reveals is symbolical of the Kingdom of God restored? Also keep in mind the fact that the image is not smitten by the stone until after it (the stone) is cut out of the mountain, without hands, and that afterwards it grows and fills the earth, thus in turn becoming a mountain of itself. In elucidation of this truth, the prophet Isaiah adds:

33:3

@@@^“Thus saith the Lord; I am returned unto Zion, and will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem: and Jerusalem shall be called a city of truth; and the mountain of the Lord of hosts the holy mountain....Yea, many people and strong nations shall come to seek the Lord of hosts in Jerusalem, and to pray before the Lord. Thus saith the Lord of hosts; In those days it shall come to pass, that ten men shall take hold out of all languages of the nations, even shall take hold of the skirt of him that is a Jew, saying, We will go with you: for we have heard that God is with you.” Zech. 8:3, 22, 23.

33:4

@@@^Thus illuminating in particular the tongues question, Zechariah’s prophecy reveals that in the gathering time, in the time when God Himself calls the church “a city of truth,” a “holy mountain,” the time in which nations go forth to seek the Lord and to invite others to come with them, then it is that the whole church, every active soldier in the gospel army, will have the gift of tongues, as is pointedly indicated by the affirmation that “ten men shall take hold @9of all the languages@7 of the nations.” The universal significance of this number is confirmed by the ten toes of the great image of Daniel 2, by the ten horns of the beast of Daniel 7 and of Revelation 13:1, by the ten servants in the parable of the ten pounds (Luke 19:12-25), and by the ten virgins (Matt. 25:1-12) who are symbolical of the whole church, while the five wise virgins (the “wheat”) and the five foolish virgins (the “tares”) are still commingled. In all these as in all other instances, the number ten is numerically symbolical of Universality.

35:4

@@@^In summary, their faithful testimony is that the remanifestation of the gifts, among men, will be (1) after, not before, the latter rain is poured out; (2) after the stone is “cut out of the mountain,” not before; (3) the time when the Lord is gathering the second fruits from the “east” and from the “west”; (4) when Zion and Jerusalem are “called a city of truth, the mountain of the Lord of hosts the holy mountain” (holy kingdom); (5) when “the inhabitants of one city,” shall go to another, saying, Let us go speedily to pray before the Lord, and to seek the Lord of hosts: I will go also.”

37:2

@@@^Do we see, then, as plain as we should, that to fail to heed the truth of this most momentous event in all church history, is to forfeit the gift of miracles, fitness for translation, and the right to live and reign with Christ during the thousand years? We dare not let the Enemy cheat us of this new-heart fitness for Heaven.

45:1

@@@^The informed and discerning will spot such false brethren in their midst, and will know that if God wants His faithful ones sick, they will gladly suffer sickness for His sake; that if He wants them well, they will praise His holy name for health and strength to enable them to do something for the feeble, the disabled, the sick, and the suffering; that if He wants them dead, then they cannot live and will gladly die; that if He wants them living, they cannot and will not want to die; that whatever He wants, this is what and will gladly take. Their hope will be in Him only. They will close their ears to all who in one way or another seek to reprobate Truth’s cause today; they will not listen to gossip; they will be confident that God is at the head of the work, that He Himself is attending to His business. They will know that all who remain in the pits of falsehood and unrighteousness will finally go into the “bottomless pit” of perdition.

45:2

@@@^The lessons, too, from Job’s trials will be for their learning, hope, and courage. They will understand, and consider well the fact, that there were Jobs before the Job of the Bible, that there were Jobs since him, that there are Jobs today, and that there will be Jobs till Kingdom come. Their faith in God will be in truth and in confidence, whether in weal or in woe, in sickness or in death, and nothing will be able to move them from Heaven’s message for the day. They will know that it is to be either their life or their death, and to life will they cling. They will not be found murmuring, doubting, accusing, or despairing, for whatsoever their lot while inside God’s hedge, they will know it is His will for them. Every one of them will with heart and soul and in certainty say:

7:2

@@@^Grim indeed, is the picture. And the stark peril of it hurls its challenge at Christendom as a whole. What shall we do about it? Close our eyes tight to it? or arise in the face of it, and be Noahs, Gideons, Davids, Elijahs, Daniels, Luthers, and all such with a faith to do something about it while the light still shines and while opportunity still remains us? Will we lay well to heart the tragic truth that “the sin of the world’s impenitence lies at the door of the church”? — @9The Great Controversy@7, p. 389. Will we all accept the supreme annunciation, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men” (Luke 2:14), as the supreme trust and duty of the Church more than of the State? Our country and the whole world need the Church, and God is waiting for her members, both laity and ministry, to “arise, shine.” Isa. 60:1.

9:1

@@@^Well knowing as we do the answer to these urgent questions, what excuse will we have if we do not now arouse ourselves and all saints in Christendom along with us to do what the gospel commands us to do? Regardless how dramatic and impressive any demonstrations the church may put on, it is no secret that even if she is not pushed out of any place or country, still at her present pace of preaching the gospel of the Kingdom a temporal millennium will not suffice her in which to warn the world, finish the work, and bring the Kingdom in. And every enlightened mind knows this to be the inevitable truth.