PURPOSE: To reveal What, When and How the Judgment of the Living will be fulfilled.
THE INTRODUCTION: For all the activity of a farmer, the target is to gather in a good HARVEST. At harvest time, he/she only needs the cobs for his ban but destroys the tares or weeds.
Prayer Thought
The work of the sower is a work of faith. The mystery of the germination and growth of the seed he cannot understand. But he has confidence in the agencies by which God causes vegetation to flourish. In casting his seed into the ground, he is apparently throwing away the precious grain that might furnish bread for his family. But he is only giving up a present good for a larger return. He casts the seed away, expecting to gather it manyfold in an abundant harvest. So Christ’s servants are to labor, expecting a harvest from the seed they sow. {COL 64.1}
The good seed may for a time lie unnoticed in a cold, selfish, worldly heart, giving no evidence that it has taken root; but afterward, as the Spirit of God breathes on the soul, the hidden seed springs up, and at last bears fruit to the glory of God. In our lifework we know not which shall prosper, this or that. This is not a question for us to settle. We are to do our work, and leave the results with God. “In the morning sow thy seed, and in the evening withhold not thine hand.” Ecclesiastes 11:6. God’s great covenant declares that “while the earth remaineth, seed-time and harvest . . . shall not cease.” Genesis 8:22. In the confidence of this promise the husbandman tills and sows. Not less confidently are we in the spiritual sowing to labor, trusting His assurance, “So shall My word be that goeth forth out of My mouth; it shall not return unto Me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.” Isaiah 55:11. “He that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him.” Psalm 126:6. {COL 65.1}
Let us now read:
MATT. 13:24-30 -“Another parable put he forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is likened unto a man which sowed good seed in his field: But while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went his way. But when the blade was sprung up, and brought forth fruit, then appeared the tares also. So the servants of the householder came and said unto him, Sir, didst not thou sow good seed in thy field? from whence then hath it tares? He said unto them, An enemy hath done this. The servants said unto him, Wilt thou then that we go and gather them up? But he said, Nay; lest while ye gather up the tares, ye root up also the wheat with them. Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn.”
Matt. 13:36-43 – “Then Jesus sent the multitude away, and went into the house: and his disciples came unto him, saying, Declare unto us the parable of the tares of the field. He answered and said unto them, He that soweth the good seed is the Son of man; The field is the world; the good seed are the children of the kingdom; but the tares are the children of the wicked [one]; The enemy that sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the world; and the reapers are the angels. As therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire; so shall it be in the end of this world. The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity; And shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth. Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Who hath ears to hear, let him hear.”
MEANING OF THE PARABLE
COL 70-71 “The tares represent a class who are the fruit or embodiment of error, of false principles….Neither God nor His angels ever sowed a seed that would produce a tare. Tares are always sworn by Satan”
SOWER – ‘Son of Man’ is Jesus planting the seed during His 3.5 years ministry (Matt 13 37-38/6BC1055), 27-31AD.
GOOD SEED – Converted or born again Christians.
TARE/WEEDS – Unconverted sinners in the Church, planted by Satan to manipulate, control, hinder God’s communications, messages, works and progress of the Church.
SOWING TIME OF THE TARES IN THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH:
G.C. 384-385 “What was the origin of the great apostasy? How did the Church first depart from the simplicity of the gospel? By conforming to the practices of paganism, to facilitate the acceptance of Christianity by the heathen…During the lives of the Apostles the church remained comparatively pure. But ‘towards the latter end of the second century most of the churches assumed a new form; the first simplicity disappeared…as the old disciples retired to their graves, their children, along with new converts….came forward and new-modeled the cause’…To secure converts, the exalted standards of the Christian faith was lowered, and as a result ‘a pagan flood, flowing in the church, carried with it its customs, practices, and idols’….Has not the same process been repeated in nearly every church calling itself Protestant ?”
WHEAT AND TARES IN THE CHURCH
COL 70– “The field, Christ said, is the world, but we must understand this as signifying the church of Christ in the world…. It is in the church that we are to grow and ripen for the garner of God.”
TM 46 – “ There are two opposing influences continually exerted on the members of the Church. One influence is working for the purification of the church and the other for corrupting of the people of God.”
6T. 371 – “The Lord does not now work to bring many souls into the Truth because of the church members who have never been converted and those who were once converted but who have backslidden. What influence would these unconsecrated members have on the new converts ? Would they not make of no effect the God-given message which His people are to bear?”
EMBONDIMENT OF ERROR
TM 47-48 “ False doctrines is one of the satanic influences that work in the Church and bring into it those who are unconverted at heart…”
REVIEW & HERALDS, MAY 21, 1901 “Too much hasty work is done in adding names to the Church. Those who admit them say, ‘we will first get them into the church and then reform them.’ But this is a mistake…. Do not allow them to unite with God’s people in the 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 HARVEST and the JUDGMENT
Jere. 8:20 – “The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and we are not saved.”
7T. 16 – “At the day of Judgment, there came to the lost a full realization of the meaning of the sacrifice made on Calvary…. But it is too late. The last call has been made. The wail is heard (Jere. 8:20 quoted),”
NOTE : As the harvest is the target and last solemn activity of the farmer, likewise the Judgment is the goal and last crucial part of all the works of the Gospel — the last part of Probationary time. In the Judgment of the living, we are told that The Eternal Farmer is FIRST to gather and destroy the TARES (Matt. 13). Then the wheat gathered into the Ban.
THE TIME OF THE J. OF THE LIVING :
MATT. 13: 40 “In the end of this world” not after the end.
G.C. 490, 436 – “The judgment (i.e. of the dead) is now passing in the sanctuary above, for many years this work has been in progress. Soon – none know how soon – it will pass to the cases of the living….The work of Judgment which began in 1844 must continue until the cases of all the cases of all are decided, both the living and the dead; hence it will extend to the close of human probation”
MATT. 13:39-40 – Judgment is “In the end of the world” COL 72 “The harvest is the end of probationary time” GC 436 “…it will extend to the close of human probation” NOTE
The Judgment is in two parts – Of the Dead, since 1844, it will soon end at a point. Then will the J. Of the Living begin, which ends at the close of world probation.
TM 46 – “The bottles of God’s wrath (i.e. 7 plagues) cannot be poured out… until the people of God have been judged, and the cases of the living as well as the dead are decided”
G. C. 422 – “The cleansing of the sanctuary, therefore involves a work of investigation – a work of judgment. This work must be performed prior to the coming of Christ to redeem His people, for when He comes, His reward is with Him to give to every man according to his work.”
** The harvest is from the end of the Judgment of the Dead to the close of world Probation.
Judgment of Living starts in the SDA Church!
1PET. 4:17 “For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God…”
EZEK. 9:6 — “…begin at my sanctuary. Then they began at the ancient men which were before the house.”
5 T. 211 “Here we see that the Church – the Lord’s sanctuary was the first to feel the stroke of the wrath of God”
7BC 979 “The time of God’s destructive judgment is the time of mercy for those who have no opportunity to learn what it is truth… while the door is closed to those who would not enter, large numbers ( i. e. the Great multitude – Rev. 7: 9) will be admitted who in the last days hear the Truth for the first time.”
THE JUDGMENT – IN THE LIGHT OF CEREMONIAL TYPES
LEV. 23 : 9 –16 – “And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When ye be come into the land which I give unto you, and shall reap the harvest thereof, then ye shall bring a sheaf of the first fruits of your harvest unto the priest: And he shall wave the sheaf before the LORD, to be accepted for you: on the morrow after the Sabbath the priest shall wave it…And ye shall count unto you from the morrow after the Sabbath, from the day that ye brought the sheaf of the wave offering; seven Sabbaths shall be complete: Even unto the morrow after the seventh Sabbath shall ye number fifty days; and ye shall offer a new meat offering unto the LORD. Ye shall bring out of your habitations two wave loaves of two tenth deals: they shall be of fine flour; they shall be baken with leaven; [they are] the first fruits unto the LORD. And the priest shall wave them with the bread of the first fruits [for] a wave offering before the LORD with the two lambs: they shall be holy to the LORD for the priest.”
Lev. 23:27-39 -“Also on the tenth [day] of this seventh month [there shall be] a day of atonement: it shall be an holy convocation unto you; and ye shall afflict your souls …The fifteenth day of this seventh month [shall be] the feast of tabernacles [for] seven days unto the LORD.”
DA 786-787 “Christ arose from the dead as the first fruits of those that slept. He was the antitype of the wave sheaf, and His resurrection took place on the very day when the wave sheaf was to be presented before the Lord. For more than a thousand years this symbolic ceremony had been performed….As Christ arose, He brought from the grave a multitude of captives. The earthquake at His death had rent open their graves, and when He arose, they came forth with Him. They were those who had been co-laborers with God, and who at the cost of their lives had borne testimony to the truth. Now they were to be witnesses for Him who had raised them from the dead…..those who came forth from the grave at Christ’s resurrection were raised to everlasting life. They ascended with Him as trophies of His victory over death and the grave…”
Double application of the Wave-Sheaf and the Wave-loaves
Tract 3:80-85 -“The Pentecost after the resurrection was for the ingathering of those who were to die, there must, correspondingly, be a Pentecost for the ingathering of those who are to be translated. And by the same token of logic, the wave-sheaf and the wave-loaves must have a double application, each to the dead and to the living, together comprising the total fruits of the antitypical harvest…Those whom Christ took with Him were the living wave-sheaf and the only one that has been offered in the heavenly sanctuary…As ones raised from the dead, they are the wave-sheaf of the first fruits of the dead, the 120 disciples As ones ever-
living before the Father, they are the living wave-sheaf of the first fruits of the living, the 144,000 servants of God.”
PP 36 – “The King of the universe summoned the heavenly hosts before Him, that in their presence He might set forth the true position of His Son and show the relation He sustained to all created beings. The Son of God shared the Father’s throne, and the glory of the eternal, self-existent One encircled both. About the throne gathered the holy angels, a vast, unnumbered throng-”
Rev. 22:1 – “And he showed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb.”
Rev. 12:5 – “And she brought forth a man child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron: and her child was caught up unto God, and [to] his throne.”
EW 55 – “I saw a throne, and on it sat the Father and the Son. I gazed on Jesus’ countenance and admired His lovely person. The Father’s person I could not behold, for a cloud of glorious light covered Him.…I saw the Father rise from the throne, [SEE PAGE 92.] and in a flaming chariot go into the holy of holies within the veil, and sit down. Then Jesus rose up from the throne …Then a cloudy chariot, with wheels like flaming fire, surrounded by angels, came to where Jesus was. He stepped into the chariot and was borne to the holiest, where the Father sat. There I beheld Jesus, a great High Priest, standing before the Father.”
NOTE: After His resurrection and the 40 days, Jesus went into heaven to His Father’s Throne. That Throne is in Paradise, not in the holy place. It is the Administrative Throne. It is from this Throne where they both had to rise from in 1844 to the Holy of Holies chamber.
GC 483 “As the books of record are opened in the judgment, the lives of all who have believed on Jesus come in review before God. Beginning with those who first lived upon the earth, our Advocate presents the cases of each successive generation, and closes with the living. Every name is mentioned, every case closely investigated. Names are accepted, names rejected. When any have sins remaining upon the books of record, unrepented of and unforgiven, their names will be blotted out of the book of life, and the record of their good deeds will be erased from the book of God’s remembrance. The Lord declared to Moses: “Whosoever hath sinned against Me, him will I blot out of My book.”
9MR 7:1 “The book with seven seals contains the history of the world – ‘And I saw in the right hand of Him that sat on the throne a book written within and on the backside, sealed with seven seals. And I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice, Who is worthy to open the book, and to loose the seals thereof? And
no man in heaven, nor in earth, neither under the earth, was able to open the book, neither to look thereon’ (Rev. 5:1-3).”
9MR 7:2 “There in His open hand lay the book, the roll of the history of God’s providences, the prophetic history of nations and the church. Herein was contained the divine utterances, His authority, His commandments, His laws, the whole symbolic counsel of the Eternal, and the history of all ruling powers in the nations. In symbolic language was contained in that roll the influence of every nation, tongue, and people from the beginning of earth’s history to its close.”
LETTER 55, 1886 – (3SM 385) – “The great issue so near at hand will weed out those whom God has not appointed and He will have a pure, true sanctified ministry prepared for the Latter rain”
TM 100, 234 – “The purging and cleansing will surely pass through every church in our land …The Church must be purged and it will be…The time of judgment is a most solemn period… Those who had been members of the same family are separated, the seal is placed upon the righteous”
G.C. 656 – “ The angel of death goes forth, represented in Ezekiel’s vision by men with the slaughter weapons…The false watchmen are the first to fall…”
RH March 28, 1893 – “…the destroying angel is soon to go forth again, not to destroy the first born alone, but to slay utterly old and young, both men and women, and little children, who have not the mark”
LETTER 31A, 1894 / LETTER 106, 1909 : “The time will soon come when the prophecy of Ezek. 9 will be fulfilled, that prophecy should be carefully studied, for it will be fulfilled to the very letter…” L 31A.
“Study the ninth chapter of Ezekiel. These words will be literally fulfilled, and yet the time is passing and the people are asleep…”
Now is the time to investigate this message seriously. It has come to reveal God’s plan to finish the Gospel work in the Church first, then the World. It is the only one which can reveal the unknown future, educate us what to do to survive the Judgment in the House of God.
5T 729 – “It is to the thirsting soul that the fountain of living waters is open. God declares: “I will pour water upon him that is thirsty, and floods upon the dry ground.” To souls that are earnestly seeking for light and that accept with gladness every ray of divine illumination from His holy word, to such alone light will be given. It is through these souls that God will reveal that light and power which will lighten the whole earth with His glory.”
THE END *** AMEN